Caesarea · Where to eat
Where to eat in Caesarea
The best restaurants in Caesarea are inside a national park, which means ₪18 at a gate to reach them by day and nothing at all once the park has closed for the evening.
Harbour entry, to eat
₪14
The development corporation's published rate for visitors coming to a port restaurant
Harbour entry, otherwise
₪18
Port only, without the visitor centre, theatre or hippodrome
After the park shuts
Free
The corporation says payment is taken only during national park operating hours
First hour of parking
₪20
₪5 for the second hour, charged 16:00 to 08:00 including Friday and Saturday
Caesarea has a genuine restaurant scene, which is not what a field of Roman ruins usually offers, and it is concentrated in one improbable place: the quay of the harbour Herod built and the sea took back. A cluster of kitchens sits inside Caesarea National Park, on the water among Crusader walls, and reaching any of them in daylight means paying at a gate. After the park closes, the same quay is free to walk into. That arrangement shapes almost every decision below.
The scene is not large. Beyond the harbour there is a modern residential town with a shopping centre or two, a business park with the restaurants that feed its office workers, and Kibbutz Sedot Yam on the southern edge of the ruins. The Caesarea Development Corporation, which runs the harbour, describes dozens of restaurants spread across all three. What that comes to for a visitor is a short list worth a detour and one very sharp division: the kitchens that keep Shabbat and the kitchens that do not.
The picks below run best first and are chosen for range rather than for the top of the range. An expensive dinner on the water and a hummus counter by the amphitheatre. Kosher and not. Breakfast at seven in the morning and a bar that runs past midnight. The panel beside each entry carries the listing data, with the date it was pulled; the writing is ours.
13 places to eat
The places to eat worth the trip in Caesarea
Our pick and why, then everything the listing knows, with the date it was pulled.
01
Hellena Restaurant Caesarea Harbor
The long dinner on the harbour wall
Helena sits on the harbour front inside the national park, and the kitchen under chef Amos Shion is built around technique rather than around a fixed repertoire: taboun ovens, open flame, smoking, and wild herbs gathered along this coast. Fish comes in local and meat is aged, the menu moves with the season, and for anyone who would rather not choose there is a published tasting menu for two at ₪450 to ₪500. It is the most serious kitchen on the quay that opens seven days a week, which makes it the answer to Friday night and Saturday lunch as much as to an ordinary Tuesday. The room looks west over the breakwater, so an evening table is worth more than a lunchtime one. This is the expensive end of Caesarea and does not pretend otherwise.
- Kashrut:
- Not kosher
- Known for:
- Local fish over open flame, Aged meat, Tasting menu for two
Open from noon every day including Saturday. Book for the hour before sunset.
“Excellent atmosphere, the best service and the dishes were very delicious.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.32,368 ratings83% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- נמל, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪₪ Expensive
- Phone
- +9724-610-1018
- Website
- hellena.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Sat 12:00-23:00 02
The Crusaders Restaurant
Kosher fish with the sunset
The Crusaders, Hatzal-Banim in Hebrew, faces the ancient breakwater from among the remains of the Crusader town, and it is the most substantial kosher kitchen on the water. The menu is fresh fish alongside a selection of good meat cuts and tapas in a Mediterranean style, with a long drinks list to go with it. The owners set out the change candidly on their own site: they ran the place unsupervised for years, took the decision during the covid period to go kosher, and later opened Aresto a few doors along the same quay. It is a large, well-glazed room rather than an intimate one and it takes private closures of up to 350 people, so check before a Thursday. Come for the fish and the west-facing windows.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Whole fresh fish, Grilled meat cuts, Mediterranean tapas
Closes an hour and a half before Shabbat on Friday and reopens half an hour after it ends. The ₪18 park entry is not credited against the bill.
“Excellent food, great views, service very professional.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.22,370 ratings78% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- הנמל העתיק קיסריה, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Kosher, Israeli restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪₪ Expensive
- Phone
- +9724-636-1679
- Website
- hazalbanim.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 11:00-23:00 Fri 11:00-16:00 Sat 21:00-00:00 03
Port Cafe
Breakfast before the ruins fill up
Port Cafe is a kosher dairy fish restaurant on the harbour front, supervised in its own words lemehadrin by the Hof HaCarmel rabbinate. Breakfast is the reason to come and it runs until noon, which suits the way Caesarea works best: eat first, then walk south towards the theatre while the stone is still cool and the light is still low. The rest of the day it does salads, Italian dishes and fresh fish grilled over coals in a Josper oven, at a moderate price for a restaurant standing on a national park quay. Being a dairy house there is no meat here at all, which is the trade. It opens earlier than anything else on the water.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Breakfast, served until noon, Coal-grilled fish from a Josper oven, Italian dishes and salads
“Great food great service reasonable prices”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.22,431 ratings79% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- הגן הלאומי נמל, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Kosher, Fish restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪ Moderate
- Phone
- +97277-997-9794
- Website
- portcafe.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 09:30-23:00 Fri 09:00-15:00 Sat 21:00-23:30 04
Limani Bistro
Lunch under the Crusader fortress
Limani sits at the foot of the Crusader fortress and its own account of itself is the accurate one: bistro cooking from around the Mediterranean basin, fish and seafood with Greek, French, Italian and Spanish influences alongside Israeli dishes. It is one of the few places on the quay that serves both breakfast and dinner and does not stop for Shabbat, so it covers Friday evening and Saturday when the kosher kitchens are closed. The setting does a great deal of the work, with open water on one side and two thousand years of masonry on the other. Prices sit below the harbour's top end. Seafood on the menu means this is not a kosher option in any sense.
- Kashrut:
- Not kosher
- Known for:
- Fish and seafood, Breakfast menu, Mediterranean bistro plates
“Wonderful atmosphere, great food and good costumer service”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.21,819 ratings79% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- נמל, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Mediterranean, Breakfast restaurant, Fish restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪ Moderate
- Phone
- +9724-610-0022
- Website
- limanibistro.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Fri 11:00-22:00 Sat 11:00-21:30 05
Aresto
Kosher pizza and pasta by the water
Aresto is the second restaurant from the family behind the Crusaders, a short walk along the same quay, and it is dairy Italian rather than fish and meat. Chef Chali Ben Naim's kitchen turns out fresh pasta, pizzas and focaccia straight from the taboun, plus fish and salads, and the restaurant carries badatz Beit Yosef supervision, the stricter end of Israeli kashrut and the reason a good share of its customers are here rather than next door. Of everything on the harbour this is the one that works with children, and it opens from nine in the morning. The view is the same view the expensive tables have. Entry to the port has to be paid at the gate during park hours and the restaurant does not refund it.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Taboun pizza and focaccia, Fresh pasta, Fish
Friday service ends at 15:00; Saturday starts half an hour after Shabbat goes out and runs to midnight.
“Delicious food, large portions, excellent service!”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.33,651 ratings82% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- נמל קיסריה, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Kosher, Italian restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪ Moderate
- Phone
- +9724-636-3456
- Website
- aresto-restaurant.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 09:00-23:00 Fri 09:00-14:00 Sat 18:30-23:55 06
Mariposa
The dinner locals book, not visitors
Mariposa is at the Caesarea Golf Club, well inland from the harbour, and it is where people who live in the town eat when they are not taking guests to see the sea. It is a kosher meat kitchen with a seasonal menu that changes daily, fish and vegetarian plates alongside the meat, cocktails built to match, and a business lunch on weekdays. Because it keeps Shabbat it is shut all Saturday and serves Friday lunch only, which is the shape of a restaurant with local customers rather than tourist ones. The room is a golf clubhouse, so nobody comes for the archaeology. Its own site asks for a reservation in advance and it is worth taking that seriously at the weekend.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Daily changing chef's specials, Meat over the fire, Weekday business lunch
Closed all day Saturday, Friday lunch only. Reserve ahead.
“The food was perfect to the last bite, and the service was most welcoming.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.52,321 ratings87% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- מגרש הגולף, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪₪ Expensive
- Phone
- +9724-626-5000
- Website
- mariposa.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Wed 12:00-22:00 Thu 12:00-23:00 Fri 12:00-16:00 Sat Closed 07
Cheeky carlo
Pizza and Israeli wine, served late
Cheeky Carlo is the newest register on the quay: Neapolitan pizza with an Israeli turn, ceviche and fish out of the same water, and a wine list assembled deliberately from Israeli boutique producers between the Arava and the Golan. There is a separate wine room for a small group and a shop selling the bottles the restaurant pours, including growers it backs for social reasons. It opens every day and late, so it takes the Friday and Saturday trade the kosher kitchens cannot. Treat it as a pizza and wine bar rather than as a fish restaurant and it is the best value on the harbour. It is as much a bar as a kitchen, which is either the appeal or the problem depending on the evening.
- Kashrut:
- Not kosher
- Known for:
- Neapolitan pizza, Ceviche, Israeli boutique wines
“Great choice and variety, beautifully balanced flavors, good service.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 3.9436 ratings69% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- נמל, Caesarea, 3088901
- Kitchen
- Restaurant, Pizza restaurant
- Phone
- +97254-613-0230
- Website
- cheekycarlo.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Sat 10:00-23:00 08
Patrick's Caesarea
A late kosher drink and a plate
Patrick's calls itself a kosher restaurant and event bar in a New York style, and it stands at Tarshish 9 in the northern industrial park, nowhere a visitor would wander by accident. That is the recommendation. It is where the business park eats and drinks after work, with a happy hour, live bands and a Thursday DJ night, and it runs into the small hours in a town that otherwise closes early. The kitchen does chef's plates, good meat cuts and a weekday business lunch. Keeping Shabbat, it shuts on Friday and reopens about half an hour after Shabbat ends, which makes Saturday night its biggest service of the week.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Grilled meat cuts, Business lunch, Cocktails
Closed Friday. Saturday service begins roughly half an hour after Shabbat ends and runs late.
“The menu is great and the food is tasty.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.1197 ratings77% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- תרשיש 9, Caesarea, 3079820
- Kitchen
- Restaurant, Bar, Kosher restaurant
- Phone
- +9724-622-2093
- Website
- patricks-caesarea.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Wed 12:00-01:00 Thu 12:00-02:00 Fri Closed Sat 21:00-01:00 09
Basata Hummos
The cheap lunch visitors walk past
Basata is a small Arab hummus house by the amphitheatre at Sedot Yam, on the southern side of the archaeological site, and it is the least expensive proper meal within walking distance of the ruins. It keeps hummus hours rather than restaurant hours, mornings into the middle of the afternoon, and it is closed on Sunday, so it is a lunch and never a dinner. The trade is local rather than coach party, which is exactly why it has stayed cheap while the harbour has not. It publishes no website and no kashrut certificate, so anyone who needs supervision should treat it as unsupervised. Go before three or not at all.
- Known for:
- Hummus, Salads and pita
“Authentic food, good prices, nice service.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.664 ratings91% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- אמפיתאטרון, Sdot Yam, 3780400
- Kitchen
- Arab restaurant
- Phone
- +97254-591-8074
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun Closed Mon-Sat 09:00-16:00 10
Arcaffe Caesarea
Coffee and a proper breakfast, early
The Caesarea branch of Arcaffe is in the town's shopping centre rather than at the harbour, and it opens at seven in the morning, an hour before the national park gates. The chain is an Italian-style bakery and cafe, and both the chain's own branch listing and the development corporation's kosher list record this branch as kosher dairy, which means no meat and no Saturday. It suits the first coffee of the day, an Italian sandwich, a French pastry, or a breakfast meeting before anyone else in Caesarea is serving. It is a cafe in a shopping centre and reads like one. What it offers is timing and reliability rather than atmosphere.
- Kashrut:
- Kosher
- Known for:
- Italian sandwiches, French pastries, Breakfast
“Cafe restaurant with great atmosphere, fine food and friendly staff.”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.0846 ratings74% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- ונוס קיסריה, Ha-Rakia St 1, Caesarea, 3070216
- Kitchen
- Cafe, Breakfast restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪ Moderate
- Phone
- +97272-241-9303
- Website
- arcaffe.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 07:00-21:00 Fri 07:00-15:00 Sat Closed 11
Caffe Bagolf
A long breakfast on the fairway
Cafe Bagolf is the golf club's own cafe and it builds its menu around breakfast and brunch rather than dinner, closing in the afternoon every day of the week. The setting is lawns and mature trees, a completely different Caesarea from the one in the guidebooks and a much quieter one. Unlike Mariposa a few metres away it does open on Saturday, which fills a real gap in the weekend for anyone staying nearby. It publishes no kashrut certificate, so treat it as unsupervised. Come at eight or nine in the morning; by one in the afternoon the interesting part of the day is over.
- Known for:
- Israeli breakfast, Brunch plates, Coffee
“Wonderful and super friendly service, beautiful location and good food”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 4.21,666 ratings77% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- מועדון הגולף 1, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Coffee shop, Breakfast restaurant
- Price band
- ₪₪ Moderate
- Phone
- +9724-774-3733
- Website
- cafebagolf.zapweb.co.il
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun 08:00-16:00 Mon 08:00-14:00 Tue-Sat 08:00-16:00 12
HaHof Aqueduct Caesarea
Something to eat beside the aqueduct
This is the beach kiosk on Hof HaKshatot, the arches beach, where the high-level Roman aqueduct runs along the sand north of the ticketed park. It opens early and stays open into the evening seven days a week including Saturday, which nothing inside the national park does. The food is beach food rather than a kitchen with ambitions, and that is not the point: the aqueduct faces west and the arches only work in low light, so this is where to be at that hour with something cold in your hand. There is no website and no published kashrut status. Drive up the beach road for it; the aqueduct cannot be reached from inside the national park.
- Known for:
- Beach kiosk food, Coffee, Cold drinks
“Surprisingly amazing food 🤘”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 3.8141 ratings66% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- חוף הקשתות, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Coffee shop
- Phone
- +97250-425-5540
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 08:00-21:30 Fri-Sat 07:30-21:30 13
La Vita Bella
Ice cream after the Crusader gate
La Vita Bella is the ice cream and pizza counter in the old harbour and it is the cheap end of eating inside the park. It opens from half past nine in the morning until late, every day, which makes it one of the few things on the quay that neither closes for Shabbat nor requires a table and an hour. With children at the end of a hot, unshaded walk up from the theatre it is the practical answer, and the gelato counter is the draw rather than the pizza. It publishes no kashrut certificate. The gate charge still applies during park opening hours, so this is a cheap stop rather than a free one.
- Known for:
- Gelato, Pizza
“Generous portions and gooooood tastes: pistacchio and mango were very tasty”
A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing. 3.5196 ratings60% of raters gave four or five stars.
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.
- Address
- הנמל העתיק, Caesarea
- Kitchen
- Ice Cream, Pizza restaurant
- Phone
- +9724-626-5888
Map, hours and reviewsHours as listed
Opening hours as published on Google Maps Sun-Thu 09:30-22:30 Fri 09:00-23:00 Sat 09:00-22:30
Geography
Three places to eat, and one of them is behind a ticket barrier
Eating in Caesarea splits three ways, and the split matters more than any single recommendation. The restaurants people picture are inside Caesarea National Park, on the quay of the ancient harbour, and reaching them means passing a gate. The second group is in the modern residential town inland, in its shopping centres, where the cafes and several of the kosher meat restaurants are. The third is in the Caesarea business park, aimed at the people who work there rather than at anyone on holiday. Kibbutz Sedot Yam, south of the ruins by the amphitheatre, adds a small fourth.
The gate is the thing first-time visitors get wrong. The Caesarea Development Corporation's price list sets admission to the port alone, without the visitor centre, the theatre or the hippodrome, at ₪18, and states that visitors coming to dine at one of the port restaurants may enter for ₪14. A full adult ticket to the whole national park is ₪46 on the same list. The Crusaders restaurant prints the ₪18 figure on its own contact page and adds the part the price list leaves out: the restaurant does not credit the entry fee against your bill.
The corporation's own pages do not entirely agree with each other. The price list gives ₪46 for an adult and ₪27 for a child; the visitor centre FAQ, on the same website, gives ₪39 for an adult, ₪24 for a child over five and ₪20 for an Israeli senior citizen. Read both, and expect to be charged the higher one.
The way round the charge is the clock rather than an argument. The corporation states that Caesarea Harbor is open every day until the late-night hours, and that payment is made during national park operating hours: 08:00 to 17:00 from April to October, 08:00 to 16:00 from November to March, an hour earlier on Fridays and holiday eves. Arrive after that and the quay is simply a street with restaurants on it. The car park works the other way round, charging from 16:00 to 08:00 the next day, Friday and Saturday included, at ₪20 for the first hour and ₪5 for the second.
The food
Local fish, a taboun, and breakfast as an institution
The cooking at the harbour is Mediterranean in the specific Israeli sense: local fish, a spread of small salads before anything else arrives, and a main course that has met fire. Helena states its method plainly on its own site, working with taboun ovens, open flame, smoking and wild herbs gathered locally. Port Cafe grills its fish over coals in a Josper oven. Aresto's taboun turns out pizza and focaccia instead of fish. The common thread is the fire, not a national cuisine.
Fish is the local product and the reason these restaurants are where they are. The Crusaders sells fresh fish alongside meat cuts in a Mediterranean register with what it calls an Israeli wink. Limani Bistro builds a bistro menu on fish and seafood with Greek, French, Italian and Spanish influences. Cheeky Carlo puts ceviche next to Neapolitan pizza and a list of Israeli boutique wines. None of it is cheap: a fish restaurant on a national park quay prices accordingly, and Helena publishes a tasting menu for two at ₪450 to ₪500.
Breakfast is a separate institution here and is worth planning a morning around. The Israeli breakfast is a spread rather than a plate: eggs, cheeses, several salads, bread, and enough of it that two people frequently order one between them. Port Cafe serves breakfast until noon. Limani keeps a breakfast menu. Cafe Bagolf at the golf club builds its entire business on breakfast and brunch and closes in the afternoon. Arcaffe in the town opens at seven, which is an hour before the park gates.
Away from the water the register changes completely. The development corporation's own list of kosher restaurants in Caesarea runs to a pizzeria, a poke bowl counter, a French kosher chef restaurant with a large taboun, a mini-burger chain and a grill place open on weekday daytimes only. That is food for people who live and work here, and it is where the value sits.
Kashrut
Why half of Caesarea goes dark on a Friday afternoon
Most of the places worth eating at in Caesarea keep kashrut, and every one of those closes for Shabbat. That means a Friday afternoon cut-off and a Saturday night reopening, both pinned to sunset rather than to a clock, so they move week by week through the year. The Crusaders stops an hour and a half before Shabbat comes in and reopens half an hour after it goes out. Aresto stops at three on Friday. Port Cafe reopens roughly forty-five minutes after Shabbat ends. Mariposa and Arcaffe do not reopen on Saturday at all.
Friday night is therefore the one meal in Caesarea that has to be decided in advance. The places serving through Shabbat are the ones without supervision: Helena, Limani Bistro and Cheeky Carlo on the quay, La Vita Bella for something quick, and the beach kiosk up at the aqueduct. If the table has to be kosher, the meal to book on a Friday is lunch, and the other one is Saturday night after dark, which is why Saturday night is the busiest service of the week at a kosher restaurant here and an ordinary evening at the others.
The certificates are worth reading rather than assuming, because they are not all the same thing. Port Cafe is supervised by the Hof HaCarmel regional rabbinate; Aresto and the Crusaders both carry badatz Beit Yosef, a stricter private body, and the development corporation lists all three under a separate heading of kosher lemehadrin restaurants. Mariposa, Patrick's and Arcaffe appear on that same list without a named supervisor. The other division to hold in mind is meat against dairy: Port Cafe and Aresto are dairy houses, so there is no meat in either, and the Crusaders is where the kosher meat is.
The national picture behind those certificates is unsettled, which matters if you are reading one you do not recognise. A reform passed in 2021 opened kosher certification to private bodies from January 2023, turning the Chief Rabbinate into a regulator instead of the sole certifier. In July 2026 the Knesset passed a law restoring that monopoly, on a narrow division. Restaurants certified in the interval by private organisations are directly affected, and what any individual certificate in Caesarea will say a year from now is not something this page can promise.
Practicalities
Booking, the bill, the water and the size of a starter
Booking. Caesarea is not a city and the number of restaurants is small, so the pressure points are predictable: Friday lunch, Saturday night on the quay, and any evening the Roman theatre has a concert. Mariposa asks for a reservation in advance on its own site. The harbour restaurants also take large private events, the Crusaders up to 350 guests on a full closure, so a room that looks quiet on a Wednesday can be shut to the public on a Thursday. Telephone rather than assume.
The bill. Prices on Israeli menus include VAT, which has stood at 18 per cent since the start of 2025, so no tax line waits at the bottom. What is usually absent is a service charge: Israeli restaurants and cafes rarely add one except for large groups and private events, so the tip is decided by the customer and added at the card machine or left in cash. This is not a grey area in law. The National Labour Court ruled in 2018 that tips count as wages from 1 January 2019, with pension and national insurance obligations attached, whether or not the money passes through the till.
Water and portions. Tap water is safe and free, and will be brought if it is asked for. Starters arrive in quantity: in a Mediterranean kitchen here the small plates at the beginning can be most of a meal, and the sensible order is fewer main courses than there are people at the table, with more added later. The Israeli breakfast is the extreme case and is routinely shared between two.
Timing. Dinner starts late, from about eight, and the kitchens on the quay stay open to eleven or later. The exception is inland, in the business park, where several of the best-value places serve on weekday daytimes only and are closed by the middle of the afternoon.
The full list
Every place to eat we found in Caesarea
All 25 that Google Maps returned for this area, ranked by rating weighted for how many people rated it, so a five from three people does not outrank a four and a half from three thousand.
| Name | Kind | Rating | Ratings | Price | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culina | Restaurant | 4.8 | 435 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Mariana Cake Boutiqueמריאנה עוגות מעוצבות | Coffee shop | 4.7 | 82 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Mariposa | Restaurant | 4.5 | 2,321 | ₪₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Basata Hummosחומוס באסאתה | Arab restaurant | 4.6 | 64 | n/a | Sdot Yam |
| Mood trucks caesarea | Hamburger | 4.6 | 35 | n/a | העתיקה |
| Cafe HaSultanקפה הסולטן | Coffee shop | 5.0 | 10 | n/a | Or Akiva |
| Minnie Mart | Coffee shop | 4.5 | 11 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Aresto | Kosher | 4.3 | 3,651 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Hellena Restaurant Caesarea Harbor | Restaurant | 4.3 | 2,368 | ₪₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Shiso Caesareaשיסו קיסריה | Asian | 4.3 | 30 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Cafe Libaקפה ליבא | Coffee shop | 4.2 | 40 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Kitchen Caesarea | Restaurant | 4.1 | 16 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Burgerim Caesareaבורגרים קיסריה, כשר בשר חלק | Restaurant | 4.2 | 166 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Caffe Bagolfקפה בגולף | Coffee shop | 4.2 | 1,666 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Limani Bistro | Mediterranean | 4.2 | 1,819 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| The Crusaders Restaurant | Kosher | 4.2 | 2,370 | ₪₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Port Cafe | Kosher | 4.2 | 2,431 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Shabtai Caesarea | Restaurant | 4.2 | 2,995 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Japanika Caesareaג׳פניקה קיסריה | Asian | 4.2 | 4,572 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Patrick's Caesareaפטריקס קיסריה | Restaurant | 4.1 | 197 | n/a | Caesarea |
| Arcaffe Caesareaארקפה קיסריה | Cafe | 4.0 | 846 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Agendaאג'נדה Agenda מסעדה בקיסריה | Restaurant | 4.0 | 3,549 | ₪₪ | Caesarea |
| Cheeky carlo | Restaurant | 3.9 | 436 | n/a | Caesarea |
| HaHof Aqueduct Caesareaהחוף-אקוודוקט קיסריה | Coffee shop | 3.8 | 141 | n/a | Caesarea |
| La Vita Bella | Ice Cream | 3.5 | 196 | n/a | Caesarea |
Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings and counts move daily and this table does not: it is a snapshot, and it is here so the ranking above can be checked rather than taken on trust. Prices are Google's own price band, not a menu price.
Practical
What to know before you go
- Buy the port ticket at the gate and keep it. The Crusaders states on its own site that the restaurant does not credit the entry fee against your bill, and the others work the same way.
- Eat late and the gate is free. The development corporation says the harbour is open every day until the late-night hours and that payment is taken only during national park operating hours.
- The car park is the reverse of the gate: charging runs from 16:00 to 08:00 the next day, Friday and Saturday included, at ₪20 for the first hour and ₪5 for the second.
- If your table has to be kosher, make Friday lunch the meal. Every supervised kitchen in Caesarea stops in the early afternoon and none of them reopens until after dark on Saturday.
- If you want the harbour on a Friday night, it has to be one of the unsupervised kitchens: Helena, Limani Bistro or Cheeky Carlo.
- Breakfast is served but not late. Port Cafe stops at noon, Cafe Bagolf closes in the afternoon, and Arcaffe in the town opens at seven.
- The best-value food is in the business park, not on the water, and several of those places serve weekday daytimes only.
- Order fewer main courses than there are people and add later. The salads and small plates at the start of a Mediterranean meal here are substantial.
The figures
Numbers behind this page
Each figure carries the year it belongs to and links the source it came from.
| Measure | Figure | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port entry for restaurant diners | ₪14 | 2026 | caesarea.com |
| Port entry, without visitor centre, theatre or hippodrome | ₪18 | 2026 | caesarea.com |
| Full national park ticket, adult | ₪46 | 2026 | caesarea.com |
| Harbour car park, first hour | ₪20 | 2026 | caesarea.com |
| Helena tasting menu for two | ₪450 to ₪500 | 2026 | hellena.co.il |
| Standard rate of VAT, included in menu prices | 18 per cent | 2025 | taxsummaries.pwc.com |
| Tips counted as wages in Israel from | 1 January 2019 | 2018 | timesofisrael.com |
The rest of the Caesarea guide
Sources and further reading
Every link below was opened and checked when this page was written. Official statements are marked as such: they are the subject's own account, not an independent one.
- OfficialCaesarea Development Corporationcaesarea.comPrices, Caesarea Harbor
Port entry at ₪18, ₪14 for restaurant diners, ₪46 adult park ticket, and the car park tariff and hours.
- OfficialCaesarea Development Corporationcaesarea.comOpening Hours, Caesarea Harbor
Seasonal park hours, and the statement that the harbour stays open late while payment is taken only in park hours.
- OfficialCaesarea Development Corporationcaesarea.comFAQ, Caesarea Harbor Visitors' Center
The second, lower set of admission prices published by the same corporation.
- OfficialCaesarea Development Corporationcaesarea.comKosher restaurants in Caesarea
The operator's own division of the town's kosher restaurants into dairy, meat and lemehadrin, with supervisors named.
- OfficialThe Crusaders Restauranthazalbanim.co.ilHatzal-Banim, kosher lemehadrin fish restaurant at Caesarea harbour
Badatz Beit Yosef supervision, Shabbat hours, event capacity, and the note that the ₪18 park entry is not credited.
- OfficialAresto Restaurant, Caesareaaresto-restaurant.co.ilAresto
Dairy Italian kitchen under badatz Beit Yosef, chef Chali Ben Naim, and the Friday and Saturday hours.
- OfficialPort Cafe, Caesareaportcafe.co.ilPort Cafe
Kosher dairy fish restaurant under the Hof HaCarmel rabbinate; breakfast until noon and the Josper coal oven.
- OfficialHelena Restauranthellena.co.ilHelena at Caesarea Port
Chef Amos Shion's method, the daily 12:00 to 23:00 opening, and the tasting menu for two at ₪450 to ₪500.
- OfficialLimani Bistro, Caesarea Harbourlimanibistro.co.ilLimani Bistro
Mediterranean bistro cooking, the breakfast menu, and opening every day of the week.
- OfficialPatrick's Bar Restaurantpatricks-caesarea.co.ilPatrick's Caesarea
A kosher restaurant and bar in the northern industrial park, with happy hour, live music and post-Shabbat opening.
- OfficialCheeky Carlo, Caesarea Harbourcheekycarlo.co.ilCheeky Carlo
Neapolitan pizza, ceviche, the wine room and a list drawn from Israeli boutique wineries.
- ReportingThe Times of Israeltimesofisrael.comCourt rules waiters must pay tax on tips, sparks fears of restaurant price rise
The 2018 National Labour Court ruling making tips part of wages from 1 January 2019.
- ReportingThe Times of Israeltimesofisrael.comKnesset passes law restoring Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over kosher certification
The July 2026 reversal of the 2021 kashrut reform, passed on a narrow division.
- ReferencePwC Worldwide Tax Summariestaxsummaries.pwc.comIsrael: Other taxes
The standard rate of Israeli VAT, 18 per cent, which menu prices include.
Where to eat in Caesarea: common questions
Do I have to pay to get into the national park just to eat?+
During park opening hours, yes, but at a reduced rate. The Caesarea Development Corporation's price list says visitors coming to dine at one of the port restaurants may enter the port area for ₪14, against ₪18 for port entry generally and ₪46 for a full adult park ticket. The reduced ticket does not admit you to the visitor centre, the theatre or the hippodrome, and the restaurants do not credit it against your bill.
Can I eat at Caesarea harbour for free in the evening?+
Yes. The development corporation states that Caesarea Harbor is open every day until the late-night hours and that payment is made during national park operating hours, which end at 17:00 from April to October and 16:00 from November to March. Turn up after that and there is nobody at the gate. The car park is a separate matter and charges from 16:00 through to 08:00 the next morning.
Which restaurants at Caesarea harbour are kosher?+
Three of the main ones. Port Cafe is a kosher dairy fish restaurant under the Hof HaCarmel rabbinate, and Aresto and the Crusaders both carry badatz Beit Yosef supervision, which the development corporation lists as kosher lemehadrin. All three close for Shabbat. Helena, Limani Bistro and Cheeky Carlo on the same quay are not kosher and stay open through it.
Where can I eat in Caesarea on a Friday night?+
Only at the places that do not keep Shabbat, which on the harbour means Helena, Limani Bistro and Cheeky Carlo, plus La Vita Bella for ice cream and the beach kiosk up at the aqueduct. Every kosher kitchen in Caesarea stops in the early afternoon on Friday and does not reopen until after dark on Saturday. If your Friday meal has to be kosher, book lunch rather than dinner.
Is there anywhere cheap to eat in Caesarea?+
Yes, but not on the water. Basata Hummos by the amphitheatre at Sedot Yam is the cheapest proper meal within walking distance of the ruins, open mornings into the afternoon and closed on Sunday. The business park restaurants inland are the other value option, and several of those serve weekday daytimes only. Inside the park, La Vita Bella is the cheap stop, though the gate charge still applies during opening hours.
Can I get breakfast in Caesarea?+
In several places, but early. Port Cafe on the harbour serves breakfast until noon, Limani Bistro keeps a breakfast menu, Cafe Bagolf at the golf club is built around breakfast and brunch and closes in the afternoon, and Arcaffe in the town opens at seven in the morning. An Israeli breakfast is a spread of eggs, cheeses, salads and bread, and two people can reasonably share one.
Do I need to book a table?+
For Friday lunch, Saturday night and any evening with a concert at the Roman theatre, yes. Mariposa asks for a reservation in advance on its own site. The harbour restaurants also take private events at scale, the Crusaders up to 350 guests on a full closure, so a quiet-looking room can be shut to walk-in customers on a given night. Telephone ahead rather than assume.
Is a service charge added to the bill, and what about the tip?+
Israeli restaurants and cafes rarely add a service charge except for large groups and private events, so the tip is decided by the customer and added at the card machine or left in cash. Menu prices already include VAT, which has stood at 18 per cent since the start of 2025, so nothing further is added at the bottom. Tips are treated as wages in Israeli law: the National Labour Court ruled in 2018 that they count as salary from 1 January 2019, with pension and national insurance obligations attached.
Is there anywhere to eat near the Roman aqueduct?+
One place, and it is a kiosk rather than a restaurant. HaHof Aqueduct sits on the arches beach where the aqueduct runs along the sand, opens early and stays open into the evening seven days a week. The aqueduct is north of the ticketed park on its own road and cannot be reached from inside the national park, so it is a separate trip, best made late in the day when the west-facing arches catch the light.
Where do people who actually live in Caesarea eat?+
Away from the harbour. Mariposa at the golf club is the kosher meat restaurant with local customers, closed all Saturday and open Friday for lunch only. Patrick's in the northern industrial park is where the business park drinks after work and is the one place in town that runs to the small hours. Arcaffe in the shopping centre handles the morning, and Basata at Sedot Yam handles the cheap lunch.