After one meal at this neighborhood kebab house, you won’t be able to eat grilled meat anywhere else. Munch on skewers of lamb liver and çöp şiş (marinated beef and fat) or red pepper and thyme-dusted lamb chops and ribs. Charred orbs of uykuluk (sweetbreads) practically melt in your mouth. Start off with ezme (onion, parsley, tomato, pepper salad) and közde patlıcan (grilled eggplant). Raki is the local beverage of choice.

Not fancy nor cutting edge. Just one of Istanbul’s best restaurants. Owner/chef Musa Dağdeviren is a culinary anthropologist, collecting recipes around Turkey – a meal here features hard-to-find regional dishes. To order, approach the dozens of bubbling pots at the counter and point at what tempts you. We love the meat stew with tart, unripe green plums. Vegetarian dishes abound. Think dolma with rice and farmer’s cheese and grilled skewers of earthy, truffle-like mushrooms.

A Turkish version of an American greasy spoon specializing in all things poultry. Order the restorative chicken soup or the tavuk yağda, stir-fried shredded chicken and hot green peppers in a tangy tomato sauce. Many patrons adore fried eggs with sucuk (a garlicky Turkish sausage) or pastırma (dried cured beef, aka pastrami). No visit would be complete without their excellent poached chicken breast pudding, tavuk göğsü, topped with a dusting of cinnamon.

Housed in an impressively restored 1840s inn, the convivial environment of this meyhane, with tables full of raki-drinking revelers lining the street, brings all that grandeur down to earth. The mezes live up to the vibe, and standouts include extra-garlicky samphire, grilled octopus elegantly seared, and ceviche sporting rare sprigs of cilantro. This is a restaurant best enjoyed with a large group of friends, copious amounts of rakı and wine, and no other plans for the rest of the night.

Boza has a taste all its own. The thick, pudding-like drink is made from fermented millet. Topped with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas, it is at once sour and sweet. This Ottoman culinary tradition has been served at the tavern-like Vefa Boza since 1876 and the owner’s great-grandson helms the antique wooden bar. We like to sit in the corner, below the case holding a glass from which Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, enjoyed a glass of this strange, barely alcoholic (1%) brew.

Taste food from the Black Sea region without leaving Istanbul. The filling, down-home fare reminds us of the American South. Chickpeas in glowing red gravy, meaty stuffed chard leaves, even large hunks of cornbread. We love the kuru fasulye, creamy white beans cooked in a rich, buttery red sauce, and a smoky, rib-sticking kale, beans and hominy stew. On any given day, Chef Hızır Bey has more than a dozen items bubbling at the steam table, proud of his shrine to the Black Sea.

Giritli deserves more space than we can afford it here. Even though it received a Michelin nod in 2022, this elegant yet cozy fish restaurant still feels like a secret in the tourist-laden Sultanahmet – especially the tables in the beautiful courtyard. Serving food typical of the Turks from Crete, the prix fixe menu includes grilled octopus, seafood and orzo salad, stuffed olives, and sardines wrapped in grape leaves – part of a dozen or so delicious mezes that can also be ordered a la carte.

Come here for the tasty (and aromatic) combo meals. Small white beans in a thick, red gravy or the best kavurma (shredded beef rendered in its own fat) in town. Both come with a side of rice boiled in a rich beef bone stock and bonded by a generous lashing of musky butter, a flavorful and fragrant delicacy from the coastal city of Trabzon. Fifth generation pilav maker Erman Kalkanoğlu holds court behind a giant steel pot. His family recipe is secret. It’s so delicious we don’t mind.

This tiny café makes one of Istanbul’s finest cups of Turkish coffee, so thick it almost seems chocolaty. Hence the translation of the café’s name: “so thick even a water buffalo wouldn’t sink in it.” The beans are freshly roasted and ground each day. The café barely used to hold the old pro making the coffee and his giant, silver samovar, and most customers ended up sitting outside on one of the dozen alleyway stools before they opened a bigger spot nextdoor.

The marker of a good esnaf lokantası (tradesman’s restaurant) is a steam table at which diners order with their eyes. Here, seasonal offerings include spinach topped with springtime strawberries, fresh okra with sour cherries in the summer, and autumnal beets with fresh mint, and almonds. “We try to take traditional dishes and add a twist,” says Aybil Karamizrak, who cooks alongside her mom each day. Savor them in the charming dining room with wrap-around windows and dangling light bulbs.

If you do a little rooting around, the Grand Bazaar can be as much about the food as it is about the shopping. Case in point: a microscopic dürüm (wrap) shack at the edge of the sprawling bazaar. The Adana here has a wonderful balance of meat, fat, and spice, and the lamb wrap is full of tender morsels of succulent meat. Join bazaar locals at the double-sided outdoor counter with a trough in the middle overflowing with grilled peppers, sliced pickles, and parsley.

Typical to a meyhane (a classic watering hole), mezes are the highlight of a meal here. The house specialty is köpoğlu, fried eggplant chunks swimming in yogurt. We’re also fans of the acılı ezme (a spicy tomatoe, onions and pepper paste dip), haydari (a garlicky yogurt spread), and pilaki (a cold bean dish). The dining room steals the show here with its giant chandelier and old-world charm. Safa lives up to its name: “pleasure” in Turkish. Always full, reservations are recommended.

A 5-star version of a Turkish delight. Kokoreç is spit-roasted lamb intestines chopped, grilled, and doused in herbs and spices. Owner Oğuzhan Sayı hand-rolls the intestines around sweetbreads, a laborious process most other spots skip. So, it’s no surprise that Turkey’s most popular food writer declared Ozzie’s kokoreç to be Istanbul’s best. You can also order sosis (sausage) and sucuk (garlic sausage.). Note: to avoid food waste, the sandwiches here must be ordered in advance.