Restaurants

Hotel Dining -- Most in-house hotel restaurants in Israel are bland and overpriced; all are kosher. With a few exceptions, such as the elegant Olive Leaf at the Tel Aviv Sheraton Hotel and Towers, you'll do much better to step out and enjoy Tel Aviv's lively, wide-ranging restaurant scene.

Along Allenby Street & Southward -- This area, stretching from the beginning of Allenby Street south to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa border, is away from most tourist hotels, but contains some of the best restaurants in the country. Some fine upper-bracket restaurants are located near the booming Tel Aviv stock exchange in the area between Ahad Ha-Am Street and Rothschild Boulevard. These places can be very busy at lunchtime, but in the evening, the mood is more relaxed.

Yemenite Quarter & Carmel Market -- Walk along Allenby Street from Moghrabi Square. At 54 Allenby St., turn right and walk to the grid of little streets at its far end. This is the Yemenite Quarter (Karem Ha-Teimanim), a favorite of Tel Avivans and visitors alike. Don't let the neighborhood's appearance rattle you -- the people here are honest and respectable, and it's a perfectly safe area to traverse. Built in 1909, this is one of the oldest parts of the city. Its tangled streets harbor many restaurants; they are not especially Yemenite, but do serve some of the tastiest Middle Eastern food in Tel Aviv. Some restaurants in the quarter have become pricey and tourist oriented; listed are some of the best.

Sheinkin Street -- Beginning on the west side of Allenby Street, across from the Carmel Market, Sheinkin Street is sometimes called Tel Aviv's Greenwich Village. It's a mix of cafes, unusual shops, and family stores -- a stroll and a meal here lets you sample a slice of Tel Aviv life away from the Hotel District and the beaches. King George Street, which makes a "V" with Sheinkin Street at Allenby, is home to a number of excellent and reasonably priced bakeries if you'd like a snack to take back to your hotel room.

Neve Tzedek -- This neighborhood, the oldest in the city, is coming alive with galleries, boutiques, cafes, and a major performance and theater center after decades of neglect. The Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater is the centerpiece for the revival of the area.

Near Ibn Givrol Street, Ha-Bimah & Mann Auditoriun -- Ibn Givrol Street runs through Tel Aviv's center of culture, from the Cinémathèque at the corner of Ibn Givrol Street and Rehov Ha-Arba'a northward to Shderot Shaul Ha Melech where you'll find the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Golda Meir Performing Arts Center. This area is lined with restaurants, including choices for fine dining as well as places for quick meals and posttheater coffee and cake.

North by the Yarkon River -- The neighborhood, just south of the Yarkon River, sometimes called Little Tel Aviv, is centered on Yirmiyahu Street, a short street near the point where Ben-Yehuda and Dizengoff streets meet, a block from the bend in the Yarkon. Take a bus or a cab north on Ha-Yarkon, Ben-Yehuda, or Dizengoff streets all the way to Yirmiyahu.

In the Tel Aviv Port -- The old Tel Aviv Port, which used to be a derelict stretch of warehouses and garages along the northern stretch of Tel Aviv's beachfront, is now booming with some of the city's most stylish restaurants, shops and bars, all linked by a boardwalk promenade. There are interesting "fusion" establishments such as designer clothing/cafes, or spa/bar/restaurants. It's a great place to stroll on a summer or early fall evening, grab a bite, party hop, or dine elegantly on a terrace that overlooks the sea. Cars and taxis must stay outside the perimeter of the vast, fenced-in port, which is an added plus -- pedestrians entering the entire enclave are checked by security guards at each of the Port's gates. Things are busy through the wee hours, but the Port is also a favorite spot for a relaxing beachfront breakfast or lunch. In addition to the restaurants listed, there are snack and bakery counters, and restaurant bars for every need, ranging from the Speedo Bar (adorned with posters of models in Speedo bathing suits and a Speedo clothing boutique to attract a similarly attired clientele looking for speedy connections) to Galina (a more elegant pickup bar/restaurant) with a terrace and a horseshoe-shaped bar to facilitate eye contact); and Seabreeze Spa/Bar/Restaurant (offering a nonsmoking bar and delicious, heath-conscious meals with a massage).

To get here, take bus no. 4 or 5, or sherut no. 4. Taxis will let you off at the closest gate to the restaurant of your choice. Most people just browse and find a restaurant they'd like to try, but after 8pm or on weekends, you'll need a reservation. After dinner, you can stroll out to the old Redding Electric Plant, which is now used as a venue for exhibitions, on a distant point at the northern end of the complex.

Jabalya Beach -- About 2.4km (1 1/2 miles) south of Old Jaffa and the Port Area is Jabalya (in Hebrew sometimes "Givat Aliya") Beach. You need a car or a taxi to get to this out-of-the-way area. Tel Avivians in the know patronize the excellent seafood restaurants here, enjoying the unobstructed views of the sunset. Long neglected, this neighborhood has become a piece of prime residential real estate. There's a public beach with safe swimming, and changing rooms at the foot of the hill.

Family-Friendly Restaurants

Spaghettim, with its 60 spaghettis (including chocolate!), heads the list of good family choices, followed by the trendy Yotvata (a favorite of Tel Aviv teenagers and students, with its menu of delicious dishes and fruit drinks made from farm fresh products. No-frills Barbunya, near the hotel district, offers good fresh fish and extremely speedy service, with appetizers and seltzer included -- get there early at dinnertime. Abu Lafia's bread bakery in Jaffa sells wonderful Arabic pizzas and stuffed breads -- bring lots of napkins and do a picnic in the nearby gardens of Old Jaffa.

An Ethnic Dining Experience

If you want to sample Tel Aviv's most authentic Middle Eastern food at bargain prices and are willing to take a 15-minute bus ride, Etzel Street in the Hatikvah District of South Tel Aviv is the place to explore. Pick up southbound bus no. 16 on Allenby Street near Moghrabi Square, and ask the driver to let you off at Rehov Etzel in Hatikvah. Probably Tel Aviv's best-kept restaurant secret, Hatikvah is a vast area inhabited by Israeli families from such countries as Yemen and Iraq, and lengthy Etzel Street is virtually wall-to-wall with restaurants serving skewered meats, oriental salads, and delicious Iraqi pita breads that the waiters obtain straight from the ovens of the many bakeries that dot the street -- one of Etzel Street's mottoes is that Iraqi pita more than 3 minutes old is stale.

Here you can purchase your meals by the skewer, which means you can put together a skewer of beef and a skewer of turkey breast (about NIS16/$3.50 each in most places) plus a salad and french fries (NIS 9/$2 each), and come up with a tasty, filling meal for around NIS 45 ($10). Or you can be more daring and order breast of goose and chicken hearts and livers for the same price per skewer. The pièce de résistance of Etzel Street restaurants is the enormously rich but delicate gooseliver skewer, barbecued to perfection and going for about NIS 32 ($7). The street is like a food festival; just pick out a place that looks busy and interesting (preferably next door to a bread bakery) and grab yourself a table.

For Chocolate Lovers

Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar, 45 Rothschild Blvd. (tel. 03/560-4570), is a shop/cafe that has the best chocolate confections and pastries in the city. It's a Shangri-la for chocolate soufflés, pies, croissants, coffees, liquors, cakes, soups, and ice cream. Located on trendy Rothschild Boulevard, this is a good place for dessert after a meal in the area (or to pick up chocolates for later in your hotel room). It's open daily 10am to after midnight. Roy Chocolate, 15 Yad Harutzim St. (tel. 03/687-4411), is Tel Aviv's wonderful kosher chocolaterie. Trained in Belgium, Roy Gershon creates masterpiece chocolates of heavenly flavors and textures; interactive activities such as candy making and chocolate sculpting can be arranged. Call for details. It's open Sunday to Thursday from 8am to midnight, and Friday from 8am to 1pm. Both Roy Chocolate and Max Brenner's make stuff so rich that a little goes a long way, especially if you're on a diet or a budget!