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Restaurants Overview

The city's cosmopolitan character is now happily represented in its food, although stands selling Middle Eastern fast food for which this part of the world is famous -- such as falafel and shawarma (spit-grilled meat) -- still occupy countless street corners. But beyond these are restaurants serving everything from American burgers to Chinese dim sum. In contrast to Jerusalem, diners who keep kosher really have to search for a kosher restaurant outside the hotels.

Tel Aviv is also very much a café society. The murmur of varied languages and the range of exotic coffees at the scores of cafés across town will convince you as nothing else will that you are in a world-class cosmopolitan city.

Most Tel Aviv restaurants are open throughout the day and well into the night year-round, except on Yom Kippur. Many serve business lunches at reasonable prices, making them less-expensive options than the price categories suggest. Like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, Israelis dine late; chances are there will be no trouble getting a table at 7 PM, whereas past 10, diners may face a long line. Casual attire is always acceptable in Tel Aviv, even in the poshest restaurants.

Tel Aviv's restaurants are concentrated in several areas: Sheinkin and Rothschild streets, Basel, Ibn Gvirol Street, and the Old Port. In addition, in Herzliya Pituach, a suburb north of Tel Aviv, the best restaurants are now located at the upscale Arena Mall in the Marina.