3 Best Restaurants in Eilat and the Negev, Israel

Just off Route 40, at a gas station south of the entrance to Ben-Gurion's Desert Home in Kibbutz Sde Boker, this small café is open around the clock and offers tasty cappuccino, espresso, muffins, and sandwiches.

This café and gift shop is a pleasant, clean place for a break before or after a tour of the Ben-Gurion Desert Home complex. It's convenient for coffee and pastries or a soft drink and a slice of pizza. The shop features wine and olive oil from the Sde Boker Winery and also sells locally produced skin-care items and cosmetics from Faran, made with minerals from the Ramon Crater area. If you have time, ask to see a screening of the short documentary Dreaming—A Love Story, about the establishment of Kibbutz Sde Boker.

If you're looking for fantastic kibbutz-made ice cream, stop by this inn—an Israeli institution—next to a gas station on Route 90 between the Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve and Timna Park, 40 km (25 miles) north of Eilat. The kibbutz of the same name is across the way, and its dairy products are much loved by locals. (Check out the chocolate-milk fountain!) Hot chicken or beef dishes are available as well. It's open 24 hours (though closed Saturday night), but the late-night food menu is more limited.