Bar Gabányi

Stefan Gabányi spent two decades behind the wood at Schumann's before opening this stairs-down hideaway on Beethovenplatz in 2012. The bar is unapologetically old-school American — long mahogany counter, leather banquettes, properly cold glassware, no-music-during-pour discipline. The drink list runs to fifty originals plus anything classic you can name; the back-bar holds Germany's first official Ardbeg Embassy and a whisky selection that justifies a second visit. Bar food is real (Boeuf à la Mode, Kaiserschmarrn) and quietly excellent.