15 addresses where Florentin actually eats.
Shakshuka from an unmarked window on Vital Street before it sells out. Strong black coffee at p.o.c café that keeps you vertical until the bars open. Thursday nights, Florentin doesn't distinguish between drinking inside and drinking outside. The sidewalk is the bar.
15 addresses across restaurants, bars, and cafes - all in Florentin.
Florentin eats sideways: Eyal Shani doing seasonal Mediterranean on the second floor of an 1867 building at Beit Romano, eleven courses around a single vegetable inside a converted storage unit on Ha-Khalutzim, three ramen bowls and nothing else at Florentin 5. Greek small plates on Matalon, Mexican tacos on Vital. Nobody here is trying to be everything.
Greek, Turkish, and Arab-inflected small plates on Matalon Street with charred octopus, eggplant carpaccio, and a long bar overlooking Levinsky Market through big windows. The arak flows freely, but book ahead or you're not getting in after 9pm.
Legit Mexican bar food on Vital Street since 2008, with fish and chicken tacos, enchiladas, and over 30 imported tequilas plus mezcal. Happy hour runs Sunday through Thursday 5-8pm, but late nights at the bar with a chimichanga is the real play.
Compact Japanese ramen spot at Florentin 5 with exactly three handmade-noodle bowls, gyoza, and soufflé pancakes from chef Misato Becher in an open kitchen. No reservations, wooden stools, paper lanterns, and currently the longest queue at any restaurant in Tel Aviv.
Eleven courses built around one fruit or vegetable each, served inside a former storage unit on Ha-Khalutzim with plaster walls and fermentation jars lining the kitchen. Chef Shirel Berger cooks lychees in olive oil until they read as meat, and tells you what you ate only after you've finished.
Eyal Shani's seasonal Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant on the second floor of Beit Romano, a restored 1867 building with a courtyard that hosts music and film screenings below. Menu changes daily, reservations are mandatory, and the warm-night terrace energy is hard to replicate anywhere else in the city.
Florentin drinks on a sliding scale: board games and burgers at Shuffle on Florentin 19, secondhand sofas and free afrobeat sets in Hoodna's Abarbanel alley, 24 taps and 100-plus whiskeys at perla's corner perch since 2005. Teder.fm broadcasts DJ sets from Beit Romano's courtyard, and Christoff pours 200 wine labels behind an unmarked door near Levinsky.
Neighborhood bar at Florentin 19 with board games stacked on the counter, loaded burgers, a half-vegan menu, and loyal regulars who treat it like a second living room. Happy hour runs 6-9pm every night, and Thursdays pack out fast.
Inside Beit Romano's open courtyard, an online radio station doubles as a bar, broadcasting live DJ sets between pours from beer pitchers and slices of Eyal Shani's enormous thin-crust pizzas. Founded in 2010 by Itai Drai and three partners, it shares the compound with a record store and jazz kissa.
Unmarked wine salon near Levinsky with no signage outside, over 200 labels, and an extended by-the-glass list selected by wine director Aviv Hajaj. High ceilings, rough walls, wine books scattered around, and a weekly Grilled Cheese Friday that regulars plan their week around.
One of Florentin's oldest bars, open since 2005, sitting at the corner of Florentin and Vital with 24 beers on tap and over 100 whiskeys behind the bar. Pool table, smoking allowed inside, 4am closing, and a generous 1+1 happy hour from 4 to 7:30pm daily.
The alley setup on Abarbanel spills with secondhand sofas, recycled bottle light fixtures, and free live sets ranging from afrobeat to rock most nights. Cheap Goldstar on tap, a crowd that actually dances, and nothing really starts before midnight.
Florentin's cafe culture lives on Frenkel Street, where Kana and Frenkel Cafe trade morning coffee for afternoon lingering and nobody checks if you've ordered in the last hour. Tony and Esther anchors Levinsky with patio breakfasts, p.o.c bakes its own canelés on Kfar Gilaadi, and Poopik runs the same room from shakshuka to cocktails.
Dog-friendly neighborhood cafe on Frenkel 56 serving fresh coffee, pastries, and quiches, open on Shabbat when half the street is shut. Evenings bring cocktails and Italian wine for a quieter pace than what Vital Street offers around the corner.
Laid-back coffee shop on Frenkel Street that functions as the neighborhood's unofficial living room, surrounded by tattoo parlors and plant shops. Sidewalk benches spill onto the street, and laptops outnumber newspapers most mornings.
Canelés de Bordeaux on Kfar Gilaadi since 2018, with sandwich bread and lemon muffin glaze made on the premises. The corner setup at Frenkel buries you in plants whether you sit inside or out, and the egg salad sandwich earns the loyalty it gets.
All-day Levinsky Street institution serving egg breakfasts, lentil pancakes, and homemade cakes on a spacious patio wedged between two buildings. Friday mornings are the move, when the whole mixed crowd shows up and nobody's in a rush.
All-day cafe and bar at Florentin 10 running from Israeli breakfast spreads through burgers and cocktails at night. Sidewalk tables, Friday happy hour scribbled on a chalkboard, and prices that still feel reasonable for this neighborhood.
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