Bars

Tel Aviv also has an array of bars. Many can be found in hostels, where beer is usually slightly cheaper and the crowd international. Most local bars don’t get really crowded before midnight, and late at night you will have a hard time finding a place to sit, especially Thurs., Fri., and Sat. nights. As in many other big cities, weekends bring millions of suburbanites to the big city-bars may be least pleasant then.

A favorite of young local bikers is the bar right below the Gordon Hostel, at the comer of HaYarkon and Gordon St.; beat the crowds and sit there for a spectacular Mediterranean sunset over a cold draught. Last summer the Hard Rock Cafe conglomerate opened a local joint in the Dizengoff Center shopping mall-you can go there after eating in Pizza Hut next door, closing the night in the Bowling Center, under the Shalom Tower (tel. 510 0744), featuring 16 lanes, arcade games, and a snack bar. (Games NIS6, after 6pm N1S10, Fri.-Sat. after 8pm NTS12. Shoes NIS2. Open daily 10am-3 or 4am.) Prices in bars run at around N1S8-9 for a half-liter Goldstar draught and N1S12-20 for hard liquor and cocktails.

Perhaps the hottest bar strip in town is currently (summer 1993) on HaArba’a St. off Carlebach St., near the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. Don’t expect to meet your old college buddies there: it is a local scene. Other places: