Places in Istanbul

The turquoise-tiled Karaköy institution, lokanta by day, meyhane by night, Bib Gourmand 2026.

Vegetable-forward contemporary cuisine

Chic seafood destination with panoramic Bosphorus views

Three-story culinary destination with Bosphorus views and art gallery

Homemade liqueurs and inventive cocktails in Beyoğlu

Legendary profiteroles since 1944

Berlin-inspired industrial techno temple

Sushi, Mediterranean and cocktails transitioning to legendary nightlife on the Bosphorus

Legendary Turkish coffee since 1967

Kadıköy's beloved neighborhood cocktail gem

Salt Bae's original flagship steakhouse

Authentic Greek taverna with Bosphorus views and Thessaloniki flavors

Anatolian traditions reimagined in a former tobacco warehouse

Bosphorus rooftop cocktails atop Vakkorama at Galataport

Creative hub in classic-elegant Palazzo Corpi

Glamorous open-air Bosphorus entertainment complex

Electronic music festivals on the Black Sea

Former Ottoman bank transformed into boutique luxury

London pub ambiance with craft cocktails

408 wines from 72 producers on the Asian side

Michelin Bib Gourmand Italian in Kadıköy

Epitome of Istanbul meyhane culture

Legendary cultural hub and live music venue since 1999

MediterrAsian fusion and nightlife at Galataport's waterfront

Sophisticated cocktails from the Paolina creators

Salt Bae's authentic Greek cuisine at Park Hyatt Macka Palas

Exclusive Nikkei cuisine with no exterior signage

All-day brunch haven with Bosphorus panoramas

Modern meyhane reviving classic tavern culture with stone oven mezes

360-degree panoramic views from Marmara Pera rooftop

TV chef Arda Turkmen's rooftop meyhane with Golden Horn views

Michelin Bib Gourmand seafood on the Asian side

Istanbul's original wine bar championing Turkish wines

Four Seasons rooftop with Hagia Sophia views

Global fusion brasserie by Happy Group on Bağdat Caddesi

The original yeni nesil meyhane with Golden Horn views

1881 Camondo legacy in a restored stone cellar

Historic 1914 wine house with garden oasis

The çarşı's oldest working meyhane, pouring since 1974, topik in the case and fasıl kept upstairs.

A three-storey mansion off Kadıköy's beaten track, meze-first, with a garden of old Turkish records.

Chef İsmail's Cunda-Greek fish house at the Kızıltoprak end of the Cadde, the corridor's rakı-balık default.

Koşuyolu's Aegean meyhane, a proper meze cabinet and a neighborhood that keeps it to itself.

Efkan Kara's Aegean taverna in a Şaşkınbakkal cul-de-sac, meze-first and unbothered by fashion.

Pouring under the Cumhuriyet name since 1923, a hundred mezes a day in the middle of Balık Pazarı.

Morgans Original in a restored warehouse

Craft cocktails in Caferağa's creative heart

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

Swissotel's see-and-be-seen rooftop with DJ sets

Upper-tier fish house on Operatör Cemil Topuzlu

Historic Russian restaurant where Ataturk and Agatha Christie dined

Late-2025 waterfront bar with a beachfront terrace

Cihangir rooftop institution since 1993 with a real Bosphorus view

Brick-lined snug pub with live blues, rock and jazz seven nights a week

1890 Greek-captain meyhane on the Golden Horn shore

Industrial-chic grill house with Bib Gourmand recognition

Gile chef's tribute to Marmaris roots, Gault & Millau 2026 Best Street Food

Karaköy's benchmark grill, Suadiye rooftop edition

Café by day, a loose Arnavutköy bar with DJ nights by dark, the most informal room on the strip.

Michelin-noted bistro where even the inspectors mentioned the young hip crowd

Bar side of Four Seasons' Bosphorus seafood room, terrace to the water, Mediterranean pours

Nordic-minimalist side-street bar with a seasonal menu and serious cocktail list.

Creative fine dining with theatrical presentation

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

Where 90s Turkish pop meets creative fusion mezes in Bebek

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

Turkish viticulture by the glass at the Tünel mouth, 85 boutique producers, no foreign-name flex

Asmalımescit sixth-floor terrace with Golden Horn sunsets

Dry-aged specialty with dryage cabinets on display

Compact neighborhood cocktail bar behind the avenue

Burgazada's Rum meyhane legacy lands in Bostancı

Beymen's new fine-dining icon, Roman & Williams design, Michelin-starred consulting chef

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

Fifty-year-old Bebek Hotel bar where dressed-up locals watch the Bosphorus

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

Villa dining in the old Tribeca space, homemade-syrup cocktails, open-kitchen ambition

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

German-style beer garden with Weihenstephaner on tap and a real backyard

Gül Sultan mansion, Bosphorus, rakı, fish

Three floors of Anatolian wine in a candlelit Asmalımescit townhouse

Where meyhane meets nightclub on Istiklal's rooftop

Three-story Kadife Sokak townhouse with a garden pool and a stone lion

Asian side's most serious craft beer list, deep Gara Guzu shelf

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

Moda side-street all-day bar, proper cocktails at kind prices

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

Adile Sultan Palace dining in the Michelin Guide

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

Open-air terrace with private Bosphorus-front cabanas

Intimate nightly jazz, blues and soul off İstiklal

Kadife Sokak classic with a downstairs stage and a different band every night

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

Thirty-five years of fasıl evenings by Bostancı station

Long-running Italian-influenced bar tucked behind Bebek Hamamı

Warm hospitality and live music in historic Asmalimescit

Historic ferry pier dining with unobstructed Bosphorus Bridge views

Cocktail-gastropub from the Joker No:19 crew spilling onto the Avenue, garden, relaxed, serious drinks

Square-side Ortaköy classic since 1988, meze, rakı and a renovated upper terrace under the bridge

Etiler's new neighborhood gastropub

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

Istanbul's pioneering Thai restaurant since 2006

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

Twenty-year-old Asmalı cocktail room with Tuesday Turkish-music nights and a regulars-only feel

Barrel-room entrance, 100+ craft beers, garden in back, serious since 2012

Seasonal Italian since 1993 in a villa setting

Turkey's first female-chef-led ocakbaşı, Bosphorus-facing terrace, 8m fire

Shellfish-forward seafood in a 200-year-old Ottoman elephant warehouse

Cihangir's first meyhane with Bosphorus balcony views

Legendary kebab institution with 1200-seat marina views since 1997

Grand Tarabya's second-floor bar, a Bosphorus-bay cocktail terrace.

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

Multi-level gastropub with the strongest Turkish craft tap list in Moda, plus serious Belgian and German bottles

New-generation meyhane with Golden Horn views and 80s vibes

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

Dancing and cocktails in fashionable Nişantaşı

A quiet Aegean-air meyhane behind Beşiktaş fish market

Greek-Turkish seafood with Golden Horn views

Charming Greek-style seafood tavern near the marina

Michelin-starred chef Emre Şen's new Istanbul canvas

Fatih Akerdem's Hemingway room inside the old American Consulate, 150 Negroni twists and Turkey's only Rakı Cocktails book.

Where fine dining meets nightclub energy

Tight Moda Caddesi bar with a deep beer fridge and a surprisingly serious cocktail menu, distinct from the Şaşkınbakkal Fil

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

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

Reservation-only contemporary dining with cocktail focus

Maksut Askar and Levon Bagis pair Anatolian grapes with endangered regional plates.

Turkey's pioneering natural wine bar by Maksut Askar

Expertly crafted cocktail menu refreshed every ten days

Microphone-free fasıl ensemble in a restored 20-year house, the real version of what Sultanahmet sells tourists

Quiet Jurnal Sokak şaraphanesi pouring small Anatolian producers and Georgian qvevri

Waterside mansion cocktails for the Yeniköy yalı row.

After-work cocktail room on Büyükdere for the Levent towers

Where creative design meets fantastic food in Topagaci

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.

Black Sea regional cuisine with Gault Millau recognition

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

Three-storey 19th-century Greek house turned wine room

Sakız Gülü corner with a hidden garden and rooftop terrace; deep beer pour, neighborhood crowd.

70-seat fish house at the Göksu estuary

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

Spanish tapas and curated DJ nights in the old Rua room

Glass-enclosed rooftop at DoubleTree Moda

Small Teşvikiye cocktail room with a considered signature list.

Home-party-style Topağacı bar with assertive cocktails and a real neighborhood crowd.

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

İskele-side brasserie with proper cocktail list under the bridge

A hidden meyhane under a 70-year fig tree, Vedat Milor's pick

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

Huge yet cozy gastropub in the heart of Beşiktaş

Nişantaşı sibling of the legendary Beşiktaş gastro-pub with craft beer and whiskey.

Street-level micro-bar on Esat Işık, creative cocktails, vinyl-leaning music, no-frills Kadıköy at its best

BigChefs founder's ambitious Levantine project, Aziz Doğrucu (ex-L'Atelier Robuchon London)

Compact meze-first meyhane steps from the marina

Terrace tucked below Rumeli Hisarı's ramparts, shadow of the fortress on one side, the Bosphorus narrowing on the other.

Bohemian backstreet cocktail den off Necatibey

Modern twist on traditional Turkish cuisine with daily-changing market menu

Marina-facing grill, seasoned Fenerbahçe regulars

All-day Mediterranean kitchen turning into a cocktail-led night spot

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

Late-night Kireçburnu fish-meyhane open until 02:00.

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

Celebrity-founded roastery with house-roasted beans

Tepebaşı rooftop with Golden Horn view and ethno-house program

Second chapter from the Urban/Boden team, classic and signature cocktails

Cold War–era Soviet space-program aesthetic on Topağacı Meydanı.

Nevizade's 1941 original, no singing, just rakı

New-generation kebap rethinking ocakbasi culture

All-day craft beer, street food and cocktails in industrial Kadıköy

Beyoğlu's long-running blues dive run by Mehmet the Blues

Italian fine dining honored by the Italian government since 2012

Tiny family pizzeria with perfect thin crust

Velvet-curtained rooftop over Galata with French bistro kitchen

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

2024 World Class Turkey champion's sustainability-led cocktail room

Hidden 350m² walled garden of lemon and linden trees

45-seat Amalfi-inflected Italian room at The Ritz-Carlton

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

Sofyalı Sokak gastropub crossing serious cocktails with a tight Turkish wine list

Chef-driven lokanta by day, modern meyhane by night on the Bosphorus

Istanbul twist on Raffles Singapore's original Long Bar, nightly live music

Turkey's first female-run meyhane, Tatavla's living memory since 1946

Old-style neighbourhood meyhane near Akaretler

Historic 200-year-old han with lokanta lunch and meyhane evenings

Bosnian cuisine by famous actor Ilker Ayrik

Fifth-floor Taksim meyhane where Tatavla Keyfi plays rebetiko Fri-Sat

Fifth-floor warm dive defending old Beyoğlu's spirit

Gault&Millau Top 500 Bars list, bartender-driven Etiler outpost of the Alaçatı original

Old-guard yalı seafood and rakı bar, salt-baked levrek, Bosphorus directly underfoot

Nostalgic meyhane in Bostancı with honest mezes and late-night raki culture

Cihangir duplex tapas bar with a balcony and neighborhood regulars

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