Esnaf Lokantası: Where Istanbul Really Eats Lunch

At noon in Istanbul, shopkeepers, tailors, bankers and students head for the same kind of place. It has a glass counter full of steaming trays, a few plain tables and a pitcher of water on each one. This is the esnaf lokantası, the tradesmen’s restaurant, and it is where the city really eats lunch.

What Is an Esnaf Lokantası?

Esnaf means tradesmen, the shopkeepers and craftsmen of the bazaar, and lokanta means restaurant. An esnaf lokantası feeds them every working day with home-style food: stews of meat and vegetables, rice and bulgur pilaf, beans, soups and vegetables cooked in olive oil. Overall, it is the food a Turkish family would cook at home, made in big pots from early morning. To try it yourself, an Istanbul cooking class starts at the Spice Bazaar and ends in a kitchen.

The dishes change with the seasons and the market. So you eat green beans and stuffed peppers in summer, leeks and cabbage in winter, and artichokes in spring.

How to order at an esnaf lokantası

There is rarely a menu to read. Instead, walk to the counter, look at the trays and point. Typically, people take a soup or a vegetable dish, a main dish and a pilaf, and the staff bring the plates to the table. Bread comes with the meal, and you pay at the till on the way out. Go between noon and two, when everything is freshly cooked, because by late afternoon the best trays are empty.

Our Favorite Esnaf Lokantası in Each Neighborhood

Hayvore, Beyoğlu

Hayvore brings the cooking of the Black Sea coast to a side street of Beyoğlu, with cornbread and dark cabbage on the counter. Try hamsi pilavı, rice baked inside a crust of fresh anchovies, and black cabbage soup. To finish, order Laz böreği, a sweet custard pastry. Up on İstiklal, beside the Ağa Mosque, Hacı Abdullah has passed its kitchen from master to apprentice since 1888. Before lunch, a Beyoğlu tour climbs the old hill of Pera from the water to the top.

Fahri Usta, near the Grand Bazaar

Fahri Usta is a tiny, no-frills place where shopkeepers from the bazaar area eat. You point at whatever looks good behind the glass, and the menu follows the day’s market. Our order is the meatballs and the kuru fasulye, white beans in tomato sauce, with bread to wipe the plate.

Balkan Lokantası, Beşiktaş

Balkan is fast and busy: you take a tray and slide it along a long counter, as students and office workers do every day. Try the roast chicken with buttery rice, a bowl of lentil soup, and whatever vegetable stew is in season.

Mahir Lokantası, Osmanbey

In the textile district of Osmanbey, Mahir feeds tailors and shop owners with the bold flavors of southeastern Turkey, and the MICHELIN Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand. For example, order the lahmacun, kavurma and içli köfte, then a piece of pistachio baklava.

Hünkar, Nişantaşı

Hünkar is the elegant end of the esnaf tradition, with white tablecloths in the shopping streets of Nişantaşı. Order its namesake, hünkar beğendi, lamb stew over smoky eggplant purée, plus the stuffed artichokes in olive oil. For dessert, the quince, ayva tatlısı, is the classic.

Why Eat at an Esnaf Lokantası

Near the big sights, restaurants cook for visitors. In an esnaf lokantası, by contrast, you sit elbow to elbow with people on their lunch break and eat what they eat. The food is also lighter than many expect, with lots of vegetables and olive oil, so it carries you through an afternoon of walking. For the rest of the city’s tables, see our guide on where to eat in Istanbul and our Turkish food guide. If you prefer a local at your side, our food tours start right here. Several of these tables also appear on the MICHELIN Bib Gourmand list for Istanbul. For a guided day of eating, see our Istanbul food tour: two continents, two markets and one long lunch.