häppies | Happy vegan Germknödel

Häppies is a vegetarian Germknödel restaurant in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg serving sweet and savoury vegan yeast dumplings.

Originally funded through a crowdfunding campaign in 2012, häppies has since become an established and popular restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg. It’s the only restaurant in Berlin we know of that specialises in Germknödel.

Germknödel are a traditional dish from Austria (and/or Bavaria) – fluffy yeast dough dumplings filled with plum jam, served with melted butter and topped with sugar and poppy seeds.

Besides the traditional version, häppies also serves a variety of modern or fusion kind of Germknödel – all named after people connected to the restaurant.
There is vegan ‘mathias’, a dumpling with a soy-fig-filling, spicy chili sauce and black sesame. Relatively new is also ‘sophia’, a beetroot-coloured häppie filled with a mushroom-miso-stuffing, topped with a green tahini pesto. ‘Sophia’ was actually created and named after Sophia Hoffmann, a popular vegan blogger, chef and cookbook author.

Quite new is also ‘isa’ – a sweet dumpling made with black charcoal-sesame dough, filled with sticky coconut rice and topped with a mango-lime and mint dressing. ‘Netti’, the traditional Germknödel filled with plum jam and topped with poppy seeds and sugar can also be prepared vegan.

Besides dumplings, you can also get hot and cold drinks including coffee.

All dishes are carefully prepared and arranged and cost between 3,90€ and 5,90€. If you are really hungry, you probably want to order two (how about a savoury and a sweet one? :).

Matching the name and vibe of the place, the staff at ‘häppies’ is always very happy – smiling and usually up for a quick chat. In case of special requests, allergies or other needs, they always try to find a solution.

The interior of the restaurant is made up of branded furniture – with ‘häppies’-dumplings engraved into the tables and stools. The walls are also covered with a variety of ‘häppies’ – every single one representing one of the supporters of the original crowdfunding campaign. Take your time to discover them and ask about their stories…

As ‘häppies’ is quite a small location (about 16 seats inside, outside about 8), there is no toilette. Also, try not to use a knife eating your häppie – Germknödel are traditionally torn :).

We recommend a pink ‘sophia’ häppie and a classic ‘netti’ for dessert 🙂

We visited “häppies” in October 2018.