My favorite bar in Essen. Really cozy, quirky interior and very friendly staff…read more Also one of the best Long Island Ice Teas I've ever had!

Great, cozy, colorful spot for a drink or several. Cocktails and a great drink list overall, but…read morethe ever-German, perennially limited selection of beer. Staff are great and there are a variety of seating options, whether you're going for the outdoor café seating, the Strandkorb, or a cozy table in a dark corner inside.

Pretty Standard pub fare. Not much in the way of authentic German or Irish food really. Just a…read morepub with decent food and decent prices. It's comfort food for travelers. It isn't anything special but the atmosphere is relaxing and it close enough to the convention center as to be very convenient for attendees. You can do worse in Essen. You can also do better.

Funny enough, I came to this Irish Pub for the burger. Hear me out before you start judging…read more I made friends with another US expat, and we started comparing notes about US American-style food in Essen. I made the mistake of comparing Tofino and Hans im Glück before he stopped me. His advice was to try Fritzpatrick's before I start trash talking all the Germans and their inability to make a burger. I'll admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong. Fritzpatrick's food is good. I understand why so many people have recommended coming here, and I regret not going sooner. The food is good; not just good by pub standards, but it's actually good. My only gripe is the same one I have with most German restaurants: they dress the burger bun with ketchup rather than keeping it on the side. I hate and despise ketchup and felt like such a jerk for sending back my bacon cheeseburger. Sorry. The server was really nice about it. Thanks for dealing with this picky American.

From the owner: Unser Panoptikum ist die coolste Kneipe der ganzen Welt. Wir haben die geilste Küche, das…read moreperfekteste Ambiente, die genialsten Gäste, die schönsten Kellnerinnen mit den vollsten Gläsern und Wirte von intergalaktischem Ruf.

Ok, first of all, if you're a non-smoker don't bother going. It's a so-called smoker's bar meaning…read morethat a: You have to join the club Don't worry - it's quite painless. b: You're allowed to smoke in the whole bar. There's no separation between smokers and non-smokers So, apart from that, I really like the place. The service is quick and bar staff are very attentive - which means you don't have to keep waving at them for a refill. It does get very full and very smokey - but I guess that the reason why one goes to a pub.!! There are a few comfy seats at the back which are a bit quieter - but do remember - this is a pub! If they do food, I didn't notice - But then again - Would you want to eat in a smokers bar?

plan b may be fine as a bar, but disappointing as a restaurant. we came the day after they had been…read morefeatured as a bar on a pub crawl tour, and they didn't have most of their common dinner menu items yet restocked a day later. so we ordered some beer and an appetizer. it took 45 minutes to have our bruschetta brought to us - and it didn't seem that they were all that busy. after finishing off the bruschetta, (which was good, but we were also hungry), we settled our bill, and went out to find dinner elsewhere. maybe their food is fine, but for us, we needed a plan b after going to plan b.