27 Best Restaurants in Haifa and the Northern Coast, Israel

When dining at this stellar restaurant, you may wonder how you got so lucky: there's the knockout view of the Mediterranean from the stone terrace, olive-tree-shaded setting, and wonderful Catalonian-accented dishes prepared by Adelina. Cooking is done in the huge silver tabun oven as Spanish music drifts across the dark wooden tables. Try the paella marinara packed with shellfish, roast sirloin with bacon and tarragon, or broccoli cannelloni in a creamy pepper sauce. Move on to knafe (a local pastry) with pistachio ice cream. The eatery is about 8 km (5 miles) east of Nahariya.

Two of Israel's best-known culinary personalities, Amos Sion and Uri Yarmias, opened this restaurant to create a first-rate yet affordable dining experience. It occupies a beautifully restored stone building in the ancient harbor, and large windows everywhere maximize the sea view under a wooden pergola. The chef puts an Israeli spin on Mediterranean-style cooking, turning out such tantalizing appetizers as calamari with lemon and hyssop leaves on sheep-milk yogurt, and sliced sirloin in aged balsamic vinegar with Cambozola cheese and pistachios. Main dishes include an aromatic fish stew made of red mullet, spinach, and Swiss chard, and grilled barbuni (sardine-size fish). The wine room holds the chef's private collection. A children's menu is available.

No visit to the Carmelite Monastery and Stella Maris Church is complete without a meal at this local favorite, where you can marvel at the eye-popping harbor view from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the exposed brick dining room while you enjoy traditional Middle Eastern fare. Start the meal with an array of salads and appetizers served family style; inventive grilled haloumi cheese with crunchy peanuts and a sweet mango salad are more unusual additions to the traditional plates of eggplant, hummus, pickles, and cabbage salads. Grilled meats and fresh fish are the house specialties. The restaurant has a second branch on the beach.  Reservations are essential at this popular spot.

Justly known far and wide for its excellent seafood, this Akko institution is near the lighthouse in an old Turkish building, where one room is furnished with sofas, copper dishes, and nargillas (water pipes). Everything on the menu is seasonal, and the fresh fish is steamed, baked, or grilled; delicious seafood soup is another fixture. Gravlax and Thai-style fish are also specialties, or try the baby calamari with kumquats and pink grapefruit or the Creole shrimp with five spices. Allow time to linger here—it's not your everyday fish fry. 

A Greek family business that's been passed from father to son since 1948, this popular waterfront seafood restaurant stands at one of the original 18th-century gates built by Pasha Ahmed el-Jazzar when he fortified the city after defeating Napoléon. Enjoy earthy hummus with pine nuts or eggplant salad spiced with sumac, as well as fish, shellfish, and grilled meats or beef Stroganoff. Here, the daily catch—often grouper, red snapper, or sea bass—is prepared simply, either grilled or deep-fried.

If you're one of those people who could eat breakfast three times a day, Agenda is for you. Try the shakshuka, an Israeli dish in which eggs are poached in a sharp tomato sauce; for lunch and dinner there are also pizzas, sushi, and other light fare, plus cocktails and wine. The staff is friendly, the atmosphere casual. Like many of the tastiest good-value restaurants in Israel, this one is in a gas station (Paz Gas, next to Minato, a sushi place). It has a bright interior with indoor, outdoor, and bar seating.

Climb the stairs beside the Doña Rosa restaurant and keep an eye out for this local favorite in an old, two-level, stone building—complete with a cat sunning itself on a stool, a jumble of odd tables and mismatched chairs, and a selection of handmade clothes and handbags for sale. You can sit outside to sip coffee and fruit smoothies alongside homemade bourekas (filled pastry triangles), shakshuka (eggs in tomato sauce), carrot cake, grilled-cheese sandwiches, and apple pie. Beer and wine are available, too. Indian cuisine is served every Thursday night. From Thursday night through Sunday you can get vegetarian meals; the rest of the week, pastries and coffee are offered.

Sitting by the old port of Caesarea in Caesarea National Park, and with ample seating overlooking the bay, this cavernous restaurant is famous for its fresh seafood, caught right from the water below, though it also serves juicy steaks and kebabs. An excellent starter is the salad of grilled eggplant, hummus, and fried cauliflower. Crunchy pita rounds toasted with olive oil and local spices are served alongside. House specialties include baked red snapper topped with chopped vegetables and black mussels sautéed in garlic, butter, and wine. Still hungry? Creamy cheesecake or warm apple pie with ice cream will do the trick. This place is a favorite with tour groups.

If you can't read the restaurant's sign in Hebrew, just follow the tantalizing aroma up the steps of this wooden building on the town square: Rosa's grandsons, Uri and Doron, import meat and special charcoal from Argentina and roast the food in the true Argentinean style. The bar is decorated with a drawing of a hefty cow that illustrates each cut of meat. Highlights include grilled pork spareribs; seafood simmered with fragrant yellow rice; and asado: delicious, chunky ribs (available only on Saturday). There's beer and Chilean and Argentinean wine, too.

Inside this old German Templer building with a pleasant outdoor terrace, a huge metal lamp studded with colored glass casts lacy designs on the walls, lending to the Middle Eastern design. The food, much of it prepared by the owner's mother, is an eclectic combination of French and local Arabic cuisines. Her specialty is kubbeh, deep-fried torpedoes of cracked wheat kneaded with minced beef, pine nuts, onions, and exotic spices. A variation on the dish is sfeeha, puff pastry topped with delicately minced beef, onions, and pine nuts. For dessert, try the mouhalabieh, a delicious Middle Eastern custard topped by dried fruits.

At this attractive restaurant--bar at the foot of the Baha'i Gardens, olive trees hung with blue and green lights set the tone for the elaborate interior, which contains several intimate rooms. One is a "cave" with Arabic script on the walls, low banquettes, wooden stools, and filigree lamps; another is modern with leather seats, embroidered cushions, and a changing art exhibit set against burnt orange walls. The eponymous Fattoush Salad is a favorite, consisting of a generous helping of chopped tomato, cucumber, onion, and mint and sprinkled with crisp toasted pita pieces. You might follow it with emsakhan, roast chicken topped with sumac and served on oven-baked pita.

Here you'll find a welcome combination of jolly atmosphere and casual pan-Asian cuisine. It's sort of a New York lounge–style hangout, with a stainless-steel open kitchen; black tables, chairs, bar, and stools; silver photography-studio ceiling lights; and a staff in bright white T-shirts, jeans, and long black aprons. Noodles are the specialty, and most dishes are prepared in a wok. You might start with a crispy Thai salad in peanut sauce; then feast on spicy egg noodles with chicken, coconut milk, and red Thai curry; or try your luck with black egg noodles (dyed with squid ink) with calamari and green onions.

Over the shabby doorway, a crooked sign announces that the fish is "fresh every day." That's all you need to know about this bare-bones, old-time favorite seafood restaurant. Take a seat at one of the 16 tables, each covered with rough white paper, and be treated to lots of what Israelis call salatim, or little dishes of roasted eggplant, fish roe, and homemade hummus. There's no menu in English, and no need for one, as only three dishes are offered: shrimp, calamari, and deep-fried fish. There's no dessert, just jangling-strong espresso.

At this storefront eatery, brothers Fouad and Ahmad Halabi greet you with a handshake and a "Hello, my cousin!" The delicious falafel and shawarma are wrapped in thin, lightly browned, Druze-style pitas—a nice change from the fluffy ones served at most other places in the country—and a refreshing splash of lemon tops the salads. Watch everything being prepared in the glass-front kitchen that opens onto a series of tile-floor dining rooms. The adjoining gift shop, also run by the siblings, displays locally woven tablecloths and pillowcases.

If ever there was a beloved eating place in Haifa, Jacko's is it. Give the name to your taxi driver; they'll nod approvingly, gun the motor, and drop you at a nondescript building with a Hebrew sign. Since 1976, this family-run restaurant founded by a Turkish fisherman has been serving delicious seafood in a rowdy, informal setting with shared tables. The specialties at this lunch spot are fish and seafood sautéed in butter, white wine, and garlic. There are piles of soft-shell crab, mussels, and calamari served with a variety of sauces, large shrimp grilled in their shells, and Mediterranean lobster (in summer). Ask for the catch of the day. For dessert try the Turkish cookies.

This restaurant in a 140-year-old wine cellar is an auspicious place to hear about the extensive wine list from owner Amos Meroz, whose hat always rakishly tilts to one side. Eight tables covered with checkered cloths fill a small space defined by curving stone walls. Dishes of olives glisten on a tiny wooden bar in the dimly lit room. Scores of wine bottles line the back wall with vintages from Israel, Italy, Australia, California, France, and South Africa. You can enjoy cheese and stuffed grape leaves or just sit quietly with your glass while French songs fill the air. More substantial lunch and dinner dishes of entrecôte, selections of cold meats, or cheese platters go nicely with a handpicked glass of wine.

The decor of this meat-lovers' haven is informal: beer kegs piled in a corner; walls covered with photos of glowing restaurant reviews; and a mural of the customers painted by an art student in 1989. The Romanian family-run business has been around since 1962; today Reuven and his son Shlomi do the excellent cooking. To start, savor chopped liver, jellied calf's foot, gefilte fish, and oxtail soup. Then go to work on delectable pork spareribs, goose, or beef pastrami, which they smoke themselves. As befits a place whose name means "beer spring," an impressive selection of imported beers is on tap. In summer, diners sit outside and enjoy live music. 

In a gas station (and next door to the restaurant Agenda), this place is perfect for beachgoers craving sushi. The name means "port" in Japanese, and Minato does a brisk takeout business, serving sashimi and nigiri as well as a variety of tempura dishes. You can also eat in at the long sushi bar and watch the chefs' knives flash in front of you. Try the temaki, a cone of seaweed filled with rice, vegetables, and the fish of your choice.

This pan-Asian gem on the top floor of the Castra mall is a bit hard to find, but worth the effort. Five kitchens (Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand) offer flavorful dining options in unusual juxtaposition. Relax with inspired cocktails or a Thai beer before dinner. Standout options are the Bombay butter chicken and red Thai curry. End the evening on a sweet note with a coffee-infused Saigon crème brûlée. The kitchen operates on a you-get-it-when-it's-ready concept, so your food will arrive at different times. Give your order one course at a time to keep the table paced together.

People come from all over the Carmel for a meal in this Druze restaurant at the northern edge of Isfiya (it's on the left; look for the tables outside under the trees). The Middle Eastern fare here is excellent, especially the homemade hummus with pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice, as well as the well-seasoned kebabs on skewers. Those with a sweet tooth should sample the sahlab (a warm, custardlike pudding of crushed orchid bulb with thickened milk and sugar).

Whether you're at the Elma Arts Complex for a performance or simply for the spectacular views of the Mediterranean, Oratorio satisfies with fine dining in a magnificent setting. The modern dining room provides gallery space for interesting, thought-provoking art from Israel and around the world. Try the oven-roasted sea bass with tomato salsa, or any of the excellent grilled fish or meats; the produce is locally sourced. Pair your meal with excellent wine from area vineyards.

In the souk, duck into this café and enjoy a coffee, some hummus, or a kebab in the courtyard of the 16th-century Khan al-Faranj, or Franks' Inn. Note the 18th-century Franciscan monastery and tower to your left.

Stop into this legendary institution, opened in 1940, for coffee and cake, or a meal of spinach blintzes with melted cheese, hamburgers, or Chinese dishes. Three generations of the Oppenheimer family work here, and the walls carry enlarged photographs of how the place looked when just a hut. The management swears that the schnitzel gets accolades from Viennese visitors.

Pasta made on the premises with ingredients imported from Italy speaks to the high quality of this premier Italian restaurant with an open kitchen and a pleasant atmosphere. Beautiful wood furnishings and a light, bright interior provide a backdrop to innovative dishes like pizza with pear, truffle, and blue cheese or salmon pappardelle with spinach and beets. Desserts are really the standouts: homemade ice cream and a pistachio crème brûlée have the locals lining up for a table.

At this tiny, kosher, seaside haven for fish lovers you can enjoy fresh and tasty fare indoors or on the terrace overlooking Netanya's famous promenade. The kitchen serves a wide range of excellent fish dishes, such as tilapia, cod, and gray mullet, grilled, baked, or sautéed. Entrées come with salad or roasted potatoes.

Cool off at this authentic gelateria, which scoops a huge array of flavors, all made by hand by a family of immigrants from Italy. Coffee, milkshakes, and pastries are also offered.

One of Haifa’s best-kept secrets, this intimate bar serves terrific hamburgers and salads, but the artistic vibe is what really draws you in. Owner Vicki paints, and her artwork, along with works by other locals, is featured. Her husband, Gil, runs the restaurant, books the music, and in his off-hours, manages a theater company. There's often live music spilling from the little stage.