Hallo Berlin Express

Was a great place to break the pattern of lunches. Some German food with potatoes, sad it’s gone now.

The super popular food cart spawned this Hell’s Kitchen restaurant. It’s a fairly small bare bones German restaurant that specializes in «meat in tube form» as Bourdain likes to call it, though they have all the classic German staples as well. I ordered the «freakin’ deal» lunch special ($ 9) which comes with german potato salad, a wurst of your choosing (I chose a brat), a meatball, and a bunch of cabbage/​sauerkraut. My girlfriend got the beef gulash lunch special ($ 10). I can’t stand cold potatoes so I didn’t really want the potato salad but I assumed it would just be a little of that and I’d fill up on the bratwurst and meatball (stupid assumption on my behalf). The meatball looked like mushed dogfood, it had no real texture or seasoning to it, wasn’t that large and wasn’t that hot. The bratwurst was cut up into little pieces and the portion was tiny, before it was cut up I’d say it probably wasn’t much bigger than a hotdog. The taste of the brat was decent but I’ve definitely had better elsewhere. I tried the gulash and that was better. The portion was bigger and the mashed potatoes it came with were good. The gulash was basically pieces of beef in a brown gravy, some pieces were on the dry side but the gravy helped this a bit. Overall the gulash and bratwurst was good but not great and the portion/​value just wasn’t good enough to convince me to go back. I’m sure the portion is a little better for dinner entrees but the prices there are too high to go back and risk having another forgettable meal.

So apparently, Hallo Berlin has expanded its wings from its flagship restaurant on 10^th ave to this little café, which is a step up from food cart quality, but not much.
But like food carts, everything here is tasty and for the most part– cheap. When I liked the most was the great variety in the menu offerings– you have your typical German delights, such as wurst, wurst wurst, but vegetarians, they have pierogis (veg and meat), as well as latkas.(Yum. I’ll have to get this another time.).
I went with probably the most commonly ordered item, which was the single wurst meal. The key behind the counter was SO nice and let me have it with kielbasa, since I only like that and not wurst. The dish came with chopped kielbases, German fries (which are potatoes with onions), lots of red cabbage, and saukerkraut. The kraut was standard, good and picked– same for the cabbage. Potatoes, standard. And the kielbasa– very good, grilled and spicy.
The dish is really oily though, and very small. Don’t be fooled though– it’s enough to fill you up. This is G food we’re talking about!
My friend, who is a carb hater, got the Dr. Atkins special. Not sure if they still want to coin that dish Dr. Atkins giving the namesake is dead (died of a heart attack, no less). I’m not a fan of all the meat, but if you are, you’d like this. You get wurst, meatballs. kielbasa (I think). And lots of cabbage, kraut and pickles (which were good– but not too crispy).
Our dishes came with a side of stale, white rolls– meh.
They even have dessert, such as Black Forrest Cake. And they have schtinzel. And lots of beers– which I’m sure G– beer fans would admire (I know nothing about this).
I would say that I give street cred for Hallo Berlin about being a notable German place-​simply because there aren’t any! But it’s just ok. definition doesn’t warrant these reviews, but not anything to run home about.
But. I should try their flagship sometime. Meat lovers rejoice!
Prices range from $ 7.50 (what I got) to $ 20 for fancier dishes.

Hallo Berlin, you have now become one of my favorite lunch spots!
What amazing wurst, sauerkraut, red cabbage, and potatoes you have!!! If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a semi-​far walk from my work place and it takes about 10 — 15 minutes for an order to be completed, I would be here more often!!!

The Berlin on 10^th Avenue is awesome, and I wrongly thought the locale on 9^th would be the same. Here are some reasons why my dinner was fail-​worthy:
— The waitress got confused very easily and didn’t really know the menu at all. Not knowing that you were supposed to pick two wurst with a certain meal, she almost charged my friend and I for four wursts.
— Getting the check was ridiculously hard, which is funny because the place is so small that we could see the other guy working hiding and dicking around in the kitchen.
— The food itself was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for the portions they gave. A lunch-​sized portion for two ended up being $ 42. Talk about price inflation.
The one plus was that the food itself was pretty good. Still, I’d back off this place.

Good bratwurst. Beer is expensive

Went there for a quick takeout tonight. I used to live in Germany and was feeling a bit nostalgic. I was actually going to sit in for dinner, but there was NO ONE there (at 8 pm on a Sunday), so it felt weird to stay.
I ordered potato pancakes, bratwurst «sandwich,» and pickles. The tab came out to be 13.75. The pancakes were definitely the best part of the meal. They were crispy, well-​flavored, and had a good texture. They came with apple sauce and sour cream. This tasted exactly like the ones I used to have in Berlin. Very good.
Bratwurst was good too, though no as spectacular as the potato pancakes. It came on this french bread bun, which I have NEVER seen done in Germany. The sauerkraut and onions they put in it though was really delicious, as was the mustard. This is something I would order again.
The pickle was disappointing. I wasn’t expecting Spreewald quality, but this was exactly the same as the American pickles you can find everywhere here. Nothing special.
I would give this a 3.5 stars if I had the option for food. But the eerie quietness of the place kind of unnerved me. Nothing like the boisterous bars and beer halls that one’d associate with bratwurst. Overall, not bad, and perhaps takeout is the way to go here.

$ 7,50 buys you a single soul food meal at lunch and it is quite the filling meal deal. A cart inside the space cooks the wursts at this no-​frills joint.
Service is minimal, but the food satisfies.
I ordered the single with bratwurst which is cut up with fried (pan) potatoes and red cabbage. A homey mixed spiced up with some spicey mustard. Having traveled around Germany many times, and always nostalgic for some wurst– at lunch this place is a cheap deal on Ninth.

Good Bye Berlin is more like it!
I spent a year in Germany eating some of the best food in my life. After 12 months, though, I knew not to go for ethic foods (Chinese, Thai, etc.) — Germans just didn’t get it.
This is kind of how I feel about Hallo Berlin. Not sure who owns/​runs this place, but besides the names of the foods, nothing about this is German. Sad looking Wurst and even sadder cabbages and potato salad. In my opinion, these people are trying hard to bring German cuisine to the masses, but they are not succeeding.
A huge disappointment and I recommend you stay away from this place. It might be more expensive, but save your money and eat German/​Austrian food right at:
Zum Schneider
Loreley
Thomas Beisl Restaurant

I’ll keep this nice and simple for everyone–
1. the chef/​waiter looked annoyed when I whipped out my CC (he said cash only bc their machine was down)
2. I SWEAR he only gave me half a Bratwurst!!! If I’m paying $ 9 for a sausage and some potatoes I better get what I order! it seems like he cut up the bratwurst and buried it under a mound of sauerkraut and german fries so you wouldn’t notice there’s only like 4 small pieces of bratwurst
3. I saw the guy pick his nose for 3 mins. Near where the food was cooking. and the helper sneezed in the same area. EWW?
4. it’s literally out of my way! Check out the Wurst cart on 5^th Ave instead. The nicest German guy has been working that corner for 10+ years. And he always gives me an extra meatball because he thinks I’m cute haha!

I know nothing about German food, but the sausage platter was split between me and my date and it was awesome.
So if you’re not a german food expert but you like sausage (no gross jokes), I would totally go here.
It’s a barebones place, but the food was fast, good and affordable!

A casual hole-​in-​the-​wall, Hallo Berlin is a great place to have a quick bite with a large side of delicious beer. The «sandwich”-wurst options available are plentiful and though they might not be the real thing according to some posts below, they are still yummy in their own right. Knockwurst is my personal favorite. Other favorites are their German Fries (delightfully loaded with buttery goodness) and the cucumber salad (which I like for it’s sweet and tangy taste).
Décor is minimal and the place is almost always empty since it’s mainly a takeout/​delivery station. A great place to get away from the world for an hour. The reason I actually go to the restaurant and rarely order from there? Pitchers of cold, frothy hefe-​weisse don’t travel well.

«it is time for the German and the Italian to split the remainder of this potato pancake… because good things happen when the Germans and Italians work together to divide and conquer.»
I wasn’t that hungry, but we had some time to kill before a show, and had already eaten at Island Burger and were in the mood for some more beers, so we stopped in here.
it’s a small joint (maybe 20 – 25 people can sit) and has a lot of food options, as well a small but decent selection of German imports.
however, I do have to agree with an earlier review — the currywurst that my friend ordered was NOTHING like the currywurst I had when I was in Berlin. this was a small sausage on a bun with onions and red cabbage, and some sort of spicy goop on top. I took a bite, and it was okay, but nothing at all like the real deal. whomp whomp.
another friend tried the potato pancakes, which I also had a bite of (remember when I told you I wasn’t hungry? I lied).
interesting ambiance — it’s a food cart with indoor seating. the menu seemed to have a lot of options.
for more filling options so far as German food goes, I’d stick to the Schnitzel Haus in Brooklyn, but this seems like an adequate stopgap if you’re in Manhattan.

German sausage and
German beer was good but the
sausage wasn’t big.

I am torn. The sausage selection was pretty impressive, as were the authentic toppings. This was countered by a dark and somewhat gloomy dining area and a staff that appeared as if they were incredibly unhappy being there.
I had the Knockwurst with onions, mustard, and kraut. I would give the sausage 4 stars. It was pretty damn tasty. The bun was a little stale, and the lady touched it with her bare hands (I used to be a health inspector, so this is a big no-​no in my book).
I’ll be back, but I am hoping for a little better service.

I was pretty excited to try this place. i mean, c’mon, sausage! but alas, it did not really live up to my ridiculously high expectations. i got the «Freakin Deal» which is potato salad, one wurst and one meatball, and then I got an extra side order of potato pancakes. All the potato related items were delicious, and the potato pancakes possibly had crack in them. Yum. The meat, however failed to deliver. The flavor was alright, but it was cooked really poorly. tasted basically like microwave reheated food (though I saw them pan frying it). Slightly mushy and pretty unappetizing. There are like a hundred items on the menu, so I’ll probably be back at some later point, but I’m not rushing back anytime soon.
I’ve heard the cart is much better.

The express location of Hallo Berlin is small and the service is not great but it gets the job done. This is my go-​to spot for when I am with a bunch of hungry boys who don’t want to decide between drinking and dinner. They service various sizes of beer, but we usually go with the pitchers ($ 17) And if you are so inclined, they offer Das Boot. The curry wurst is a favorite of mine. I recently tried the spaetzle and loved it, very garlicky and the noodles had a great chewiness. Their shnitzles are nice as well. The Atkins diet special, as embarrassing as that may be to order, is a smart choice with 3 sausages, cabbage, meatballs, soup, and pickles. The lentil soup is better than the veggie. All the entrée portions come with a ton of food, but one wurst makes a nice snack on its own.

I’ve been to this Hallo Berlin location once and to the cart a few times (5 stars for the cart, a different review) and now am rewriting my review for this location. In short, this location is not as good as the cart, but it’s okay. For reference I got one of the «soul food» mixes. Here are a few of my observations:
–the wursts were delicious
–german fries and red cabbage were pretty good
–the bread didn’t seem fresh, unlike the cart where it’s perfect
–sauerkraut seemed off, also unlike the cart
–soda, sprite, was horrible, it was basically half carbonated water
–waitress/​hostess was nice but incompetent
Conclusion: I would go here if I couldn’t make it to their food cart during the week, just don’t expect to have Hallo Berlin at it’s full potential.

Yeah, this place is okay. We came here after our attempt to go to the higher rated food cart on 5^th & 54^th was not there. It would have been nice if some Unilocalers had advised that the famous food cart is ONLY on 54^th & 5^th M-​F from 11 – 3.
Anyways, when we discovered that the Hallo Berlin cart was not where it was supposed to be, and a nearby cop told us of its hours, we walked over to the actual restaurant, here on 50^th & 8^th. The food was good. I really did not like the sauerkraut at all, but everything else was good.
The woman working there was far from German… I don’t know why but I felt like this ruined the ambiance, on top of the fact that it was empty inside and looked like they forgot to pay their electric bill. The un-​German woman was also very confused, and my boyfriend actually joked that it didn’t matter what wursts you ordered, that she was going to give you the same 2 no matter what.
She confusedly tried giving us beer that we didn’t order, and seemed to struggle with an order of Sprite to drink. (Oh yeah, their soda machine may have had an off-​day, but on our visit, it was totally tasteless)

*Cheap
*Kind of slow
*Tasty food
This is basically like German cart food served in a restaurant. I use the term restaurant loosely because it is pretty much just a bunch of tables, a TV, and a guy behind the counter. They don’t have a great selection of food, but what they do have is pretty tasty. My primary complaint is that for a place that wants to cater to the quick lunch crowd, they are awfully slow.