Israel’s Best Kebab Spots, from Classic Institutions to a New Tel Aviv Hit

Israel’s Independence Day is also the country’s unofficial meat holiday, and this roundup highlights five standout kebab spots for people who do not want to grill at home. The list sticks mostly to classic shippudiyot, with one newer, more modern exception in Tel Aviv. It ranks the places by style rather than strict comparison, and says the current wave of “new shippudiyot” has revived the format with younger, hipper interpretations.

The top pick is Shippudiya Olga in Hadera, the long-running family institution run by brothers Simo and Dubi Shetoui and their relatives from Givat Olga. The article praises its coal-grilled kebabs, exceptionally tender veal sweetbreads, good steaks, foie gras served “like in the old days,” and very simple salads. It notes that the place has been a fixture for decades and is known for quiet professionalism at the grill and steady waitstaff.

The cheapest choice is Ezra u’Bnei in Azor, where all skewers cost 11 shekels and veal sweetbreads and fillet cost 30 shekels. The piece describes the place as a one-of-a-kind experience, with grillmen turning hundreds of skewers in a dark, coal-stained pit and a huge, prison cafeteria-like hall, but says the meat is also good.

The classic Jerusalem entry is Moris, run by 72-year-old Moris Biton and his son Noam. Formerly in Mahane Yehuda, it has moved to Heleni HaMalka Street but still serves its familiar kebabs, chicken skewers, lamb hearts, sweetbreads and stuffed spleen, plus the house salad with tomatoes and amba. The neighborhood pick is Busi Ron in Tel Aviv’s Hatikva quarter, a surviving old-school institution rebuilt after a recent fire, known for excellent chicken, kebab and sweetbreads. The hipster pick is Gita in the Levinsky Market area, opened a few months ago by the team behind the fashionable restaurant Prat and wine bar Karot, using a Josper oven and offering both classic skewers and more adventurous dishes like tongue, shrimp and elaborate salads.