Israel’s top 10 cafés for coffee

Israel’s top 10 cafés for coffee | Culture

By Jeffrey Heyman
July 21, 2011

Israelis love meeting over a cup of coffee. Over the last 15 years, more and more chains have started offering first-rate java and cuisine. ISRAEL21c picks the 10 best.

Someone visiting cities like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa could be excused for thinking that the only thing Israelis do is sit at sidewalk cafés and drink coffee. It's not true - they also eat the food at those cafés.

In the last 15 years, coffee chains like Aroma, Cup O' Joe, Arcaffe and Café Hillel have proliferated to the point that their logos are as ubiquitous as McDonald's signs throughout the country.

"Israelis love sitting, drinking coffee and talking," explains Michael Reiner, a student of all things java and the CEO of Ava Coffee, one of the country's leading coffee suppliers.

Whereas Israeli coffee drinkers once drank either botz, the dark, muddy Turkish coffee favored by Middle Eastern coffee drinkers for centuries -- or, if you didn't have the stomach for that, then nes, instant coffee with milk and sugar (a bastardization of the American Nescafé) -- today the drink of choice is Tel Aviv cappuccino (café afuch), a frothy variation on the Italian classic.

"It's becoming known abroad as the quintessential Israeli coffee," says Nicole Fleisher, the administrator of the Israel Coffee Association, an organization formed by several of the leading coffee roasters and chains in the country to raise the level of coffee manufacturing and consumption and promote the industry.

"We have a high standard of coffee preparation in Israel, from the way it's roasted and prepared until it arrives at the table. As a coffee drinker, I would say coffee in Israel is much better than it used to be."

"The biggest increase in coffee consumption and in the quality and variety of coffee in Israel occurred mainly in the past decade - due to the proliferation of the ‘away from home' market, encompassing espresso bars, restaurants and cafes," says Ava's Reiner.

While you can go to any street corner café today and get a great cup of coffee from any number of independent, family-run coffee shops, some establishments have raised the art of coffee culture in Israel to a new level. Here are the best of them.

1. Aroma Espresso Bar


Aroma's coffee always comes with a signature chocolate.
Established in 1994, Aroma's red-and-black signs are as ubiquitous as Dunkin' Donuts signs in the United States, and the fare of Israel's flagship coffee chain is just as dependable. You know what you're going to get when you walk into one of Aroma's 120 cafes in Israel: a wide selection of hot coffee-based drinks, the famous "ice Aroma" frozen coffee slush, and tasty sandwiches and salads.

The company opened its first branch abroad in 2006 in the heart of Manhattan's Soho neighborhood and has since established dozens of cafes in the US and Europe. In June, the café chain opened its biggest ever store in Kiev, Ukraine, after winning the title of Kiev's best coffee shop for the past two years.

2. Arcaffe

Established in 1995 with the aim of bringing real Italian espresso bars to Israel, Arcaffe is more of an upscale Aroma. Its credo is the ability to serve Italian coffee, authentic French breads and pastries with American service standards.

Arcaffe's growth rate is more cautious than Aroma's, with 25 branches dotting the country in mostly high-tech centers and more affluent neighborhoods. But when someone suggests meeting at Arcaffe, you know you're in for a quality experience.

3. Cup O' Joe


Cup O' Joe, Petach Tikvah.
Launched in 1996 in Tel Aviv by American immigrants David Klein and Dov Goldfarb, Cup O' Joe is an Israeli success story. Today the chain featuring great food and gourmet coffee, including possibly the best mocha ice in the country, has more than 60 branches around the country, with 10 more scheduled to open this year.

In May, a subsidiary of the giant Israeli fuel company Delek Group acquired 50 percent of the company.

4. Ilan's

Perhaps the originator of modern coffee culture in Israel, Ilan Shenhav opened up his first coffee shop in Tel Aviv in 1994. The availability of more than 20 types of coffee, including those from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Colombia and Ethiopia, began teaching Israelis what good coffee was, and opened the doors for the other chains that have followed.

There are now four Ilan's coffee houses in the Tel Aviv area, all featuring ingredients that adhere to the international Fair Trade standard, which ensures a fair price to farmers in the countries producing the raw product. A selection of teas and tea blends, specialty sandwiches and desserts -- including jocolada, a doughy cake that oozes melted white chocolate - is always on the menu.

5. Café Hillel


Café Hillel began in Jerusalem, and is now opening branches across Israel.
From humble beginnings, brothers Koby and Yossi Sherf opened the first Café Hillel on Jerusalem's Hillel Street in 1998. Their concept was to create a cozy "Yerushalmi" relaxed atmosphere highlighted by world-class coffee and food. They clearly succeeded. Today, more than 25 Café Hillel branches are bringing that Jerusalem atmosphere to the rest of the country.

6. Café Neto

Founded in 1995 by Shlomo Avras and Haim Malka, Café Neto has become a favorite for coffee lovers in the center of the country. A dozen branches dot the landscape from Tel Aviv to Hod Hasharon to Ra'anana, with recent branches opened as gas station refreshment stops in Kiryat Gat and Dimona. Another top-quality place to refill the empty coffee cup.

7. Café Café


At Café Café, they pride themselves on letting their customers take their time.
A relative upstart on the list, Café Cafe has made great strides since opening its first Tel Aviv branch in 2001. Today the café/restaurant has 105 branches around the country and in Europe.

Offering a more extensive food menu than most of its competitors, Café Café offers a relaxed, comfortable setting for its fare and confidently stands by its motto, "Take Your Time."

8. Espresso Bar


Espresso Bar in Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv.
On the other end of the café scale from Café Café, the Espresso Bar offers the boutique side of things, concentrating almost solely on ... coffee. Established in 1992, making it maybe the oldest practitioner of modern coffee culture in the country, Espresso Bar was founded by four members of a family intent on replicating the coffee, atmosphere and design of an authentic Italian espresso bar. With seven locations today, they must have been on to something.

9. Coffee Shop

There may not be much to differentiate the Jerusalem-based Coffee Shops from the Aromas and Café Hillels that surround them, but the decade-old company with six branches has cemented a foothold on the coffee landscape of the capital with its consistently good drinks and extensive food menu. Significantly, this is the only coffee chain in the country with a branch at the Knesset, performing the patriotic duty of keeping our elected officials alert and well fed.

10. Greg

The only Haifa-based café on the list, Greg's Café was founded in 1994 by an American ex-pat in the Carmel center of the port city. Since then, more than 50 branches have opened around the country with different menus in each, but all featuring the high-quality coffee one has come to expect.

Vogue magazine, in an article on weekends in Tel Aviv, singled out the café with the funny American name as the perfect place to unwind at the end of a day of shopping. There's nothing funny, however, about the coffee. It's top-notch.

Israel's top 10 beaches

Israel's top 10 beaches | tourism
By Abigail Klein Leichman

Dig out the sand toys and don't forget the sunscreen. It's time to hit the beach, and here are some of the best Israel has to offer.

Photo by Michal Fattal/Flash90.

Children wash themselves after a day at Beit Yannai beach.

Life's a beach in Israel. This small country is blessed by three seas -- the Mediterranean, the Dead and the Red (the Sea of Galilee is really a lake, though it does have beaches too). With the help of recommendations from veteran tour guide Joe Yudin of Touring Israel and Hassan Madah of the Tourism Ministry, ISRAEL21c offers you the top 10 beaches in Israel, just in time for summer.

1. Beit Yannai Beach (Mediterranean)

Named after the ancient Judean king Alexander Yannai, the Alexander River north of Netanya was in a sorry state until a 1994 restoration project transformed the area into a lovely, wheelchair-accessible nature reserve. The beach is at the spot where the river runs into the sea.

Considered by many to be Israel's most beautiful beach and kite-surfing locale, Yannai is pristine and quiet. The Israel Parks and Nature Authority has posted signs with information on the natural features of the beach and its wildlife.

You can camp overnight here, and there are picnic tables, restaurants and showers. Don't miss the nearby eucalyptus grove and ancient ruins.

Entrance fee. Information: 09-866-6230.

2. Coral Reef Beach (Red Sea)

Photo by Anna Kaplan/Flash90.

Tourists enjoy a view of the Red Sea from the aquapark bridge at Coral Beach.

The best place to snorkel in Eilat, Coral Beach is a popular diving reef and a family-friendly beach. Its setting on the world's northernmost coral reef affords visitors an amazing place to see the multicolored coral garden and the Red Sea aquatic creatures that inhabit it.

Rent a snorkel, mask, flippers and life jacket, walk along a short pier and step down into shallow warm water teeming with tropical delights. Sunshades and loungers, hot showers and a snack kiosk are available.

Entrance fee. Information: 08-637-6829.

3. Banana Beach (Mediterranean)

Photo by Anna Kaplan/Flash90.

On the beach in Tel Aviv.

The entire west flank of Tel Aviv is one long shoreline lined with beaches. Banana Beach, located on the southernmost edge near Jaffa, has become a sort of hippie bohemian sanctuary on Friday evenings. It's a great place to end a walking tour of Tel Aviv, as young people begin gathering here at sunset for drum circles, singing and dancing on the cliffs.

The rest of the week, it's a fairly tranquil spot where you'll find people sunbathing or playing Matkot, Israeli beach paddleball. The Banana Beach café right on the sand screens films and sports events in the evenings for free. You can rent surfboards and wind surfers, or sign up for surfing lessons, at the Galim surf shop.

No entrance fee; sand chairs available for hire.

4. Mineral Beach (Dead Sea)

Photo by Yaakov Naumi/Flash90.

Sunset at the Dead Sea.

You want mud? You got it. Whereas at many Dead Sea beaches you can buy packets of its famous mineral-rich mud to slather on your skin, at Mineral Beach there's a huge mud pit to climb into. Prefer a natural Jacuzzi? There's one here, too, fashioned out of hot sulfur pools.

When you get tired of floating on the Dead Sea, try the freshwater pool. At this clean and accessible beach, you can rent a towel or locker, get a health treatment or lie on a tanning bed.

The site also has an amphitheater, a cafeteria and showers to wash off the mud and sand. Mineral Beach is on the northern end of the Dead Sea, so it's a fast destination from Jerusalem and the surface is less pebbly than at the more southern beaches. (If you're into sunbathing in the buff, nearby Neve Midbar Beach has a secluded section for nudists.)

Entrance fee. Information: 02-994-4888.

5. Dado Zamir Beach (Mediterranean)

Surfers in Haifa.

This central Haifa beach has pretty gardens along its long boardwalk promenade, beachside restaurants, pubs and coffee shops, free parking, benches and sitting areas, a dance arena (with weekly public dances and Israeli folk dancing on Saturdays), an amphitheatre for summer events, sports and playgrounds and a pool for toddlers. It's even got Wi-Fi.

The picturesque boardwalk runs from its southern tip to the northern part of Carmel Beach next door. For the disabled, Dado offers reserved parking, adapted showers and bathrooms, and ramps for easy access to and from the beach.

Information: 1-800-305-090; 04-853-5606/5.

6. Sironit Beach (Mediterranean)

The Beach Elevator in Netanya.

Netanya has one of the longest coastlines in Israel, and offers eight beaches. What's particularly cool about Sironit, one of the city's southernmost beaches, is the glass-walled Beach Elevator that descends into it from the Rishonim Promenade along the cliff-top. This lets you get from the city center to the seashore in 20 seconds, for just one shekel.

Two breakwaters opposite the beach create tranquil bays for safe swimming almost all year. Sironit has a restaurant, stage and fitness facilities among its other features.

Parking fee. Information: 1-700-709292; 09-882-7286.

7. Metzitzim Beach (Mediterranean)

This northern Tel Aviv spot overlooking the S'de Dov airfield used to be called Sheraton Beach for the hotel that once stood next to it, but was later renamed for the Israeli cult classic film of the same name ("metzitzim" means "peepers").

It attracts a mix of hipsters and families, with calm, warm water due to a man-made lagoon. There's a café-restaurant and playground here, and just south of the main area is a separate section for the religious public, where women are admitted Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; men on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Also in the area you can find beaches catering to gay sunbathers and another where dog-owners are allowed to let their canines romp.

8. Dor Habonim Beach (Mediterranean)

Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.

Dor Habonim beach is popular with families.

South of Haifa off Route 4, Dor Habonim ("Generation of Builders") is part of a coastal nature reserve, a relatively remote cove favored by nearby kibbutzniks and families.

Natural rock jetties in the sea are perfect for kids to climb and sit on, and along with natural lagoons, they also keep the waves from getting too rough. The reserve has walking routes that pass through the bays, from which you can see sights including caves and wildflowers.

There are no facilities here to speak of, and it's not accessible by public transportation. But these same qualities are what make it one of the most beloved beaches for Israelis in the know.

Beyond the swimming area is the home of Paradive, where you can go skydiving with a tandem instructor.

No entrance fee.

9. Dolphin Reef (Red Sea)

Photo courtesy of www.goisrael.com

Eilat's Dolphin Reef.

Eilat's public beaches tend to get quite crowded, but if you're willing to pay admission to the Dolphin Reef, you get the added benefit of a quiet beach where you can relax under an umbrella and watch the dolphins, or even join them in the water if you're age 10 or over.

"You'll feel like you're in Jamaica," promises tour guide Joe Yudin. There is a snorkeling and diving center here, as well as an underwater photography center and beachside café/bar. Adults can take advantage of the site's music-infused relaxation pools as well.

Entrance fee. Information: 08-630-0100.

10. Aqueduct Beach (Mediterranean)

Photo courtesy of www.goisrael.com

Aqueduct Beach, Caesarea.

You can't beat this Caesarea beach for its setting among ancient Roman ruins. While sitting on the clean white sand, you'll marvel at the raised aqueduct built by order of King Herod in the first century BCE and expanded upon 300 years later to bring running water to the old city of Caesarea from the springs of Shummi six miles away at the foot of Mount Carmel.

There are no restaurants here (just a kiosk), but neither are there loud music or crowds. Lifeguards are on duty on only parts of the long strip of seashore, which is sometimes also called Arches Beach.

No entrance fee.