The back story

Tel Aviv’s café life, from the morning roast to the corner brasserie

In depth·Tel Aviv

Roasters since 2011, a 1997 brasserie, Jaffa-style bakes on Allenby and long breakfasts.

The tree-lined walk and cycle path down the middle of Rothschild Boulevard
The tree-lined walk and cycle path down the middle of Rothschild Boulevard
Photo CreditImage courtesy of © Izemah · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Tel Aviv lives in its cafés. Its own roasters, Cafelix since 2011 and Loveat for almost three decades, supply the city’s cups; breakfast is a long affair, at Xoho in the Old North or on a Rothschild bench; and in the afternoon the brasseries fill, Café Noir on Ahad Ha’am Street among them since 1997. Between them, the bakeries: Dallal in Neve Tzedek and Abulafia on Allenby Street.

The roasters

Cafelix has roasted in Tel Aviv since 2011, founded by Yael and Philip Schaefer, with cafés on Shlomo HaMelech Street and on Segula Street in Jaffa; Loveat has roasted organic coffee in the city for almost three decades. On Shaul HaMelech Boulevard, Shaula 39, from the Café Echad Ha’am group, serves coffee and Nordinio’s cakes at the door of the Link Hotel.

Breakfast and lunch

Xoho, opened in 2010 by Xoli and Howie and on Ben Yehuda Street since 2022, is a breakfast address of the Old North. For a longer lunch, Café Noir, opened in 1997 by Rafi Bader and Gideon Eliyahu on Ahad Ha’am Street, cooks French and Italian classics, its schnitzel among them.

The bakeries

Dallal’s bakery keeps a corner of Neve Tzedek; on Allenby Street, Abulafia bakes knafeh, baklava, sambusak, burekas and za’atar manakish, and its own bagel.

Order a coffee, take a pavement seat, and let the city walk past.

Our advice

Our advice: breakfasts here are long and late, above all on Fridays, so book at weekends; some cafés close on Shabbat while others are at their busiest, so check each one’s own page before you set out.

Why it's on our list

  • The roasters
  • Breakfast and lunch
  • The bakeries
  • Our advice

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