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.
Signature: Küşleme, Simit kebabı, Kaşık salatası
Order: Küşleme, the unmarinated lamb tenderloin grilled over charcoal.
Tip: Closed 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.
Signature: Haftalık set menü, Tencere yemekleri, Yuvalama
Order: The weekly set menu, built around geographical-indication ingredients.
Tip: Walk 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.
Signature: Antep usulü lahmacun, Küşleme, Kuzu şiş
Order: Antep-style lahmacun, thinner and hotter than the Urfa version.
Tip: Order 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.
Order: The set menu, which changes with what the region is harvesting.
Tip: The 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.
Order: Küşleme, ordered by weight rather than by portion.
Tip: Arrive 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.
Order: Two lahmacun and a plate of kuzu şiş between two people.
Tip: Lahmacun 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.
Order: A tray of künefe with extra pistachio dust.
Tip: One 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.
Order: Künefe with whole pistachios and a scoop of ice cream.
Tip: Portions 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.
Order: Charcoal kadayıf, fired to order rather than reheated.
Tip: Nothing 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.
Order: Billuriye, the crystalline pastry Gaziantep rarely exports.
Tip: Closed 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.
Order: Kıymalı pide straight off the oven floor.
Tip: Order 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.
Signature drink: Türk kahvesi
Tip: The 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.
Tip: Buy by weight and eat it the same day. Antep baklava is built for hours, not for keeping.
Worth the queue: Özel şöbiyet
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.
Tip: The special-diet trays are made in a separate line and usually need ordering ahead.
Worth the queue: Fıstık sarması
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.
Tip: Sitting in costs no more than taking away. Order a small plate and a glass of tea.
Worth the queue: Fıstıklı baklava
Antepsan Baklava sits opposite Sanko University in Gaziantep and also holds the airport counter, so it is the last box before a flight home.
Tip: Open until late evening. Handy if you land after the old-city counters have shut.
Worth the queue: Midye baklava
Orkide Pastanesi is the modern counterpoint to the Gaziantep baklava houses, a patisserie doing chocolates, cakes and a katmer with ice cream.
Tip: The ice-cream katmer is a modern reworking. Try the classic version elsewhere first.
Worth the queue: İnovatif katmer
Özcanlar Pide & Lahmacun Fırını is a working stone-oven bakery in Kayaönü, Gaziantep, turning out pide, lahmacun and sfiha throughout the day.
Tip: Buy pide whole and have it cut. Cut pide goes soft on the walk home.
Worth the queue: Kıymalı pide
Ünsal Lokum ve Şekerleme sells Turkish delight and boiled sweets made on its own Gaziantep line, a confectioner's trade counter on Altınoğlu Caddesi.
Tip: Pistachio lokum travels better than baklava does. Ask for it boxed rather than bagged.
Worth the queue: Fıstıklı lokum
Akınal Gar Restaurant sits inside the old Gaziantep railway station building, a licensed dining room with meze and a nostalgic platform view.
Signature pour: Rakı with cold meze
Wine focus: Turkish wine and rakı
Food: Meze selection
Tip: The 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.
Signature pour: House rakı with the garden meze
Wine focus: Turkish wine and rakı
Food: Home-style meze
Tip: The 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.
Signature drink: Rakı
Food: Meze and grills
Tip: Trains 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.
Try: Nohut dürüm
Tip: Ask 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.
Try: Antep usulü lahmacun
Tip: Two 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.
Try: Kıymalı pide
Tip: Sfiha 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.
Try: Çiğ köfte dürüm
Tip: The 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.
Tip: Workshop 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.
Try: Nohut dürüm
Tip: One 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.
Try: Kıymalı pide
Tip: Order 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.
Try: Lahmacun
Tip: Lahmacun 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.
Try: Tost
Tip: Closed 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.
Try: Çiğ köfte dürüm
Tip: The 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.
Order: A grilled tost with sweet pastry alongside.
Tip: Closed 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.
Order: The breakfast spread, then a katmer with ice cream.
Tip: The 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.
Try: Künefe
Tip: One 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.
Try: Künefe with pistachio
Tip: Add 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.
Try: Charcoal kadayıf
Tip: Expect 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.
Try: Baklava and şöbiyet
Tip: The salon has proper seating. Order a mixed plate with tea rather than a box to go.