Handbestand - Altbuchhandel und Kaffeehaus

Unfortunately had a horrible experience and swiftly left. Having found this place on social media and from photos from videos made and reviews taken it looked right up my alley. My friend and I visited and within a minute my friend was confronted by the barista eyeballing her and making a face stating we should ask permission before taking pictures. She wasn't, she still had her maps up on her phone. I then asked what was wrong as I assumed he was asking for her order, and I was told I should ask to take videos. I apologised as I didn't know this was a rule as this is how I found the place , from a video someone made on TikTok and also seen 10'a of photos on google reviews so it all left a very sour taste. A grown man approaching 2 women in that manner is not correct. The place was also empty bar one person. Now I know why.

Classic Berlin café vibe. Coffee is delicious. Payment is done before you leave, not right when you order — this system may be a little unfamiliar if you're not a local but it's all friendly and good. Might be a bit hard to find a seat near outlet. WiFi available.

Review from Taiwanese visitors: After visiting the Berlin Wall, we stopped by this café and were immediately drawn to the books inside. The staff was very warm and friendly, recommending some delicious cakes. The coffee was great as well. Highly recommended!

Super peaceful and atmospheric cafe- friendly staff, the latte was a gigantic portion for a very affordable price, and you have also plenty of book options you can pick and read while you are sipping your coffee :) I am really curious why nobody from berlin explore websites etc not promoting this place

Lovely, atmospheric, and eccentric small cafe combined with a 2nd hand bookshop. It's not a unique idea, but this one seems less gimmicky than the others I have frequented and actually provides a nice selection of small dishes and a wide variety of drinks. Nice workspace as they have free WiFi and comfortable chairs. Open until 730pm, and we went in and had a variety of drinks, including tea and even a gin! The only real complaint is that we came in at about 6pm and it was very busy with maybe 15 or so customers and there is only one staff member. This resulted in a big delay in getting our order, and although he did warn us of this when we ordered, it could have been avoided surely with 2 staff as the size and foot traffic seem to easliy justify it. Possibly, this is a one-off, but I will come again and maybe edit my review to accommodate this. As I stands it gets a 4* but could easily be a 5* if they can improve the speed of service. Highly recommended as long as you are not in a particular hurry, that is! Another possible issue for some is that they only take cash and so come prepared for that.