Shimmy's American-style diner in Modiin

August 2026>

If you want a reminder of what fun-and-young looks like, come to Shimmy's in Modiin. Shimmy's will scratch your itch for American nostalgia foods and, though strictly kosher, will satisfy any treif food envy that you might have.

Shimmy's is a chain of American-style kosher deli restaurants currently in 5 locations throughout Israel. The menus are nearly the same at all the restaurants, with some variations. The Modiin restaurant is a cross between a sit-down restaurant and a fast-food eatery. There is an open kitchen where a team of young people manage the planchas and put the orders together. The staff clearly enjoy their work, kidding around with each other and hopping and bopping to the music. They even come to the restaurant when they are not working just to hang out with their friends.

Shimmy's branch restaurants have the look and feel of a1950's American diner, with a palette of black, white and red. The menus and the staff uniforms, T-shirts numbered for famous Jewish baseball players, have the same color scheme. Shimmy's merchandise, hats and T-shirts are on sale at the restaurant.

The playlist is rock & roll from the ’70s and ’80s, mercifully lowered when requested. Enter your order on kiosk machines. The efficient do-it-yourself ordering process moves things along, getting your food faster and hassle-free.

“A good restaurant is half about the food and half about the vibe, service and hospitality." We got the idea of the vibe and the service. We were anxious to find out about the other half, the food.

Shimon Shain, the founder and inspiration of the Shimmy's restaurant chain made aliyah in 2016 from Los Angeles and made his home in the Golan. Two of the branch restaurants and the beef at these restaurants comes from the Golan. The hot dogs and pastrami are made in a boutique smokehouse in accordance with the chef's specifications. Shimmy is a hands-on owner, periodically visiting each of the locations.

Todd Aarons is the culinary inspiration behind Shimmy's. Todd was the original chef and part owner of Crave Restaurant in Jerusalem. His signature foods are the non-dairy meat substitutes like vegan cheese and milk substitue used in the kosher cheese burgers and corn-dog coating. His Lamb Bacon has dubbed him the chef who gets "as close-to-treif-as-kosher-can-get." This is a pretty safe bet because most of the diners at these restaurants have never had a treif cheese burger so they would not know how authentic they are.

You can take the man out of New York but you can't take the New York out of the man.
My man has been pining for New York style pastrami since we made aliya. He was thrilled to get his fix at Shimmy’s. He went right up to the kiosk and not thinking twice, he chose the flagship Reuben sandwich. The Reuben is made with New York-style pastrami, fried onions, sauerkraut, smash mayo, sweet pickles, mustard, and vegan cheddar. Warning: this is a two-napkin drippy sandwich but well worth it

Other American diner favorites including smash burgers, corn dogs, fried chicken sandwiches, and great pastrami. There are burgers with vegan cheese and lamb bacon toppings; hot dogs and a Reuben sandwich. You won't see corn dogs on too many menus in Israel. These are battered and fried hot dogs, served on a stick. The batter for corn dogs is made with buttermilk, not a challenge for chef Aarons. Surprise! The vegan cheese is the bright yellow color of American cheese. Millers.

Shimmy's stocks all the sodas that we remembered from our youths in the US. There is Brown's Root Beer, Cream Soda, and Black Cherry. That brought back some memories.

We have it on good word that the southern fried chicken sandwich is the restaurant favorite. Rather than chicken breast. this sandwich is made with pargit (chicken thighs). The sandwich comes with smash mayonnaise, sweet pickles, and lettuce, and either honey drizzled on top or spicy Nashville sauce, or both. There are also chicken nuggets made the same way,

The beef hot dog is a 130g kielbasa-style beef sausage comes with a large plate of vegan chili-cheese fries or waffle-cut fries.

Vegetarians are not left out of the party. Chips are prepared in a non-meaty chipster, as is the Portobello & Cheese sandwich with tempura-fried portobello mushroom, vegan cheese, sweet pickles and vegan smash mayo on an American-style bun. Non-meat diners may also choose the vegetarian Bacon, Egg & Cheese dish: Crispy lamb “bacon,” fried egg, vegan cheese and smash mayo on an American-style bun.

I chose the green salad which was large enough to share with the whole table, no matter how many diners. I asked for the dressings on the side, which after tasting I poured generously over the greens.

Getting there: Shimmy's is located on Dam Hamaccabim Street, Modi’in’s main drag. There is street parking but don't waste your heavenly favors praying for a space. You can count on a parking space in the underground lot. Elevator up to street level and turn left. Shimmy's is at the top of the hill. Look for the red sign. Not the yellow arch, not this time.