The 7 Best Cocktail Bars in Israel (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 7 picks

The best cocktail bars in Israel are in Tel Aviv, where a genuine bartending scene has grown up around Rothschild, Florentin and the Levinsky area, joined by the Machane Yehuda market bars in Jerusalem and Haifa's Downtown revival. Bars fill after 10pm and run past 2am. Seven worth a night, below.

1. The Rothschild bars — Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv's main artery and the highest concentration of serious cocktail bars.

₪₪₪₪ Splurge

Rothschild Boulevard and the streets running off it hold the densest run of proper cocktail bars in Israel — small rooms with short, well-built lists, bartenders who have worked abroad, and a level of technique that stands comparison with London or New York.

The scene here is defined by ingredient-led drinks: arak, local citrus, herbs, date syrup and tahini turn up regularly, and the best bars change their lists seasonally around what is in the markets.

It is also the easiest area to bar-hop, since everything is within a few minutes' walk on a tree-lined boulevard.

Good to know: Arrive before 10pm at the small rooms — after that it is standing and waiting.

Google Maps Website

2. The Florentin bars — Florentin, Tel Aviv

Cheaper, louder and later — the city's best neighbourhood for a long night.

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Florentin is the young, scruffy, creative quarter in the south of the city and its bars are the counterweight to the polished Rothschild rooms: cheaper drinks, louder music, pavement seating and a night that keeps going.

There are proper cocktail bars mixed in among the beer bars and dives, and several of them do serious work without the price tag or the attitude.

The neighbourhood is walkable and dense enough that the correct approach is to wander and follow the noise.

Good to know: Thursday night is the peak. The streets themselves become the venue.

Google Maps Website

3. The Levinsky and Nachalat Binyamin bars — South-central Tel Aviv

Bars built out of the spice market, using what is on the shelves outside.

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The bars around Levinsky market and the streets between it and Nachalat Binyamin have the most distinctly Israeli drinks programmes in the country, because the spice shops, herb sellers and dried-fruit stalls are literally next door.

Expect arak done properly, drinks built on za'atar, sumac, tamarind, rose and pistachio, and a strong local wine and vermouth presence alongside.

The area also has the best late-night eating in Tel Aviv, which matters more than it sounds at 1am.

Good to know: Ask what the bartender is doing with arak — it is the local spirit and the best bars take it seriously.

Google Maps Website

4. The Machane Yehuda market bars — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

The market shutters come down at night and the whole place becomes a bar.

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Machane Yehuda is Jerusalem's produce market by day and its best night out after dark: the stalls close, the painted shutters come down, and the alleys fill with bars and small restaurants operating out of the same spaces.

The transformation is genuinely dramatic and it is the answer to the persistent claim that Jerusalem has no nightlife. It does — it is just concentrated in a few hundred square metres.

Most places here are kosher and close from Friday afternoon until Saturday night, so Thursday is the night to go.

Good to know: Thursday night is the market's biggest. It shuts down entirely for Shabbat.

Google Maps Website

5. The Jaffa bars — Jaffa

Stone courtyards, the flea market square, and open every night of the week.

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Jaffa's bars cluster around the flea market and the streets below the clock tower, and the setting — old stone buildings, courtyards, tables spilling into the square — is the best in greater Tel Aviv for sitting outside.

Because much of the area is Arab-owned, it runs seven nights a week including Shabbat, which makes it reliable when parts of the city slow down.

It also mixes a genuinely diverse crowd, which is increasingly less true of central Tel Aviv.

Good to know: The flea market square is the spot. Get there before 10pm for an outside table.

Google Maps Website

6. Downtown Haifa — Ha'ir HaTachtit, Haifa

The country's most interesting bar scene outside Tel Aviv, and much cheaper.

₪₪ Mid-range

Haifa's Downtown — the old lower city near the port — has been through a substantial revival, with bars and restaurants opening in restored Ottoman and Mandate-era buildings along a few streets.

It is the most genuinely mixed nightlife in Israel, Arab and Jewish, and the atmosphere is markedly more relaxed than Tel Aviv's. Prices are noticeably lower too.

Bars here run through Shabbat, which makes Haifa a useful Friday night when Jerusalem is closed.

Good to know: Open on Friday night, unlike much of the country — worth knowing if you are in the north.

Google Maps Website

7. The rooftop bars — Tel Aviv beachfront

Sunset over the Mediterranean, with a properly made drink in hand.

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Tel Aviv's rooftop bars — mostly on hotels along and near the beachfront — offer the one thing the street-level bars cannot: the sea, the skyline and the sunset from above.

The drinks are usually good rather than exceptional and the prices reflect the view, but for one evening it is the right call, and the half hour either side of sunset is when to be there.

Our dedicated guide to the best rooftop bars in Israel covers the individual venues.

Good to know: Arrive an hour before sunset for a west-facing table — they are rarely bookable and always taken.

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

What time do bars in Israel get going?

Late. A cocktail bar at 9pm is quiet, fills around 11pm and runs past 2am, and clubs do not start until 1am. Turning up at 8pm gets you a seat and an empty room. Israeli nights out are structured around a very late dinner and a later start.

What does a cocktail cost?

Roughly ₪48–₪75 in Tel Aviv, a little less elsewhere. Happy hours are common and generous, usually early evening, and a lot of bars run them until 9pm. Tipping is expected, around 10–12%, and is often not included in the bill.

What is the local drinking style?

Arak — the anise spirit — is the local base, and Israeli bartenders use it seriously, alongside citrus, herbs, tahini, date syrup, za'atar and local produce generally. Israeli craft beer and boutique wine are also strong. Expect drinks built around ingredients you will not see elsewhere.

Which nights are busiest?

Thursday is the biggest night of the week — the equivalent of a Friday elsewhere, since the Israeli weekend is Friday and Saturday. Friday night is second. Saturday night restarts after Shabbat ends and runs late. Sunday is a working day and bars are quiet.

Are bars open on Shabbat?

In Tel Aviv, yes — Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest of the week. In Jerusalem, most Jewish-owned bars close Friday evening and reopen after Shabbat ends on Saturday night. Haifa and Jaffa stay open throughout.

Do I need to book?

Most cocktail bars in Tel Aviv do not take reservations and work on a first-come basis, which is why arriving before 10pm has an advantage. The smaller and more celebrated the bar, the longer the wait after 11pm on a Thursday.

1. The Rothschild bars — Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv

2. The Florentin bars — Florentin, Tel Aviv

3. The Levinsky and Nachalat Binyamin bars — South-central Tel Aviv

4. The Machane Yehuda market bars — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

5. The Jaffa bars — Jaffa

6. Downtown Haifa — Ha'ir HaTachtit, Haifa

7. The rooftop bars — Tel Aviv beachfront

Frequently asked questions

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