40 editor picks in Gaziantep.
40 mid-range places in Gaziantep, editor-picked. the comfortable everyday-good restaurants in Gaziantep, with real cooking and no surprise on the bill. All Gaziantep food.
Metanet Lokantası in Gaziantep opens at 05:00 and sells beyran until the pot runs dry, which is why locals queue before the bazaar wakes up.
OrderBeyran, the lamb and rice broth the kitchen has simmered overnight.
TipGet there before 09:00. The beyran is gone by early afternoon and the kitchen will not make a second batch.
Katmerci Zekeriya Usta stretches katmer dough to transparency and bakes it in a stone oven, the Gaziantep breakfast pastry in its canonical form.
TipWatch the dough being thrown before you sit. The counter opens at eight and the queue builds fast.
Tahmis Kahvesi has poured coffee beside the Gaziantep spice market since 1635, and menengiç, the wild pistachio brew, is what to order here.
TipBackgammon boards and live saz appear most evenings. Sit in the vaulted room, not the street tables.
Tahmis Kahvesi has roasted and ground coffee beside the Gaziantep grain market since 1635, selling menengiç and dibek by the bag as well as the cup.
TipBuy the menengiç ground. It is a terebinth paste, not a bean, and it needs no grinder at home.
Katmerci Zekeriya Usta throws katmer dough over a marble counter in Gaziantep, then bakes it with kaymak and pistachio in a stone oven at the back.
OrderFıstıklı katmer
TipKatmer is a breakfast pastry here, not a dessert. Come before ten for the freshest batch.
Metanet Lokantası charges soup money for the dish Gaziantep is proudest of, and a beyran with bread is a full breakfast for one very modest price.
OrderBeyran çorbası
TipOrder half a portion if you plan on katmer afterwards. The broth is richer than it looks.
Katmerci Zekeriya Usta is where Gaziantep eats breakfast, a stone oven turning out katmer layered with clotted cream and green Antep pistachio.
OrderFıstıklı katmer with kaymak, eaten hot from the stone oven.
TipCome before ten. The dough is thrown to order and the queue builds through the morning.
Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası sits at the exit of the coppersmiths' bazaar in Gaziantep, opposite the Suriye Pasajı, and the family has run it since the 1920s.
OrderPatlıcan kebabı with firik pilav, the smoked green-wheat rice.
TipThere is often no printed menu. Ask what the grill has and let the waiter build the order for you.
Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası is the esnaf lokanta of the Gaziantep bazaar, serving kebab, pide and bottomless soup to coppersmiths and shoppers alike.
OrderKuşbaşı kebab with firik pilav and the free soup refill.
TipComplimentary fruit and soup arrive unasked. Do not over-order the starters.
Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı cooks the home dishes the kebab houses skip, from yuvalama to alaca çorba, a short walk downhill from Gaziantep Castle.
OrderYuvalama, the yoghurt and chickpea soup Gaziantep eats at feast time.
TipHalf portions are available, which is the way to taste four regional dishes in one sitting.
Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı plates regional home cooking near the castle, and half portions make it the easiest place in Gaziantep to taste widely.
OrderEkşili köfte, the sour meatball soup.
TipVegetarian dishes are listed separately. The kuru patlıcan dolması is meat-free on request.
Papirüs Cafe occupies a restored Armenian mansion in Bey Mahallesi, and its vine-shaded Gaziantep courtyard is the calmest table in the old city.
TipThe courtyard fills by mid-afternoon. Come before noon if you want a table under the vines.
Papirüs Cafe grinds its own Turkish coffee inside a Bey Mahallesi mansion in Gaziantep and pours zahter tea from the same courtyard counter.
TipZahter tea is thyme, not coffee. Order both and drink the coffee first.
Papirüs Cafe sits inside a restored Armenian mansion in Bey Mahallesi, and its vine-shaded courtyard is the quietest table in old Gaziantep.
TipCome before noon. By mid-afternoon the courtyard is full and the calm has gone.
Sakıp Usta serves beyran and paça on Kemal Köker Caddesi in Gaziantep from 05:30 until the small hours, which covers both the dawn bowl and the late one.
OrderBeyran at midnight, when the second pot comes up.
TipThe kitchen runs from 05:30 to 02:00, so this is the one beyran counter that suits either end of the day.
Sakıp Usta is the all-hours beyran and paça room of Gaziantep, a functional counter on Kemal Köker Caddesi that keeps serving past midnight.
OrderPaça soup and half a portion of beyran.
TipSoup portions are large. Order one beyran between two if you plan on kebab afterwards.
Yusuf Ziya makes burma kadayıf and almost nothing else in a Gaziantep han on Suburcu Caddesi, rolling the pastry around crushed Antep pistachio.
TipMidday is when the trays are warmest. Later in the day the syrup has set firm.
Beyoğlu Katmercim works its dough in front of the counter on Kozluca Caddesi, and the Gaziantep katmer here arrives loaded with kaymak and pistachio.
TipAsk for a corner table so the katmer reaches you while it is still hot.
Yusuf Ziya rolls burma kadayıf around crushed Antep pistachio in a Gaziantep han on Suburcu Caddesi and sells almost nothing else from the window.
OrderFıstıklı burma kadayıf
TipBuy a small box rather than a tray. The syrup sets hard within a day.
Sakıp Usta keeps beyran and paça going past midnight on Kemal Köker Caddesi, which makes it the Gaziantep answer to a very late-night appetite.
OrderBeyran and paça
TipIt is still serving at 02:00, and at 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Yusuf Ziya makes burma kadayıf and nothing else from a han window on Suburcu Caddesi, a Gaziantep speciality the baklava salons treat as a sideline.
TipMidday is when the trays come out warm. By evening the syrup has set firm.
Beyoğlu Katmercim stretches its katmer dough in front of the counter on Kozluca Caddesi, two streets from the famous Gaziantep names and their queues.
TipAsk for a corner table so the katmer reaches you while the kaymak is still molten.
Beyoğlu Katmercim makes katmer in front of the counter on Kozluca Caddesi, a Gaziantep breakfast worth the two-street walk from the busier names.
OrderKaymaklı katmer, watched through the window as it is made.
TipAsk for the corner table. The katmer travels badly even across the room.
Ali Usta Kebap ve Baklava opens at 06:00 near Karatarla in Gaziantep and works a kebab grill and a baklava counter out of the same narrow doorway.
OrderAli Nazik, smoked aubergine under garlic yoghurt and lamb.
TipClosed Sundays. Early lunch is quieter than the 13:00 rush from the surrounding workshops.
Ali Usta Kebap ve Baklava runs a kebab grill and a baklava tray side by side in central Gaziantep, open from six in the morning six days a week.
OrderAli Nazik at breakfast, which is normal here.
TipThe baklava counter sells by weight. Half a kilo is enough for four people.
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.
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.
TipSitting in costs no more than taking away. Order a small plate and a glass of tea.
Metanet Katmer opens at five in the morning on Kozluca Caddesi in Gaziantep, pairing clotted cream and Antep pistachio inside paper-thin dough.
TipThe five o'clock start suits anyone eating beyran across the street first.
Metanet Katmer opens at five in the morning beside the Gaziantep grain market, feeding the same crowd that has just eaten beyran across the road.
OrderKatmer
TipOrder the simit katmer if the classic sells out. It is the same dough with sesame on top.
Ali Usta Kebap ve Baklava opens its grill at six in the morning near Karatarla, so kebab counts as street breakfast in this part of Gaziantep.
OrderAli Nazik
TipClosed Sundays. Order at the grill window rather than sitting down if you are in a hurry.
Cumba Künefe runs until two in the morning on Ali Nadi Ünler Bulvarı, serving the oversized Gaziantep künefe trays that families share after dinner.
OrderKünefe with pistachio
TipAdd the ice cream rather than ordering a second tray. The portions are already large.
Metanet Katmer opens at five in the morning on Kozluca Caddesi, so the classic Gaziantep breakfast of beyran and katmer can be done before sunrise.
OrderClassic katmer with clotted cream and pistachio.
TipPair it with beyran across the road. That is the traditional Gaziantep morning order.
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.
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.
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.
Boztoprak Baklava bakes fresh every day on Atatürk Bulvarı in Gaziantep and ships nationwide, which keeps the trays turning over very quickly.
TipThe mixed plate is the way to compare şöbiyet, dolama and classic in one order.
İmamoğlu Baklava is a small shop on Eski Saray Caddesi in Gaziantep where the trays are cut thin and the prices sit below the more famous names.
TipThe shop is one small room with no seating. Buy a quarter kilo and eat it walking back.
Kahve Tiryakisi pairs single-origin filter coffee with a full Turkish breakfast in Yeditepe, which is unusual for Gaziantep outside the old city.
TipBreakfast runs long here. Budget ninety minutes rather than a quick coffee stop.
Kahve Tiryakisi is the Gaziantep branch of a Turkish coffee chain, in Yeditepe near the university, pairing its own roast with a long serpme breakfast.
TipAsk what the chain has on the grinder that week rather than defaulting to Turkish coffee.
Üçler Kebap Lahmacun bakes Antep-style lahmacun on Zübeyde Hanım Bulvarı, thinner and hotter with isot than the versions sold in Urfa further east.
OrderAntep usulü lahmacun
TipTwo pieces per person is normal. Roll them around parsley and eat them straight from the paper.
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.