Chota
צ'וטה
Restaurant · Bistro · Mediterranean · ₪₪₪ · No kosher certificate
A small restaurant of about 30 seats around a steel bar in the city centre, where Ilan Garousi and Denis Turk cook a short, changing menu of fish, seafood and meat
Chota is a small restaurant that chef Ilan Garousi opened in October 2025 in the corner building at 18 Ben Sira Street, in the city centre, where the Italian restaurant Cielo had run for about 30 years. Garousi, who was born in Jerusalem, opened HaShanti in 1992 and later Chakra and Satya, and mako called Chota the first restaurant he had opened in 11 years. He runs it with one partner and no investors: chef Denis Turk, who worked with him at Satya and Chakra and, by a food blog's account, runs the kitchen as head chef while Garousi hosts, serves and explains the dishes. The name means "small" in Hindi, Garousi told Kol Ha'ir, in the line of the Indian names of his earlier restaurants; the city's tourism site says it was also his childhood nickname. The room seats about 30: about 12 at a wide stainless-steel bar facing the cold station and a window onto the hot kitchen, the rest at a few tables inside and in a small yard outside. The short menu is printed with its date and changes often; it runs from oysters, hamachi and spicy tuna, a dish Garousi brought from his earlier restaurants, to mussels, scallops, shishbarak and a Denver steak, and mako wrote of its French-style sauces. On Saturday it opens for lunch only, with a Shabbat menu of its own. Garousi told Kol Ha'ir that opening a restaurant that is not kosher and opens at weekends was a statement that Jerusalem should keep a secular life as well. Haaretz's critic Sagi Cohen called it generous, pleasant and tasty in February 2026, Channel 13 counted it among the city's five hottest restaurants in April 2026, and mako's list of 16 new Jerusalem restaurants in July 2026 named it as the only one that is not kosher.
What happens here
- Evenings, 18:00 to 19:00
- Happy hour
15% off, as its evening menu of 13 July 2026 says. When it opened, Ilan Garousi told Kol Ha'ir that the happy hour ran from Monday to Thursday, 18:00 to 19:30, with 15% off the menu.
- Saturday, 11:30 to 15:00
- Shabbat lunch
On Saturday it opens for lunch only, with a Shabbat menu of its own. The one dated 10 July 2026 adds egg salad, ikra, chopped liver, fried courgette with tzatziki, a seafood msabbaha and a butcher's kebab to dishes from the evening menu, and Calcalist wrote in July 2026 that the Shabbat specials change.
As published on mako, read 2026-10-01.
At a glance
- Shabbat
- Open Saturday 11:30-15:00
- Kosher
- No certificate
- Diet
- Bistro, mediterranean
- Prices
- ₪₪₪ of ₪₪₪
- Seating
- Outdoor seating
- Wheelchair
- No statement
- Active on Instagram
- Open on Friday
- Takes credit cards
Photos
For illustration: the town and the trade, not Chota itself. Its own pictures: 67 posts on Instagram
Opening hours
Checking the clock in Israel
| Sunday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 18:00-23:00 |
| Saturday | 11:30-15:00 |
| Sukkot | 26 September to 2 October |
| Simchat Torah | 3 Octoberfrom Friday evening |
Chota has not published holiday hours. Call before you go. Sukkot: the dates and times
Candle lighting 6:03 PMShabbat ends 6:58 PM
As published on Google, read 2026-10-01. All Shabbat times
Sources disagree on these hours
These are the hours of its Google listing, as Restaurant Guru copies it. The weekly schedule on its Tabit booking page, last changed on 14 July 2026, closes at 23:30 from Monday to Friday and at 15:30 on Saturday, and is closed on Sunday. The tourism site gives 18:00 to 23:00 from Monday to Friday and nothing for the weekend; mako (October 2025 and July 2026) and Israeling (May 2026) give Monday to Friday from 18:00, and Channel 13 (April 2026) until midnight. On Saturday it serves lunch only, with a Shabbat menu of its own, as a food blog found in April 2026 and Calcalist in July 2026. d.co.il gives daytime hours, 07:30 to 19:30 from Sunday to Thursday and 09:00 to 13:00 on Friday, that no other source has.
Location
18 Ben Sira Street, Jerusalem9418113
- Train: Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon2.1 km from the door, straight line
- Bus: Nearest stop 107 mlines 104, 115, 284, 480, 517
- Parking: OpenStreetMap maps a paid car park about 120 metres to the east, the underground Tolerance car park, also paid, about 200 metres to the north, and the Kikar HaHatulot car park about 230 metres to the north.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · Distances from OpenStreetMap, read 2026-10-01.
Reviews
- Google4.8179 ratings · As quoted by itraveljerusalem.com, read 2026-10-01Read on Google
Israel.com copies no review. Read them where they were written, and write yours there.
Questions
About Chota
- Open on ShabbatOn Saturday it is open 11:30 to 15:00.
- 2.1 km from Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon stationBus stops within 453 m: ממילא/אגרון, דוד המלך/הס, ככר צהל/יפו, ככר ספרא/שבטי ישראל, שער יפו/יפו, שבטי ישראל/הלני המלכה, ממילא/קריב, ככר צרפת/אגרון.
- Price band ₪₪₪Restaurant Guru's copy of its Google listing gives 150 to 300 shekels a person. Ilan Garousi told Kol Ha'ir when it opened that the dishes cost 50 to 90 shekels. On its evening menu dated 13 July 2026 the small dishes cost 32 to 54 shekels, the salads, raw fish and seafood 58 to 94, the orzo and the main dishes 88 to 142, and the desserts 36 to 48; an aperitif costs 34.
Chota is a restaurant at 18 Ben Sira Street in Jerusalem, in the Jerusalem District. Behind it: chef and co-owner Ilan Garousi and head chef and partner Denis Turk.
It publishes its menu on Tabit; 18 of its dishes are listed below with their prices, as read on 1 October 2026.
Hours, as listed on Google on 1 October 2026: Sunday closed, Monday to Friday 18:00 to 23:00, Saturday 11:30 to 15:00.
The nearest railway station is Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon, 2.1 km away. The nearest bus stops are ממילא/אגרון (107 m), דוד המלך/הס (242 m), ככר צהל/יפו (296 m). OpenStreetMap maps a paid car park about 120 metres to the east, the underground Tolerance car park, also paid, about 200 metres to the north, and the Kikar HaHatulot car park about 230 metres to the north.
No kashrut certificate was found. It is not on the Jerusalem religious council's list of kosher businesses, read on 1 October 2026, either by name or at 18 Ben Sira Street. Its booking page and its menus show no certificate, its menu has oysters, shrimp, scallops and mussels, and it opens on Saturday. The city's tourism site, mako and Kol Ha'ir call it not kosher. We found no published accessibility statement, so call ahead if step-free access matters to you.
No page of the restaurant names the company that runs it. The Companies Registrar lists צ'וטה מסעדות בע"מ (Chota Restaurants Ltd), company number 517318168, whose stated business is running a restaurant at 18 Ben Sira Street, Jerusalem: an active private company incorporated on 19 March 2026, with no annual report on file yet. Jerusalem does not publish its business licence register online, so the licence could not be checked.
The public registers a directory should check and usually does not. A blank is reported as a blank.
- Kosher certificate
- No kashrut certificate was found. It is not on the Jerusalem religious council's list of kosher businesses, read on 1 October 2026, either by name or at 18 Ben Sira Street. Its booking page and its menus show no certificate, its menu has oysters, shrimp, scallops and mussels, and it opens on Saturday. The city's tourism site, mako and Kol Ha'ir call it not kosher. shirathayam.m-datit.org.il2026-10-01
- Accessibility statement
- It has no website, so there is no accessibility statement. The city's tourism site marks it as not accessible, while its own booking page on Tabit lists an accessible path to the entrance and chairs with armrests. No source says whether the toilet is accessible. itraveljerusalem.com2026-10-01
- Companies Registrar
- No page of the restaurant names the company that runs it. The Companies Registrar lists צ'וטה מסעדות בע"מ (Chota Restaurants Ltd), company number 517318168, whose stated business is running a restaurant at 18 Ben Sira Street, Jerusalem: an active private company incorporated on 19 March 2026, with no annual report on file yet. data.gov.il2026-10-01
- Municipal business licence
- No published register of licensed businesses was found for Jerusalem: none of the 114 datasets on the city's open-data portal is such a register, and data.gov.il has none for the city. jerusalem.datacity.org.il2026-10-01
Nothing on this page was written from memory. Each row names the page a fact was read from and the day it was read. Review text and photographs stay with the people who wrote and took them; the page links to them and copies nothing.
| Field | Value | Source | Read on | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | צ'וטה / Chota | itraveljerusalem.com | Fact, shown | |
| Address | 18 Ben Sira Street | itraveljerusalem.com | Fact, shown | |
| Coordinates | 31.7787289, 35.2220011 (its booking page on Tabit) | tabitisrael.co.il | Fact, shown | |
| Phone | 02-500-2250 | itraveljerusalem.com | Fact, shown | |
| Table bookings | tabitisrael.co.il | restaurantguru.com | Linked, not copied | |
| Opening hours | Sunday closed, Monday to Friday 18:00 to 23:00, Saturday 11:30 to 15:00 | restaurantguru.com | Fact, shown | |
| What happens here | Happy hour; Shabbat lunch | mako.co.il | Fact, shown | |
| Google rating | 4.8 from 179 ratings, as quoted by itraveljerusalem.com | google.com | Fact, shown | |
| Google review text | Belongs to the reviewers | google.com | Linked, not copied | |
| Price band | ₪₪₪ | drive.google.com | Fact, shown | |
| Menu | 18 items with prices | drive.google.com | Fact, shown | |
| Kosher certificate | None published | shirathayam.m-datit.org.il | Fact, shown | |
| Accessibility | No published statement found | itraveljerusalem.com | Fact, shown | |
| Parking | OpenStreetMap maps a paid car park about 120 metres to the east, the underground Tolerance car park, also paid, about 200 metres to the north, and the Kikar HaHatulot car park about 230 metres to the north. | openstreetmap.org | Fact, shown | |
| Train and bus | Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon 2.1 km; ממילא/אגרון 107 m; ממילא/אגרון 147 m; דוד המלך/הס 242 m; ככר צהל/יפו 296 m; דוד המלך/הס 344 m; ככר ספרא/שבטי ישראל 345 m; ככר ספרא/שבטי ישראל 364 m; שער יפו/יפו 430 m; שבטי ישראל/הלני המלכה 439 m; ממילא/קריב 440 m; ככר צרפת/אגרון 453 m | openstreetmap.org | Fact, shown | |
| Delivery apps | Not on Wolt or 10bis | Our own check | Fact, shown | |
| Companies Registrar | No page of the restaurant names the company that runs it. The Companies Registrar lists צ'וטה מסעדות בע"מ (Chota Restaurants Ltd), company number 517318168, whose stated business is running a restaurant at 18 Ben Sira Street, Jerusalem: an active private company incorporated on 19 March 2026, with no annual report on file yet. | data.gov.il | Fact, shown | |
| Business licence | No published register of licensed businesses was found for Jerusalem: none of the 114 datasets on the city's open-data portal is such a register, and data.gov.il has none for the city. | jerusalem.datacity.org.il | Fact, shown | |
| Photographs | 3 licensed | instagram.com | Linked, not copied |
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