Where to eat in Tel Aviv | Best restaurants in Tel Aviv
Are you in Tel Aviv and you are asking yourself where to eat in Tel Aviv? What are the best restaurants in Tel Aviv? In this article, you will find out our favorite places to eat in this wonderful city.
Tel Aviv, the city that never sleeps – full of clubs, coffee shops, shopping stores, and the most important endless food options. From simple falafel stands to luxurious gourmet restaurants, Tel Aviv is a food Mecca for foodies, and people who love to eat. So, if you are into food and you plan to visit Tel Aviv – be prepared for a culinary ride of your life.
Where to eat in Tel Aviv? Let’s explore some of the best food establishments that Tel Aviv has to offer:
Thai House Restaurant
For more than 2 decades, this place stands proud as the leading Thai restaurant in Tel Aviv and probably in the whole of Israel. It’s all the time full and the food is always delicious and exciting. On the menu, you can find all the classic Thai dishes from all of Thailand’s regions.
The food is made every day from fresh ingredients, you can be sure that you will get an authentic Thai experience. We especially recommend their famous ‘Som Tam’ salad of sliced green papaya with cherry tomato, yard-long beans, fish sauce, crushed peanuts, and garlic. Tasty and refreshing.
It is advised to make a reservation before you go, the restaurant is usually fully booked.
Sabich Frishman
In the heart of Tel Aviv, right on the cross of the main Dizingof and Frishman street, hides a tiny tiny sabich food joint. This place is so small you can barely see it from the street, but luckily you can spot a long long queue of restless hungry people just waiting to get their hands on this mouth-watering sandwich.
On the menu you have two options to choose from, one is classic sabich with fresh hot deep-fried eggplant, salads of your pick, potato and egg, hummus, tahini, and amba sauces. The other option is almost the same just instead of sauces you get Bulgarian cheese. We recommend trying both of them, its absolutely delicious.
Shlomo & Doron Hummus
Since 1937 (yes that long) this place serves their legendary hummus to the hungry masses. Spotted next to the famous ‘Carmel market’, surrounded by so many great food stalls and restaurants, this place still draws people from all over the world every day to feast on the tasty hummus dishes.
On the menu, you can find almost all types of hummus, but hummus ful (hummus with warm lava beans) is their specialty. Hummus plates come in 3 different sizes S/M/B so you can pick depending on how hungry you are. We also recommend trying their Lahoh (Yemen pancake-like bread) to wipe your hummus plate with. This place doesn’t receive credit cards so bring some cash with you.
Brasserie M&R
So nice to know that on the weekends after partying all night in Tel Aviv’s clubs and bars (instead of compromise on some fast junk food) the Brasserie is always there to satisfy your high standards taste buds. Opened 7 days a week for 24/7, this classic French cuisine restaurant is one of the best of its genre.
The place has different menus for each time of the day and also each day different specials. All the dishes are classical French and are made to perfection. Be careful not to get full of their home-baked bread and butter while you wait for the main course.
Miznon
In the Miznon they take the pita bread sandwiches to new heights. Eyal Shani (famous Israeli chef) took the concept from simple common street food and made it into gourmet food. We are talking about pita bread – in Miznon restaurant almost all the main dishes come in pita bread, you have a big variety of fillings you can choose from.
The menu often changes but some popular dishes are always there like ‘intimi’ (an overnight slow-cooked stew of high-quality beef meat, root vegetables) or ‘lavan’ (chunks of cauliflower on the grill with tahini sauce, grilled tomatoes, and green onions). There are also great side dishes like whole baked sweet potato with Atlantic sea salt or a whole cauliflower covered in olive oil baked in the oven.
The prices are quite expensive (for a pita dish) but you won’t leave hungry, there is always a free buffet of sliced pita bread, tahini sauce, grated fresh tomatoes, crème fraîche, homemade pickles, and spicy green chili sauce. The atmosphere in the place is very unique and it can get very noisy sometimes, especially in the evenings times when it gets to a party-like vibe. It’s common that the staff will offer you free alcohol shots and raise a cheer with everyone.
HaKosem
This modern street food place represents almost everything about the Israeli cuisine, you can find there all the dishes that Israelis love, but above all stands their famous falafel. The place is very popular among the locals and usually, during rush hours there’s a long queue of people waiting.
The design of the place is very cool with its open kitchen view, and you can see how the staff cooks the food. While you are waiting in line, someone will approach you and offer you falafel balls to ease the hunger and the wait. On the menu beside the falafel, you can find Sabich, Shawarma, hummus, schnitzel, Moroccan fish, shakshuka and big delicious salads. Everything is super fresh and made with love.
Vitrina
In the past years the trend of fancy burgers took over Tel Aviv, there are so many great burger joints in this city but Vitrina is definitely at the top five. On the menu, you can find different kinds of juicy burgers like their famous ‘Butler Cheese Burger’- high-quality beef, Aioli sauce, pickles, homemade onion jam, gouda cheese, and blue cheese.
You also have the great vegetarian option, the ‘Golden State Veggie’ – thousand island dressing, iceberg lettuce, tomato, fried onions and big portobello mushroom filled with Cheddar and gouda cheese. You also can’t miss their crunchy mix fries of potato and sweet potato. Be aware that during rush hours there will be a very long queue and the waiting time can be more than 30 min.
Toto
Fine dining at its best, if your heart desires a luxurious gourmet food, this is the place for you. High standards from the hosts and staff to the smallest details of design, and of course the highest quality of ingredients known to the gourmet culinary world.
Toto serves fusion food of Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, on the menu you can find delicious pasta dishes alongside grilled eggplant salads and fresh local fishes. Toto’s most popular dish is the chestnut gnocchi – a mouth-melting potato ricotta cheese gnocchi cooked in salty butter with chestnuts, covered with thick grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, an absolute must!
The restaurant attracts a lot of Israeli celebrities and it’s common to find yourself seated next to a table of some famous people. Dress up fancy for this place, it is also advised to book a table in advance.
Sultana – Vegan BBQ
Tel Aviv is known for being the world’s capital of vegan food, and for plant-based eaters, this city is a paradise. No more compromising on plain salads or boring side dishes. Here is the real deal and you can find many innovative vegan food places that don’t fall in taste or creativity from the meat/fish restaurants.
Sultana is relatively new in the Tel Aviv’s food scene but already has been a success, even the internationally famous chef Jamie Oliver came to have a bite of this delicious vegan street food. Sultana serves a plant-based BBQ food but the highlight of the place is their shawarma wich made out of mushrooms and soy. It is made on a grill Shawarma Wheel like any regular meat shawarma, on the top of the wheel instead of lamb fat they put caramelized onions that drip on the mushrooms and adds more flavor.
You can get the shawarma in pita or laffa (taboon bread) with salads, pickles, and sauces to your pick, also optional to get it on a plate without bread. For a side dish, they have amazing and very quick deep-fried thorn potatoes chunks. The food is so good even meat lovers will enjoy it.
Ernesto 90
Since 1997, in our eyes, this true Italian classic restaurant deserves to be at the top of Italian restaurants in Israel. The Italian food is very popular in Israel and there’s a lot of good Italian restaurants, but still, there is some kind of special magic in Ernesto.
You enter the restaurant space and you feel like you transported yourself back in time to one of Rome’s most romantic restaurants. The atmosphere is very casual and happy, and it draws a lot of Italian speaking tourists, which adds a little bit more to the Italian vibe. On the menu are traditional dishes, if available you should definitely try their ‘Carciofo alla Romana’ – Artichoke saute with mint leaves (served only in season), another great starter dish is ‘Fiori di Zucca fritti’ – Fried zucchini flowers filled with mozzarella cheese and anchovies.
For the main course, we recommend ‘Spaghetti Aglio olio ai Frutti di mare’ – Mix seafood spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, parsley, and spices or just go for one of their creamy delicious lasagnas. It is recommended to add wine for this feast celebration.
Chinese Bao Buns
Once you get to Tel Aviv central station, you will feel you came to a whole different country. In Israel, there are a lot of work immigrants and most of them settled in this southern area of the city and with them, they brought their food and culture. You will see a lot of Injera (national dish of Ethiopia and Eritrea) food joints around.
In the middle of all hides a small and very poor looking Chinese restaurant – but in what it lacks with the appearance it covers up with absolute delicious savory umami food. On the menu, you will find a lot of traditional Chinese dishes but the most popular is the stir-fried veggie noodles with chicken or tofu, don’t forget to try also one of their massive steam buns.
The Tel Aviv food scene is one of the most exciting in the world, and these recommendations are just the tip of the iceberg. If you come to visit this city you should save some special time just to explore the food and restaurants this wonderful city has to offer. You will enjoy, that’s for sure.
