Ad Haetzem Express Hamburgers

Zoe Wernick
Feb 20, 2016
3 min read

The Gluten Free Bun seals the deal at this colorful Hamburger joint.

Saturday's in Tel Aviv are a bit of a quieter day for the city. Most businesses are closed for Shabbat in Israel (from Friday Sundown to Saturday Sundown), but in Tel Aviv a higher percentage are still open! As we are recent transplants to the city, we enjoy walking around on this pedestrian heavy, car light (and no busses at all!) day, seeing what cool new places we could find. We didn't get that far this week, though, because we were super hungry! We quickly stumbled across a hamburger joint, and when the cahsier told me they had Gluten Free buns (5 NIS extra), we were sold.

Ad Haetzem's menu is all in Hebrew, but the cashier was happy to explain it all to us. Customers can choose the number of patties they want on their burger, and then if they want fries or onion rings (not GF of course), and a drink to make it a meal. It appeared that the fries in this location were not fried in the same frier as the onion rings (the kitchen was visible), but always be sure to check if you are very sensitive!! Burgers can include lettuce, onions, tomato, and sauce (they can not be sure this is GF! But there is Katsup, Mustard, and Mayonaise available), and add ons include fried egg, cheese, or grilled onions.

The thing that impressed me most about this burger was the bun. If you've ever eaten an Udi's hamburger bun, you know you're in for a dense, heavy, dry, bland experience. The meat and fixin's can help improve the vessel, but there's no getting around the way it feels once it comes to rest in your belly. This bun, however, was so light and fluffy that I had to ask who their supplier was! Lo and behold, the cashier pulled out a GreenLite bag out from under the counter. Alright, way to go AGAIN GreenLite! Sheesh.

The burger itself was cooked to a nice medium and did have some seasoning, althought it could have had more. The lettuce was a bit sad and the other veggies weren't anything to write home about either. The fries, though, were perfectly crispy, and the lemonade (free refils on all the drinks) was refreshing, if perhaps a little sweet for my taste.

All in all - a decent burger. Flavorful enough, filling enough, and a GF bun that is enjoyable if not the highlight, but perhaps a little pricey for what you get. Coming from Southern California/LA before - we are a bit of self professed burger snobs. As I'm just beginning my burger quest here in TLV I have a lot left to figure out. Perhaps this is regular pricing for a burger, but my meal was about 50 NIS total, which even in LA prices is a bit on the high end, but not anywhere near outrageous. The location that I went to is a newer one (Google maps has an Iceberg listed as at that address) on the corner of Rothschild and Allenby. It's a great location for people watching.

All in all - if you've got a group of hungry people and you need something that will appeal to everyone, Ad Haetzem is a great compromsise. Also - they've got a super cute and very clean little bathroom upstairs!

Ad Haetzem Express - עד העצם אקספרס - multiple locations throughout Tel Aviv.

http://www.adhaetzemex.co.il/

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