Bar Uno on Ludwigstrasse: Elegant nonchalance and an Adonis – Munich

Bar Uno between Odeonsplatz and the university is difficult to see from the outside. A look through its tall, half-darkened arched windows arouses more curiosity than information. The façade of the building on Ludwigstrasse suggests inner-city chic, while the outdoor seating and colorful slates make it a student pub. Elegance and nonchalance then combine behind the heavy door curtain in a noble, simple guest room.

A wide, silver bar counter in front of a bottle gallery with a sliding ladder, plus a few tables, grey-earthy tones and soft light – everything is manageable, cosy, tidy.

Stefan Saller had been dreaming of a location on Ludwigstrasse for a long time.

(Photo: Lorenz Mehrlich)

“I wanted an Italophile bar, but more relaxed, like an extended living room,” explains operator Stefan Saller, who you might mistake for an Italian himself, but he comes from the Upper Palatinate. He had dreamed of the Ludwigstrasse location for a long time. Saller also got to know their lively nightlife in Schumann’s Bar, which is diagonally opposite Bar Uno. Saller himself worked at Schumann’s in the 1990s, at that time still on Maximilianstraße. Until 2020, house number eleven was still in the hands of Klaus St. Rainer, also a former Schumann’s employee and boss of the Golden Bar. Since then, Saller has been running the Bar Uno here, as well as the Bar Comercial in the city center and the Tabacco Bar am Promenade Square.

Saller originally trained as a master baker, which is used in the Bar Uno for the sweet pastries in the bar display case, and there is an espresso like in Italy for two euros. This cover is particularly good for day-to-day business, as the bar opens at half past seven in the morning during the week. During the day and in the evening, the offer from the kitchen bridges the gap between Italian lunch and down-to-earth bar food: pasta and pinsa variations for around ten euros, or piades and sandwiches for the smaller hunger and budget.

The drinks menu at Bar Uno is based on the tried and tested. You can easily spend the evening with beer (around four euros) and wine (between four and six euros), but the focus is on the cocktails, including sparkling aperitifs (seven to nine euros), non-alcoholic (just under nine euros), classics from Sour to fizz or signature creations of the house (nine to twelve euros).

If you want to deviate from the map, Saller will give you the best advice. With a bowl of wasabi popcorn, you can watch him stir vermouth, sherry and bitters into an “Adonis”. “Give me your hand, I can still make things worse,” he asks with a bar spoon full of test liquid.

Bar Uno: Allow: a "Adonis"a blend of vermouth, sherry and bitters.

Allow: an “Adonis”, a mixture of vermouth, sherry and bitters.

(Photo: Lorenz Mehrlich)

Bar Uno: A visit to Bar Uno is an all-round carefree package.

A visit to Bar Uno is an all-round carefree package.

(Photo: Lorenz Mehrlich)

Not necessary, a well-rounded thing, like the fresh “Capri Sour” made from gin, pistachio and lemon or the strong-sweet “Club 27” with St. Germain, rum, lime and maple syrup, which is said to have been created by chance thanks to a wrong delivery and which Saller identifies as his favourite.

Mom knows best, that’s how the bar manager explains the friendly, warm service of his team. “People want d’Mamma, even more since Corona.” A visit to the bar is like an all-round carefree package in the Italian mom’s living room.

Bar UnoLudwigstraße 11, 80539 Munich, Telephone: 089/24206252, Monday 7.30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Friday 7 a.m. to midnight, Saturday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

source site