Tel Aviv loves a good burger, but Tel Aviv also loves putting real cheese and bacon on burgers. Obviously, for us kosher-keeping Jews, that’s a no-go. But I’d be lying if I wasn’t just a little but jealous.
Thankfully, Bodega bridges that gap by serving a VERY convincing bacon cheeseburger that uses vegan cheese and lamb bacon. The cheese has the melty, gooey, stick-to-the-top-of-your mouth texture of cheese put on burgers. As for the lamb bacon, it provides the rich, salty flavor that makes you salivate and go in for another bite.
But how do they achieve such a realistic kosher bacon cheeseburger?!
I’ve never had a real one, but the owners (the Oppenheim family also behind Crave in Jerusalem) have. And I think that’s what separates this burger from the rest. They know what the classic American cheeseburgers taste like and I trust that this is as close as it gets.
They also happen to be the nicest people. Every time I’ve been, I’ve been greeted by the absolute friendliest guy on the planet: Feivel. Everyone who has met him knows what I’m talking about. Even though I’ve only been a handful of times in the past few years (I really need to go back), he somehow remembers me and always makes sure I’m having a delicious meal.
Aside from the burger, which is undoubtedly the star of the show, the rest of the menu reads like a top 10 list of American foods: hot dogs, fries, BLT, Reuben, etc. I haven’t tried everything on the menu yet, but I’m sure that based on the love they put into their food, it’s all spectacular.
They also realize that not everybody is on the meat train so they offer vegan options like a fried portobello burger (it’s great!) and redefine-meat burgers.
And if all that isn’t enough, they’ve even put together a bangin’ playlist on Spotify called Bodega Nation:
