Places in Istanbul

Creative hub in classic-elegant Palazzo Corpi

Former Ottoman bank transformed into boutique luxury

Paris-bistro-in-Bomonti, Kojo Hospitality's French-Turkish fusion with a kitchen that gives the bar a reason to exist

Sea-view rooftop meyhane reworking Greek, Sephardic and Turkish meze with a real bar.

Istanbul's most authentic Mexican, Tanyeri-González family since 2005

Bosphorus-mouth fish-house where the strait opens to the Black Sea.

Morgans Original in a restored warehouse

All-day venue that flips into a cocktail bar with workshops and guest DJs after sunset.

Late-2025 waterfront bar with a beachfront terrace

Cihangir rooftop institution since 1993 with a real Bosphorus view

Ex-Periferi chef's own kitchen: bold menu, intimate room

Seasonal kitchen and an opinionated Turkish wine cellar on the quiet Mühürdar slope, adults-only, no menus in seven languages

Compact neighborhood cocktail bar behind the avenue

Burgazada's Rum meyhane legacy lands in Bostancı

Neighborhood bistro that turns into a late cocktail room, the kind of address Bebek residents list when asked for 'somewhere normal'.

Cocktails + rakı/meze + live music on the Akaretler row-house strip

Gül Sultan mansion, Bosphorus, rakı, fish

Chef Marcello Micci's Tuscan kitchen on Bağdat Caddesi with 120-person garden

Beyoğlu's serious 400-cap live room, international bookings (Sextile, Hugo Kant), no tribute bands

Tucked-in Sakız Gülü wine bar with a tight, evolving Turkish-focused list.

Gayrettepe English-pub-style brewpub, 8 house taps of real ales and lagers, the craft-beer brewery for Levent's after-work crowd

Emre Şen / Morini team's all-day Mediterranean at İstinye Park

Living-room-sized wine bar with charcuterie that punches above the General Yazgan address

Onur Balk's award-winning mixology with global street food

Divan Group's gastropub in a historic Akaretler row-house

Fifty-plus years on Bağdat, the Anatolian side's classic pub

Watergarden havuz katında meyhane-pub melezi; küratörlü şarap, ekspert kokteyl.

Sarıyer Çarşı fish-meyhane known for kalkan and meze depth.

Dimly lit Esat Işık room pairing classics-first cocktails with a short, serious kitchen

Expertly crafted cocktail menu refreshed every ten days

After-work cocktail room on Büyükdere for the Levent towers

Topağacı neighborhood bar with a sharp cocktail list and a proper local crowd.

Small Bebek room with 20+ wines by the glass, Bosphorus-edge tables, and the early-evening crowd that owns the neighborhood.

1871 Pera wine house in the Hazzopulo Pasajı arcade, intellectuals' canteen, not a museum

70-seat fish house at the Göksu estuary

Two-floor bistro-bar a few steps off Ortaköy pier, Bosphorus view, locals over tourists

Small Teşvikiye cocktail room with a considered signature list.

The city's flagship Bosphorus-side shisha-and-cocktail lounge, a Kuruçeşme nightlife fixture

Small family trattoria with Michelin 3-pearl mention

The Asian side's oldest real Italian, since 1990

Chef Utku's southern Italian in a Caddebostan villa garden

1951 iskele-side meyhane, Can Yücel and Nazım Hikmet's haunt

Marina-facing grill, seasoned Fenerbahçe regulars

Cihangir garden-club where DJs push funk, disco, chill house past midnight

Modern meyhane in historic brewery walls with lentil 'ice cream' signature

Tepebaşı rooftop with Golden Horn view and ethno-house program

Nevizade's 1941 original, no singing, just rakı

Narrative-driven cocktail room on Moda Caddesi where each drink is a paragraph, not a prop

Pigalle ve MiniBar ekibinden izakaya esintili Japon tapas barı, vinil geceleri.

Old-style neighbourhood meyhane near Akaretler

Kireçburnu waterline fish house, rakı nights the neighborhood still uses.

The former Babylon Kilyos, now curated music festival beach.

Intimate Fenerbahçe-park-side cocktail room tucked off Bağdat on Faruk Ayanoğlu, the quiet alternative to Suadiye

23-year Nevizade meyhane named for a Can Yücel poem

House Cafe stable's tiny day-to-night cocktail room on Atiye Sokak

House Cafe's neighborhood-bar sibling, coffee by day, DJ nights Thu-Sat

New-generation Teşvikiye meyhane – contemporary meze, raki, serious pours.

The Moda sushi favourite on a quiet Erenköy side-street

House-music rooftop facing Galata Tower

Jigger Istanbul's flagship, signature cocktails with Turkish bitters

Kalamis Marina views with creative cocktails and proper kitchen

Rooftop seafood house with Marmara view

The Tarabya fish crescent local without the tourist markup.

Faux-supermarket-fronted late room running consistent house and disco edits till 04:00

Turkey's original craft brewery in a three-story seaside Bebek mansion, Kölsch, Smoked Lager, and a full kitchen.

Gastro-jazz lokanta run by jazz musician Eren Noyan with a proper stage

1920s meyhane where Yahya Kemal drank rakı

1901 former Franciscan nuns' residence transformed into cozy suites

Zorlu PSM's 120-seat jazz box, live programme, intimate room, cocktails with the set

Intimate Teşvikiye cocktail bar with a tight signature list and quiet confidence.

Dim, music-first Sofyalı cocktail room from the new wave, opens late, closes at 02:00

The cognoscenti's mixology lab, sustainable program, workshops, bottle takeout

Turkish fashion house's boutique hospitality

Chef Kaan Kayhan's waterfront meyhane on the Yeniköy pier.

Candle-lit meyhane in a stone building beside the Armenian church.

Tarabya marina fish-house with a working bar program.

New-gen meyhane inside 110-year-old Ragıp Paşa Mansion

Bahariye's beloved meyhane in a French-bistro-style room

Istanbul's pre-eminent 1980 classic bar – stained glass, live music, real regulars.

Foraged mushrooms and Golden Horn sunsets since 1939

Michelin Green Star restaurant pioneering sustainability with vertical farming

Lal Dedeoğlu's French Passage hideout, kitchen counter, candlelight

1980 Sıraselviler wine cellar, Cihangir's reference for natural pours and serious staff advice

Tomtom side-street cocktail lab with bartender-led menu