The 7 Best Restaurants in Eilat (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 7 picks

The best eating in Eilat is fish and seafood by the water — the marina, the North Beach promenade and the Coral Beach strip — plus the hotel restaurants, the grills in the town centre where locals actually eat, and the desert dining just outside town. Eilat is VAT-free, so prices are lower than elsewhere. Seven, below.

1. The marina restaurants — Eilat Marina, North Beach

Fish and seafood with boats in front of you and Jordan across the water.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

The marina on North Beach is Eilat's main restaurant strip: a run of fish and seafood places with terraces on the water, looking across the gulf to Aqaba in Jordan and the mountains of Saudi Arabia beyond.

The setting is the product. The food is generally good rather than exceptional, but eating grilled fish on a warm evening with the boats and the lights on the water is exactly what people come to Eilat for.

It is the most expensive eating in town and the most touristed. Book a waterside table for sunset.

Good to know: Ask for a table at the water's edge and book it — the second row is a completely different experience.

Google Maps Website

2. The Coral Beach strip — Coral Beach, south Eilat

Quieter, closer to the reef, and where the divers eat.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

The southern strip towards Coral Beach and the Egyptian border is where the diving centres, the nature reserve and the Underwater Observatory are, and the restaurants there serve a different crowd — divers, snorkellers and families staying at the southern hotels.

It is calmer than the marina and the beachfront places are closer to the water, with the reef literally offshore.

The obvious plan is a morning snorkelling at the Coral Beach Nature Reserve and lunch immediately afterwards without moving the car.

Good to know: Pair with a morning at Coral Beach Nature Reserve — snorkel, then eat fifty metres away.

Google Maps Website

3. The town centre grills and hummus places — Central Eilat, away from the hotels

Where Eilat residents eat, at a third of the promenade price.

₪ Budget

Away from the hotel strip, central Eilat has the ordinary Israeli food infrastructure — grill houses, hummus places, shawarma counters, bakeries — serving the town's residents rather than its visitors.

The quality is good and the prices are a fraction of the beachfront. A mixed grill or a shawarma here costs what a starter costs at the marina.

It is a fifteen-minute walk or a short ride from the hotels and it is the single best value decision available in Eilat.

Good to know: The single biggest saving in Eilat. Walk fifteen minutes inland and pay a third as much.

Google Maps Website

4. The hotel fine-dining rooms — North Beach hotel strip

The most ambitious cooking in town, inside the big resorts.

₪₪₪₪ Splurge

Eilat's large hotels run their own restaurants, and the better ones operate proper fine-dining rooms with chefs recruited from the Tel Aviv scene — a serious step up from the buffet that most guests default to.

Nearly all are kosher, which shapes the menus: no shellfish, and meat and dairy strictly separated, so a steakhouse will have no butter or cream anywhere on it.

They are open to non-guests and worth considering, particularly at the resorts on North Beach where the rooms have sea views.

Good to know: Non-guests can book these. Reserve directly rather than through the hotel's front desk.

Google Maps Website

5. The North Beach promenade — North Beach

The busy, obvious, family-friendly strip, and it works for what it is.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

The promenade running along North Beach is Eilat at its most touristic: a continuous line of restaurants, ice cream counters, bars and shops facing the water, busy from early evening until late.

It is not where the best food in town is, but it is where the atmosphere is, and with children it is the easy answer — everyone finds something, nobody has to sit still, and it is a two-minute walk from most hotels.

Prices are promenade prices. Judge by which terraces are full of Israelis rather than by the menus outside.

Good to know: Look for the terraces full of Israeli families rather than the ones with a host outside waving menus.

Google Maps Website

6. The desert restaurants outside town — The Arava, north of Eilat

Kibbutz and farm kitchens in the desert, half an hour from the beach.

₪₪ Mid-range

The Arava valley north of Eilat holds kibbutzim and desert farms with restaurants and farm kitchens — including at Neot Semadar and the agricultural communities along the road — serving food grown in the surrounding fields.

It is a completely different proposition from the marina: quiet, agricultural, and often organic, in a landscape of open desert and mountains.

Combine with the Timna Park stop or a Red Canyon walk on the way back into town.

Good to know: Combine with Timna Park — the two fit into one easy half day north of Eilat.

Google Maps Website

7. The Ice Mall and shopping centre food courts — North Beach

Air conditioning, an ice rink and food, which in an Eilat August is the whole argument.

₪₪ Mid-range

The Ice Mall on North Beach has a full-size ice rink at its centre and a substantial food offering around it, and in July and August, when the outside temperature passes 40°C, this is a genuinely sensible plan.

It is not fine dining and does not claim to be. It is somewhere cold, with food, that will occupy children for three hours in the middle of the day.

Eilat's afternoons in summer are effectively indoors. Plan around that rather than fighting it.

Good to know: The correct plan for a summer afternoon in Eilat. Beach at dawn and dusk, indoors in between.

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

Why is Eilat cheaper than the rest of Israel?

Eilat is a free-trade zone and VAT is not charged there, which takes 17% off most purchases including restaurant meals. It is one of the few places in Israel where eating out feels reasonably priced, though the hotel restaurants have found ways to compensate.

Is the seafood local?

Some is. The Red Sea is fished but the reef is a protected nature reserve, so much of what is served comes from elsewhere, including farmed fish from the Arava and imported seafood. Ask if it matters — the better restaurants will tell you straight.

Are restaurants in Eilat kosher?

The hotel restaurants overwhelmingly are, which means no shellfish and meat and dairy kept apart. Independent restaurants in town and on the marina are a mix, and the non-kosher ones serve shellfish and open on Shabbat. Check the door if either matters to you.

What does dinner cost?

Roughly ₪120–₪200 a head at a decent restaurant with a drink, less at the town-centre grills and shawarma counters, and considerably more at the hotel fine-dining rooms. The VAT exemption makes it noticeably cheaper than the equivalent meal in Tel Aviv.

When should I eat in Eilat?

Late. Summer daytime temperatures regularly pass 40°C and the town effectively shuts down in the afternoon, so dinner starts around 8pm and the promenade fills after 9pm. Restaurants stay open late accordingly.

Where do locals eat?

Not on the promenade. The town centre, around the commercial areas away from the hotel strip, has the grills, hummus places and shawarma counters that Eilat residents actually use, at a fraction of the beachfront prices.

1. The marina restaurants — Eilat Marina, North Beach

2. The Coral Beach strip — Coral Beach, south Eilat

3. The town centre grills and hummus places — Central Eilat, away from the hotels

4. The hotel fine-dining rooms — North Beach hotel strip

5. The North Beach promenade — North Beach

6. The desert restaurants outside town — The Arava, north of Eilat

7. The Ice Mall and shopping centre food courts — North Beach

Frequently asked questions

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