© LVL UP
© LVL UP

Nerd Alert! The best places to geek out in Tel Aviv

There’s no need to be ashamed, we’re all a little bit nerdy in some way or another–might as well embrace it together

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While everyone aspires to be the ‘John Bender’ of the “Breakfast Club,” we can’t deny that there is a ‘Brian Johnson’ trapped inside each and every one of us, just begging to be let out. Well, now’s the time! Time Out invites all social outcasts to unleash their inner nerd at these geeky spots around town. Because it’s ok to do well in school, binge read comic books, and crack complicated codes in VR escape rooms. Join the geek squad at these nerdy locations on Allenby Street, King George, and beyond where a wedgie doesn’t lurk around every corner, you can keep your reading glasses intact, and  you won’t get your face dunked in the toilet just for entering the men’s room.

Keep calm, nerd on!

  • Things to do
  • Games and hobbies
  • Tel Aviv - Jaffa

Gravity at Cyber Quest is an augmented reality escape game, perfect for technology lovers. Using Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses, up to six participants work together to repair the International Space Station in an hour’s time. Experience a simulation of working in space, using an avatar that can fly with the movement of your arms, interact with your teammate’s avatars, and many other surprises. Gravity at Cyber Quest is unlike any other escape room scenario you’ve seen, and one you won’t want to miss!

  • Cafés
  • Tel Aviv City Center

The Little Prince is the perfect literature haven for bookworms. Great for olim, it offers a wide selection of books in Hebrew, Russian, French, and Spanish, as well as an entire room of English literature. With many eclectic, peculiar books, The Little Prince is great for those looking to stray from the typical bookstore selection. The prices are affordable, which has earned this shop a loyal customer base. Get comfortable with a cup of coffee or a glass of cold beer while you browse, or curl up in its dreamy atmosphere to read your latest selection.

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  • Museums
  • Art and design
  • Holon

The Israeli Cartoon Museum was founded in cooperation between the city of Holon and the Israeli Cartoonist Association. While not quite in Tel Aviv, the museum is close enough that its worth a day trip and a place on this list. The museum houses exhibits on various themes, presenting local Israeli cartoonists and leading creators in the field. It encourages academic research of cartoons, caricatures, and comics as a way of analyzing Israeli society and culture. Various educational programs, artist master classes, workshops and more are also available at the Israeli Cartoon Museum. A dream for comic enthusiasts, it will have you looking at animation in a new way. The perfect outing for families, with free admission for children under 5.

  • Cocktail bars
  • Tel Aviv City Center

Known as the “cocktail bar pharmacy," the bartenders actually dress like pharmacists, and cocktails are served in three different sized beaker bottles. This is the largest cocktail bar in Tel Aviv, but don’t get confused when you see a sign for “The East Jaffa Perfume Company” – you’re at the right place! With a happy hour from 18:00 - 21:00 offering 1+1 on all cocktails, it is definitely worth it to pop in a bit early for a deal. If you're really feeling the mad scientist thing, opt for the "test tube baby got back"

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  • Shopping
  • White City

Comics don’t usually bring to mind vegetables, unless you’re in the city center of Tel Aviv. Comics and Vegetables is an award winning comic book store on King George Street that attracts hordes of shoppers looking for comic books and genre-specific figurines. Winner of the 2011 Eisner Spirit Retail Award–the comic industry’s equivalent of the Oscar’s–the shop is packed with books and related apparel that will appeal to international comic enthusiasts spanning generations. If you can’t make it to the location, the shop is so popular that they have a second location in Ra’anana, and an online website.

  • Cafés
  • White City
  • price 2 of 4
Play computer games all night at Tachtit
Play computer games all night at Tachtit

The menu consists of traditional Israeli food featuring a wide range of meat, fish, salads and drinks. Most who enter Tachtit will agree that the multiple rooms, great music, and well-dressed staff are a reason to continue coming back. With a large menu featuring a diverse selection of items, even the most discerning customers are guaranteed to find something to enjoy. If you’re feeling especially hungry, be sure to order the hamburger with fries, often called the best burger in Tel Aviv. Tachtit is also open on Shabbat (Saturday), making it the perfect weekend lunch spot.

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  • Shopping
  • Bookstores
  • White City

If you're fiending for the likes of City Lights, Powell's, Tattered Cover, or Shakespeare and Co, Halper's Books is Tel Aviv's answer. Prepare to spend whole afternoons crouched in the shop's narrow, maze-like aisles, amidst the welcome smell of books stationed in a random alleyway off of Allenby Street. Owner Yosef Halper, an American expat, has been buying out collectors and libraries for over 25 years, filling his lovingly well-worn shelves with everything from vintage sci-fi to detective thrillers and travel memoirs. Uncover a whopping 60,000 used books in English, Hebrew and Spanish with a peppering of German, Yiddish and Italian titles, and happily get lost in their printed pages.  

  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

The first gaming bar in Israel, LVL UP, opened in Tel Aviv and offers gamers, and a fun loving audience, a place devoted exclusively to video games. And there is also a gin & pickles cocktail inspired by Rick and Morty. LVL UP How do video games relate to the nightlife scene in Tel Aviv? If it isn't clear, the first gaming bar in Israel, LVL UP, located south of the city, promises to open the gaming world to the local people. LVL UP The bar, which is 500 square meters in size, was an investment with over NIS 3 million including a gaming console complex, a lounge, and a PlayStation consoles space. The management claims that they are taking care of the optimal experience for the hard core gamers, and also for the new players. 

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  • Shopping
  • Sarona

In a store designed like a dungeon within the Weizmann Center is Freak: Tel Aviv’s go-to location for card, board, and computer games alike. For over 20 years, Freak has been sustaining Telavivians' desires for a fantasy life, supplying games in an array of formats and books about witchcraft and wizardry. Whether you’re stopping by to pick up extra role play gaming supplies for Dungeons and Dragons or want to sit down on a comfy couch and read the first chapter of Harry Potter, Freak has got you covered.

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