Casual in Istanbul

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Artisanal Bronx-inspired burgers with daily-ground beef

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

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