(Last update 23/Aug/2017) Also check out: New York / Boston
A few personal favorites (I’ll try to keep the list updated)
Restaurant 3 - somewhat under the radar, simple and stylish, modern italian fare (my personal favorite in Berlin, highly recommended). Bar 3 next door serves Koelsch (beer from my hometown Cologne) on tap.
Cafe Einstein (breakfast) - A return to cafe house culture. International newspapers. Good breakfast. Two locations (the old one is better).
Schwarze Traube New favorite cocktail bar in Berlin. They have four featured cocktails every day (and may accomodate other requests if you ask nicely). Website/FB
Bar Buck & Breck (Brunnenstr 177) - Quite a cocktail bar. Tiny and hard to find. Ring the door bell! when they are full, they are full (no waiting list). Don’t go with more than 3 people).
Cookies & Cream - Expensive stylish vegetarian restaurant, that is attached to a house club. great location, and if you go on a club night, you can enter the party straight from the restaurant, skipping the line and bouncer.
Bonanza Coffee Roasters - My favorite of the many hipster coffee shops in Berlin. These guys were the first, and they are still the best and nicest. I hate their competitors The Barn.
Butter Lindner With branches all over the city, there is no excuse not to try the amazing “Vanille Quark” (like a very thick and creamy vanilla yoghurt). Also they will custom-make any sandwich.
Tempelhof - Redevelopment of the old inner-city airport
R.S.V.P Papier in Mitte - Great little stationary and pen store
Gropius Haus - Rotating exhibitions in historic building
Hamburger Bahnhof - The “Tate Modern of Germany”