Open Sunday - Thursday: 10am - 11:00pm. Friday 9:30am - 2pm. Motzei Shabbat till 12midnight. Closed Shabbat.

February 2023
Beit Shemesh is one of the fastest growing cities in Israel. And from the looks of it, everyone in Beit Shemesh is eating out. There are restaurants a plenty, and they are all very busy. Waffle House restaurant in the Shaar Ha'ir mall, at the entrance to the city, is the place to go for all foods dairy, and elaborate desserts.

Waffle House is nicely placed in the middle of the mall. There are several dining areas inside the restaurant and additional seating outside the restaurant in the center of the mall. There is ample free underground parking and escalators that go straight up from the parking to just steps from the restaurant.

Waffle House takes its cues from the original Jerusalem-based Waffle Bar. This chain of Restaurants, with several franchisees throughout the city, has spawned a great many restaurants of its kind. Waffle House in Bet Shemesh is certainly inspired by the iconic Waffle Bar.

Like its parent restaurant, the Waffle House calling card is their desserts. The menu boasts two or three pages of desserts including pancake desserts with sauce and whipped cream, fancy ice cream desserts, lots of sauces, lots of creams and lots of sugar. It is no wonder that WaffleX restaurants are so popular with the younger set (who don't have to hassle calories or foot the dental bills).

"We'll pass on dessert" I said as my companion and I entered Waffle House Friday morning.
"Then what did we come here for?" He asks.
We came for healthy meals, I insisted.

Out came a huge menu (in English) of dairy restaurant fare including a large number of breakfasts, pastas, pizzas, fish, and more.
"What is available on Fridays?" I asked. "Everything." came the surprise answer.
In that case, why limit myself to just the breakfast menu? I'm going for broke.

Despite the many choices, judging by the other tables, the most popular order on Friday morning, no surprise, is a Waffle House breakfast. There are so many to choose from. These include their excellent breads, eggs, salads, sauces, all beautifully presented.

We each took a cuppa while perusing the menu, figuring that it would be a while till our choices were brought to the table. No such thing. The waitress was quick to help us choose from the book-size menu and the dishes arrived at the table piping hot in no time. The restaurant is very well staffed with well-trained servers.

Shakshuka, he decided. But which shakshuka? There are so many to choose from.
The waitress patiently went through the options till the cheese shakshuka was chosen.

Bread or Focaccia with your shakshuka? she asked.
Focaccia means something else in every restaurant. One man's focaccia is another man's loaf of bread. My companion's cheese shakshuka was served with triangular pieces of crispy flat bread, almost like pizza dough. It was a very pleasant change of pace. The platter included several sauces and a small salad. A great meal.

I'm going to have the fish N chips. it's a little much for Friday morning, but who's counting?
This time the fish was salmon, which I did not expect. A generous portion of coated and fried fish nuggets were served with an equally generous portion of fries. The dish was so filling, we had them pack up about half of it for a future lunch.

Have we had enough healthy food to indulge in a Waffle House fancy Dessert?

My companion was relentless so we went for a pile of pancakes covered in chocolate sauce with a bowl of ice cream and whipped cream on the side. Once in a while, even i can indulge. The ice cream is truly excellent, and is also sold at the restaurant by weight. Fruit shakes, with your choice of fruit, are made with this excellent ice cream.

A lazy Friday morning breakfast is a nice erev shabbat luxury, if you can swing it. Who can indulge themselves this pleasure? Many of the patrons were married couples on a "breakfast-date" together. Cute. Some even shared one breakfast. There were also small families and even one or two full tables of large families.

The restaurant is available for groups and events. It would be a perfect venue for a child's birthday party, a big family get together or a perfect place for an adult siyum mishnayot.