ploetz

Heritage-protected green-and-white tiles wrap the walls, a lingering reminder that this space spent the turn of the last century as a neighborhood butcher shop. Today, those ceramics frame a bustling counter piled high with hand-laminated croissants and seasonal cakes rather than cuts of meat. The operation is family-run, steered by Elke and Eni Löscher, who named the spot after their grandmother and brought a specific blend of cultural influences to this corner of Schöneberg. The kitchen bridges Berlin and Amman, reflecting the family’s background through a menu that sits somewhere between a classic German breakfast and a Levantine lunch. You will see plates of smashed potatoes topped with Frankfurt green sauce moving through the room alongside shakshuka and sabich. The baking is done in-house, resulting in trays of babkas, challah braids, and "window cakes" that rotate with the seasons. They haven't entirely abandoned the butcher shop roots, though – organic Leberkäs buns and blood sausage sandwiches are staples here, using meat sourced from selected organic farms. Coffee comes from Populus, and the machine hisses steadily as the morning crowd filters in. It gets busy enough that the business had to expand into the storefront next door to handle the spillover. Seating spills out onto the pavement when the weather holds, creating a pocket of activity near the Julius-Leber-Brücke. On Friday evenings, the routine shifts from coffee and cake to homemade pasta dinners. Note that this is a card-only establishment.