227 Best Restaurants in Israel

Share a long wooden table with university students at this restaurant named for a soup pot and enjoy an ever-changing menu of hearty soups and stews served with white bread, butter, and pesto. Shakshuka (a tangy dish of eggs, tomatoes, garlic, and onions), interesting salads, and other vegetarian and vegan options complete the menu. There's a piano in the corner, a box of old records, and a chandelier made of spoons. In winter, ask about live jazz in the evening, usually Wednesday.

Run by Canadian immigrant Harvey Sandler, this hot spot (once called Gabriel's) has become a landmark in the city for American smokehouse barbecue. It serves smoked meats; home-style sides like yam fries, hand-crafted onion rings, and lamb bacon in bourbon sauce; plus a smattering of southern-inspired cocktails and refreshing craft beers.

The sign is only in Hebrew at this hole-in-the-wall stand, which features what many say is the best sabich in the city. The Middle Eastern street food staple has thin slices of fried eggplant combined with hard-boiled egg and your choice of greens, wrapped in a laffa (flatbread) or stuffed into a pita, then topped with tehina and/or amba, a tangy, pickled mango sauce. If you haven't yet been introduced to sabich, this is is the place to be initiated. The hours? Until the eggplant runs out. There are vegetarian and vegan options.

This ranch-style restaurant, whose name means "The Mill," uses only the best beef from local cattle for its T-bones. The kitchen also grills up tasty sausages, lamb chops, and hamburgers. Each entrée comes with grilled vegetables and either fries or baked potatoes, so you won't go away hungry. The place gets crowded, so reservations are a good idea.

At this bistro in the heart of Neve Tzedek, the warm environment, hearty food, fine wine, and excellent service will leave you feeling satisfied. The wine menu boasts more than 160 Israeli boutique wines, and the friendly owner-sommelier, Yossi Ben Odis, will let you know exactly which wine pairs well with your meal. The house special is the "seared sirloin" that you cook yourself at the table on a specially heated rock. The menu is mostly meat and chicken dishes complemented with a few options for vegetarians.

The sweeping panorama from the wooden deck and picture windows is attraction enough at this family restaurant operated by Yossi Mass, his wife Penina, and son Oren. Known for its greens and imaginative salads, it also impresses with homemade bread and tarts of shallot, forest mushroom, and goat cheese, not to mention a colorful pie of beef, lamb, goose, tomatoes, pine nuts, and basil. Desserts make for an agonizing decision, so share.

With wooden tables in the tile-floored dining room and under the trees in the nearby square, this is one of the few full-service restaurants in the Jewish Quarter. The modest menu ranges from fresh salads to salmon burgers, and there is beer and wine. Try one of several fish dishes, or just enjoy a coffee while you rest from your tour of the Old City.

This popular hummus joint is also the village's oldest, having started out with two tables in Samir Abu Shukri's home in 1965 (his grandson, Fadi, is now the restaurant's third-generation manager). Grab a table by the large windows, and look out at the towering mosque minarets in the village while enjoying big plates of hummus served with fresh pita. For something more substantial, try hummus topped with grilled mushrooms or meat.

All walks of life share elbow space at this casual eatery's long bar inlaid with Armenian painted tiles. The hummus here is especially tasty and is served from morning until well after midnight.

With an upstairs dining area, Lina offers a respite from the hubbub of the Old City. Hand-ground hummus is the main event here, and you can order it topped with chickpeas, fava beans, or pine nuts. You can also sample the yogurt-cheese called labaneh and wash it down with freshly pressed fruit juice.

With a name that means "Mom," Ima honors the owner's Kurdish-Jewish mother, who inspired many of the excellent traditional Middle Eastern offerings served in this century-old stone house just a few minutes from the Machaneh Yehuda market. This is a great place to try Kurdish kubbeh soups, made with beets or pumpkin and blessed with softball-sized meat-and-semolina dumplings. The modest array of salads includes hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vegetables, and wonderful kibbeh (seasoned ground meat deep-fried in a jacket of bulgur wheat). 

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.

In the midst of the buzzing Nachalat Binyamin Art Fair, the secret garden at Jonesy Gardener is an oasis of calm. To escape the madness, sit on Jonesy's green leafy patio, where you can enjoy a great cup of coffee or try local specialties like shakshuka or sabich. It's a great spot to grab breakfast or rest after visiting the hectic Carmel Market.

Recharge in an elegant setting in the Old City, sampling delicious pastries and coffee or perhaps a glass of wine. This small café, set in a 200-year-old building, is run by local architect Razan Zoubi, whose professional studio is upstairs. Around the corner from Al-Reda restaurant but in the same building, Kahala uses Al-Reda's kitchen to create delicious homemade cookies. Nibble a coffee-pecan or tahini-almond biscuit with a perfect espresso as you browse Razan's beautiful collection of Arab-designed modern and ancient architecture books.

With an unbeatable view of the Mediterranean Sea on one side and the Old City on the other, this Greek-influenced eatery will add a romantic touch to your visit to Jaffa. Sip ouzo or arak (a locally produced anise-flavored liqueur) alongside fresh-baked kalamata olive bread and colorful small dishes like grilled artichokes over lentils or fish kabobs with cilantro-mint salad. The small dining space is set in an old stone building on the water, so be sure to request one of the few tables by the window to watch the special sunset view.

You can have a tasty meal and shop, too, at this showcase for creative work produced by the local special-needs community. Peek at the workshops based on anthroposophy (a system for nurturing the individual's healthy core), where community members work in the organic vegetable garden and the bakery, as well as in handweaving, ceramics, and paper-products workshops. Feast on a Galilee-style breakfast made with the organic vegetables grown here, and try homemade sweet potato, beet, and cauliflower spreads. Your food is served on exquisite ceramics, produced here and available for purchase. It's about 15 minutes north of Beit She'arim.

In a renovated Ottoman-era building on a tree-lined, Old City street, this rustic restaurant and tapas bar has high ceilings, arabesque tilework, an inner courtyard for alfresco dining, and an atmospheric balcony. Candles flicker from boxes on the walls, and padded chairs and beautifully set tables give the place a serene elegance. There's a separate dining room for families with kids, as well as a bar area. The chef and owner, Yariv Eitani, apprenticed in Provence before returning to his hometown. His creatively prepared tapas-style dishes don't disappoint: wild mushroom risotto, sirloin carpaccio, and seared fresh fish are among the standouts.

A neighborhood spot, this unpretentious pizzeria makes everything from scratch. The simple Italian fare is lovingly prepared by the owner--chefs, a young couple who made the trek back home from Tel Aviv. Grab a table in the outside patio and enjoy a ricotta-and-dill "Moldovan calzone" along with an Israeli beer.

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.

After winning the television show "Israel’s Next Restaurant" with his restaurant Mileage, Chef Idan Boshari opened this new offering to Tel Aviv’s gastronomic scene. Inspired by the fabric of the city and stimulated by the proximity of the sea and the local and seasonal nature of the neighboring Carmel Market, the menu changes in response to the availability and quality of the local produce. Try the Amberjack Sashimi with its unusual combination of ingredients that combine to make a perfect bite and complement it with the Gazoz-inspired cocktail with black pepper and zaatar. There’s also a focus on social responsibility, as the restaurant works closely with youth at risk. With an exciting, high-energy vibe, this is a great location to get a sense of the bustle of life in Tel Aviv.  

After you watch the adorable goats on the farm, sample the superb (and often quite pungent) cheeses at this charming spot. Perched on a beautiful desert hillside, the wooden restaurant offers indoor or outdoor seating and a menu that includes goat-cheese pizza, bruschetta, and calzones—there's even a tender goat-cheese cheesecake lavished in fruit sauce.

This popular Old City eatery's upstairs dining room has benches and tables inlaid with Middle Eastern designs, walls painted the soft shade of blue found inside local synagogues, and colorful carpets from all over the region. The strikingly dressed owner and chef, Ronen Jarufi, makes each meal to order. Choose from a variety of Yemenite breads—lachuch, malawa, or jachnun are all good picks—and he'll top it with homemade cheese and his own hot sauce. The place also stocks evocative Jewish music and books on Kabbalah.

A longtime favorite in Eilat, this kosher lunch place is a top-drawer example of Moroccan-Israeli cooking, all of it by an accomplished mother-and-son team. When you arrive at this simple dining room, five different salads (including cauliflower, tahini, eggplant, and hot peppers) are quickly placed in front of you, and the menu further rewards you with adventuresome entrée choices. Consider such delicacies as beef cooked with hummus (a house specialty), calves' brains served with Moroccan spices, or succulent couscous with vegetables, chickpeas, and tender chicken. No fancy pitas here—just plain bread. Dessert is specially prepared fruit, such as oranges or plums cooked until thick and soft, accompanied by fresh mint tea.

On the main highway just outside Jericho, this restaurant run by an Israeli family specializes in meat dishes like chicken schnitzel and pastries filled with spicy ground beef. The large breakfast menu features shakshuka with tomato, spices, and egg; quick bites include potato-filled pastries, hummus, and salads. Try the meat-stuffed dates, drizzled in tahini and sweet date honey, accompanied by a glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Ask owner Vered Tayeb-Sinai to show you around the family's date orchards, just behind the restaurant. The restaurant also sells boxes of dates and runs a small guesthouse for overnight stays. 

Locals hold this fish and seafood restaurant (known in Hebrew as Hamiflat Ha'acharon) in high regard and take their guests from "up north" here as a real treat. The dining room, with dark paneling and nautical motifs like ships' wheels, spills out onto a spacious balcony where diners eat beside the water, looking at Jordan across the way. Presented with a flourish are fish or crab soups, freshly caught charcoal-grilled Red Sea fish, and creamed seafood served in a seashell. A specialty here is stir-fried sea crabs, prepared with a bit of spice in olive oil and garlic. Weekends tend to be extra busy, so it's smart to reserve several days ahead (and to ask for balcony seating).

This chic bar and upscale fish restaurant overlooks the harbor at the Eilat promenade, offering white-tablecloth dining indoors and out. Recommended starters are gravlax and seafood carpaccio. Steaks are a choice entrée, but innovative, attractive fish presentations are the star of the show; portions are generous. The friendly, attentive staff can recommend a nice pairing from the extensive wine and beer menu.

At this cozy neighborhood bistro, the portions are generous, the prices extremely reasonable, and the atmosphere a friendly hubbub of clattering dishes and animated conversations. The thick menu is filled with hearty salads and pastas, as well as the signature paninis. In the warmer months, there are creative daily specials like tasty risotto. During the winter, there's a daily selection of a dozen different soups. The all-day happy hour will keep your mouth and wallet smiling.

This restaurant—part of a moshav, a kind of cooperative farm, built by Finnish Christians—was originally called Yad Hashmona, or "memorial to the eight," to atone for the Finnish government's turning over of eight Jewish countrymen to the Nazis. Call ahead to reserve a spot at the famously generous Friday brunch of salads, cheeses, quiche, and fish (NIS 110 per person) that's served in a dining room featuring wood imported from Scandinavia. From Jerusalem, take Route 1 toward Tel Aviv, exit at Neve Ilan, and follow signs to Yad Hashmona.

This unassuming spot nestled deep in the Carmel Market is a haven for meat lovers. The menu is short and the decor minimal but the quality is excellent; the restaurant is an extension of the Meat Market butcher's shop located just 25 meters away. Diners can choose between a selection of meats cooked on the charcoal grill or try the specialty dishes. The arais are a house recommendation that are well worth a try and the slow-cooked smoked shawarma elevates this classic street food to new heights. If you still have room for dessert, the Crack Pie is a sweet and sticky delight that you won't regret.  

This kosher restaurant's colorful dishes highlight Galilean delicacies, in particular the rich Israeli breakfast with homemade jams or grilled baby eggplant with tahini. For a light lunch try the plentiful salads, especially the halloumi cheese and sautéed mushrooms served over romaine lettuce. The sun-filled gallery inside the café fills the walls with color and showcases the works by artists from the local special needs community (who also receive part of the café's profits).