Best Restaurants in Israel of 2021

Foodies from all walks of life should rejoice in the amazing food and restaurant scene across Israel. As a country full of history and modernism, visitors can expect to find plenty traditional dishes with authentic flavors as well as many international influences. Across the entire nation are an incredible number of exceptional restaurants serving up some truly great Israeli cuisine that ranges between being traditional or innovative depending on what you’re looking for!

The list below celebrates those very best places so far this year, both new additions and old-time favorites alike – there’s something here for every taste bud out there!

Alena, Norman Hotel, Tel Aviv

Nachmani St 23-25, Tel Aviv-Yafo

Alena is a wonderful place to dine with family and friends. This elegant restaurant in Tel Aviv offers diners an option of being seated on the terrace, inside their beautiful dining room or even enjoy private dining in one of their rooms. The menu has everything from lamb-stuffed pasta dishes such as fresh sea bream and Lamb chops that will satisfy any palate’s desires for great tasting food! So come visit Alena today, you won’t regret it!

Michael local bistro, Nahariya

43 HaGefen St, Liman Nahariya

Pack your bags and head to northern Israel; the north is well worth it if just for this restaurant. Chef Michael Grotofsky opened this farm-to-table restaurant after running Herbert Samuel in Tel Aviv for many years. Vegetarians will be pleasantly surprised by a myriad of veg-friendly dishes like roasted beets with fresh vegetables or stuffed cabbage leaf with freekeh, herbs and olive oil–and that’s only scratching the surface!

The Michael local bistro in Nahariya is the place of locals and visitors alike to enjoy hearty meat dishes or seafood. Michael’s prime rib with bone marrow and roasted vegetables, as well as his calamari a la plancha will have you coming back for more!

Roberta Vinci, Pardes Hanna-Karkur

Ahuza St 43, Pardes Hanna-Karkur

The unassuming and quaint Italian restaurant in the outskirts of Tel Aviv will spoil you with delectable Italian food sourced from locally grown ingredients. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant is surrounded by lush green vegetation—surroundings where one would expect high quality and fresh ingredients to come from. Find dishes like papa al pomodoro soup (which translates to tomato cream vegetable soup), grilled polenta with mushrooms (polenta being a cornmeal dish usually served at breakfast time) or pumpkin risotto – an autumnal favorite that combines roasted butternut squash, garlic & sage leaves into creamy rice for a delicious combination of flavors!

Vivino, Haifa

Elizabeth Square, 1, Haifa, Israel

The restaurant Vivino is a little gem that will have you coming back for more. The food here is not only delicious but also healthy and gluten-free! There’s something to suit everyone’s tastes so it doesn’t matter what your diet or preference may be – this place has got you covered whether meat eater, vegan or seafood lover. Aside from the scrumptious menu items there are ample outdoor spaces where diners can enjoy their meal in peace whilst surrounded by natural beauty of plants and flowers which provide an ambience like no other experience found anywhere else around Haifa.

Whale, Eilat

Herods Palace Eilat Hotel, Ha-Yam St. 6, Eilat 88103 Israel

Eilat is the coastal city that has everything. A welcoming place for family and friends to come together, tasting tasty food with a focus on fish and seafood (no whale). Whale strives to keep your dining experience relaxed by incorporating fresh plants as well as plenty of natural sunlight into its design. There are many options when it comes to what you want from their menu- European Bass served in fragrant green curry sauce with Pac Choi, chestnuts, bamboo shoots or kales; perfect for any appetite!

Uri Buri, Acre

Naaman gate1, Acre, Israel

One coastal city to another, Acre is a beautiful fortified city that’s UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right. One restaurant in Acre with rave reviews across Israel is the Uri Buri fish restaurant and brainchild of renowned Israeli chef Uri Jeremias. This ancient-styled dining experience takes diners back to an era gone by where traditional patterns are on display all around you as beautifully presented dishes are served up (often times from Chef himself). With this gourmet meal being highlighted for any seafood lover – it’s undoubtedly something worth checking out while visiting these scenic shores!

Diana, Nazareth

Paulus ha-Shishi St 51, Nazareth, Israel

The Diana restaurant in Nazareth is a wonderful place with even more of an amazing backstory. In the 1960s, Diana originally opened as a cinema and one day during intermission an usher decided to cook some hot delicacies for the audience. Of course this exploded into popularity so much that from then on (and accompanied by his son) he continued cooking until it became what we know today as the renowned restaurant it is now called “Diana”. The son is Duhul Safid who has carried on all that his father began and expanded into culinary empire!