10 Best Restaurants in Around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, Israel

One floor contains a gallery where local Palestinian paintings and posters are on exhibit and for sale; above it is a well-lit restaurant with giant windows. Breakfast features Arab mainstays like hummus and man'ousheh bread baked with aromatic zaatar, and main courses range from traditional offerings like shishbarak dumplings to more Western offerings such as fettuccini Alfredo. Try local Palestinian wine and beer, or order from a wide bar selection.

Chef Rama Ben Zvi combines local produce, meat, and dairy with attentive service for a meal that could easily last hours amid the gorgeous Judean Hills. Brunch, lunch, and dinner are fixed price and begin with bread baked on-site. The menu changes at this spot open only a few days a week, but the beet hummus is outstanding, and grilled lamb ribs served on bulgur wheat with tomato chutney are delightful. Desserts like pistachio ice cream are beautifully executed. Prices are upscale, as are the modern wooden furnishings and wood floor. Drinks include a spicy gin coriander cocktail, and the wine list includes many Israeli bottles.

Jawdat Ibrahim won the Illinois state lottery in 1991 and plowed his winnings back into his village, creating a local restaurant as well as a scholarship fund for Arab and Jewish students. Jawdat was the driving force behind Israel's Guinness World Record for the largest plate of hummus, served on a satellite dish; taste the hummus for yourself, or try the bean soup or the juicy meat skewers served with freshly cut colorful salads. Take in stunning village views from large windows or outdoor seating on the balcony. A sweetshop on the first floor offers coffee, tea, and freshly made baklava and other treats, including the syrupy sweet cheese-based desert, knafe.

Open seven days a week, this casual Mediterranean restaurant is the perfect place to grab a morning coffee or stop for a bite while hiking and biking. Homemade pastas, taboon-baked pizzas, and Israeli favorites like shakshuka are served on a stone patio overlooking the Judean Hills. A small stand supplies maps of nearby hiking trails and nature reserves, and one circular trail, Nofey Nahal Katlav, which is partially paved, starts right outside of the restaurant. 

Sun streams into this kosher restaurant, which is decorated with plants that are for sale and which has outdoor seating on a delightful, shaded patio. Breakfasts are colorful and generous; options for later in the day include the Beit Zayit salad featuring asparagus and mushrooms, fish kebabs in red-pepper-infused tomato sauce, a long list of pizzas and pastas, and several vegan dishes. The wine list features Israeli and foreign selections. Reservations are recommended.

This popular hummus joint is also the village's oldest, having started out with two tables in Samir Abu Shukri's home in 1965 (his grandson, Fadi, is now the restaurant's third-generation manager). Grab a table by the large windows, and look out at the towering mosque minarets in the village while enjoying big plates of hummus served with fresh pita. For something more substantial, try hummus topped with grilled mushrooms or meat.

This restaurant—part of a moshav, a kind of cooperative farm, built by Finnish Christians—was originally called Yad Hashmona, or "memorial to the eight," to atone for the Finnish government's turning over of eight Jewish countrymen to the Nazis. Call ahead to reserve a spot at the famously generous Friday brunch of salads, cheeses, quiche, and fish (NIS 110 per person) that's served in a dining room featuring wood imported from Scandinavia. From Jerusalem, take Route 1 toward Tel Aviv, exit at Neve Ilan, and follow signs to Yad Hashmona.

Chef J.J. Jalil returned from the United States to his mother's home village and trained in top Israeli kitchens before opening his own homage to Ein Rafah. Try the musakhan chicken, marinated in sumac for 24 hours, or the siniya (layers of bulgur and minced lamb served with house-fermented lemon). Bread is baked in a stone oven on-site, and vegetarians can order salads or vegetable stew. No alcohol is served, but you can bring your own. 

A modest, sweet, and genuine spot named for the dried, aged shanklish cheese that is grated over its salads, this is the ideal place to grab a light meal. Breakfast features bread baked over stones, eggs, salads, and a parade of dips; more substantial dishes include shishbarak dumplings, kebab wrapped in grape leaves, and musakhan chicken cooked in sumac. 

Old Singer sewing machines are the tables at this cafe that celebrates Palestinian and Arab artists. In addition to good coffee, you can enjoy fresh juice or lighter fare like sandwiches and salads, and you can also eat upstairs on a rooftop deck. Keep an eye on the bulletin boards for upcoming book readings and local tours. The café is a 15-minute walk from the Church of the Nativity.