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Eating & Drinking in Tel Aviv
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Tel Aviv has an easy-going café culture. Cafés act as second homes to sit outside and enjoy the usual good weather while meeting friends or reading the newspaper. In addition to their coffee they also have their light meals, and are usually just steps away from the beach (you'll also discover your favorites down the trendy Sheinken St.) For fuller meals, the more recent high-end restaurants offer refined cuisines and spaces where you no longer simply expect falafels or hummus, but artfully presented dishes with international flavors. Tel Avivians are proud of their new and sophisticated restaurant scene, flocking to the latest hotspots as soon as they open. Some don't survive the new competition, while others are inspired by it and try hard to keep things interesting.
CAFÉ CAFÉ - Rothschild Blvd. (and various other locations)
This chain café has several branches around the city, where you can sit outside and enjoy freshly squeezed juices and light meals. It's a good choice for breakfast.
MANTA RAY - Alma Beach
Start your day with the fresh air of the beach as you sit for breakfast at Manta Ray. It is always full at any time of the day and especially for dinner, but even better is going first thing in the morning, when freshly baked bread, French toast, cheeses, or eggs are served until noon. During the rest of the day the menu offers fresh fish and seafood dishes.
SHINE CAFÉ - 38 Shlomo HaMelech St.
Vegetarian? This is the place for you. It's a lovely café with a white minimalist interior, although you'll probably be sitting outside along with everyone else. The city's young and smart population chooses to have brunch here, or show up for champagne cocktails later in the day. A menu of light salads and sandwiches is served throughout the day, as are cappuccinos with soy milk.
Max Brenner
The New York branches may actually be more famous, but this is where Max Brenner started. It's a "chocolate bar" where everything is made with cocoa, a tempting option for breakfast or a stop for a morning waffle or crépe, or simply an afternoon break for a chocolate pizza or chocolate fondue.
ORNA AND ELLA - 33 Sheinken St.
This famous café/restaurant is a true survivor in a city where eateries open and close almost every day. The location on Sheinken Street has certainly helped it during its almost two decades, but what has made this a local favorite are the fresh ingredients bought at the market used to create a menu that changes every week. You can always expect home-style gourmet dishes and a variety of salads, pastas, and sandwiches. It's also got some excellent pastries, worth waiting on the long lines for.
PUAH - 3 Rabbi Yohanan
Take a break at this retro café when you visit Jaffa. You can simply have coffee or stay for a light meal of some excellent and healthy salads and soups. You can sit indoors or outside watching the people on their way to or from the flea market.
EVITA - 31 Yavne St.
Laid-back café during the day; drinking hotspot at night. Pass by for a light lunch and return at night when a mixed crowd (this is also one of the city's most popular gay destinations) gets together for cocktails.
Catit - 4 Haychal Hatalmud
Located in a renovated Ottoman villa in the nouveau riche neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, this gourmet restaurant serves fine French food mixed with Mediterranean and North African flavors. It's one of the city's best dining experiences, with local foodies and wealthier visitors filling its elegant dining area and back garden.
Sushi Samba TLV
You probably already know this restaurant from other cities around the world, especially the original one in New York. It's a successful restaurant offering a seemingly unusual Japanese and Brazilian fusion cuisine, but that als serves some excellent sushi. The Tel Aviv branch is found in a sleek space covering two floors, with the bar on the lower level filled with the city's beautiful people.
Mul Yam
The name is Hebrew for "across the sea," and that's a perfect way to describe the menu. This is the country's best seafood restaurant (and one of the best overall), located in the old port area of Tel Aviv. The extensive wine selections are excellent, and are chosen to go perfectly with the inventive cuisine.
Herbert Samuel
Tel Aviv's most fashionable crowds love this restaurant overlooking the beach. It serves French-Italian haute cuisine by celebrity chef Jonathan Roshfeld in tapas-sized portions and offers some fine vintage wines to go with that. It also has a fantastic interior, with a huge wooden bar that's a popular hangout for the rich and beautiful.
Zepra
The creative Asian cuisine is not the only thing that stood out when this restaurant opened. It also got some rave reviews for its stunning cutting-edge décor, and is now one of the city's top gastronomic experiences.
ORCA - 57 Nahalat Binyamin
Innovative French and Italian dishes have made this restaurant in a classic Bauhaus building one of the city's best. Among the highlights on the menu are seafood dishes, served by a stylish staff that matches the elegant design of the space. You'll also find an excellent wine list which includes exclusive house wines.
MESSA - 19 Haarbaah Street
One of the trendiest and most stylish restaurants in the city, Messa matches the chic décor with an exciting fusion menu and impressive wine list. Many of the dishes combine French, Kurdish, and local flavors, while the sleek bar is a hip spot for drinks.
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