Sakız Alsancak Restaurant
Waterfront Rakı Meze Rembetiko
Sakız Alsancak
Alsancak
$$$
Aegean-Cretan seafood meyhane on the Pasaport waterfront since 1989
Best Restaurants in İzmir
From Michelin-starred fine dining to authentic local cuisine, discover İzmir's most distinguished restaurants. Curated, tested, and approved by our expert editors.
36
Restaurants
0
Michelin Starred
0
Fine Dining
By Mes Prestiges Editorial Team
Casual Dining
Delicious food in relaxed settings
Deniz Restaurant Restaurant
Kordon seafront White Tablecloth Classic
Deniz Restaurant
Alsancak / Kordon
$$$$
Kordon fish institution beneath İzmir Palas since 1981
Tavacı Recep Usta Restaurant
Bib Gourmand Charcoal grill Family
Tavacı Recep Usta
Alsancak
$$$
Michelin Bib Gourmand Anatolian grill on Atatürk Caddesi
Lokal Alsancak Restaurant
Neighbourhood bistro Intimate Side Street
Lokal Alsancak
Alsancak
$$$
Tucked-away bistro on a quiet Alsancak side street
Gandi'nin Yeri Restaurant
1966 institution Rakı Meze Old Bornova
Gandi'nin Yeri
Bornova
$$$
Bornova meyhane institution since 1966
Kokoreççi Asım Usta Restaurant
1960s institution Charcoal kokoreç Queues
Kokoreççi Asım Usta
Bornova (Çamdibi)
$$
İzmir's oldest living kokoreç master, charcoal since the 1960s
Scappi Restaurant
Italian Chef Driven Skyline View
Scappi
Konak (Alsancak)
$$$$
Chef-driven Italian on the ninth floor of the Swissôtel
Montiano Restaurant
Italian Skyline View Polished
Montiano
Konak (Çınarlı)
$$$
Levantine-Italian dining in the Mistral tower
Meşhur Hisarönü Söğüşçüsü Restaurant
Söğüş Street Food Institution
Meşhur Hisarönü Söğüşçüsü
Kemeraltı (Konak)
$
Kemeraltı's kelle söğüş master since 1975
Vino Locale Restaurant
Two Star Green Star Wine Pairing
Vino Locale
Urla (Kuşçular)
$$$$
İzmir's first two-star table, among Urla's vines
OD Urla Restaurant
One Star Green Star Wood Fire
OD Urla
Urla (Rüstem)
$$$$
Osman Sezener's open-fire farm-to-table within an olive grove
Pinoliva Garden Restaurant
Garden Greenery Family Run
Pinoliva Garden
EVKA-3 (Bornova)
$$
A hand-built olive-and-pine winter garden on the forest edge of Bornova
Akın'ın Yeri Restaurant
Waterfront Family Run Harbour
Akın'ın Yeri
Özbek (Urla)
$$$
Three generations of family balıkçı on the Özbek village harbour
Teruar Urla Restaurant
One Star Green Star Terroir
Teruar Urla
Urla (Kuşçular)
$$$$
Terroir-driven Aegean cooking and rooms in Kuşçular village
Beğendik Abi Restaurant
Bib Gourmand Lokanta Mezze
Beğendik Abi
Urla (Camiatik)
$$
The Urla market lokanta locals queue for
Fokai Balık Restaurant Restaurant
Seafood Meyhane Harbour
Fokai Balık Restaurant
Foça (Eski Foça)
$$$
Eski Foça's harbourside fish house since 1984
Letafet Meyhane Restaurant
Meyhane Courtyard Meze
Letafet Meyhane
Foça (Eski Foça)
$$$
Stone-courtyard meyhane with fine-dining touches
Celep Restaurant Restaurant
Seafood Waterfront Meze
Celep Restaurant
Foça (Fevzipaşa)
$$$
Waterfront fresh-fish kitchen on the Foça promenade
Ayşa Boşnak Börekçisi Restaurant
Historic han Family Run No Frills
Ayşa Boşnak Börekçisi
Kemeraltı
$$
Bib Gourmand Bosnian börek inside a 17th-century Kemeraltı han
Tarihi Güven Lokantası Restaurant
Historic Esnaf lokanta Lunch institution
Tarihi Güven Lokantası
Kemeraltı
$$
İzmir's defining tradesmen's esnaf lokanta since the 1930s
Hisarönü Söğüşçüsü Mustafa Usta Restaurant
Street food master Since 1975 Offal
Hisarönü Söğüşçüsü Mustafa Usta
Kemeraltı
$
İzmir's söğüş benchmark since 1975, by Hisar Mosque
Milos Balık Restaurant
Meyhane Kale içi Slow fish
Milos Balık
Sığacık (Seferihisar)
$$$
The first meyhane of the Sığacık kale, Greek-taverna soul
Liman Restaurant Restaurant
Harbour Since 1993 Fresh fish
Liman Restaurant
Sığacık (Seferihisar)
$$$
Sığacık harbour's oldest fish house, serving since 1993
Nena Balık ve Meze Evi Restaurant
Family Run Kale içi Meze
Nena Balık ve Meze Evi
Sığacık (Seferihisar)
$$
Warm family-run fish-and-meze house in the Sığacık kale
Artemis Restaurant & Şarapevi Restaurant
Farm To Table Artichoke Village
Artemis Restaurant & Şarapevi
Düzce Köyü (Seferihisar)
$$
Farm-table artichoke kitchen in a Seferihisar village
Karaf Meyhane Restaurant
Meyhane Waterfront Raki Fish
Karaf Meyhane
Karşıyaka & Bostanlı
$$
The Bostanlı waterfront meyhane locals defend
Boğaziçi Restaurant Bostanlı Restaurant
Seafood Fish Classic
Boğaziçi Restaurant Bostanlı
Karşıyaka & Bostanlı
$$$
Bostanlı's serious seafood table by the tram line
Etci Ahmet Restaurant
Steakhouse Grill Special Occasion
Etci Ahmet
Karşıyaka & Bostanlı
$$$
Bostanlı's special-occasion steakhouse
La Cigale Bostanlı Restaurant
Bistro Wine Live Music
La Cigale Bostanlı
Karşıyaka & Bostanlı
$$$
Garden-gate bistro with a real wine list
Köfteci Remzi Restaurant
Köfte Institution Since 1965
Köfteci Remzi
Karşıyaka & Bostanlı
$
İzmir köfte institution since 1965
Levan Restaurant
Chalkboard menu Convivial Vineyard
Levan
Urla
$$$
Convivial chalkboard Aegean cooking next to the vines
Kısmet Lokantası by Urla'lı Hasan Restaurant
Bazaar Home Cooking Lunch
Kısmet Lokantası by Urla'lı Hasan
Kemeraltı
$$
Aegean home cooking tucked inside a Kemeraltı han
Foça Marina Restaurant Restaurant
Seafood Harbour Sunset
Foça Marina Restaurant
Foça
$$$
Foça harbour fish house locals defend over the strip
Sığacık Çakoz Balık Evi Restaurant
Seafood Daily catch Value
Sığacık Çakoz Balık Evi
Sığacık, Seferihisar
$$
Fish-market seafood at honest prices in Sığacık's castle village
HİÇ Lokanta Restaurant
Green star Olive Oil Led Historic stone building
HİÇ Lokanta
Urla (old town / Bağ Yolu spine)
$$$
New Urla cuisine from olive forest to table, in a stone Greek theatre
Aslında Meyhane Restaurant
Meyhane Meze Courtyard
Aslında Meyhane
Urla town (Bağ Yolu hub)
$$$
Urla town's Bib Gourmand meyhane in a courtyard stone house
Where to Eat in İzmir?
İzmir reads as two cities at the table. In town, the register is unfussy and seafood-led — meyhane culture, raki, and whatever came off the morning boat. Forty minutes west, the Urla peninsula has become the Aegean's most serious fine-dining cluster, anchored to a vineyard trail (the Urla Bağ Yolu, formalised in 2016) and a farm-to-table ethic that the Michelin Guide rewarded when it extended to İzmir.
Geography splits the map cleanly. Alsancak and the Kordon waterfront run the classic fish-and-meyhane axis — Sakız Alsancak, Deniz Restaurant on the water, Tavacı Recep Usta for the grill. Kemeraltı, the old bazaar, is where you eat söğüş and street food standing up. Bornova is the deep-local meyhane and kokoreç bench. The Urla peninsula carries the destination kitchens, while Foça and Sığacık on the Seferihisar coast hold the summer fish-meyhane register.
Urla and the Aegean Fine-Dining Cluster
The peninsula is where İzmir's ambition concentrates. OD Urla cooks over open fire from a roughly 10km supply radius; Teruar Urla layers Italian technique over local terroir; Vino Locale ties the cooking to the vineyards. Vino Locale now holds two Michelin stars — the first two-star in İzmir — while OD Urla and Teruar Urla each hold one, and all three plus Hiç Lokanta carry Green Stars for sustainability. Plates lean to what the season and the soil give — wild greens, olive oil, grilled fish, and a wine list that finally trusts the Urla bottles next door.
Reservation Tips
For the Urla destination tables, book two to three weeks ahead in summer; the peninsula fills fastest on summer weekends, when day-trippers and the Çeşme crowd overlap. In-town meyhanes like Sakız and Gandi'nin Yeri want a day or two's notice for a good table, less midweek. May and September are the smart shoulder weeks — the vineyards are open and the coast is calm.
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