The Hat Jazz Bar Berlin

Opposite the Theater des Westens, it shines invitingly under one of the S-Bahn arches. The Hat jazz bar has been located here since 2015. The model for it is in St. Petersburg. There, a casual bar called Schljapa, the Hat, was so successful that Michael Shpaizman and his colleagues planted the offshoot in Berlin.

When looking for a suitable location for his jazz bar, one criterion was particularly important to Shpaizman: no noise-sensitive neighbours. He found what he was looking for at the Lotte-Lenya-Bogen under the S-Bahn. The brick-built tunnel with its large exterior windows is classically lined with a long bar. Spirits crowd and pile up in front of mirrored wall elements. The small stage is located opposite the bar in a niche in the wall.

Intimate setting & good sound

Drinks are made behind the long bar, while a compact ensemble swings on stage - often late into the night. The setting is intimate, the sound direct, the atmosphere urban. If you're looking for New York flair in Berlin, you've come to the right place. At The Hat, you can enjoy lively, handmade music up close every night.

The bar is visually reminiscent of New York in the forties and fifties. The chairs, bar and ceiling fan are absolutely true to style. Bartenders in balloon caps, white shirts and waistcoats wait cooly for customers. The fact that this is not a basement club, but a bar, has two decisive effects.

Tantalising cocktails

Firstly, there is a large, classic cocktail menu. The bartenders are proud and ambitious representatives of their trade. They also serve rare and self-created mixtures. The bottle-aged cocktails are a particular speciality. Here, the pre-mixed ingredients are placed in a glass container for a long time so that they can combine harmoniously.

The bar staff chat, smile and mix. At the top of the list, however, is the competent and patient advice given to guests on "spiritual" matters. Before ordering, you can ask for detailed information on the most unusual recipes and the best spirits. What ends up in your glass will be tailored exactly to you.

Daily live music with free admission

Secondly, live music is played here every day - and admission is free. The Hat focuses on informal jam sessions. Only the session host is fixed at first. Who then joins in and what happens musically makes every jam evening an exciting and unique experience. It has happened that musicians who have just given a concert at Quasimodo turn up late at night for a jam session at The Hat. Because the nights here are long. "Sometimes it doesn't really get going until 1 a.m." reports Michael Shpaizman in an interview.

Our tips

• Arrive a little earlier and take advantage of the calm before the jam storm. Have a chat with the bar staff and let them serve you your very own cocktail speciality.
• A concert at Quasimodo and then a jam session at The Hat? It's easy to combine the two in a single evening.
• The City West has a lot to offer before the jazz cocktail at The Hat: Photography at C/O Berlin, Berlin Zoo and Aquarium and, of course, the malls and shopping streets around Ku'damm and Tauentzienplatz.

Your visit to The Hat Bar

The Hat is centrally located in City West. Zoo station is a major transport hub in the immediate vicinity. You can reach it with the U2, U9 and S-Bahn lines of the city railway as well as with numerous bus lines. From here, it is only a few minutes' walk to The Hat.