Berlin's reputation for being rude is no secret, and I've been a regular at Frollain Langner for years. But with the current bartender around, I won't be coming back.
Approaching the empty bar, I catch the bartender's eye, raise my hand, and ask for a beer.
Pretty normal, right?
Apparently not; A vague hand gesture of the bartender signals I should move to another spot at the bar, not any closer to them. Baffled and visibly annoyed by their silent treatment, I move to the indicated spot, aiming to reorder. However, before I could even place my order, the bartender launches into an unsolicited lecture about my attitude, insisting I need to adjust it. I try to diffuse the situation, asking them to just give me the beer and let it go, but they refuse and threaten to kick me out. Thirsty and frustrated, I head back to my table. Eventually, we decide to leave, and since our tab was open, we settle the bill.
Confronting the bartender about their behavior, they become defensive, repeatedly insisting I need to "fix" myself, I should seek therapy and even accusing me of threatening them. Being accused of such behaviour by the very person that threatened to kick me out due to a perceived attitude to me seems like a blatant case of projecting their own behaviour onto me.
I loved the place, but this time around I left with my middle finger up in the air.
Not my best moment, but after being treated like that I don’t regret it.