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Istiklal Street in Istanbul, Turkey, has plenty of restaurants to choose from. Many are geared towards tourists, which means they’re overpriced and low quality. I’ll point out a few that are worth trying and others that you should avoid for one reason or another.
This entry only includes restaurants directly along Istiklal Street. It doesn’t include restaurants on the back streets or Hatay Medeniyetler Sofrası.
Carts
Let’s start with the carts. Along Istiklal Street and in Taksim Square, you’ll see several food carts. Sampling some of these snacks is a great way to live like a local. The most popular snack is simit, which is a round bread covered in sesame. They’re best in the morning when the bread is still soft. If you wait until the afternoon or evening, it might be as hard as a rock.
Once in a while, you’ll see sandwich or köfte (meatball) carts. In the winter, many of the carts will sell kestane (roasted chestnuts) or grilled corn on the cob.
Döner
At the north end of Istiklal Street at Taksim Square, next to the Burger King, you’ll notice several fast food restaurants selling döner (Turkish-style shawarma or gyros). It consists of thin slices of beef or chicken wrapped in flatbread (dürüm) or stuffed into a half loaf of bread (ekmek arası). These places are very popular for döner, especially among tourists, but in my opinion, they aren’t that great. The meat is dry and doesn’t taste as great as other places around town.
Most of these fast food spots are chains, including Bambi Cafe and Marmaris Büfe. You can find them scattered throughout Istanbul offering tost, döner, köfte, burgers, and more at their branches.
Kızılkayalar
Those places next to the Burger King are good for something – ıslak burgers! Think White Castle meets sloppy joe. They’re delicious, especially in the middle of the night. The original is from Kızılkayalar, although pretty much every döner shop or fast food outlet will sell them.
Taksim Sütiş
Taksim Sütiş is a full-service restaurant specializing in Turkish pastries and other desserts. It’s located at the beginning of Istiklal Street just past the fast food places.
Head up to the terrace on the top floor. You can sit and have your sweets, coffee, and tea with great views of Taksim Square.
Beyoğlu Halk Döner
About a half block down the street is Beyoğlu Halk Döner. They serve döner plates as well as other Turkish specialties. It’s not the best but it’s not a bad place to stop, either. Prices are reasonable. They have other branches in Şişli, Laleli, and Bakırköy.
Borsa Lokantası
A couple doors down is Borsa Lokantası. When I lived down the hill in Cihangir, I would eat there often. The food is very good self-service Turkish cuisine and prices are reasonable. They also have a branch at Osmanbey.
Esmer
Further down the street is Esmer. I ordered take away chicken fettuccine one night and it was delicious. I haven’t sat down for a meal inside but some friends have and they said it’s good.
Vivaldi Waffle
We walked past Vivaldi Waffle and couldn’t resist getting a couple scoops of ice cream. The only problem is that service was extremely rude.
Mado
Mado has a couple branches along Istiklal Street. One is near the north end while the other is near the south end across from the Russian Consulate. The prices are a bit high and service isn’t that great.
They have very good sahlep and delicious Turkish breakfasts. It’s also a popular place to stop and have ice cream, pastries, tea, and coffee. There are other branches all over Istanbul and other cities in Turkey.
Cremeria Milano
At the end of Istiklal Street between Tünel and the Şişhane metro entrance is Cremeria Milano. The ice cream is good but it’s terribly overpriced and service is rude.
Keskin
Finally, avoid Keskin like the plague. When I lived in Istanbul, there were three branches along Istiklal. Thankfully, that’s down to one, located near Tünel. I hope they go out of business permanently, but there are too many gullible tourists to leech off.
The food is delicious, but Keskin are well-known bill cheats. It has happened to me twice. Obviously I didn’t learn the first time. On my first visit with a group of friends, they charged triple the price in the menu for a kebab platter. On my second visit, they did the exact same thing when I ordered a 1 ½ order of İskender kebab. Charge 1 ½ times the price in the menu, not triple!
