A Self-Guided Walk Through Mahane Yehuda Market — A Route Through a Hundred Years of Stories

You can wander Mahane Yehuda Market for an hour and leave with a bag of vegetables, or walk exactly the same route and leave with a hundred years of stories. Here is a self-guided walking route, with no guide and no fee, following the alleys the market is actually built from — with the stops arranged by the year each one opened.

The walk takes between one and two hours, depending on how often you stop to taste. Mornings are best, when the stalls are full and the crowds are still manageable.

Where to start, and where to park

The starting point is Mahane Yehuda Street, the main covered alley. If you are driving, the Mahane Yehuda Market car park on Kiach Street at the corner of Agrippas is the closest — 18 NIS, and you can compare it with the other car parks nearby. The truth, though, is that the light rail stops at "Mahane Yehuda Market" right at the entrance, and that is the easy way in.

1923 — Hai Boneh Delicatessen

Mahane Yehuda Street, on the corner of HaTapuach. The oldest business in the market. It began as a butcher's shop opened by David's grandfather, and it has not moved off that corner since. If there is a right place to begin this route, it is here.

1928 — Azura

Mahane Yehuda Street. Menachem's grandfather came to the country in 1928 and worked as a caretaker at the Alliance school, selling cold drinks from a jarra in the market on the side. His son Ezra — "Azura" — started out with a cart in 1947. Three generations in the same spot.

1948 — Cohen Pickles, and Cafe Adin

Mahane Yehuda Street. Moshe's grandfather Shmuel came from Persia and bought several shops in the market in 1948. Back then the shop sold fresh meat; today it is a pickle shop.

And in the same year, in another alley — Cafe Adin on HaEgoz Street. Father Machlouf founded it in 1948, and Gideon Ezra has run it since 2006. The shop specialises in coffee and spices.

1964 — Ugat Hen, and how Duvshanit was born

Mahane Yehuda Street. In 1964 there were almost no bakeries in the market. Two cousins opened one together, and a few years later went their separate ways: one carried on with Ugat Hen, the other opened Duvshanit. The market's two best-known bakeries came out of the same oven.

1967 — Haba Brothers Bakery

Mahane Yehuda Street. Ovadia and his brother opened the bakery in 1967, at first mostly eshtanur bread and pitas. Baguettes and specialty loaves came later, but the oven stayed.

1974 — The Hamoy Brothers, and the frozen meat revolution

Mahane Yehuda Street. Haim's father ran a greengrocer's from October 1974. After he died, Haim and his brother decided to open a butcher's shop instead — and they were the first to bring frozen meat to the market. It was significantly cheaper, and it changed what families in Jerusalem could afford.

The 1970s — Pirchei HaRakefet

HaEgoz Street. Avraham's father opened the shop about fifty years ago; Avraham joined in 1978 and has run it since. Roses, orchids, potted plants — flowers inside a food market, and it works.

1983 — The Neeman Brothers

Mahane Yehuda Street. Netanel and Avner Neeman opened the place in 1983, and have sold exactly the same thing ever since: spices, pulses and dried fruit.

1988 — Shimshon Pickle Centre

Mahane Yehuda Street. Shimshon worked at Maadanei Yehonatan in the covered market, and his children opened two pickle shops. Home-made salads, hot peppers, olives, pickles and peppers.

2002 — Cafe Mizrachi, and the idea that came from abroad

HaEgoz Street. Eli Mizrachi travelled widely and saw the model of bars and restaurants operating inside the markets themselves. He thought of bringing it to Mahane Yehuda, which is a kind of home for him, and opened in 2002 — during the years of the bombings. What looks obvious today, the market as a place to go out, started with that decision.

And two stops you should not skip

Uzi Eli — HaEgoz Street. One of the best-known stalls in the market, mixing juices that are hard to find anywhere else: etrog juice, sugarcane juice, quince juice, herb juice.

Mizrachi Nuts — HaShaked Street. Thirty years ago Yossi was in the middle of the big post-army trip. They called from home to say his father was travelling to the United States and he should come and cover for him, and then go back to his trip. He came, he covered, and he has been in the market ever since.

When to go

• Morning, 9:00–11:00 — the stalls are full, the crowds are reasonable, and the traders have time to talk. This is the hour for this particular route.
• Friday before noon — the most Jerusalem moment there is, and also the most crowded. If you came for the energy rather than the conversation, this is the time.
• Evening — the market changes face: the shutters come down, the graffiti painted on them appears, and the bars open. That is an entirely different route.
• Saturday — most of the market is closed.

What else is in the market

We have put together all 101 businesses in the market, arranged by alley — butchers, spice shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and fruit stalls, each with its own story.

The stories were collected from the businesses themselves. Opening hours in the market are set by each business separately and change — it is worth checking before you make a special trip for one particular stop.