Ali Baba - Berlin

My instant answer to: Charlottenburg fancy, inexpensive, garlic, wine, dinner, relaxed yet stylish decor. If you are on a budget and are walking somewhere between Kurfürstendamm and Kanstrasse, stop judging the Prada, Gucci and furniture stores thinking that you will not be able to find the juxtapose of classy but yet affordable anywhere around here. This place gives you a sense of a mix of France and Italian, however, the location´s name suggests something completely different. Ali Baba is a nice, classy restaurant for anyone who cannot afford much. The wines are below 3 EUR, the pizzas are between 5 and 6 EUR, they have snails in garlic sauce, the have spaghetti and many other things. And most of the time all meals are served with a free basket of bread. Their food is delicious and their wine does NOT give you headaches despite the low prices. The staff is ALWAYS friendly, even if the place is bustling! The place is not very big but the waiting time on a busy weekend is never too long. In the summer time one can even sit outside. The tables outside are there all year long, but be aware that if it is too cold, no one will serve you. It is an established rule there (and they often tell you). Ali Baba is in midst of all the fancy cafes, restaurants and shops and maybe this feeling gives you a sense of fancy. The inside decor is wooden, rusty and reminds me of an older French restaurant. The place smells deliciously like garlic and the people who eat there seem to always be in a good mood as well. One can have a good dinner with drinks for less than 15 EUR. I frequent here often and am glad that Charlottenburg has a place like this.

Didn't have much time to look for a place to eat, so I chose the nearby one. Ordered pizza with spinach and Gorgonzola, it was ok, but nothing spectacular. The most enjoyable of it was my Erdinger weissbier I guess. Worth to mention this place is quite inexpensive, considering the proximity to posh Ku'damm.

We accidentally walked by this place after jumping off the Ubahn and couldn't resist trying it since it had a completely packed outdoor seating area. Since we were traveling in Europe and had no internet, we had to go old school and find restaurants without Yelp. It's funny with places like this because as an American couple, if there's no individual free standing 2 top for you to sit at, you will stand and wait patiently for a table to open up. I loved that in Germany, community tables is what it's all about. We grabbed the last seats to be found at a 4 top with another German couple who were half way through their meal. I ordered the Seafood Pasta which was cooked perfectly aldente with just the right amount of sauce. The baby shrimps in the pasta were a little undercooked for my liking they weren't even pink but many people prefer it that way. The calamari was chewy but not over cooked. The tiny clams were also delicious. Not sure if they were all fresh ingredients, but they tasted good enough for me. With a name like Ali Baba, I'm still not quite sure why their Italian food is so damn good. F's pizza was actually quite tasty too. It came Italian style, uncut, with nicely spaced toppings. They called it Diablo Pizza and had 2 spicy indicators next to it, the waitress even warned him that it was very very spicy. Apparently the Germans don't eat much spicy food, the salami was kiiiinda spicy and it had pickled jalapeno's on it, but it wasn't HOT. It was awesome watching the guy throw the dough before loading it into the oven, nothing like fresh baked pizza dough.

We had a pasta court. nothing special that we could not make better at home. kellner didn't care about their costumes. also not the best impression of hygiene. not recommended.

Literally perfect. fast, amazing eating, central and cozy! also many options: we are already twice on our trip here, and we can simply not get enough! the workers are so nice.