Tel Aviv Hot Spot: The Hoodna
I'm as surprised as you are that I'm writing up the Hoodna (הודנא), since, at this point, I think it's a well known Tel Aviv attraction of sorts. But, since it was my neighborhood Tel Aviv bar for over a year, and the first bar I ever sipped a beer at in Tel Aviv, I have to pay tribute.
What started out as a hole in the wall dive bar straddling a dark, semi-grimy alley of Florentine off Abarbanel Street is still known for its grit, although it's spruced itself up quite a bit in the past 3 years or so.
My first taste of the Hoodna was in 2007 when I went to see The Red Band play. This was before the Red Band had their own television show here in Israel- they were simple muppet street performers, and they were magical. I couldn't believe it when I found clips of that actual performance on youtube. To be honest, that night at the Hoodna helped sparked my desire to move to Tel Aviv.
more....Tel Aviv Hot Spot: Ze Pequeno on Ladies' Night
If you are a Tel Aviv female and you aren't going to Ladies' Night at Zé Pequeno, you are wasting your money somewhere else. Not only is this new Tel Aviv hot spot is a cool, fun, warm and friendly bar, but their lady's night special is simply unbeatable.
Ladies' Night Special:
I have never heard of a better deal. Every Wednesday night, they offer their famousLadies' Night Special. It goes like this: if you are, of course, a lady, you pay 26 shekels for a pink plastic cup that must hold about 1/3 of a liter which gets you free refills all night. You can fill it with nearly anything you want all night (top shelf alcohol and bottled beer excluded). This means, you can start with a cup of Champagne, then move onto a Weihenstephan wheat beer on tap, top that off with a glass of red wine, and then ring in the whole night with a rum and coke or whisky and soda- all for 26 shekels. All you gotta do is fill your cup at the bar.
Otto Bar on Rabin Square: New Tel Aviv Hot Spot!
Surprisingly stylish and well designed, Tel Aviv's Otto Bar (אוטו בר), or Otto 76, is a great place to grab a well-made drink with a lady-friend or pick up a billiards game with the dudes. The owners couldn't have picked a better location. The place is smack-dab across from Rabin Square at 76 Even Gvirol- the center of the white city near some of the hippest, coolest Tel Aviv restaurants and pubs
more...Tel Aviv Hotspot: DJ Eliezer Rocks The Radio Bar
Went out last night to celebrate with friends at the relatively new bar, Radio E.P.G.B. Tel Aviv's equivalent to Time Out or the Village Voice, Achbar HaIr, has highlighted it as being one of the best bars in Tel Aviv. It's definitely got that Tel Aviv feel - the decor isn't exactly right, but its trying, and there is that residue of "pick-up-bar" in the layout. It's one of those bars with two older Russian bouncers at the discreet entrance which isn't much more than the walkway to an apartment.
more...Tel Aviv Hotspot: Is Ha Tachanah a Tourist Trap or a Nicety?
I have to write about "HaTachanah" (התחנה- the station) not only because I just visited the finished site for the first time this past week, but also because that same week both Haaretz and the NY Times did a piece covering the newly renovated station.
HaTachana is the old Jaffa railroad station which had fallen into disuse and disrepair. When I first moved to Tel Aviv in 2007, I didn't even know the thing existed. It was all boarded up and hidden from view. Little did I know that it was undergoing a massive restoration which the Tel Aviv municipality had approved in their effort to connect Jaffa and Tel Aviv
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