I discovered Black Apron Bakery & Coffeehouse a couple years ago. I had a yen for American pie and searched online to see if I might find it in Berlin; I found an article saying Black Apron was the best American-style bakery around, and went there the next day.
I have never had a bad experience at Black Apron. Strike that, the only bad experiences I've had are when I arrive and the particular baked good I am jonesing for is already sold out. Probably biscuits or cheesecake brownies.
Excellent coffee and espresso drinks. Nice ambience. Clean bathrooms. Employees are nice although there is often a line so not much time to chat.
Beautiful displays of baked goods! New York cheesecake, espresso cheesecake, cheesecake brownies, carrot cake, apple crumb cake, biscuits, croissants, pain au chocolate, pigs in the blanket, cinnamon rolls and more...
Half the time I go there and stay, half the time I go to pick something up. Except now I always buy something to take home, because the food is so good.
Room for improvement:
-During the pandemic they stopped the free public Wi-Fi.
-There are two doors but the way the glass windows are set up, it can be hard to figure out where the doors are and which way to open them.
-It gets busy and sometimes the staff doesn't have time to check the tables. You're supposed to bus your own dirty dishes but some people leave them, making it harder to find an open table.
-I wish they stayed open later than 6pm.
Note: They used to have cooked food for brunch, but since they opened a sister restaurant, it's drinks and baked goods only. Fortunately the sister restaurant, Codos Coffee, is not far to the southeast at Rosenthaler Platz. read more