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Jerusalem’s dining scene is smaller and more modest than Tel Aviv's, but is steeped in 4,000 years of culinary traditions. Among Jewish residents, more than a century of immigration has infused the local fare with the best of Kurdish, Moroccan, French, Polish, Yemenite, and Italian flavors. On the Palestinian side, most restaurants rely on a rich heritage of family cooking. On both sides, an elite class of chefs has begun combining the best of local ingredients with advanced cooking techniques and imaginative serving styles.
All this is to say that when you’re in Jerusalem you can enjoy the best of both worlds: hole-in-the-wall eateries brimming with aromatic stews and garlicky hummus or high-end dining rooms serving inspired and elegant riffs on the city’s flavors and produce.
Some cuisine designations are self-explanatory, but other terms may be confusing. A restaurant billing itself as "dairy" will serve meals without meat; many such places do serve fish, in addition to pasta, soup, and salads. "Oriental" usually means Middle Eastern (in contrast to Western), often meaning hummus, kebabs, and stews.
The term kosher doesn’t imply a particular style of cooking, only that the cooks followed Jewish dietary law in selecting and preparing the food. In Jerusalem, where there are many kosher standards from which to choose, the selection can be dizzying. But unless specific kosher standards govern your eating habits, don't worry. Jerusalem is home to dozens of kosher restaurants preparing excellent food. Remember that most kosher restaurants are closed for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch in observation of the Jewish Sabbath. A generous handful of nonkosher cafés, bars, and restaurants remain open all weekend.
Dress codes are pretty much nonexistent in Jerusalem's restaurants (as in the rest of Israel). People tend to dress casually—jeans are perfectly appropriate almost everywhere anytime. A modicum of neatness and modesty (trousers instead of jeans, a button-down shirt instead of a T-shirt) might be expected in the more exclusive establishments. In conservative neighborhoods, women will feel more comfortable covered up. If you brought the kids, you're in luck: nearly every Israeli restaurant is kid-friendly, and many have special menus and high chairs.
This Viennese-style second-floor garden café in a guesthouse for pilgrims is a refined retreat from the chaos of the Old City markets down below. Lunch and dinner are available, and the deep burgundy walls, wooden tables, and classical music make this a lovely wintertime spot for light fare or dessert. Ask at reception about visiting the rooftop for a small fee: the views of the Old City are gorgeous.
Jaffar specializes in kunafe, the Nablus sweet made of goat cheese topped with syrupy semolina crumbles. You may be tempted to split your first plate, but the treat soon grows addictive. Jaffar also makes sheets of golden baklava topped with nuts. It's a landmark, visited by locals and tourists alike, so anyone in the Old City can help you find it.
When aficionados of local standards like garlicky hummus, skewered shish kebabs, fried chicken schnitzel, and bean soup argue hotly about the merits of their favorite eateries, Pinati—which means "corner" in Hebrew—comes up as a leading contender. It's now a chain, but this simple downtown spot remains a convenient place to rub shoulders with locals while eating expertly prepared food. Not for long, though: your table will soon be in demand, and you will have to share at peak times.
Mo Tahhan opened this cheery café in the space that was once his father's travel agency with the vision of creating a gathering spot as comfy and as fun as your living room at home. Staff often joins patrons for a chat on the bright blue couches and encourages them to add or take from the in-house library stocked with a selection of English-language books. Changing daily specials include maqloubeh, a Palestinian rice and chicken dish, or the bright orange knaffeh, the traditional cheese pastry soaked in syrup, for dessert. Excellent coffee, pastries, Wi-Fi, and in-house printers create a kind of coworking vibe during the day, but the wine list and excellent pastas also attract more serious diners later on.
In the heart of the Old City, this place has some of the best hummus in town, served fast to locals crammed around rickety tables under fluorescent lights. Enjoy the excellent falafel, eggplant salad, and labaneh (a slightly tart yogurt drizzled with olive oil and spices). Eat family style and don't order too much, as you can get additional portions on the spot.
This excellent authentic coffee shop in the Muslim Quarter serves traditional brewed coffee alongside a sesame cookie, as well as freshly squeezed pomegranate and other juices.
Steps from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Palestinians crowd into this tiny, bare-bones spot to tuck into hammam mehshi, or stuffed pigeon. It's a delicately flavored specialty served with salads and rice. You can also opt for stuffed chicken, grilled lamb chops, or fried liver, all made fresh by the friendly proprietor. Get here early—it closes at 6 pm.
Cholent is a dish that evolved from necessity: Jewish law forbids cooking on the Sabbath, and so observant Jews often start a stew on Friday that will be ready the following afternoon. Every Jewish community has its own recipe, but in Jerusalem the best place to try cholent is in the ultra-Orthodox quarter of Me'a She'arim, where on Thursday nights locals crowd into Deitsch for a plate straight out of Poland. You'll be served a rich brown stew with a few vegetables and a dumpling. Dress modestly, and expect to be the only patrons not wearing black and white.
It's hard not to wolf down these pita sandwiches stuffed with seared entrecote, osso buco, or fried red mullet, and there's crispy cauliflower too. Shots of arak are available as well, on the house.
Part coffee shop, part bookstore, this spot has an endless trove of literature exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict from a Palestinian perspective. Take a volume upstairs and peruse it over a lunch of a savory manaqeesh bread topped with thyme and olive oil, freshly made labaneh cheese, or salmon sandwiches. Turkish coffee is brewed fresh on an orange camping stove. Ask about upcoming lectures and movie screenings.
Share a long wooden table with university students at this restaurant named for a soup pot and enjoy an ever-changing menu of hearty soups and stews served with white bread, butter, and pesto. Shakshuka (a tangy dish of eggs, tomatoes, garlic, and onions), interesting salads, and other vegetarian and vegan options complete the menu. There's a piano in the corner, a box of old records, and a chandelier made of spoons. In winter, ask about live jazz in the evening, usually Wednesday.
The sign is only in Hebrew at this hole-in-the-wall stand, which features what many say is the best sabich in the city. The Middle Eastern street food staple has thin slices of fried eggplant combined with hard-boiled egg and your choice of greens, wrapped in a laffa (flatbread) or stuffed into a pita, then topped with tehina and/or amba, a tangy, pickled mango sauce. If you haven't yet been introduced to sabich, this is is the place to be initiated. The hours? Until the eggplant runs out. There are vegetarian and vegan options.
All walks of life share elbow space at this casual eatery's long bar inlaid with Armenian painted tiles. The hummus here is especially tasty and is served from morning until well after midnight.
With an upstairs dining area, Lina offers a respite from the hubbub of the Old City. Hand-ground hummus is the main event here, and you can order it topped with chickpeas, fava beans, or pine nuts. You can also sample the yogurt-cheese called labaneh and wash it down with freshly pressed fruit juice.
This farm-to-table café situated in the Hansen House complex in the German Colony neighborhood offers fresh salads, goat cheeses, and baked vegetable dishes served in a cozy setting of vintage tables and chairs. The other Offaime locations are in the Israel Museum and Beit Hakerem.
Locals swear by this deli's inexpensive sandwiches, which come piled high with smoked meats, exotic cheeses, or pickled herring. Meat and dairy are prepared in separate kitchens, so you have an unusually wide range of choices for a non-certified kosher eatery, and it offers vegan-friendly options as well. It's also a great place to pick up a fresh pastry, a bottle of wine, or a block of cheese, which you can enjoy at one of the deli's few street-side tables. They'll pack a picnic as well.
This cozy restaurant bar pays special attention to vegetarian and vegan entrees, alongside carefully concocted cocktails. The Jerusalem Mix, a tempeh and portobello mushroom dish served on a grilled pita with tahini is a wonder. Be sure to order the polenta fries.
