Istanbul's Beyoğlu district to the north of the Golden Horn is where Istanbul first acquired European-style cafés, bars, pastry shops and restaurants, and it still has many of the best of these today.
Taksim Square Restaurants
Not so many restaurants right on the square, but one outstanding one high above it, and others just off the square. More...
İstiklal Caddesi Restaurants
The former Grande Rue de Péra has plenty of cafés, bars and restaurants along its 1-km (6/10 mile) length, but many of the most interesting (and a few dangerous) ones are off the avenue in the side streets. More...
Galatasaray Restaurants
The noisy meyhanes (tavernas) of the Çiçek Pasajı and Nevizade Sokak are not the only places to dine near the mid-point of İstiklal Caddesi in the heart of Beyoğlu. More...
Tünel Square Restaurants
In and around the square at the southwestern end of İstiklal Caddesi are numerous drinking and dining possibilities, some with a colorful history. More...
Cafés
Starbucks of course, but also lots of alternatives. More...
Breakfast on İstiklal Caddesi
Beyoğlu's main avenue has lots of places for breakfast: European, American, Turkish, buffet, light, heavy. More...
Pastry Shops
Turks love both Turkish-style pastanes and European-style patisseries. You'll find both along İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu. More...
Bars & Tavernas
In 19th-century Constantinople, European Péra(today's Beyoğlu) was where one found the Greek-style tavernas. Today they are Turkish meyhanes (including those in the famous Çiçek Pasajı, and nearby Nevizade Sokak), European-style café-bars, and American-style jazz bars, and Beyoğlu is where you find them. More...
—by Tom Brosnahan
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