New Yorkers in the mood for good Israeli food can get their fill without ever leaving town — the city is filled with excellent, often Instagram-friendly Israeli restaurants drawing on the country’s diverse cultural influences.
While hole-in-the-wall hummus-centric cafes have existed in and around New York for ages, the American appetite for modern fusion cuisine coming out of Israel — embracing the Middle Eastern, North African, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish flavors — is a relatively new phenomenon.
Back in 2004 when Israeli chef Efi Naon opened Taboon on a somewhat desolate block of Hell’s Kitchen, it had few cognates. “There wasn’t anything like modern Israeli food [in New York],” Naon recently said. “Taboon was the first one, the landmark. We opened the door.”
According to the doyenne of Jewish food, Joan Nathan, interest in Israeli food on American shores — and New York City in particular — accelerated as a handful of Israel-American chefs became celebrities and as internet culture turned cuisine global.
“It was a confluence of successful restaurants that opened around the country, like Alon Shaya’s in New Orleans and Michael Solomonov’s in Philadelphia, books and articles that were written [about Israeli food], and the internet that came of age,” Nathan said, adding that American Jews began to shift away heavy deli fare and toward healthier, Mediterranean-style eating.
Here in New York, Taboon — where many of its dishes were cooked in a wood-fired clay oven — was plucked out of relative oblivion by New York magazine’s then-restaurant critic, Adam Platt, who described its food as “satisfying and refined.” Soon, other restaurants with Israeli fusion menus began popping up in the city, including Barbounia in Flatiron in 2005 and Einat Admony’s Balaboosta in 2010.
These days, Israeli restaurants are numerous across the city, and are no stranger to “best of” lists. Falafel Tanami, a modest Israeli-owned joint in Midwood, Brooklyn, was named to the New York Times’ list of best restaurants in New York City two years in a row, while a table at Michael Solomonov’s Laser Wolf — a rooftop skewer house in Brooklyn — is still tough to come by two years after it opened.
As we compiled this list, we knowingly (and agonizingly) left many excellent spots on the table, so to speak, including modern classics Dagon and Miriam. The restaurants we’ve spotlighted here all have something a bit extra, be it a spotlight on a lesser-known Israeli food (as in the case of Kubeh in Greenwich Village) to delicious dips served with a heaping portion of live music at Harlem’s Silvana.
Did we neglect to include your favorite Israeli restaurant on our list? Tell us about an establishment we missed, and why it has your heart. Your answers may be included in a follow-up story.
1 | 12 Chairs Cafe
Cozy and affordable; known for its weekend-only Yemenite specialty, jachnun
Yemenite jachnun is a popular weekend special at 12 Chairs. (Courtesy)
12 Chairs describes itself as “an approachable neighborhood restaurant” that transports diners to Tel Aviv “without leaving New York.” This proudly Israeli restaurant started as a small cafe — hence the name — more than 20 years ago; it’s now a restaurant in two locations known for its warm atmosphere, fair prices and great food. Many Jews in-the-know, including actor Ari’el Stachel, head there for the jachnun — a hand-rolled, Yemenite dough that is cooked overnight with date honey ($14) — which is served on weekends only. Fortunately, delicious salads, spreads and sandwiches are available every day, including schnitzel served as part of a platter, as a sandwich and atop a salad ($28, $18 and $19, respectively).
342 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn | 56 MacDougal St., Soho, Manhattan
2 | 19 Cleveland
For expat Israelis, a piece of Tel Aviv in downtown Manhattan
Jerusalem-style burekas benedict at 19 Cleveland. (Courtesy)
This lively eatery is described on its website as “our Israeli restaurant in NYC,” and it’s easy to see why: The space, adorned with greenery and whitewashed walls, is exuberant and noisy, with warm waitstaff and food that reflects the influence of cuisine from Israel as well countries as far-flung as France, Japan, Yemen, Peru and Morocco. “Our menu reflects the international pulse of contemporary Tel Aviv, a hub of first-generation immigrants,” says 19 Cleveland’s website. “Over the last half-century, people from every corner of the globe have met and mingled in this city, where they’ve shared their customs, and of course, their cuisine.” Choose from Greek lamb chops served with crispy garlic potatoes and tzatziki ($39), grilled halloumi cheese with pickled peach and urfa peppers ($18), falafel balls ($14) or three types of hummus ($16-$19).
19 Cleveland Pl., Nolita, Manhattan
3 | Balaboosta
An early purveyor of upscale Israeli cuisine in NYC
Chef Einat Admony in front of her NYC restaurant Balaboosta. (Courtesy)
Popular Yemenite-Persian Israeli chef Einat Admony is another chef who created a market for the Israeli flavors that were largely unknown in New York when when she first arrived here — including labneh, the creamy, tangy white cheese, and schug, the fiery Yemenite hot sauce that her father adored. Both ingredients are on the menu at Balaboosta, Admony’s flagship restaurant that means “perfect housewife” in Yiddish. Treat yourself to her Yemenite soup dumplings stuffed with beef ($16) or the tahdig, a crispy Persian rice flavored with saffron and studded with pistachios and cranberries ($19, serves 2).
611 Hudson St., West Village, Manhattan
4 | Barbounia
Flawless food and friendly staff
A cross-section of the tasty bites available at Barbounia. (Courtesy)
Go for the warm vibe and Israeli music, stay for the salads that never disappoint, such as the smoked trout that comes with labneh, dill, scallions, olive oil and trout roe ($15) or the lamb kofta kebab “terracotta” that comes with tomato confit, red onions, tahini and pine nuts and is covered with a flatbread dome ($39). For dessert, try the spiced milk ice cream topped with silan (date syrup) and shredded halva, and you will find yourself dreaming of more. Barbounia opened in 2005, and it has been around for nearly 20 years because it is that good.
250 Park Ave. South, Flatiron, Manhattan
5 | Breads Bakery
Light Israeli bites — and the city’s best babka
Breads Bakery bakes black and whites with their signature laminated dough. (Ashley Solter)
Breads is more of a bakery than a restaurant, though the chain offers a compact menu of Israeli-inflected bites including sandwiches, soups and salads. Don’t miss their Tunisian tuna sandwich ($15.25) — featuring hard-boiled eggs, potato and harissa — that is popular at Israeli eateries around the world. Breads, which first opened in New York in 2013, is an offshoot of Lechamim, Uri Sheft’s chain of bakeries in Tel Aviv. Now with five locations around Manhattan, Breads enjoyed almost immediate success when people discovered its exceptional chocolate babka made with Nutella and dark chocolate ($17.50), but it’s a great place to grab breakfast or lunch, too.
Five locations around Manhattan
6 | Falafel Tanami
The New York Times’ favorite falafel joint
Galit Tanami, the owner of Falafel Tanami, shown in her restaurant, which was named one of the 100 best restaurants in New York by The New York Times. (Julia Gergely, design by Mollie Suss)
They say that cream rises to the top, and in Falafel Tanami’s case, the falafel balls do, too. This small, unassuming falafel shop was named one of the 100 best restaurants in New York City by the New York Times’ chief restaurant critic, Pete Wells, two years in a row. “The falafel are extraordinary,” Wells wrote in 2023. “The thick cushions of pita, baked to order, may be better yet. It’s hard not to go wild with the salads and vegetables and garlic, all as fresh as if you were standing in a market in Tel Aviv.” Drop by for a small, affordable snack — a falafel half-pita will set you back $6 — or spring for a falafel plate ($20) that comes with up to 11 add-ons, including pickles, two kinds of cabbage and amba. Kosher.
1305 East 17th St., Midwood, Brooklyn
7 | Frena
Pioneering chef serves elevated Israeli cuisine made in a clay oven
Left: The clay oven, or frena, gives the restaurant its name. Right: Frena’s airy interior. (Rachel Ringler, Armando Rafael)
Chef Efi Naon was one of the first chefs to introduce inventive Israeli cuisine to New York City when he opened Taboon in Hell’s Kitchen more than 20 years ago. Nearly three years after the buzzy eatery was destroyed in a fire, Naon reopened a restaurant in the same location under a new name: Frena, named in honor of the Moroccan bread he makes in the restaurant’s clay oven, which is also known as a frena. All of the main courses are prepared in the dome-shaped oven, including halibut in a tomato and preserved lemon ragout ($48) or the signature lamb terracotta, featuring Colorado lamb in a clay pot topped with flatbread ($48). The salads are brightly flavored, like the matbucha ($12), made of roasted tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Don’t sleep on the desserts — it’s not every day that you can enjoy a biscuit cake made from chocolate cream, cheesecake mousse and hazelnut crumble ($15).
773 10th Ave., Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
8 | Kubeh
Comforting and delicious Middle Eastern stuffed dumplings
Kubeh in broth is a signature dish at Chef Melanie Shurka’s establishment. (Shannon Sarna)
In 2017, Chef Melanie Shurka created a restaurant built around kubeh, the stuffed dumplings that she learned to make in Israel where she apprenticed in the kitchens of Jewish grandmothers who hailed from Iraq, Kurdistan and Syria. “Kubeh, kibbeh, kabbah — they’re all the same,” she told the New York Jewish Week last December about her lovingly hand-rolled dumplings, explaining that the word comes from the Arabic verb meaning “to roll, make something round.” At her laid-back Greenwich Village establishment, you can get dishes like hummus and labneh, but it is the kubeh that draws a crowd — get it stuffed with slow-cooked beef in your choice of broth ($21), or fried and stuffed with ground beef, cinnamon and pine nuts ($14).
464 Sixth Ave., Greenwich Village, Manhattan
9 | Laser Wolf
Charcoal-grilled meats with a stellar rooftop view
Mike Solomonov, co-owner of Laser Wolf, checks in on a table. (Colby Kingston)
What makes Laser Wolf so special: Is it the food or is it the view? At Michael Solomonov’s indoor-outdoor eatery atop Williamsburg’s Hoxton hotel, with outstanding views of the Manhattan skyline, it’s both. “It’s hot as shit and there’s smoke everywhere,” Solomonov once told us, describing a typical shipudiya, or Israeli skewer house. “It feels very much like a Tel Aviv restaurant.” Meals begin with hummus and an assortment of all-you-can-eat salatim, or fresh Israeli salads; they’re included with the variety of charcoal-grilled skewers on offer, including brisket kebab ($52) and salmon shishlik ($56). Also included: brown sugar soft-serve ice cream and jaw-dropping views.
97 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
10 | Malka
Creative kosher Israeli cuisine
Eyal Shani at Malka in Tel Aviv. The Israeli celebrity chef opened a second outpost — his first-ever kosher restaurant outside Israel — on the Upper West Side in November 2023. (Ariel Efron)
You don’t have to keep kosher to enjoy the food at Malka, Eyal Shani’s kosher restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side — his first kosher establishment outside of Israel. The Israeli celebrity chef doesn’t keep kosher himself, but he told us last fall that he noticed that those who adhere to this Jewish law were “craving” his food. “How can I make food without letting half of my people eat it?” he said. “That is the main reason I opened Malka.” The chicken schnitzel ($41) is a signature dish — it’s large, crispy, stuffed with mashed potatoes and presented on a large board surrounded by dipping sauces. Just like Shani’s establishments across the globe, Malka is lively and noisy with food that is fresh and meant to be shared. Kosher.
161 West 72nd St., Upper West Side, Manhattan
11. Mesiba
A party in name and in spirit
Diners enjoy the crispy whole fish and frena bread at Mesiba. (Justin Oppus)
With its lively vibe, frequent appearances by Israeli DJs and design inspired by Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus architecture, Mesiba, which means “party” in Hebrew, promises — and delivers! — a party every night. The dishes at Chef Eli Buliskeria’s restaurant are meant to be shared, including the large-format whole fried fish paired with spicy carrot zhoug ($68), and don’t miss the msabbaha cart ($20), in which fresh hummus is prepared tableside. “This combination of the good music, good food and drinks makes people come and feel the party energy,” Buliskeria told us earlier this year. “The food is meant to be shared, no one is sitting there having his dish and that’s it. The idea is that it’s all together, it’s sharing together, singing together and showing up together.”
353 Bedford Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
12 | Mimi’s Hummus
Casual hummus hotspot in leafy Ditmas Park
Hummus is a specialty at Mimi’s Hummus, though there are other dishes on offer, too. (Iskra Corvino)
Don’t be fooled by the name. You can get creamy, delicious hummus served with fluffy pita at Mimi’s, but there are other delights on offer at this casual spot, too. Dig into the moussaka made from ground beef, potato, eggplant, tomato and cinnamon crowned with a bechamel sauce ($22) or the shawarma pita stuffed with chicken, yogurt, cucumbers and amba, an Iraqi mango condiment ($15). Don’t miss the malabi, a soft panna cotta-like pudding made with rosewater ($8).
1209 Cortelyou Rd., Ditmas Park, Brooklyn
13 | Miss Ada
Modern Mediterranean food in the heart of Fort Greene
The interior at Brooklyn’s punnily named Miss Ada. (Courtesy)
The restaurant’s name is a play on the Hebrew word for restaurant, misada. Located in Fort Greene, the charming space, made cozy with a fireplace and wooden tables, has a beautiful backyard patio, and guests can enjoy inventive cocktails including the Dead Sea ($16) made of guava, mezcal, mint, lime and salt, or the Tel Aviv, a mix of rye, blood orange, rosemary and egg ($16). To eat, share za’atar crusted salmon ($30) and a choice of kebabs, like halloumi ($12), chicken thigh ($12), short rib ($15) or salmon belly ($12). Each kebab is accompanied by a Middle Eastern condiment including tahini, harissa or labneh. In the warm months, the food is flavored with the herbs they grow in their outdoor space. Recently, chef Tomer Blechman opened Theodora just a few blocks away, where diners can enjoy seasonal produce and dry-aged fish cooked in an open fire kitchen.
184 Dekalb Ave., Fort Greene, Brooklyn
14 | Shmoné
Come for a special, Michelin-starred meal
A sampling of the offerings at Shmoné, Israeli Chef Eyal Shani’s Greenwich Village restaurant — his first to earn a Michelin star. (Max Flatow)
Chef Eyal Shani is known for preparing food that is, to quote the restaurant’s website, “highly seasonal and market driven.” Here, like many of the chef’s other establishments, the menu is divided among “wheat, earth, ocean and animal ‘creatures.’” The hot Jerusalem bagel (wheat) is served with preserved lemon and za’atar ($12), while the white eggplant steak (earth) comes with sheep yogurt ($17). For heartier fare, order grilled octopus (ocean) and chickpeas ($38) or lamb spare ribs (animal) that are glazed with grapes and come with challah and porcini aioli ($41). This past November, Shmoné was awarded a Michelin star — Shani’s first — making the restaurant one of only 71 restaurants in New York City to receive one. With a menu that changes daily, the restaurant “punches way above its weight with dazzling Neo-Levantine cuisine,” according to the Michelin Guide.
61 West 8th St., Greenwich Village, Manhattan
15 | Silvana
Delicious bites and live music in Harlem
Israeli eats are available all day long at Harlem’s Silvana. (Courtesy)
Who needs a kitchen when you have Silvana in the neighborhood? Self-described as “a social club of sorts,” this Harlem spot is a place where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner — plus live music and dancing at night. Enjoy crispy cauliflower and tahini ($12), lamb shawarma on pita, laffa or as a platter ($15, $19 and $21, respectively) or some tongue-tingling spicy shakshuka ($13). To drink, enjoy an inventive cocktail ($15), or a variety of Israeli wines — or keep it simple and get a bottle of Israeli Goldstar ($8).
300 West 116th St., Harlem, Manhattan
16 | Spice Brothers
Elevated Israeli street food made with the finest ingredients
Chefs David Malbequi, left, and Lior Lev Sercarz, are old friends and new partners in Spice Brothers, a small restaurant on St. Marks Place dedicated to Middle Eastern street food. (Dan Perez and Lana Schwartz, design by Mollie Suss)
If you like Israeli street food, this is your spot. At Spice Brothers, owners Lior Lev Sercarz — the Israeli founder of New York’s “spice atelier” La Boite, and French Chef David Malbequi, who met more than 20 years ago while working Daniel – use only the finest ingredients to create their ode to Middle Eastern street eats. The pita bread comes from Angel Bakery in New Jersey, the meat is Pat LaFrieda and the spices hail from La Boite. The tightly edited menu consists of what Grub Street calls “destination” shawarma ($15-$17); sabich, an Iraqi sandwich stuffed with eggplant, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs ($12), as well as a host of sauces popular in Israel, including amba, harissa and zhoug.
110 St. Marks Pl., East Village, Manhattan
17 | Tamam
Casual plant-based cuisine on the tony Upper East Side
Bowls, sandwiches and more are on offer at Tamam. (Katrine Moite Photography)
It’s vegan, it’s delicious and the price is right — which makes this casual spot an unexpected treasure in this upscale neighborhood. Stop by Tamam if you want something quick and tasty to go (maybe nearby Central Park is calling your name?). Choose among falafel, sabich (crispy eggplant) or vegan shawarma — made from from crispy cauliflower coated in Middle Eastern spices — served in a pita ($12.50), on a platter accompanied by quinoa, Israeli salad, hummus, warm chickpeas, pickles and tahini ($15.50), or atop a salad bowl filled with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, quinoa and cabbage ($13.95). Kosher.
1108 Lexington Ave., Upper East Side, Manhattan
18 | Tsion Cafe
Ethiopian-Israeli cuisine that’s vegan and kosher
Beejhy Barhany shows off the vegan dishes at her recently kosher-certified Ethiopian-Israeli Harlem restaurant, Tsion Cafe. (Lisa Keys)
Chef Beejy Barhany was born in Ethiopia, raised in Israel and, for more than 20 years, has made her home uptown in New York City. At her Harlem restaurant, Barhany serves vegan, kosher Ethiopian dishes like messer wot ($18), made from slowly cooked red lentils, flavored with berbere spice mixture, onion, garlic and ginger, all of which is eaten and sopped up with injera, the spongy Ethiopian flatbread made of teff. For starters, there’s hummus topped with silsi, a spicy tomato sauce ($14) or sambusas, triangular pastries filled with spiced lentils that come two to an order ($9). The restaurant is a cultural hub, too, featuring live musical performances and art exhibits, many by local Harlem artists. “This is who I am,” Barhany told us earlier this year. “This is Israel, and I am a Black woman and I’m Jewish. Here I am.”
763 St. Nicholas Ave., Harlem, Manhattan
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.