Cafe Istanbul

turkish food and the atmosphere here is very good. I love this place, great food & service. Will surely make a return trip. It has a nice interior. Food is like a restaurant in Louisville I loved.
Jul 14th, 2019

Great spot for turkish food. I give this place double thumbs up.
May 27th, 2019

Alas, Cafe Istanbul is now closed but this is the review I wrote in April, shortly before its closure. Believe it or not but over 10 years ago, in my youth I was a contributing member of society with an actual 9 to 5 cubicle job (I swear! you can't even make this stuff up). When you actually work for a living, one thing that is nice is taking some time in the middle of your work day to go out for lunch. I went out to eat every single day, and my favorite Restaurant was Cafe Istanbul. That was 10-15 years ago but now circle back today and I returned to one of my true loves. The restaurant was mostly just as I remember it. I even had the same bus boy that had been there back in 2001. It does appear that they have changed waiters though..in fact, they now have waitresses too. The menu had many of the same items but now instead of having a lunch menu they have a sheet with lunch specials in addition to the dinner menu. In the early 2000s this prices at this place were super reasonable. However, since then delapidated neighborhoods to the west have been torn down and replaced by mcmansions. The area has become much more affluent overall. Prices have moved up to reflect this. Even so, the Istanbul Doner is my goto meal here and it was decently priced, IMO. Cafe Istanbul has different bread than I recall and in this area they have made a massive improvement. The bread is one huge piece straight out of the oven and is well seasoned and just amazing. Never had bread like this anywhere. A+ to this. The doner was mostly as I remembered it. The flavor of the meats is awesome. I feel their portion size could be bigger (or maybe i should just ask for more bread) and the meat was a bit overcooked/burnt. It was still quite good. I think overall this is still a very good restaurant but there aren't a huge number of dishes that I really want to try here (i mostly just want the doner) and I'm ok with prices being relatively high but wish that was balanced out a bit with larger portion sizes (should never leave a restaurant hungry).
Nov 2nd, 2016

I have no clue how they have 4 stars. This is a nice location but your literally paying for the ice water, the "complementary" Lavash heck everything. I couldn't believe you get no bread with the meal. I highly recommend going to the ISTANBUL GRILL in ARLINGTON on S. Cooper. Unlimited Pita, entrees big enough to share, a better experience of service, you can bring your own wine if you would like. The soda is $3 for a can (no refills) at this place i just couldn't believe it.
May 20th, 2016

Excellent food!
Mar 12th, 2016