Tel Aviv has a vibrant cafe and bar scene spread across several distinctive streets. Rothschild Boulevard is the place for coffee and people-watching; Lilienblum and Allenby streets are where the bars stay open until the early hours. The Tel Aviv port area has a cluster of bars with sea views.
For coffee, the standard is high. The city has been through three waves of speciality coffee since the early 2000s, and the standard small-roaster espresso is on a par with anywhere in Europe. The kiosks dotted along Rothschild Boulevard make this the most pleasant single café strip. Cafelix roasts its own beans and is reliably good across the city's branches; Origem in the centre is the most serious third-wave shop.
For bars, the city's reputation rests on Lilienblum (the cocktail strip) and Allenby (the rougher late-night strip). Florentin has a strong scene of small craft beer bars, and the Jaffa flea market area has converted shops that double as bars after dark. The big-name cocktail bars Bicicletta and Imperial routinely appear on the world's-fifty-best lists. Norman in the back of the Norman Hotel is a quieter, classier option; Beit Romano brings you a Florentin-bar feel a few minutes south of Rothschild.
Tel Aviv is also famous for late nights. Most bars do not start filling up until eleven and many do not close until five in the morning. Shabbat (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) is the most boisterous time, not the quietest.