The Best Vegan Restaurants in Tel Aviv

A relative newcomer to Tel Aviv’s culinary scene, Bana has fast established itself as one of the finest vegan restaurants in the city. Located just off Rothschild Boulevard, it has a shaded garden in addition to a modern indoor seating area. Its menu changes according to the season and availability of local produce. The most popular dishes are the cashew quiche, the ‘Volcano Bowl’ and the roasted sweet potato with lentils and pistachio pesto.

An established name in Tel Aviv’s vegan scene, this much-loved café offers a selection of breakfast platters, superfood-packed salads and hearty main dishes, such as the pumpkin paella. Located on the corner of Dizengoff and Frishman in the city centre, Anastasia has a terrace, a light-filled indoor seating area and a small shop that sells healthy eating options and vegan ingredients.

Zakaim, a family-run restaurant, offers Persian-influenced vegan food. Chef Harel Zakaim uses fresh, seasonal ingredients to create dishes that have become favourites among his many customers, such as the lentil pâté and mushroom masabaha. The restaurant, which is tucked away in an alleyway off the busy Allenby Street in the Lev Ha’ir neighbourhood, has an open-style kitchen and second-hand furniture.

Chen Weinstein spent two years in southern India learning the local cuisine before opening Dosa Bar in Tel Aviv. Located on Ben Yehuda Street, a few minutes from Hilton beach in the Old North neighbourhood, this small eatery specialises in Indian street food and offers a small menu that includes kosher, gluten-free and vegan thalis (a selection of cooked vegetables) served with either rice or dosas (a type of thin, Indian crepe made from rice and black gram).

Located in the Florentin neighbourhood in south Tel Aviv, Tenat serves gluten-free and vegan Ethiopian food. The restaurant is popular for its injera – a sourdough flatbread and Ethiopia’s national dish – which is served with slow-cooked stews and traditional dishes such as lentil curry, and its ful – a dish of cooked fava beans. The walls of Tenat are decorated with traditional Ethiopian designs, and local music is played in the background.

Urban Shaman, located on Dizengoff Street in the Old North neighbourhood, was co-founded by Udi Sahar, a certified naturopath, clinical herbalist and vinyasa yoga teacher. The restaurant offers super bowls, clean meals and cold-pressed juices. Everything available at the Urban Shaman is organic, plant-based and plastic-free, with holistic detox programmes and seasonal cleanses also available. Its wellness centre, The Teepee, is located downstairs and includes a yoga and meditation hall, massage rooms and a sauna.

The first vegan pizzeria in Israel, Hatool HaYarok (The Green Cat) serves brick oven pizza. Customers can buy pizza by the slice or create their own by combining fresh vegetables, mushrooms, seitan, olives and yam with vegan mozzarella or cashew cheese. The pizzeria is part of Levontin 7, a popular venue for live music in the Lev Ha’ir neighbourhood, between Rothschild Boulevard and Florentin. There are outdoor and indoor seating areas, but space in the café is limited.

Algeria, a small vegan deli that opened in 2016, is situated on the busy Ibn Gvirol Street in the Old North of Tel Aviv. The menu offers a good selection of salads, smoked mini-burgers, vegan cheese platters such as cashew cheddar and macadamia-dried tomato, and desserts, some of which are raw.

Head to this no-frills Jaffa institution for the best hummus in the area. Located on a quaint cobblestone street near Jaffa Port, expect long queues and communal tables inside the restaurant. Its menu is small and simple, and includes hummus, masabaha (a spicier version of hummus), labane (strained yogurt) and and ful with all its accompaniments, onions, pita and lemon juice.

The pioneer of farm-to-table eating in Tel Aviv, Meshek Barzilay remains a favourite more than 15 years after its opening. Although not primarily a vegan restaurant, it offers delicious vegan meals on the menu such as lentil omelette for breakfast, a ‘cheese’ platter for appetisers and mains such as masala dosa and lasagna with cashew cheese. There is an indoor dining space, a glass-covered patio and a garden terrace with views of the Neve Tzedek neighbourhood. In 2018, the restaurant opened a delicatessen with a food bar, organic groceries, a shake counter and a bakery.