Modern Gaziantep of wide boulevards and big salons, where the baklava houses have air conditioning and the künefe rooms stay open past midnight.
Kebapçı Halil Usta grills küşleme over charcoal in Şehitkamil, and the Gaziantep lunch crowd empties the tenderloin allocation most days by 15:00.
OrderKüşleme, the unmarinated lamb tenderloin grilled over charcoal.
TipClosed Sundays and shuts mid-evening. Book the terrace if you want the cooler upstairs tables in summer.
The municipal Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi in Gaziantep cooks a weekly changing set menu of regional pot dishes and runs workshops in the same building.
OrderThe weekly set menu, built around geographical-indication ingredients.
TipWalk in for lunch without a reservation, but book by phone if you want a place on a workshop.
Üçler Kebap Lahmacun works a wood oven on Zübeyde Hanım Bulvarı in Gaziantep, turning out the thin isot-spiked lahmacun the city argues about.
OrderAntep-style lahmacun, thinner and hotter than the Urfa version.
TipOrder lahmacun by the piece and eat it rolled around parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi is the Gaziantep municipality's culinary centre, cooking a weekly set menu from geographical-indication regional produce.
OrderThe set menu, which changes with what the region is harvesting.
TipThe building also runs cookery workshops, so the dining room can be busy with course groups.
Kebapçı Halil Usta charges fine-dining money for one thing in Gaziantep, küşleme, and shuts the grill once the day's lamb tenderloin has gone.
OrderKüşleme, ordered by weight rather than by portion.
TipArrive by 12:30. The tenderloin allocation is the whole business and it does not last.
Üçler Kebap Lahmacun is a straightforward Gaziantep grill room on Zübeyde Hanım Bulvarı, priced for a family lunch rather than a special occasion.
OrderTwo lahmacun and a plate of kuzu şiş between two people.
TipLahmacun comes fastest. The şiş takes longer because it is fired to order.
Künefe Han bakes shredded pastry over stretchy cheese until late in Şehitkamil, and Gaziantep families treat it as the after-dinner second stop.
OrderA tray of künefe with extra pistachio dust.
TipOne tray feeds two. Order it at the table so it arrives while the cheese is still stretching.
Cumba Künefe on Ali Nadi Ünler Bulvarı serves the Gaziantep cheese pastry in oversized sharing trays, open from breakfast until two in the morning.
OrderKünefe with whole pistachios and a scoop of ice cream.
TipPortions are bigger than usual. Share one and add the ice cream rather than ordering two.
Erçelebi Kömürde Kadayıf finishes every kadayıf over charcoal in Sarıgüllük, a Gaziantep dessert room that keeps serving until one in the morning.
OrderCharcoal kadayıf, fired to order rather than reheated.
TipNothing sits ready on a tray here. Expect a ten-minute wait while the kadayıf goes over the coals.
Dayının Yeri makes billuriye and kadayıf to order in Değirmiçem, one of the few Gaziantep counters that still lists the crystalline pastry at all.
OrderBilluriye, the crystalline pastry Gaziantep rarely exports.
TipClosed Sundays. Nothing is pre-made, so allow time if you arrive with a group.
Özcanlar Pide & Lahmacun Fırını works a stone oven in Kayaönü, turning out boat-shaped pide and sfiha for the Gaziantep neighbourhood around it.
OrderKıymalı pide straight off the oven floor.
TipOrder pide by the metre for a group. It travels badly, so eat it in the shop.
Orkide Pastanesi is the Gaziantep patisserie chain locals send visitors to, with chocolates, cakes and a breakfast spread on Gazi Muhtar Paşa.
DrinkTürk kahvesi
TipThe breakfast is the value order. The chocolate counter is better for gifts than for dessert.
Koçak Baklava is the baklava counter most of Gaziantep names first, a bright Şehitkamil salon selling şöbiyet, dolama and midye by the kilo.
Worth the queueÖzel şöbiyet
TipBuy by weight and eat it the same day. Antep baklava is built for hours, not for keeping.
Çelebioğulları Baklava runs a large Gaziantep salon on Gazi Muhtar Paşa and is one of the few local names making vegan and gluten-free trays.
Worth the queueFıstık sarması
TipThe special-diet trays are made in a separate line and usually need ordering ahead.
Gaziantep Ayıntap Baklava keeps an air-conditioned salon on Gazi Muhtar Paşa Bulvarı where you can sit with tea and a plate rather than a box.
Worth the queueFıstıklı baklava
TipSitting in costs no more than taking away. Order a small plate and a glass of tea.
Antepsan Baklava sits opposite Sanko University in Gaziantep and also holds the airport counter, so it is the last box before a flight home.
Worth the queueMidye baklava
TipOpen until late evening. Handy if you land after the old-city counters have shut.
Orkide Pastanesi is the modern counterpoint to the Gaziantep baklava houses, a patisserie doing chocolates, cakes and a katmer with ice cream.
Worth the queueİnovatif katmer
TipThe ice-cream katmer is a modern reworking. Try the classic version elsewhere first.
Özcanlar Pide & Lahmacun Fırını is a working stone-oven bakery in Kayaönü, Gaziantep, turning out pide, lahmacun and sfiha throughout the day.
Worth the queueKıymalı pide
TipBuy pide whole and have it cut. Cut pide goes soft on the walk home.
Ünsal Lokum ve Şekerleme sells Turkish delight and boiled sweets made on its own Gaziantep line, a confectioner's trade counter on Altınoğlu Caddesi.
Worth the queueFıstıklı lokum
TipPistachio lokum travels better than baklava does. Ask for it boxed rather than bagged.
Akınal Gar Restaurant sits inside the old Gaziantep railway station building, a licensed dining room with meze and a nostalgic platform view.
PourRakı with cold meze
WineTurkish wine and rakı
FoodMeze selection
TipThe setting is the draw. Come for a long meze table rather than a quick drink.
Meyhane Bizim Bağ is a small garden meyhane in Osmangazi, Gaziantep, pouring rakı and wine alongside home-style meze at neighbourhood prices.
PourHouse rakı with the garden meze
WineTurkish wine and rakı
FoodHome-style meze
TipThe garden is the reason to come. Book ahead in summer, the outdoor tables are few.
Akınal Gar Restaurant drinks and dines inside the TCDD station building in Gaziantep, a licensed room with platform views and a long meze list.
DrinkRakı
FoodMeze and grills
TipTrains still run past the windows. Ask for a table on the platform side.
Dürümcü Recep Usta wraps stewed chickpeas in flatbread in İncili Pınar, and the nohut dürüm is the cheapest full meal in all of central Gaziantep.
TryNohut dürüm
TipAsk for extra pickled chilli in the wrap. It is the standard local correction to the chickpeas.
Üçler Kebap Lahmacun bakes Antep-style lahmacun on Zübeyde Hanım Bulvarı, thinner and hotter with isot than the versions sold in Urfa further east.
TryAntep usulü lahmacun
TipTwo pieces per person is normal. Roll them around parsley and eat them straight from the paper.
Özcanlar Pide & Lahmacun Fırını fires pide and sfiha in a stone oven in Kayaönü, a working Gaziantep bakery rather than a stop built for visitors.
TryKıymalı pide
TipSfiha is the smaller open-topped version. Order a mix and eat them in the order they arrive.
Çiğ Köfteci Yuşa Usta kneads bulgur, isot and spice into meat-free çiğ köfte in Değirmiçem, wrapped into Gaziantep wraps twice the usual size.
TryÇiğ köfte dürüm
TipThe bulgur is kneaded without meat, so the wrap is plant-based before anything is added to it.
The Gaziantep municipality runs its own culinary centre, cooking a weekly changing regional menu in its dining room and teaching in its training kitchens.
TipWorkshop dates go out through the centre's own channels, so ring ahead rather than turning up.
Dürümcü Recep Usta fills you up on chickpeas and flatbread in Gaziantep for the price of a coffee elsewhere, which is why the queue never thins.
TryNohut dürüm
TipOne wrap is a light lunch, two is a full meal. Add ayran rather than a second wrap.
Özcanlar Pide & Lahmacun Fırını is a neighbourhood oven in Kayaönü where a metre of Gaziantep pide costs less than a single kebab plate downtown.
TryKıymalı pide
TipOrder by the metre for a group. It is cheaper than buying individual portions.
Üçler Kebap Lahmacun keeps lahmacun cheap on Zübeyde Hanım Bulvarı, so a Gaziantep lunch of two pieces and an ayran barely dents a day's budget.
TryLahmacun
TipLahmacun is priced per piece. Skip the şiş if you are keeping the bill down.
Tostçu Kadir Usta opens at half past five in Sanayi and grills toasted sandwiches for the Gaziantep workshop shift before most cafes have opened.
TryTost
TipClosed Sundays and shut by half past one. This is a morning counter, not a lunch stop.
Çiğ Köfteci Yuşa Usta sells meat-free çiğ köfte wraps in Değirmiçem at student prices, and the portions run to twice the usual Gaziantep size.
TryÇiğ köfte dürüm
TipThe bulgur is kneaded without meat, so the wrap is plant-based before anything is added to it.
Tostçu Kadir Usta opens at half past five in Sanayi, feeding the Gaziantep workshop shift toasted sandwiches long before any of the cafes wake up.
OrderA grilled tost with sweet pastry alongside.
TipClosed Sundays and shut by half past one. Reviewers rate the sweets over the tost.
Orkide Pastanesi lays out a broad and affordable breakfast on Gazi Muhtar Paşa, the Gaziantep patisserie locals send visitors to before any other.
OrderThe breakfast spread, then a katmer with ice cream.
TipThe chocolate counter is better for gifts than for breakfast. Order the spread instead.
Künefe Han bakes cheese pastry until two in the morning in Şehitkamil, and Gaziantep treats a late künefe as a second dinner rather than dessert.
TryKünefe
TipOne tray between two. Order it at the table so the cheese is still stretching.
Cumba Künefe runs until two in the morning on Ali Nadi Ünler Bulvarı, serving the oversized Gaziantep künefe trays that families share after dinner.
TryKünefe with pistachio
TipAdd the ice cream rather than ordering a second tray. The portions are already large.
Erçelebi Kömürde Kadayıf fires kadayıf over charcoal until one in the morning in Sarıgüllük, so nothing here has been sitting on a tray for hours.
TryCharcoal kadayıf
TipExpect a ten-minute wait. Nothing is pre-made, which is the reason to come.
Çelebioğulları Baklava keeps its Gazi Muhtar Paşa salon open to midnight, so a late Gaziantep baklava run does not depend on the bazaar counters.
TryBaklava and şöbiyet
TipThe salon has proper seating. Order a mixed plate with tea rather than a box to go.
Private tour · 5 hours
Discover Gaziantep’s history, art, and cuisine on a guided tour. Visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, taste local street food, and explore the city’s vibrant streets.
3 hours
Join a local family in Gaziantep for a traditional Antep cooking class. Learn how to prepare classic dishes, enjoy a warm welcome, and savor the flavors of Gaziantep.
Guided tour · 2 hours
Explore Gaziantep’s culinary delights and cultural heritage on a guided walking tour. Sample iconic dishes, visit traditional markets, and learn about the city’s rich history.
