Tipsy Café: Caffeine and booze in Jerusalem - review

The motto of the Tipsy Café, which opened a few months ago in Jerusalem, is “Caffeinated Mornings, Tipsy Nights” and it’s up in neon on their wall.

“Yes!” I said to myself as my husband and I walked into the café on a recent Thursday night. “This is my new motto.”

Caffeinated mornings, tipsy nights

Since it was evening, we went right for the “Tipsy Nights” portion of the menu. My husband ordered a “Boozy Nutella” (NIS 42) with chocolate ice cream, Nutella, vodka, and hazelnut liquor. It was quite strong and very delicious. I went for the Frozen Mudslide (NIS 44) with Baileys, almond milk, bananas, and ice. It was not quite as strong but equally delicious. By the time we finished the milkshakes we didn’t much care what we ate, but in the pursuit of journalistic integrity, we bravely forged on to try a few things from the menu.

Tipsy Café has some American diner favorites that really made me happy. First are mozzarella sticks (NIS 39) that are sinfully good with a marinara sauce. My husband went nuts for the cheesy waffle fries with jalapeno and drizzled with maple syrup (NIS 40) while I prefer plain waffle fries, which are rare in Israel. They are crispy, hot, and addictive, and worth every calorie.

There are a series of waffled cheese toasts with the bread in the shape of a waffle. We had the 2Cent Plain (NIS 49) which had gouda, tomato, and onions inside. To pretend that we were eating something healthy, we also tasted the House Salad (NIS 65) with lettuce, halumi, cherry tomatoes, teriyaki mushrooms, and other good stuff. It was a huge portion.

For dessert, we shared the babka bites (NIS 35) bite-sized cinnamon babka squares in a batter – sinful and delicious – although thankfully not too large a portion.

On another occasion, my husband and our son visited Tipsy on a Friday morning. They each had a Belgian waffle (NIS 59) – a large waffle with a choice of three toppings including ice cream, whipped cream, granola, and mascarpone cheese. Both said it was excellent and very filling.

The service at Tipsy is excellent. Manager Danny Cohen is an experienced restauranteur and new oleh from New York who is committed to making Tipsy a success.

“This is the kind of food you can eat at 10 in the morning or 10 in the evening,” he told us.

Tipsy is in the same building as Bardak Pizza opposite the Inbal Hotel. It is owned by 22-year-old Gedalya Cohnen, whose father Kevin owns Bardak Pizza. Gedalya was called up to reserves as soon as the war started and has only recently been released. He could probably use one of those boozy milkshakes! Actually, I think everyone in Israel these days could use one of those boozy milkshakes. We will be back.

• Tipsy Café
• Keren Hayesod 38
• Hours: Sunday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Late night delivery via Wolt and 10 bis until 1 a.m.
• Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbanut

The writer was a guest of the restaurant.