Tel Aviv is filled to the brim with tons of cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars, coffee shops, and on and on. If you are coming in cold to the Tel Aviv restaurant scene, it is very helpful to get a few tips from locals who love to eat out and share their experiences.

It complicates matters further that many restaurants in Tel Aviv do not have websites or social media sites in English. It can take quite a while to find basic information like an address. It can take even longer to find out whether it would be worth your time to go and try a place.

Two of the best and most useful blogs I have found while researching contact information for my book are TelAvivFood and Tel Aviv Food (no relation!). TelAvivFood is written by a Russian expat/part time student/part time office worker who loves to eat out, find deals, and then share information on her blog.

Her blog is categorized in a very intuitive way, allowing you to browse categories ranging from “moderately priced” to “pricy fancy” to “royal fast food.” A recent review from the blog about Nana Bar says:

Finally I went to the Nana bar. After about two years of anticipation I finally purchased two coupons on groupon and we went for my boyfriend Ayals birthday. Considering the interior everything I heard was completely true. It is a very romantic and cozy place combining natural elements with antique furniture with a very cool bathroom. The service was friendly and the food came fast, maybe even too fast. I received the food before I received my glass of wine.

The other Tel Aviv Food is written by a young couple who just love to travel, eat, and share their experiences using a fork-rating system to rank it. They also provide a large number of photographs of the food they ordered, with a blow-by-blow account of how the food in the photographs ranked. A recent review from their blog went something like this:

R2M group opens a new place, an event that food lovers like us will never skip. It’s true, it took us a while and a lot of recommendations from the people around us (usually we are the recommending side), but we got there and we will be back.

The new place is located in Yehdua HaLevi street, not really the hottest street in Tel Aviv, despite the “5 minutes walk from Rothschild”. Nevertheless, Ruti and Maty manage to bring this boring street to life.

Both sites are very, very useful for visitors and locals alike. Keep up the great work, guys!