We are heading to Istanbul on Thursday - I was pre-booking a couple of reservations for dinner. One fairly popular restaurant seemed to have time frames - 7 - 9pm OR 9:30 to 11;30pm - seating options I guess. It made me wonder - do the locals tend to eat late, like in Spain? I may need to add naptimes to my days if we are going to enjoy late night dining!

We have spent considerable time in Spain but only three weeks in Turkey, and the Turkish times were similar to the US. Maybe OC will jump in here and correct me.

Perhaps "similar to US" should be qualified. We generally dine around 8 pm - but have worked with client in the midwest that are all sitting down to dinner by 6 pm (when we're still at work).

Not Spanish dinner first at 10 or 11. And their mezzes tradition is similar to tapas, whether you are in the Midwest, Barcelona, or Goreme.

I also recall eating on the early side in Turkey. Not at all like Spain.

Dining times in Istanbul depend on the type of restaurant and the time of the year. Currently, earliest would be about 8PM since that is when it starts getting dark. Upscale restaurants would be more like 9PM. Later, summer dining at fashionable restaurants will be 9:30-10PM.

Wimter times will be earlier.

Touristy restaurants will serve at almost all hours and are used to patrons coming as early as 7PM or possibly even earlier although that would be like a late high tea, over an hour before sunset in June.

Out in the country where people tend to go to watch TV and sleep in their homes, dining will be over earlier and family dining among local inhabitants is almost nonexistent except during Summer vacations and at resorts.

At places like Alacati, Bodrum, Turkbuku, Yalikavak dinner will be late 9:30-11PM. In istanbul and at these locations life will go on until very early in the morning.

In Istanbul, especially on the Bosphorus and at Taksim, you can find street food, fast food places, cafes, grocery stores, tobacco shops, greengrocers, tripe soup restaurants, open up to 4AM.

The Bosphorus is great fun later at night when the weather is warm and so is Nisantasi/Tesvikiye when cooler. Taksim is always busy and Cihangir is good.

Eat late on the Bosphorus and Misantasi.
Eat early, 7PM or so at Sultanahmet.
Eat in between 8-9PM at Tunel, Asmali Mescit, istiklal

A 9:30-11PM spot near Sultanahmet or Sirkeci, means you will be leaving the restaurant to empty streets, with occasional or groups of tourists.