Skip to main content
SecurityIDF says Khan Younis strike killed Nukhba operative tied to Stei…Kinneret-213.41 mUSD/ILS₪3.030Rosh Hashanahin 2 days · September 12, 2026Hebrew date28 Elul 5786
isrl.com
A covered market lane in the Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem · Where to eat

Where to eat in the Old City of Jerusalem

Jerusalem's own tourism site lists twelve restaurants inside the walls, seven of them tagged non-kosher and five open on Saturday, which is the whole difficulty of eating here in a single line.

Dan Freeman / Unsplash

Restaurants listed inside the walls

12

iTravelJerusalem, the municipal tourism site, in its 2026 Old City listing

Tagged non-kosher

7 of 12

Four are tagged kosher on the same listing, two of those mehadrin

Open on Saturday

5 of 12

Two are tagged as serving on Friday night, all of them outside the Jewish Quarter

Zalatimo, baking one pastry since

1860

A stone room behind the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that makes mutabbaq and nothing else

The Old City is not a restaurant district and it does not pretend to be one. It is a dense residential quarter with a market running through it, and most of what it sells to eat is sold standing up, wrapped in paper, before noon. The number of places with a printed menu, a wine list and a waiter is small: iTravelJerusalem, the city's own tourism site, lists twelve restaurants inside the walls. That is the honest size of the field, and a guide offering forty would be padding it with juice stalls.

The interesting part is not the size but the split. Seven of those twelve are tagged non-kosher and five are tagged as open on Saturday, and the two facts are the same fact: the kitchens of the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters work through Shabbat, and the kosher kitchens of the Jewish Quarter shut on Friday afternoon and stay shut until Saturday night. Sunday reverses part of it, when the Christian Quarter goes to church. Nobody tells a first-time visitor this, and it is the commonest way to lose a meal here.

The picks below run best first and are chosen for range rather than for the top of the range: a hummus counter that has been grinding chickpeas since the 1940s, a dairy restaurant in a thirteenth-century vault, the only kosher Korean kitchen anyone has been able to name, a pontifical institute's rooftop with the walls in front of it, and a coffee house whose owner has turned down offers to sell. The panel beside each entry carries the listing snapshot, with the date it was pulled. The writing is ours.

12 places to eat

The places to eat worth the trip in The Old City of Jerusalem

Our pick and why, then everything the listing knows, with the date it was pulled.

  1. 01

    Abu Shukri

    Hummus at the Fifth Station, before ten

    The hummus counter at the corner of Al-Wad Street and the Via Dolorosa is the one everybody names, and it has been feeding the Old City since the late 1940s. The recipe is deliberately plain: chickpeas cooked soft, tahini, lemon, olive oil, paprika, warm pitta, with falafel and salads alongside. The room is small, shared and noisy, tables turn fast, and by the middle of the day the queue reaches the street, so the sensible visit is early. Jerusalem's municipal tourism site tags it non-kosher and open on Saturday, which makes it one of the few reliable answers to the question of where to eat here on Shabbat.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Hummus with olive oil and paprika, Msabbaha, Falafel, Ful
    “Food service is outstanding.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.1578 ratings

    76% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Q6HJ+RXR, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Mediterranean
    Price band
    ₪₪ Moderate
    Map, hours and reviews

  2. 02

    Between the Arches Restaurant

    A long kosher lunch in a Crusader vault

    Bein HaKshatot sits in the short alley linking the Western Wall plaza to the souk, in a building the restaurant dates to the thirteenth century, and the dining room is a barrel-vaulted cavern with the stone left bare. The kitchen is dairy and fish, and the restaurant states its supervision plainly on its own site as kosher mehadrin under the Jerusalem Rabbinate. Stone-oven pizza, pasta, a Jerusalem fish mix and a focaccia with a spread of dips are the dishes it puts forward itself. It is heavily an event venue, hosting bar mitzvah parties of up to 90 people from the Wall next door, so a couple arriving unannounced on a Sunday lunchtime can find the room already spoken for.

    Kashrut:
    Kosher
    Known for:
    Stone oven pizza, Penne in beetroot butter with sirene, Jerusalem fish mix, Focaccia with dips

    Book, and say how many. The floor is often taken by a single celebration from the Western Wall plaza.

    “The food, ambiance, service was simply outstanding!”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.2494 ratings

    79% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Al-Wad St 174, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Kosher, Italian restaurant
    Price band
    ₪₪ Moderate

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-Thu09:00-18:00
    Fri-SatClosed
    Map, hours and reviews

  3. 03

    Notre Dame Rooftop Restaurant

    The dressed-up dinner facing the walls

    This is the Old City's grand dinner, and it is not quite in the Old City: the restaurant is on the fourth floor of the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, across the road from New Gate, looking back at the walls and out towards the Mount of Olives. The centre describes the kitchen as international, running to seafood, grilled meats and a curated cheese and wine list, with vegan and gluten-free options. It is the one address in this guide where a jacket does not look out of place and where the bill will be the evening's largest. The centre publishes no kashrut certification and its own menu pairs cheese with meat, so it should not be treated as kosher.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Seafood, Grilled meats, Cheese and wine selection

    Reserve through the centre, and ask for a table on the parapet side; the view is the reason to come.

    “Amazing food, great atmosphere, and top-notch service.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.51,344 ratings

    89% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Notre Dame Center of Jerusalem, HaTsanhanim St 3, 4th Floor, Jerusalem, 9120402
    Kitchen
    Restaurant, Bar, Wine bar

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-MonClosed
    Tue-Sat16:30-22:30
    Map, hours and reviews

  4. 04

    Nafoura Restaurant

    A slow mezze lunch in a courtyard

    A few minutes inside Jaffa Gate on Latin Patriarchate Road, Nafoura keeps a walled courtyard with tables set against old stone, which is the rarest commodity in the Old City: somewhere to sit down out of the crowd. The cooking is Levantine and unhurried, built on a long list of hot and cold mezze before charcoal grills and whole fish. It appears on the city's own Old City restaurant listing tagged non-kosher, like every other kitchen on this street. It suits a group with two hours and no fixed plan, rather than anyone trying to eat and move on.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Hot and cold mezze, Kebab and shish taouk, Charcoal-grilled sea bream, Kibbeh
    “Good and discrete service, tasty food, calm ambient.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.5347 ratings

    88% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Latin Patriarchate Rd 26, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    SunClosed
    Mon-Sat12:00-23:00
    Map, hours and reviews

  5. 05

    Bulghourji

    Armenian cooking in the quietest quarter

    Bulghourji is on the Armenian Patriarchate Road, a short walk from Jaffa Gate, built into the inner face of the Old City wall in what was a bulgur mill. Inside there are stone rooms with high arched ceilings and a courtyard at the back that takes larger parties, which is why tour groups book it for lunch. The cooking is Armenian and generous with vegetables: stuffed vine leaves, salads, aubergine, the sujuk and basturma end of the charcuterie board, and Armenian flatbreads. The city's tourism site lists it as an authentic Armenian restaurant in the Armenian Quarter and tags it non-kosher.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Armenian pizza, Stuffed vine leaves, Mezze salads, Armenian pastries

    Worth calling ahead: the courtyard is regularly taken by a coach party at lunchtime.

    “Classy and tasty”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.3201 ratings

    85% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    The Armenian Patriarchate St 6, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-Thu10:00-22:00
    Fri10:30-15:00
    SatClosed
    Map, hours and reviews

  6. 06

    Seoul House

    Kosher Korean, five minutes from the Kotel

    At 34 Chabad Street in the Jewish Quarter, Seoul House is described by the kosher travel site YeahThatsKosher as the only kosher Korean restaurant of its kind, and it reopened on 9 September 2025 after two years dark. The menu is Korean rather than adapted beyond recognition: japchae, bibimbap, kimbap, tteokbokki in gochujang, tofu jorim, grilled salmon, and a proper run of banchan including kimchi. Certification is Badatz Mehadrin Jerusalem. It is a useful address for anyone keeping kosher who has eaten falafel three days running, and it closes for Shabbat like everything else in the quarter.

    Kashrut:
    Kosher
    Known for:
    Bibimbap, Japchae, Spicy tteokbokki, Kimbap, Banchan
    “Great atmosphere, personal service, and amazing food – highly recommended”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.1478 ratings

    78% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Habad St 34, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant
    Price band
    ₪₪ Moderate

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    SunClosed
    Mon-Thu17:00-21:45
    Fri-SatClosed
    Map, hours and reviews

  7. 07

    Hatzer BaRova

    The Jewish Quarter's everyday lunch

    Hatzer BaRova is a Mizrahi kitchen a couple of minutes from the Western Wall, on the Tiferet Israel side of the Jewish Quarter, doing the things Israelis actually eat at lunchtime: falafel, a plate of salads, skewers off the grill, street food that arrives hot and fast. The Israeli restaurant directory ZAP Rest lists it as kosher mehadrin. Seating spills outside into the courtyard the name refers to, which makes it easier with children than most of the alleys around it. It is not a destination so much as the sensible answer when a family has finished at the Wall and needs feeding.

    Kashrut:
    Kosher
    Known for:
    Falafel, Grilled skewers, Salad plates
    “Cute place right on top of the Kotel good food beautiful service”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.8452 ratings

    95% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Misgav Ladakh St 36, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant
    Map, hours and reviews

  8. 08

    Versavee Restaurant Bar & Cafe

    A drink inside the walls after dark

    Versavee is a few steps inside Jaffa Gate in the Christian Quarter, off the main run of the market, and it does the job almost nothing else in the Old City does: it is a bar as much as a restaurant, with a cocktail list, an espresso machine and tables that stay occupied into the evening. The kitchen is Mediterranean and international rather than specialised, which is the right expectation to bring. The setting is an old stone building with indoor and courtyard seating and a Roman milestone in the alley beside it. Come for the hour after the sites close and before the gates get quiet, rather than for a serious dinner.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Cocktails, Fresh juices, Mediterranean mains
    “Beautiful, quiet, very nice ambiance and delicious food!”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.5442 ratings

    90% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-WedClosed
    Thu15:00-21:00
    Fri-Sat11:00-21:00
    Map, hours and reviews

  9. 09

    Taboon & Wine

    Armenian small plates and a glass of local wine

    Just inside New Gate, Taboon & Wine works a clay taboon oven at the front and a wine list at the back, and the two things are the whole idea. The breads come out of the oven with za'atar or cheese on them, and the Armenian side of the menu supplies jajikh, aubergine with tahini and a table of small dishes to eat alongside. The wine is mostly Israeli and Palestinian, sold by the glass as well as the bottle, which is unusual inside the walls. It is small, informal and run by its owner, and it is one of the few Old City rooms that feels like an evening rather than a lunch.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Za'atar and cheese taboon breads, Jajikh, Aubergine with tahini, Local wine by the glass
    “We had a wonderful evening with great service and delicious food.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.7467 ratings

    93% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    New Gate 31, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Restaurant, Armenian restaurant

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    SunClosed
    Mon-Sat16:30-23:30
    Map, hours and reviews

  10. 10

    La Pâtisserie ABU SEIR

    Breakfast pastries beside New Gate

    A small family patisserie on the New Gate street in the Christian Quarter, next to the La Salle school, run by Ibrahim Abu Seir. The counter is French rather than Levantine: croissants, eclairs, tarts and cakes, with coffee that is a clear step above the souk average, and a few tables outside on the pavement. It opens early and it is the most reliable breakfast inside the walls, which matters in a city where the good hour for sightseeing starts before most kitchens do. Nothing here is certified kosher.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Croissants, Eclairs, Cakes and tarts, Espresso
    “Very pleasant service, excellent coffee, and wonderful cakes.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.7387 ratings

    93% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    New Gate st, Ha-Sha'ar he-Khadash St 35, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Coffee shop, Bakery
    Price band
    ₪₪ Moderate

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-Tue08:30-20:00
    Wed-Thu08:30-20:30
    Fri-Sat08:30-20:00
    Map, hours and reviews

  11. 11

    Khan Abu Khadija

    The coffee stop locals actually use

    This is a Palestinian coffee house on the street running from Bab al-Silsila towards the Western Wall, in a stone room the family has held for generations. It is not a destination cafe and does not try to be: tea, Arabic coffee, a stool, a bit of shade, and the traffic of people who live and work in the quarter rather than visit it. Its owner has become locally known for refusing repeated and very large offers to sell the property, which sits over vaulted tunnels running towards the holy sites, and journalists from Columbia's Covering Religion project among others have written the story up. Come for a glass of tea and the ordinary life of the Old City, not for a meal.

    Kashrut:
    Not kosher
    Known for:
    Arabic coffee, Mint tea
    “He is running the best cafe in the area.”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.817 ratings

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Ha-Kotel St 1, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Coffee shop

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-Thu10:00-18:00
    Fri-Sat10:00-17:00
    Map, hours and reviews

  12. 12

    Burgers Bar

    Feeding children in the Jewish Quarter

    The Old City branch of a national kosher burger chain sits on Tiferet Israel Street in the Jewish Quarter, and it is the least romantic recommendation on this page and one of the most used. Jerusalem's tourism site says the branch holds its kashrut certificate from Rabbi Shlomo Mahfood and describes an open kitchen, meat ground daily, rolls baked fresh and salads made to order. Prices are fast-food prices, the room is bright, and it deals with tired children better than any vaulted cellar. Like everything kosher inside the walls it closes for Shabbat and reopens on Saturday night.

    Kashrut:
    Kosher
    Known for:
    House hamburger of beef and lamb, Entrecote burger, Moroccan cigars, Meat sandwiches

    Groups need roughly two weeks' notice, and the branch takes no events between noon and three on weekdays.

    “Incredible fresh burgers with major flavor!”
    A reviewer, quoted by Google under the listing.
    4.4976 ratings

    86% of raters gave four or five stars.

    Google Maps, retrieved . Ratings move; this one is a snapshot, not a live figure.

    Address
    Tif'eret Israel St 16, Jerusalem
    Kitchen
    Hamburger
    Price band
    ₪₪ Moderate

    Hours as listed

    Opening hours as published on Google Maps
    Sun-Thu11:00-23:00
    Fri10:30-15:00
    Sat19:00-00:00
    Map, hours and reviews

The food

Hummus, mutabbaq and knafeh, all made within a few hundred metres

Most of what the Old City cooks is Palestinian home cooking scaled up for a street trade: hummus served warm with whole chickpeas and a flood of olive oil, msabbaha, ful, falafel fried to order, kebab and shish taouk over charcoal, and a spread of small salads that lands on the table before anything has been ordered. None of it is unique to Jerusalem: the same dishes are argued over in Nablus, Amman and Beirut, and inside the walls the argument is conducted shop by shop.

The oldest food business here sells exactly one thing. Zalatimo, in a stone room reached through the souk near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, opened in 1860 and makes mutabbaq: phyllo pulled by hand, goat cheese, sugar. When Vice visited in 2018 the shop was still working from the same vaulted room and could not alter its own frontage, because the building is protected as an archaeological site. The sweet trade around it runs to knafeh and baklava, and iTravelJerusalem's own guide to the quarter names Jaffar Sweets for those, Lina and Abu Shukri for hummus, and Abu Ahmad for falafel.

The Jewish Quarter cooks something else entirely, because it was rebuilt from scratch after 1967 and its kitchens were built kosher. What that produces is Israeli rather than Palestinian: falafel and grill counters, a branch of a national burger chain, a dairy restaurant in a Crusader-era vault beside the Western Wall, and, at 34 Chabad Street, a Korean restaurant that YeahThatsKosher describes as the only kosher one of its kind, reopened in September 2025 after a two-year closure.

What the Old City does not have is a fine-dining scene. The dressed-up dinner is across the road from the walls, at the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, whose fourth-floor restaurant looks straight back at them. Inside the walls the register is lunch, and the best meals are the cheapest ones.

Kashrut

Friday afternoon closes one quarter and Sunday morning closes another

An official kosher certificate in Israel comes from the state rabbinate, and it comes from there again after a detour. The Knesset's 2021 reform would have let licensed private bodies issue certificates; the Knesset repealed it in July 2026 by 46 to 41, so certification is once more the business of the Chief Rabbinate Council, authorised local rabbis and, in the army, the Military Rabbinate. Inside the Old City the practical effect is simple: a kosher restaurant is a Jewish Quarter restaurant, or one of the two or three places clustered on the approach to the Western Wall. Mehadrin and badatz on a certificate mark a stricter standard, not a different cuisine.

Shabbat runs from sunset on Friday to nightfall on Saturday, and the kosher kitchens keep it. They close in the early afternoon on Friday, often before the last visitors have finished with the Western Wall, and they do not reopen until Saturday night. This catches people badly, because Friday afternoon is when the Old City is at its most interesting. If the plan is a Friday night meal, it will not be a kosher one inside the walls.

The other three quarters carry on. iTravelJerusalem tags five of its twelve Old City restaurants as open on Saturday and two as open on Friday night, and every one of them is outside the Jewish Quarter: the site tags Abu Shukri, for instance, as both non-kosher and open on Saturday. Non-kosher here mostly means unsupervised rather than pork on the menu. These are Muslim and Christian family businesses that have never applied for a certificate and have no reason to, and a traveller who keeps kosher should read the absence of a certificate as exactly that.

Two more closures are worth knowing. Friday midday prayers empty the Muslim Quarter's kitchens for an hour or two around the Haram al-Sharif, and during Ramadan the daytime trade there thins out and then reopens hard after sunset. Sunday takes out part of the Christian and Armenian quarters instead. No single day of the week has everything open, which is why the safest plan is to decide what to eat after deciding what day it is.

Geography

Four quarters, and lunch is a different thing in each

The Muslim Quarter is where the eating actually happens. Al-Wad Street and the covered souks running off it carry the hummus counters, the falafel windows, the juice presses and the sweet shops, and the trade is fast, cheap and largely cash. Almost nothing here serves alcohol. The best hour is early, when the chickpeas are freshly cooked and the tour groups have not yet reached David Street.

The Christian Quarter and the strip inside New Gate hold most of the places with tables, tablecloths and a wine list. Latin Patriarchate Road has the courtyard restaurants; the Muristan, the square laid out by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate around the start of the twentieth century, has terraces on it; and the short run of bars and cafes just inside New Gate is the closest the Old City comes to a night out. It is also where a Sunday closure is most likely.

The Armenian Quarter is the quietest and has the fewest options, which is part of its appeal. The Armenian Patriarchate Road has one long-standing Armenian restaurant built into the inner wall and a couple of guest-house coffee shops, and anyone walking from Jaffa Gate to Zion Gate should expect to pass almost nothing else.

The Jewish Quarter is the kosher quarter and the family quarter: falafel and grill counters around Tiferet Israel Street, a burger chain, and the dairy restaurants near the Western Wall plaza. Prices sit above the souk and the rooms are brighter and newer, because most of the fabric here dates from the rebuilding after 1967, and it is the only part of the Old City that reliably has high chairs.

Practicalities

Tipping, booking, and the salads nobody ordered

In an Arab restaurant here a row of small dishes arrives as soon as you sit down: pickles, tahini, salads, sometimes bread and olives. They are not free and they are not a mistake. They are the mezze, they will appear on the bill, and the polite way to decline is to say so before they are put down. Portions run larger than European ones, and two mains between three people plus mezze is a reasonable order rather than a mean one.

Israeli restaurants almost never add a service charge. The Dan hotel group's published guidance puts the customary tip at 10 to 12 per cent for good service and 15 per cent for excellent, and notes that the VAT already on the bill, 18 per cent, is a government tax and not a gratuity. Tips are no longer an informal matter: after a National Labour Court ruling reported by the Times of Israel in 2018, gratuities have counted as part of a waiter's wages since 1 January 2019, with the social benefits and tax that implies. Cash is still welcome, and in the souks it is often the only option, because many small places take no cards at all.

Booking is the exception rather than the rule. Nearly everything in the souk is walk-in, and at lunch the queue moves. The places worth phoning ahead for are the ones with a view or an event trade: the Notre Dame rooftop, which takes reservations through the centre; Between the Arches, which handles bar mitzvah parties of up to 90 and fills its floor with them; and the Jewish Quarter burger branch, which asks for about two weeks' notice for a group and refuses events between noon and three on weekdays.

Two last practicalities. Tap water is drinkable throughout Jerusalem and a jug on the table costs nothing to ask for, which matters in a place with almost no shade and a long uphill walk out of every gate. And nothing on this page is far from anything else: the whole field of choice sits inside a walled area you can cross on foot in under half an hour, so the decision is almost never about distance and almost always about the day and the hour.

The full list

Every place to eat we found in The Old City of Jerusalem

All 35 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.

Every place to eat in The Old City of Jerusalem, from a Google Maps snapshot taken on 2026-08-13
NameKindRatingRatingsPriceWhere
ToumaCoffee shop5.0240n/aJerusalem
Teta CafeFalafel4.9277n/aJerusalem
Enoteca - Espresso & Wine BarEspresso bar5.063n/aJerusalem
Patisserie JackCoffee shop4.9132n/aJerusalem
Hatzer BaRovaחצר ברובעRestaurant4.8452n/aJerusalem
Metáphora - Art CafèCoffee shop4.8417₪₪Jerusalem
Bites & Bucks CafeCafe5.034n/aJerusalem
Rewined JLMRestaurant4.8120n/aJerusalem
Fully Belly Grill HouseRestaurant4.8103n/aJerusalem
The Message CafeCafe4.930n/aJerusalem
Taboon & WineRestaurant4.7467n/aJerusalem
La Pâtisserie ABU SEIRCoffee shop4.7387₪₪Jerusalem
The GatewayالبوابةCoffee shop4.7145n/aJerusalem
Fayruz restaurantRestaurant4.7130n/aJerusalem
Snacks Old TownLunch5.013n/aJerusalem
ABU ATA ZamanCoffee shop4.828n/aJerusalem
Lebanese resturantRestaurant4.745n/aJerusalem
Khan Abu Khadijaمقهى ابو خديجهCoffee shop4.817n/aJerusalem
Cafe Vero JLMCoffee shop4.724n/aJerusalem
Chirst church coffee shopCoffee shop4.650n/aJerusalem
Nafoura RestaurantRestaurant4.5347n/aJerusalem
Versavee Restaurant Bar & CafeRestaurant4.5442n/aJerusalem
Notre Dame Rooftop RestaurantRestaurant4.51,344n/aJerusalem
Coffee NadiCoffee shop4.53,062₪₪Jerusalem
Cafe SiraCafe4.4678₪₪Jerusalem
Café Bastetمقهى البستيتCafe4.4731₪₪Jerusalem
Burgers Barבורגרס ברHamburger4.4976₪₪Jerusalem
BulghourjiRestaurant4.3201n/aJerusalem
Arafat HummusMiddle Eastern4.3307n/aJerusalem
CofizzקופיזCafe4.179₪Jerusalem
Between the Arches RestaurantKosher4.2494₪₪Jerusalem
Family RestaurantRestaurant4.1156n/aJerusalem
Seoul HouseRestaurant4.1478₪₪Jerusalem
Abu ShukriMediterranean4.1578₪₪Jerusalem
Al-Sultan RestaurantRestaurant3.5138n/aJerusalem Old City

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.

A covered market lane in the Old City of Jerusalem

Practical

What to know before you go

  • Eat hummus before ten in the morning. The chickpeas are freshest, the counters are calm, and by midday David Street is solid with groups.
  • Decide the day before the restaurant. Friday afternoon closes the Jewish Quarter, Friday midday prayers pause the Muslim Quarter, and Sunday closes part of the Christian and Armenian quarters.
  • For a Friday night meal inside the walls, look outside the Jewish Quarter: iTravelJerusalem tags only two of its twelve Old City restaurants as open then, and neither is kosher.
  • Carry cash in small notes. Many souk kitchens take no cards, and change for a large note is a negotiation.
  • Say no to the mezze before it lands if you do not want it. It is charged for, and it arrives unasked.
  • Ask for tap water. It is drinkable across Jerusalem and free, which matters on a hot walk up from Dung Gate.
  • Add the tip yourself. Israeli restaurants almost never include a service charge, and the VAT on the bill is not one.
  • During Ramadan, plan Muslim Quarter meals for after sunset. Daytime service thins out and the evening trade is enormous.

Dan Freeman / Unsplash

The figures

Numbers behind this page

Each figure carries the year it belongs to and links the source it came from.

MeasureFigureAs ofSource
Restaurants listed inside the Old City walls122026itraveljerusalem.com
Of those, tagged non-kosher72026itraveljerusalem.com
Of those, tagged open on Saturday52026itraveljerusalem.com
Knesset vote restoring the Rabbinate's kashrut monopoly46 to 412026jpost.com
Tips counted as part of wages from1 January 20192018timesofisrael.com
Customary tip, good service10-12%2026danhotels.com
Zalatimo opened at the Holy Sepulchre18602018vice.com
Seoul House reopened after two years closed9 September 20252025yeahthatskosher.com

The rest of the The Old City of Jerusalem guide

Things to do in The Old City of Jerusalem →Where to stay in The Old City of Jerusalem →Getting to The Old City of Jerusalem →The best time to visit The Old City of Jerusalem →

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.

  1. OfficialiTravelJerusalemitraveljerusalem.com
    Restaurants in The Old City

    The municipal tourism site's Old City restaurant listing, with its kashrut, Saturday and Friday-night filters

  2. OfficialiTravelJerusalemitraveljerusalem.com
    Abu Shukri, Old City

    Tagged non-kosher and open on Saturday, with the hummus described

  3. OfficialiTravelJerusalemitraveljerusalem.com
    Burgers Bar Old City

    Kashrut certificate from Rabbi Shlomo Mahfood, menu and the two-week notice for events

  4. OfficialiTravelJerusalemitraveljerusalem.com
    Bulghourji

    Armenian restaurant in the Armenian Quarter, tagged non-kosher

  5. OfficialiTravelJerusalemitraveljerusalem.com
    Culinary Treasures of the Old City

    Names Jaffar Sweets, Lina, Abu Shukri, Zalatimo and Abu Ahmad as the quarter's food landmarks

  6. OfficialBein HaKshatotbetweenarches.co.il
    Between the Arches Restaurant

    The restaurant's own statement of kosher mehadrin supervision under the Jerusalem Rabbinate, dairy and fish

  7. OfficialPontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centernotredamecenter.org
    Dining at Notre Dame

    The rooftop restaurant's own description of its menu, its fourth-floor position and its view of the walls

  8. ReportingYeahThatsKosheryeahthatskosher.com
    Seoul House Returning to Jerusalem with Authentic Kosher Korean Dining

    Reopening date, address on Chabad Street, menu and Badatz Mehadrin Jerusalem certification

  9. ReportingVicevice.com
    Jerusalem's Oldest Bakery Only Makes One Thing

    Zalatimo opened in 1860 at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and makes only mutabbaq

  10. ReportingCovering Religion, Columbia Journalism Schoolcoveringreligion.org
    Jerusalem Cafe Owner Turns Down Millions for Property with Secret Tunnel to Holy Sites

    The Abu Khadija family coffee house, its tunnels and the refused offers

  11. ReportingThe Times of Israeltimesofisrael.com
    Court rules waiters must pay tax on tips

    National Labour Court ruling making tips part of wages from 1 January 2019

  12. ReportingThe Jerusalem Postjpost.com
    Knesset repeals 2021 kashrut reform, restores Rabbinate control over certification

    July 2026 vote, 46 to 41, and who may now issue an official kosher certificate

  13. ReferenceZAP Restrest.co.il
    Hatzer BaRova, Jerusalem

    Israeli restaurant directory listing the Jewish Quarter kitchen as kosher mehadrin

  14. ReferenceDan Hotelsdanhotels.com
    Tipping in Israel: Who, When, and How Much?

    Israeli hotel group's published guidance: no service charge, 10-12 per cent for good service, VAT at 18 per cent is a tax not a tip

Where to eat in the Old City of Jerusalem: common questions

Where can I eat in the Old City on Shabbat?+

In the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters, which do not keep Shabbat and serve all day Saturday. iTravelJerusalem tags five of its twelve Old City restaurants as open on Saturday, Abu Shukri among them. The Jewish Quarter is the exception: its kosher kitchens close on Friday afternoon and reopen on Saturday night.

Are there kosher restaurants inside the Old City?+

Yes, but they are concentrated in one quarter. The Jewish Quarter and the approach to the Western Wall hold the kosher options: a dairy restaurant in a thirteenth-century vault beside the Wall, a Mizrahi grill and falafel place, a kosher Korean kitchen on Chabad Street and a branch of a national kosher burger chain. All of them shut for Shabbat.

Is the food in the Muslim and Christian quarters kosher?+

No, and it does not claim to be. These are family businesses that have never sought rabbinical supervision, so the label means unsupervised rather than a menu full of forbidden ingredients. Anyone keeping kosher should treat the absence of a certificate as decisive; official certificates in Israel come from the Chief Rabbinate Council or an authorised local rabbi, after the Knesset repealed the 2021 private-certification reform in July 2026.

What should I eat if I only eat one thing here?+

Hummus, in the morning, at a counter in the Muslim Quarter. It is the dish the Old City does better than anything else and cheaper than anything else, it takes fifteen minutes, and it is available on every day of the week. Second choice is mutabbaq at Zalatimo near the Holy Sepulchre, making that one pastry since 1860.

Do I need to book a table?+

Almost never in the souk, and almost always for the four or five places with a view or an event trade. The Notre Dame rooftop, Between the Arches and Bulghourji all fill with booked parties, and Between the Arches regularly gives its whole floor to a bar mitzvah celebration of up to 90 people from the Western Wall plaza. Everything else is walk-in.

Is eating in the Old City expensive?+

Not unless you choose for it to be. A hummus lunch with bread and salads in the souk is one of the cheapest sit-down meals in Jerusalem, and the falafel and pastry counters are cheaper still. The bill climbs at the courtyard restaurants inside Jaffa Gate, and climbs again at the Notre Dame rooftop, which is the only genuinely expensive dinner in this area.

Can I get a drink inside the walls?+

Yes, but in a specific corner of them. The Christian Quarter and the strip just inside New Gate hold the bars and the wine lists, including a taboon-and-wine place and a cocktail bar a few steps from Jaffa Gate. The Muslim Quarter serves almost no alcohol, and the Jewish Quarter's kosher restaurants serve wine and beer but keep restaurant hours.

Is there anywhere for breakfast?+

Yes, mostly in the Christian Quarter. The patisserie on the New Gate street opens early for pastries and coffee, the hummus counters in the souk are at their best in the first hours, and the dairy restaurant by the Western Wall runs morning deals. Very little of the Jewish Quarter opens before mid-morning.

Do restaurants take cards?+

The sit-down restaurants do; a great many of the souk counters and coffee stalls do not. Carry small notes, because change for a large one can take a while to find. Tipping is expected on top of the bill, since Israeli restaurants almost never add a service charge.

What changes during Ramadan?+

The Muslim Quarter's rhythm inverts. Daytime trade thins considerably, some kitchens close until sunset, and the streets around Damascus Gate and Al-Wad fill after the fast breaks, with sweet shops working late into the night. The Christian and Jewish quarters carry on as usual, so a daytime meal is still easy to find, just not in the same lanes.

Keep exploring

Kinneret Water Level
Today's reading against the red lines, with 60 years of history.
Jewish Holidays
Every festival date, years ahead, Israel and Diaspora.
Cost of Living in Israel
Rent, groceries and salaries in real numbers.
Essential Hebrew Phrases
The words you need in your first week.