115 Best Restaurants in Turkey

Travelers craving a change from the usual Turkish fare will be happy to find this establishment right smack in the middle of Pammukale. Catering to the growing number of Asian tourists in the area, it turns out surprisingly authentic versions of mostly Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean specialties, including noodle dishes, soups, and stir-fries. Service can be slow and there’s not much in the way of decor; no alcohol is served. The newer sister restaurant, Asian Kitchen Landscape caters to large groups and also independent travelers who want to enjoy the full view of the travertines while dining.

This romantic village garden restaurant is a highlight of Alaçatı’s dining scene, with chef Ayşe Nur Mıhçı famed for her fresh renditions of Aegean cooking using seasonal, local produce, especially the region’s wealth of wild herbs and greens. It's the epitome of farm-to-table dining, even using their own vegetable garden. There’s no menu, but the staff will help you select from the options on display in the kitchen, though beware of mezes prices adding up. Good local wines are available to accompany your meal. Reservations highly recommended.

Ata is a down-to-earth, traditional Turkish restaurant in often tourist-oriented Kalkan, and known for its tender, flavorful kebabs. The menu also includes pide cooked in a wood oven and the classic array of mezes, salads, and hot starters. The casual seating is on a patio overlooking the main road into town.

Hearty traditional Turkish soups, stews, and meat and vegetable dishes are arrayed buffet-style at this cheery lokanta (a casual home-style eatery), which is always bustling at lunchtime. At the top of Alaçatı village near the minibus stop, it offers a reasonably priced and reliable alternative to the increasingly expensive fare found farther into town.

The Ayasoluk Hotel’s restaurant offers meals in a pleasant dining room and romantic courtyard, both with a bucolic sunset view, and features local and organic ingredients for a light, fresh take on Turkish favorites. It's one of the more intimate and sophisticated dining options in town.

In good weather, the place to sit is the stone-lined terrace with wooden picnic tables that look over the mountains and the waterfall. The kitchen turns out trout and local dishes such as stuffed cabbage and turşu kavurması (roasted pickled vegetables), as well as meat options, and serves an open buffet breakfast every day.

There are many popular seafood restaurants along the Kordon waterfront in Alsancak, but this one, with indoor and outdoor seating areas and a relaxed feel, is especially busy. It features a good selection of appetizers, including the decadent sütlü karides (shrimp sautéed in butter, then topped with béchamel and mozzarella), as well as the usual seasonal seafood choices.

This relaxed restaurant on a side street in the town center serves fish, seafood, and meze and is popular with locals, who prefer fresh, unfussy fare to a river view. Its small dining room would be utterly austere were it not for the decorative tile accents; most seating is outside, at tables decked out in a classic Mediterranean blue-and-white color scheme. There’s no menu, so ask the prices before ordering, especially for fish.

A warehouse built in 1909 for a tobacco merchant is now a spot for diners to enjoy their meals in either a large outdoor courtyard or the cool stone-vaulted chambers at the back. There are excellent mezes, quality incarnations of standard kebabs, and a good sampling of local dishes like smoky eggplant kebabs and fantastic yavulama (meatball-and-yogurt soup). This is not only one of the nicest places in town, but is also one of the few that serves alcohol.

Alongside a 16th-century hammam in downtown Bergama, this casual room serves around 20 dishes—stews, casseroles, grilled meats, and soups (fewer options are available at dinnertime). Try the kadın budu köfte (ground meat mixed with rice and parsley and lightly fried in egg batter) and the kemalpaşa, a traditional sweet served with kaymak (clotted cream) and tahini, for dessert. No alcohol is served. Restrooms are outside.

Almost opposite the Antalya Museum, but hidden a little down the hill towards the sea, this restaurant may well have the best view in town from its beautiful stone wall terrace. The menu focuses on usual fare—meat, pasta, pizza, and burgers—and regulars praise the steak. Owned by an Antalyan former basketball player (aka the Big Man), it's a popular place for locals to come for a special meal. 

A pleasantly old-fashioned eatery popular with locals and tourists alike, this cozy, casual restaurant a short walk back from the beachfront offers a range of Turkish-style grilled meats, plus a smaller selection of appetizers and meze. Tables are along the street front on the corner, or closely arranged inside. Meat portions are small, but quality is high. Mezes are classics, done well. A choice of wine, beer, and raki is served by attentive waiters.

This restored old stone house makes a pleasant setting for Bizim Ev (“Our House”), which attracts many tour groups with reliable food at reasonable prices. The menu includes a standard array of mezes, grilled meats, and local trout, and portions are good. Seating is in rustically decorated dining rooms on several levels and, in summer, on a colorful outdoor terrace.

This simple little restaurant just off the main intersection is keenly kept by a chef from the town of Bolu, legendarily the hometown of Turkey's best cooks. Individual attention is assured. There is an extensive menu with many hot and cold meze, seafood, and grilled meats.

Not far from the clock tower at the entrance of Kemeraltı, this small local favorite has served traditional İskender kebabı (and only İskender kebabı) from the city of Bursa since 1981. The spit-roasted meat is sliced thin and topped with melted butter and tomato sauce. A glass of homemade ayran (salted yogurt drink) is the traditional accompaniment to the meal. Alcohol is not served. Come for lunch or a very early dinner, as they're only open until the meat runs out, usually around 6:30 pm.

This charming little restaurant is best known for its mantı—a ravioli-like Turkish pasta traditionally stuffed with ground meat—and specifically Feraye (a name the restaurant has trademarked), a fried variation filled with cheese and spinach, potato and cheese, or chicken. The atmosphere is casual, and diners can either sit at sidewalk tables on a lively pedestrian side street lined with other restaurants and shops or at tables looking onto a quiet garden in the back.

In an old stone building on the north side of Atatürk Alanı, Cemil Usta serves a mix of seafood and local dishes like akçaabat köfte (the local meatball specialty) and kuymak (fondue made of cheese and cornmeal). Grab a seat street-side or on the long balcony upstairs, which makes this a great spot for watching the square on a summer evening. The service is typically speedy, sometimes bordering on abrupt, but the free hazelnut baklava dessert provides an excuse to linger.

It's far from fancy, but this unpretentious local favorite tucked away just behind the town square is one of Uçhisar's best places for reliably good food at fairly reasonable prices. Though limited, the menu does not disappoint, with chef Hüseyin Örlü preparing staples like çoban salatası (shepherd's salad) that are well above average. Centre serves a few hot starters and salads, along with simple mains—mostly grilled meats and variations on spaghetti. In warm weather, diners can sit on the small front patio over flowing with plants. It's a small operation, so service can be on the slow side.

Tucked away in the backstreets of the old city's bazaar near the clock tower, Ciğerci Memet Usta serves up some of the best kebabs in Adana, the country's reigning center for grilled meat. Try the specialty ciğer (grilled liver), the eponymous Adana kebab, or the homemade şalgam (spicy pickled black carrot juice).

Devrez serves reliably good Turkish fare in a no-frills environment. Kebabs are the star of the menu, alongside Turkish classics such as köfte and pide. Open 24 hours a day, Deveraz attracts patrons from every milieu. In the afternoon, it’s filled with families and those on their lunch break, and in the early hours of the morning, groups of the city’s Western crowd flock in for a classic Turkish way to end a night of drinking: with a bowl of soup.

Stopping here for pide (Turkish-style pizza or calzones, piled with a variety of ingredients that can include cheese, spinach, meat, or egg) is a highlight of a trip to Ilıca and a great choice for a quick lunch, or even breakfast, though on the pricey side compared to similar fare elsewhere. The menu also includes kebabs, soup, pizza, and traditional Turkish desserts.

Doy-doy serves a fairly standard array of kebabs and pide—a type of Turkish pizza baked in a wood-burning oven—with different toppings, but at lunchtime, local workers come for the cheap daily specials, such as meat-and-vegetable stew or baked beans (displayed on the steam table to the left of the entrance). The two-level rooftop terrace, open in summer, has fine views of the area, but don't expect to savor them with a drink in hand, as no alcohol is served.

A homey little spot offering home-style fare, this is a good place to have a satisfying and inexpensive meal before or after embarking on excursions from the nearby minibus stop and riverside docks. Choose from a daily selection of meze behind the counter or a heartier traditional dish like pan-fried meat with peppers and onions. In the evening, there’s more of a mini-meyhane vibe, with beer and rakı available at its handful of tables, mostly outside.

With excellent food, views of Cunda Island, and a prime location on the Ayvalık waterfront, this restaurant is worth walking down narrow backstreets to find. The mezes, made with Aegean herbs and greens, include some truly local specialties, such as deniz mücver (fried mussel patties) or sole marinated in a lemony mustard sauce. Both the mezes and fish are on display for easy choosing, and service is attentive.

This tucked-away lunch spot specializes in one dish: the horizontal slow-roasted cağ kebap with layers of lamb meat and fat cooked slowly in rotation over a flame.

The Ottoman motifs seem a bit touristy, but the place is done up nicely, in the peaceful, open-air courtyard of an old house, shaded by a towering grapefruit tree. Eski Ev ("old house" in Turkish) serves a wide selection of Turkish meze and main dishes, including some nice choices for vegetarians. The restaurant's specialty is a delicious concoction of lamb, vegetables, and rice, served on a copper dish with its own tiny flame beneath. 

From late-night soup to early morning breakfasts, pide to full plates of grilled kebabs and döner kebabs, everything here is served fast and efficiently in a very clean restaurant that's popular with local families and all age groups. No alcohol is served. It's open 24 hours in summer, and late hours into winter.