Bar in Istanbul

Pre-revolution Havana glamour in Istanbul's upscale Nişantaşı

Electronic music festivals on the Black Sea

Michelin & Gault Millau recognized bar-restaurant-club on the Bosphorus

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

Retro-boutique hotel bar at the marina entrance, seasonal cocktails

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

Boğaz-narrowest fish house with full bar program since 1967

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

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

Tower-foot jazz bar in a former mosaic workshop

Istanbul's most prestigious live-music stage, jazz, funk, electronic, indie in an ex-brewery, the Robert-College-kids' institution

Compact neighborhood cocktail bar behind the avenue

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'.

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

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

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

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

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.

Long-running Italian-influenced bar tucked behind Bebek Hamamı

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

Wood-panelled clubby signature bar at the Ottoman palace, elite spirits library

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

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

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

Day-to-night high-fidelity bar and bakery on Hüsrev Gerede

Selectist's harbour-side hi-fi house with Funktion One sound

Expertly crafted cocktail menu refreshed every ten days

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

Cognac, cigar and Friday-night jazz inside the Ottoman shipyard

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.

Bosphorus-side live-rock institution out at Burunbahçe

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

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

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

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

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

Pier-tip bar-lounge with live music surrounded by sea on three sides

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

Former antique shop turned speakeasy: billiards, vintage decor, theatrical cocktails

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

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.

Glass-domed rooftop cigar room over the historical peninsula

Lobby brasserie and terrace at Hilton Bosphorus, all jewel-box finishes and crafted drinks

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

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

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

Fifth-floor warm dive defending old Beyoğlu's spirit

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

Cihangir duplex tapas bar with a balcony and neighborhood regulars

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

The former Babylon Kilyos, now curated music festival beach.

Reimagined '5 Cocktails & More', craft cocktails with sushi pairing

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.

Belle-Époque hotel bar where Agatha Christie drank, literature nights, Friday live jazz, Istanbul-narrative cocktails.

Bodrum-born seafood room with a serious Hi-Fi bar inside

Tiny Tünel wine room famous among regulars for its mulled wine and queer-friendly door

Michelin-listed seafood institution whose sunset cocktail bar is a genuine Bosphorus ritual

Low-ceilinged Kadife Sokak room with a downstairs fireplace, the quiet, cozy counterweight to Barlar Sokağı

Cemil Topuzlu'da 30 yıllık kurumsal-canlı müzik adresi, soliste kadeh kaldırılan yer.

Three-storey corner building on the Moda tram line, evening-favourite room with sharing plates and a confident cocktail list

Red-velvet audiophile bar with craft cocktails and vinyl, beneath the Listening Room.

House-music rooftop facing Galata Tower

Jigger Istanbul's flagship, signature cocktails with Turkish bitters

Kalamis Marina views with creative cocktails and proper kitchen

Twenty-four-tap craft beer bar on Ferah Sokağı, the Sarıyer original's central outpost

Late-night jazz bar with live trios and curated vinyl at the renovated Hilton Bosphorus

The Tarabya fish crescent local without the tourist markup.

The Black Sea's original beach-club institution, open June–September.

Panoramic CVK lounge with live performers and a proper bar program

Bağdat Avenue branch of historic Beyoğlu Pano; fasıl music, straight rakı, serious wine cellar

Ground-floor hotel bar where the Foxy crowd spills over for DJs and late drinks.

14th-floor sushi-and-cocktails bar overlooking both continents

Cevdet Paşa cafe-bar with Bebek-old-guard regulars

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

Hilltop Baltalimanı panorama, bar open until 2am.

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

Yeldeğirmeni corner spot with house-recipe cocktails and craft beers

Şemsettin Günaltay's after-work gastro-pub with a cocktail menu that actually tries

Water-edge House Café flagship, two terraces, full bar, summer DJ weekends

Istanbul's only genuine Irish pub since 1996, off Nevizade

English gentlemen's-club style bar with whiskey, cognac and live music six nights.

Hi-fi listening room above Michelin-star Arkestra; rotating record collectors, low-lit cocktails.

27-storey Ataşehir tower with a proper lobby-bar cocktail hour

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

Hand-built tiny Şair Nedim cocktail room, speakeasy live music Fridays, smoke inside

Chef Fatih Tutak's Silk-Road cocktail room above GALLADA, designed like a vintage grand yacht on the Bosphorus.

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

Three-floor 1960s gastropub on Bankalar corner

20th-floor Marmara rooftop, 360-degree Bosphorus panorama with house-infused mixology for Taksim-edge cosmopolitans

Gault & Millau-listed yalı for marinated lüfer and rakı

Restored Camondo vault with local-producer wine list and nightly saxophone.

Ottoman-motif velvet lobby bar inside the Akaretler row-house W, late DJ sets

Quiet oasis in leather armchairs with book-jacket shelves

Four Seasons Bosphorus lounge on one of the best terraces on the water

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

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

33 years of rakı-sunset at the mouth of the Bosphorus

Tarabya marina fish-house with a working bar program.

Selamiçeşme-end pub from the team that helped define modern Moda, long bar, dim lighting, genuine delicatessen kitchen

Corner pub off İstiklal where free live music spills into the street

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

Hidden art-deco izakaya in Bebek

Hagia Sophia-and-Marmara cocktail terrace at Four Seasons Sultanahmet

270° rooftop terrace above Gümüşsuyu, Bosphorus and peninsula at once

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

Glass jewel-box of vintage champagne with sommelier service

Aegean meze and charcoal grill on Yeniköy's Köybaşı strip.

Haydarpaşa-station-themed cafe-bar that turns into a wine and beer hangout after dark.

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

Tiny Karakolhane corner pub run by Koray and Elif; deep beer list, zero pretense.

Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi terrace bar under century-old plane trees

Turkey's only rooftop dedicated to reggae, dub and dancehall

The Nişantaşı 1980s power-lunch institution moved Bosphorus-side, 30-plus crowd, private pier, classic cocktails

St. Regis lobby bar where the Misty Mary is poured under dry ice

Summer-only rooftop above Maçka Palas with skyline-and-Bosphorus sweeps

138 whiskies, six guided malt tours, one chef-curated pairing

Tomtom side-street cocktail lab with bartender-led menu

Seventy-bottle wine bar tucked into Giulio Mongeri's 1922 Art Deco palas

Alleyway bar run by Turkey and world bartending champion Onurcan Gençer

Gault & Millau-awarded Italian with a refined Bosphorus-side bar

Sloped-alley rooftop on Kumbaracı, once on World's 15 Best Bars, Bosphorus-to-Historic-Peninsula panorama.

Kapadokya-rooted wine bar bringing cellared bottles to the avenue

Rixos Tersane's wine cellar, Turkish boutique producers on the Haliç.