Jerusalem hotels, restaurants, attractions, tours & events. Helping since 2008

For generations, Jerusalem has cherished its lunches, the biggest meal of the day for many. And with a contemporary dining scene constantly growing in leaps and bounds of sophistication, the city has become a hotspot of that most awesome of European-style restaurant deal concepts: the business lunch.

Don't let the name fool you, though. You don't need a suit or tie to take part (or even a job), but the weekday meal deals, catering to the laboring masses who might be too busy to head home for a proper siesta break with lunch, aim to fill up the stomachs of drones so they can make it over the hump and on to quitting time.

Business lunches around town include the decidedly blue-collar stylings of Middle Eastern lunch-counter joints and falafel shacks to more refined tablecloth eateries for the managers among us. One common theme runs between them, though: lots of food for not a ton of dough. Read on for our list of the five best business lunch spots to take advantage of while exploring Jerusalem in the midday hours.

George'z

There's nothing pretentious about the solid ethnic menu of George'z. As the name implies, the food comes straight from the cookbooks of the Georgian Caucusus to your plate. Patrons of the restaurant's business lunch deals, on offer from 11:00 to 18:00, get a choice of number of kosher meat entrees, including chicken, steak or lamb - plus two sides and coffee or tea for 40 NIS to 79 NIS (depending on the selected main). Even if the heaping servings of food don't fill you up, the unlimited salads and bread will.

And don't fret if it's "bring your kid to work day," as George'z offers a business lunch for kids too, with a number of rugrat-friendly mainstays for 39 NIS.

Sakura

Japanese joint Sakura is a place where any salaryman would feel at home stopping in for lunch, but for sushi-starved Jerusalemites, the lunch deals and bento box-style offerings can make an everyday schlub feel like an emperor. For between 46 NIS and 85 NIS, diners seated from noon to 17:00 get a choice of main courses, a bowl of miso soup, a Japanese salad and a cup of green tea.

Mains included in the business lunch deals encompass a staggering array, including panko chicken skewers, poached salmon, shrimp concoctions and, of course, a wide array of proper sushi, including maki, nigiri, sashimi and a number of combos.

Montefiore

Located in the Yemin Moshe, the swanky artists' colony neighborhood across from the Old City walls with the same namesake as the restaurant, Montefiore serves up a variety of painstakingly authentic Italian fish and dairy dishes made with the highest quality ingredients. Instead of packaging a business lunch deal for consumers, Montefiore lets the eaters have all the freedom afforded by the entire menu, simply offering 30 percent off the whole shebang between noon and 17:00.

Standouts include sea fish crudo, aranzi gorgonzola (pomodora deep fried risotto balls in tomato sauce); a number of pizzas and pastas, including feta cannelonni and gnocchi polenta; and fish. Don't forget to save room for dessert.

Hamoshava 54

This chic German Colony restaurant, which offers a flare-infused version of Jerusalem-style pan-Mediterranean comfort food, makes the business lunch as easy as can be. No need to break out a calculator here. Depending on whether you want to spend 34, 44 or 54 NIS, the menu lists a number of options for each.

The least expensive option comes with a salad, a number of linguini or chicken choices and a drink. Pay 10 NIS more and get a wide array of appetizers added to you choices, like fries, soup or chicken wings. Up your bid to the eponymous 54 NIS and get a fancier set of appetizers to choose from, like mushrooms and eggplant - plus a decidedly meatier main course set of options, with choices running the gamut from burgers and lamb kebabs to roast beef sandwiches and mullet fish.

Olive and Fish

Don't think this somewhat upscale Mediterranean fusion place is a mere two-trick pony (those two tricks being olives and fish). There's way more going on here, even if you do opt for their alluring business lunch deal, which itself is a but a shadow of their large menu of fine meat and fish dishes.

Running between 60 and 78 NIS, business lunch diners from 12:00 to 17:00 get soup, salad or eggplant and a main course. Whether you like chicken, beef or fish, they have plenty of options - from St. Peter's fish and salmon to spring chicken in date-honey sauce, shnitzel, steak and lamb-infused kababs.