Vefa Bozacısı

Overview

Vefa Bozacısı is a small shop on Vefa Caddesi, in the old Vefa quarter of Fatih, a short walk from the Süleymaniye Mosque. Hacı Sadık Bey opened it in 1876, and his family still makes the boza four generations later. Boza is a thick, lightly fermented drink of the winter months, and here it is the whole point of the visit.

The Story of Vefa Bozacısı

A new way to make boza

Hacı Sadık Bey came to Istanbul from Prizren in 1870. At the time, boza in the city was thin, dark and sour, and some two hundred tradesmen made and sold it. He tried a different method: a thick, pale yellow boza, taken at the moment the first bubbles of fermentation appear, so that it tastes only gently sour.

From a copper jug to Vefa Bozacısı

At first, he made it under his own house. For six winters, he carried it on his shoulder in copper jugs through the streets around the palace. Then, in September 1876, he opened a shop in Vefa and named it after the quarter. Later his son, İsmail Hakkı, joined him, and the family has kept the shop ever since.

What Boza Is

Boza at Vefa is made of millet semolina, water and sugar, and it keeps fermenting gently after it is made. It is served from marble urns, and you can add a handful of roasted chickpeas and a little cinnamon on top. For the history of the drink, read our guide to Boza: Istanbul’s Winter Drink and the Vefa Bozacısı Story. The shop also sells its own vinegars, grape şıra and sherbets in bottles.

Who Vefa Bozacısı Suits

We suggest it for a stop on a cold afternoon, between the mosques on the hills of the old city. It also suits anyone who likes to taste a drink in the place that has made it for generations.

Our suggestion

On our Mimar Sinan tour, we walk from the Şehzade Mosque to the Süleymaniye, and Vefa lies between the two. So in winter, we stop for a glass of boza on the way. Four generations of boza put the shop at the head of our family-run restaurants in Istanbul.

Our guide tells you the shop’s four-generation story over the glass.

Updated: November 1, 2026.

Vefa and the Old City with Us

A glass of boza in Vefa fits our seven hills of Istanbul walk; choose your day.