Eat in Beyoğlu (beyoglu), Istanbul

Antiochia ★ 4.5

Antiochia in Asmalımescit cooks the kebabs and mezze of Antakya, Turkey's Levant border city, on a tight Beyoğlu side-street menu of southeastern grills and hot mezze.

Signature: Ciğer kebap, Künefe, Hatay-style hummus

Hayvore ★ 4.4

Hayvore tucked off Istiklal, cooking the corn-bread, anchovies and smoky bean stews of the Black Sea since 2009 in a noisy steam-table lokanta close to Galatasaray Lycée.

Signature: Hamsi pilav, Muhlama, Karadeniz pidesi

Refik Restaurant ★ 4.4

Refik on Sofyalı Sokak, a 1954-founded Asmalımescit meyhane keeping the rakı table going past midnight with mountain greens, lakerda and grilled lamb.

Signature: Ot meze, Kuzu pirzola, Lakerda

Sofyalı 9 ★ 4.5

Sofyalı 9 in Beyoğlu, an Asmalımescit meyhane Michelin-listed for 20-plus years of rakı, hot and cold mezze and Greek-Turkish records on the speakers each night.

Signature: Topik, Stuffed sardines, Mücver

Krependeki İmroz ★ 4.4

Krependeki İmroz on Nevizade Sokak, a 1941 Beyoğlu meyhane built around fresh Aegean fish, mezze plates and the long rakı table that defines this strip.

Signature: Grilled bonito, Çiroz, Octopus salad

Asmalı Cavit ★ 4.3

Asmalı Cavit on Asmalı Mescit Caddesi, a 1990s-opened Beyoğlu meyhane where proprietor Cavit Bey works the room nightly over a mezze list led by smoked eggplant.

Signature: Smoked eggplant mezze, Albanian liver, Köfte in tomato sauce

Mikla 1 ★ ★ 4.7

Mehmet Gürs's rooftop room at the Marmara Pera, holding a Michelin star and a Gault Millau ranking on its New Anatolian Kitchen across a Golden Horn skyline.

Yeni Lokanta ★ 4.6

Civan Er's first Istanbul kitchen, off Istiklal in Beyoğlu since 2013, doing wood-oven Anatolian plates and a long-running 50 Best Discovery listing.

Aheste ★ 4.4

Aheste in Beyoğlu, a 40-seat Michelin-listed mezze room running modern Turkish and Levantine small plates from a kitchen on Meşrutiyet Caddesi nightly from 18:00.

Nicole 1 ★ ★ 4.6

Chef Aylin Yazıcıoğlu's one-Michelin-star tasting room atop Tomtom Suites in Çukurcuma, holding the 2025 Michelin Service Award beside a tight Turkish-growers list.

Köfteci Ramiz ★ 3.7

Köfteci Ramiz on Istiklal, the 1928-founded Tekirdağ-köfte chain whose Beyoğlu branch keeps the original menu of grilled patties, piyaz beans and ayran for late-night Beyoğlu walkers.

Signature: Tekirdağ köfte, Piyaz, Ayran

Mandabatmaz ★ 4.7

Mandabatmaz in Beyoğlu's Olivya Passage, a 1967 single-room Turkish coffee bar whose foamy cup is the standard against which the rest of Istanbul is measured.

Signature drink: Turkish coffee

Privato Cafe ★ 4.2

Privato Cafe on a Galata side-lane, a mismatched-crockery breakfast hall with Galata Tower views, doing one of the city's better all-day Turkish breakfast spreads.

Signature drink: Filter coffee

Saray Muhallebicisi ★ 4.2

Saray Muhallebicisi on Istiklal, the 1935 muhallebici pulling chicken-breast pudding, kazandibi and milk-pudding bowls into the small hours for the late-Beyoğlu crowd.

Worth the queue: Tavuk göğsü chicken-breast pudding

Mandabatmaz ★ 4.6

Mandabatmaz, the 1967 family-run Beyoğlu coffee bar in Olivya Geçidi, whose copper-cezve Turkish coffee is brewed so thick the cup is said to hold a water buffalo.

Sources from: Turkey, Brazil

How they serve: Copper cezve Turkish coffee

Solera Winery ★ 4.3

Solera Winery on Yeni Çarşı, a tight Beyoğlu wine shop-bar 300 feet off Istiklal where general manager Suleyman Er pours by-the-glass discounts to a regular crowd.

Signature pour: Kavaklıdere Yakut by the glass

Wine focus: Local and imported wines, by the glass

Food: Cheese and Turkish mezze

Pano Şarap Evi ★ 4.3

Pano Şarap Evi on Hamalbaşı, the 1898 Greek-founded Beyoğlu wine bar still pouring Bozcaada bottles in a high-ceilinged room with marble counters and a doorway-deep cellar.

Signature pour: Bozcaada Çavuş

Wine focus: Historic Turkish wines, Bozcaada and Aegean

Food: Cheese, charcuterie and Greek mezze

Nicole ★ 4.5

Nicole atop Tomtom Suites in Çukurcuma, Aylin Yazıcıoğlu's Michelin-starred tasting-menu room with a tight Turkish-growers list and the 2025 Michelin Service Award.

Signature pour: Bornova Misketi by the glass

Wine focus: Natural Turkish growers, by-the-glass focused

Food: Modern Anatolian tasting menu

Mikla Bar ★ 4.5

Mikla Bar atop the Marmara Pera, Mehmet Gürs's rooftop terrace pouring a 450-label wine list and Anatolian-spirit cocktails over the Golden Horn from 18:00.

Signature drink: Anatolian-spirit cocktails, Turkish wine flights

Food: Bar snacks from the Mikla kitchen

Tarihi Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi ★ 4.2

Tarihi Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi in Beyoğlu's Balık Pazarı, a 130-year-old meyhane spread across three floors with fasıl music upstairs and the rakı table running until 02:00.

Signature drink: Rakı with mezze

Food: Full meyhane mezze and grill menu

360 Istanbul ★ 4.0

360 Istanbul atop Mısır Apartmanı, an eighth-floor wraparound-window space that flips from a mezze dinner to a club on weekends with city-wide views.

Signature drink: Cosmopolitan with Turkish berries

Food: Modern Turkish-international fusion plates

Kızılkayalar ★ 4.0

Kızılkayalar at Taksim Square, the 1978 originator of the ıslak burger, a beef patty soaked in garlicky tomato sauce and steamed inside a soft white bun on the counter.

Try: Islak hamburger (wet burger)

Şampiyon Kokoreç ★ 4.3

Şampiyon Kokoreç on Sahne Sokak, the 1962 Beyoğlu kokoreççi shaving spiced grilled lamb intestine into sandwich bread for the late-night Balık Pazarı crowd.

Try: Kokoreç (grilled lamb intestine)

Bambi Cafe Taksim ★ 3.6

Bambi Cafe at Taksim, an almost-all-night counter doing döner wraps with melted cheese, kumpir baked potatoes and Turkish hamburgers to the post-Beyoğlu crowd until 05:00.

Try: Late-night döner wrap

Kızılkayalar ★ 3.9

Kızılkayalar at Taksim, the 1978 ıslak hamburger counter still selling under 80 lira for a steamed bun in garlicky tomato sauce, three for a meal.

Try: Islak hamburger (wet burger)

Hayvore ★ 4.3

Hayvore off Istiklal, a Black Sea steam-table cooking hamsi pilav, muhlama and bean stews where a full lunch with pide and ayran lands under 300 lira.

Try: Black Sea steam-table lunch

Hayvore ★ 4.4

Hayvore off Istiklal, the Black Sea steam-table cooking corn-bread anchovies and smoky bean stews for whoever knows the side street.

Why locals love it: Locals fill it for the Black Sea menu, tourists walk past for the larger Istiklal places ten metres away.

Tip: Order the hamsi pilav and the muhlama; they only run while supplies last.

Antiochia ★ 4.4

Antiochia on a Beyoğlu side street, an Antakya (Hatay) kitchen plating southeastern grills and Levant mezze from a tight Asmalımescit address.

Why locals love it: Tucked on a tight General Yazgan side-street in Asmalımescit, often walked past on the way to bigger meyhanes.

Tip: Order the cevizli biber, the kunefe and the cag kebab together.

Mandabatmaz ★ 4.6

Mandabatmaz in Olivya Geçidi, a one-table Beyoğlu Turkish coffee bar running since 1967, the cup of foam so dense the buffalo doesn't sink.

Why locals love it: Tucked inside the Olivya Passage off Istiklal, easy to miss for anyone not looking for the unmarked alley.

Tip: Order an orta-şekerli (medium-sweet) and stay for two; the kahveci will keep refilling water.

Pano Şarap Evi ★ 4.3

Pano Şarap Evi on Hamalbaşı, an 1898 Greek-Turkish wine house with a doorway-deep cellar and a Bozcaada bottle list nobody else pours.

Why locals love it: Tiny 1898 wine cellar on a Hamalbaşı side-lane that the Istiklal crowd walks straight past.

Tip: Order the Bozcaada Çavuş with a cheese plate; the room only holds about thirty.

Privato Cafe ★ 4.3

Privato Cafe in Galata, a brick-walled brunch hall with all-day Turkish kahvaltı, mini gözleme and a side terrace that runs out the side of the Galata Tower.

Order: Spinach gözleme and the full serpme breakfast spread

Kızılkayalar ★ 4.1

Kızılkayalar at Taksim Square open until 03:00, the 1978 wet-burger counter that finishes a Beyoğlu rakı table with a steamed bun and garlic tomato sauce.

Try: Islak hamburger (wet burger)

Bambi Cafe Taksim ★ 3.7

Bambi Cafe at the top of Sıraselviler, a 22-hour counter window doing döner wraps with melted cheese and kumpir baked potatoes until 05:00 most nights.

Try: Cheese-melted döner wrap

Şampiyon Kokoreç ★ 4.2

Şampiyon Kokoreç on Sahne Sokak, the 1962 Beyoğlu kokoreççi keeping its charcoal grill burning past midnight for the Balık Pazarı late-rakı crowd.

Try: Kokoreç sandwich

Tarihi Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi ★ 4.2

Tarihi Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi spread across three floors of Sahne Sokak, the rakı table running with fasıl singers and mezze rounds until 02:00.

Try: Rakı table with fasıl music

Saray Muhallebicisi ★ 4.0

Saray Muhallebicisi on Istiklal, the 1935 muhallebici keeping milk puddings, kazandibi and tavuk göğsü flowing for late Beyoğlu walkers until 02:00.

Try: Tavuk göğsü chicken-breast pudding