Eating Out in Jerusalem: How to Choose, and Where to Start

Restaurant lists go stale faster than anything else on a city site: places close, certificates change, and the hours on Google are wrong by Friday. So this guide is about the things that do not change. How the meat and dairy split shapes a Jerusalem menu, what the certificate on the wall tells you, which streets to walk down for which kind of meal, and the handful of local habits that catch newcomers out.

Meat or dairy, never both

Every kosher restaurant in the city is either basari (meat) or chalavi (dairy), and that decides the menu before the chef does. A meat place has no cheese, no cream sauces and no milk in the coffee; a dairy place has fish, pasta, shakshuka and cheese but no chicken or beef. Deciding which you want is the first question in any Jerusalem dinner conversation. A small number of restaurants are not kosher at all, mostly in the city centre, and a few keep kosher without a certificate; the kashrut guide explains how to tell.

Reading the certificate

The teudah by the door shows the certifying body, whether the standard is regular Rabbanut or mehadrin, and the expiry date. If your family keeps a particular standard, learn its symbol in your first month and the question answers itself. A place open on Shabbat cannot hold a Rabbinate certificate, which is also how you know whether Friday night is an option.

Where the clusters are

• Mahane Yehuda and Agrippas: the best eating in the city, from the grills and hummus counters by day to the small bars and kitchens that take over the alleys at night. Loud, busy, mostly walk-in.
• The city centre (Ben Yehuda, Hillel, Shlomtzion, Yoel Salomon): pubs, pizza, cafés, steakhouses and the tourist traps in between. The non-kosher restaurants are concentrated here.
• Mamilla and the Old City edge: smarter, pricier, with terraces and a view; where you take visiting family.
• Emek Refaim and the German Colony: neighbourhood restaurants and cafés, family-friendly, quieter, with the Anglo crowd.
• The First Station: a row of restaurants and bars in the old railway station, good with children, and one of the few places with Shabbat activity.
• Talpiot: the industrial zone has the city's best-value meat restaurants and bakeries, with no atmosphere whatsoever.

The situations

• Cheap lunch: the shuk's hummus, shawarma and grill counters, the bakeries on Agrippas, and the business-lunch deals (iskit) that most restaurants run midday Sunday to Thursday.
• With small children: the First Station, Emek Refaim, and anywhere with outdoor seating; Israeli restaurants are relaxed about children, and high chairs are normal.
• A big family table: book several days ahead, say how many, and expect to be asked to confirm; Talpiot and the centre have the rooms that fit fifteen.
• Open on Shabbat: a small number of non-kosher restaurants in the centre, hotel dining rooms, and parts of the First Station. Everything else closes.
• Late at night: the Agrippas grills and the shuk bars; most kitchens stop around midnight, later on Saturday night.
• Vegetarian and vegan: unusually easy, because dairy restaurants are half the city and Israeli cooking is vegetable-first.

Booking, paying and tipping

1. Book for Thursday and Saturday nights and for anything above four people; Sunday to Wednesday you can walk in.
2. Prices are high for kosher meat and reasonable for dairy and street food; the lunch deal is the value in any restaurant.
3. Tipping is expected at around ten to fifteen per cent, in cash where possible because it is not always shared through the till.
4. Water is served free on request; ask for mayim.
5. Service charge is rarely added automatically; check the bill before adding a tip.

How we pick

Three tests that survive any menu: is the place full of locals rather than tourists at a normal hour, does the certificate on the wall match your standard and today's date, and does it do one thing rather than everything. Beyond that, the community groups are better than any list, because they update themselves; the community guide explains which ones to join. For what happens after dinner, see the nightlife guide.

Hebrew you will meet

• basari / chalavi / parve — meat / dairy / neither
• teudat kashrut — kosher certificate
• iskit — the business lunch deal
• cheshbon — the bill
• mayim — water
• mana — a portion or dish

More everyday words are in our Hebrew vocabulary guide.

Common questions

Are restaurants in Jerusalem kosher?

Most are, and each is either meat or dairy. A minority in the city centre are not kosher, and a few keep kosher without a certificate. The teudah by the door is the answer.

What is open to eat on Shabbat in Jerusalem?

Hotel dining rooms, a few non-kosher restaurants in the centre, and parts of the First Station. Everything else is closed from Friday afternoon until Saturday night.

Where is the best food in Jerusalem?

Mahane Yehuda and the streets around it, by a distance: the grills and hummus by day, the small kitchens and bars at night. Talpiot has the best value and Mamilla the best view.

Do I need to book?

For Thursday and Saturday nights and for groups, yes, a few days ahead. Early in the week you can usually walk in.

Somewhere we should mention? Tell us and we will fix it.