Comments on: Where to buy food in Tel Aviv

By: Cory

Cory — Sat, 04 May 2013 07:15:24 +0000

Even if the prices may be different now it’s still a great summary, especially for someone who just moved here – a good overview! I just have one question, I am wondering where I can find the Victory Supermaket? I have only seen the other supermarkets around town but not that one.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:36:53 +0000

Thanks William! Keep in mind that this post is more than a year old, so prices may have changed. All the places are still around, though!

By: William

William — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:26:22 +0000

I will echo the others, this is a terrific post. I plan on going to a 10 months Masa program in Tel-Aviv this summer. I was worried about the cost of groceries compared to Montreal.

Keep up the good work!

By: Faye

Faye — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:46:54 +0000

In L.A. the cheapest food stores are the ethnic ones, especially the Middle Eastern and the Mexican. There are good specials at Korean and general Asian supermarkets too. Ethnic markets are also the most fun because you discover new ingredients.

The outdoor farmers markets used to be cheap but most of them became expensive after they were discovered by chefs of fancy restaurants.

You would certainly think the big chains would be able to have the lowest prices and we can’t figure out how the smaller stores can offer better prices. Some say it has to do with unionized workers.

Very interesting about Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan.

The site for comparison shopping that you gave is useful. I think whenever people can compare prices online, it helps a lot.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:31:47 +0000

Thanks, Faye! I’m actually surprised that the same rules would hold for LA — I thought that there they actually offer you the advantage of an economy of scale. Go figure.

People who prefer to shop at supermarkets might be better off going somewhere in Bnei Brak (though this depends on what kind of things they buy) — since I wrote this post, I’ve seen several reports saying that Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan have the cheapest supermarkets in the country due to all the competition there.

By: Faye

Faye — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:27:47 +0000

What a wonderful post! Thank you! You did people a great service by writing it.
In Los Angeles I have found the shopping situation is pretty much the same as you found in Tel Aviv. The prices at smaller markets are much better than at the big supermarket chains. But when I’ve told that to people in Israel, generally they just said that the best they know is Mega (and a lot of people don’t like to go to the shuk because of parking).
I have a list of people who will get emails from me with a link to your post.

By: Frith

Frith — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 06:33:03 +0000

This is a great post. I stumbled across your site this morning, looking for a jachnun photo to send to my bro so he’d understand what we’re off to eat this morning. I can’t wait to dive a little deeper into some of your delicious sounding recipes. I want to meet you! Thanks so much.

By: Emily Segal

Emily Segal — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:06:06 +0000

I LOVE this post! Totally fascinating. One of the things I am having the most difficulty with post-aliyah is food shopping. I live in Kfar Saba and although we have a good shuk, a giant Eden Teva, and are close to the enormous Hetzi Hinam in Hod HaSharon, I am generally bewildered about how to put it all together and not spend a kazillion shekels.

This post has inspired me to think out of the suburban box-store mentality. Thanks!

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 05:54:51 +0000

Amazing post! Thank you!

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:04:31 +0000

Miriam, thanks for the update. I wonder if the rebranding will make a difference in prices. Who knows. I don’t buy bottled water, though we do fill empty plastic bottles.