Berlin administrative court judges - kebab snack bar is not a "specialty restaurant"

Planned employment as a cook in a kebab shop is not to be regarded as employment in a specialty restaurant for which a visa could be issued. This was decided by the Berlin administrative court according to information on Wednesday.

A citizen of Turkey and a trained chef had therefore applied for a visa from the Consulate General of the Federal Republic in Izmir, Turkey, to work as a specialty chef in a self-service restaurant in Munich.

Only traditional dishes typical of the country based on original recipes are offered there, he explained. The restaurant also has a significant need for chefs. However, the Consulate General refused to issue the visa on the grounds that self-service snack bars and fast-food restaurants are not specialty restaurants.

The man appealed against this before the administrative court. However, the latter confirmed the view of the Consulate General with its judgment, which was passed at the end of December, and dismissed the lawsuit. The court explained that it could remain open whether kebabs and Turkish pizza are typical and genuine Turkish dishes. Because the business in question is not a restaurant.

According to the general sense of language, this should be understood as a restaurant in which food is served and in which guests generally stay for a certain amount of time. The self-service kebab shop does not meet these requirements. Rather, meals are “prepared in openly visible production areas and sold to take away or to be eaten on site at the available seating”.

The food is not served or the guests are not served at the tables, nor is the business “recognizable for guests to stay longer than short-term food intake,” it said. An application for admission of an appeal to the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court can be filed against the judgment.