We love visiting Dudes, the burger bar located at the edge of Netanya’s Independence Square.
The atmosphere is laid back, the staff friendly and efficient, and, in my opinion, the burgers are the best you will find anywhere.
The place is small, with two wooden picnic tables, benches for sitting, and three high stools at the bar. This intimacy leads patrons to start conversing with occupants at the next table. We found ourselves chatting to two charming American ladies who patronize Dudes at least once a week.
“I don’t have a car to drive into town, so I need to be within walking distance if I eat out,” one of the women said.
Why is Dudes so popular?
Dudes is popular for another reason. You get a hamburger with variations, and the meat is always the same – 200 grams of ground beef made into a burger. That is a very large amount of beef and the extras are all different, making each dish distinctive.
The burgers have exotic, funny, and sometimes even slightly impolite monikers and ingredients (for instance, the English Dude burger has “facon” [fake bacon] made from goose with a fried egg). Mexican Dude has additions of guacamole and chipotle.
I chose Hawaiian Dude, which comes with a pineapple slice and a huge jalapeno pepper on the top. My companion chose the Meat Lovers’ Dude, consisting of asado slices, facon, and bits of fried (kosher) sausage.
We waited patiently as three young men behind the counter grilled our burgers and got the garnishes together. Finally, two large cardboard boxes arrived containing our dinners, with a load of French fries on the side.
We had to ask for cutlery, as I don’t think anyone has a mouth large enough to take a bite from this tower of food. The burgers were sensational – juicy and meaty. We enjoyed every mouthful.
The fries were not as successful but were much better once we dipped them into one of the ample supplies of sauces on the table.
We washed our burgers down with beer and shandy, the perfect accompaniments to this hearty meal.
Daniel Raymond, 35, a native of England, is a joint proprietor of Dudes with entrepreneur Yossi Zamir. Raymond opened Dudes in 2019, but it has not all been smooth sailing.
“We’ve been through COVID and two wars but we’re still here,” he said in his cheerful London accent when I spoke with him by phone.
His next project is already beyond the talking stage, and he is very upbeat about it. It will be a restaurant in Tel Aviv emphasizing fine dining as opposed to the rough-and-tumble style of Dudes. Watch this space!
- Dudes
- 4 Karminyan Street, Netanya
- Phone: (09) 765-3110
- Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight; Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday, 1 hour after Shabbat until 1 a.m.
- Kashrut: Netanya Rabbinate
The writer was a guest of the restaurant.