Kibbutz Dining Halls – Cheap, Kosher and Open to Outside Guests
“A cultural experience that goes far beyond the food.”
The collective kibbutz dining halls serve as an important part in the history of Israel. They are housed within buildings designed to serve as “palaces” of community ceremonies, and the food served there was one small aspect of their activity, notably that apart from the “meal for every worker” they had to provide, they served as a central meeting place for kibbutz members.
To date, dining halls are considered to be one of the most prominent features and symbols of the kibbutz movement, and at quite a few kibbutzim they still serve as a community meeting places and a means of disseminating information among kibbutz members. If in the past the dining hall served as an institution that provided the physical need for food and the place where social and spiritual life took place, today it is considered one of the kibbutz service branches that connects with the tourism industry. The cultural events that took place in the dining halls in the past have always been an important part of the kibbutz’s formal and informal life cycle, and even today there are lectures, votes and parties. And what about the food?
Let’s face it: the food served in the dining halls has never been considered very tasty, and the flagship dish there had been for many years Schnitzel with rice and smothered in ketchup. But let us dispel the stigma: the younger generation that returned to kibbutzim thanks to the extensive construction of the extension neighborhoods, created a big change and today you can find kibbutz brunch on Friday, ready-to-eat food, personalized chef stalls and lots of dishes best described as “New Middle East”. No more yogurt and hard-boiled egg for breakfast, and chicken with salad for lunch.
Browse the kibbutz dining halls below and prepare yourself for a special culinary and cultural experience.
