Ezov

The chicken shawarma arrives on its own vertical spit, at your table, for you to carve. Berty Richter named the restaurant after the Hebrew word for hyssop, and cooks the Galilee end of Israel in a room on East Cesar Chavez with Britney Spears lyrics graffitied on the wall in Hebrew. Everything is shared and you order it all at once. The kebab comes off fire-roasted eggplant and charred onions, with schug on the side.

Why go

Ezov came out of the Emmer & Rye group, and Richter's version of Israel is specific rather than pan-Mediterranean: the cocktails and the decor point at Tel Aviv nightlife, the menu at the Galilee.2 The format is shared plates ordered in one go, with a suggested count per head. The MICHELIN inspector calls it terrific for groups, it's the kind of place where you want to snack on a little bit of everything.1 Matthew Odam makes the same point about the menu's design in the Statesman's 2025 guide, and warns what happens if you ignore it: the arrangement is so plainly built for sharing that otherwise you'd be staring with great longing at your neighbor's plate encircled with wavy hummus set with lump blue crabmeat and shimmering pools of drawn butter.3 The pastry is its own story. Faith Barcelo built the baklava sundae, date ice cream under an Israeli brandy butterscotch, out of the years she spent as a teenager in Palestine.3

Order this / avoid

Order: the chicken shawarma. Haupt called it the standout of the large plates: served speared in a tidy vertical round, a personal spit from which to carve a small portion, with pickled vegetables, sauteed onions and laffa.2
Start with the smashed cucumber. Haupt found it a glorious tangle of greenery atop rich smoked labna, adorned with green herbs and dressed with a tangy amba sauce. The MICHELIN inspector opens on the same dish.2 1
The hummus comes with a pool of roasted pattypan squash and tatbila, and the frena with lamb butter is what you eat it with. Haupt's party used the frena itself as the delivery vehicle for the hummus.2
From the larger format, the pastrami lamb shank crusted with coriander, which Odam says the kitchen will turn into lettuce wraps.3
Avoid: ordering to the guideline. Haupt's party of four found nine plates too much and she recommends ordering to your own appetite instead.2

What locals & experts say

Melanie Haupt reviewed it twice for the Austin Chronicle in July 2023, and her verdict carries a condition worth reading: Ezov is a thoughtful, creative, loving tribute to the varied culinary traditions in Israel, presented in a lively and inviting space. If you're lucky enough to vibe with your waitstaff, you may very well enjoy one of the best dining experiences on offer in Austin.2
She did not like everything. The Turkish coffee cake was the only dish of the night that didn't blow our collective skirts up, and the roasted cabbage was an interesting dish, if not entirely successful.2
Matthew Odam has it on the Statesman's guides two years running, at No. 25 in 2024 and under Middle Eastern in 2025.4 3
The MICHELIN Guide lists it in its Austin selection as Israeli, and the inspector picks the beef and lamb kebab over fire-roasted eggplant and charred onions.1

Good to know

Dinner only, every night.2
The cocktails outrank the wine list in practice. Haupt and her party were so taken with the drinks they never opened a list that runs to Greece, Lebanon and the rest of the Mediterranean.2
The sabich sandwich is enormous and arrives on its own schedule, which is worth knowing in a shared-plates meal.2

Verdict

should-visit — One plate here is worth crossing town for and it is the chicken, carved off a spit the kitchen builds for your table alone. The rest is a very good version of a shared-plates format Austin already has plenty of. Order fewer plates than the menu suggests, and drink the cocktails before you open the wine list.