Texas Meets Berlin: How We Built a Smokehouse in Kreuzberg

When Marcus Zimmer and Erik Hanzel met at a food festival in Austin in 2017, they shared one frustration: you could not find real American BBQ in Germany. Not the kind that takes all day. Not the kind where the pit master sleeps next to the smoker.

From a Backyard in Wedding to Oranienstrasse

It started with a rusty offset smoker in Marcus backyard in Wedding. Weekend cookouts for friends that grew from 10 people to 50 to 100. By summer 2018, they were selling out pop-ups at street food markets across Berlin. The demand was obvious.

Finding the right space took six months. They needed high ceilings for ventilation, outdoor access for the smokers, and a neighborhood that would embrace smoke at 4 AM. Kreuzberg was the only answer. Oranienstrasse 47, a former auto repair shop, became available in early 2019.

Building the Pit

The centerpiece of our restaurant is a custom 1,000-liter offset smoker built by a welder in Houston and shipped to Berlin in a container. It took three months to arrive and two weeks to install. We named it Brunhilde.

Alongside Brunhilde, we run two smaller smokers for chicken and sausage, plus a wood-fired grill for sides. The entire kitchen is built around fire. There is not a single gas burner in the building.

The German-Texan Identity

We do not try to replicate Texas BBQ exactly. We take the techniques, the low-and-slow philosophy, the obsession with wood and fire, and we filter it through what is available here. Brandenburg beef instead of Wagyu. German mustard in our Carolina sauce. Local cherry wood alongside imported post oak.

The result is something that feels authentic to both worlds. Texan in spirit, Berlin in character. Five years in, we are still learning, still adjusting, still chasing the perfect cook.