11 Best Restaurants in Izmir, The Central and Southern Aegean Coast

The owners of Sevilen, one of Turkey’s best-known wine brands, have renovated and opened their family home to visitors as a fine-dining restaurant in a bucolic setting near İzmir airport. Grilled meats are the focus of the menu, which also includes tasty salads and starters—along with Sevilen wine pairings, of course. Summertime meals are served under a 300-year-old plane tree that provides cooling shade on a hot day.

This very popular bakery in hip Alsancak serves up probably the broadest selection you’ll find of boyoz, a round flaky pastry with Sephardic roots that’s these days almost unique to İzmir. Get yours savory or sweet, or perhaps with a hard-boiled egg on the side in traditional style. Go early for the best selection.

There are many popular seafood restaurants along the Kordon waterfront in Alsancak, but this one, with indoor and outdoor seating areas and a relaxed feel, is especially busy. It features a good selection of appetizers, including the decadent sütlü karides (shrimp sautéed in butter, then topped with béchamel and mozzarella), as well as the usual seasonal seafood choices.

Not far from the clock tower at the entrance of Kemeraltı, this small local favorite has served traditional İskender kebabı (and only İskender kebabı) from the city of Bursa since 1981. The spit-roasted meat is sliced thin and topped with melted butter and tomato sauce. A glass of homemade ayran (salted yogurt drink) is the traditional accompaniment to the meal. Alcohol is not served. Come for lunch or a very early dinner, as they're only open until the meat runs out, usually around 6:30 pm.

Deniz means "sea" in Turkish, an appropriate name for this popular, pricey seafood eatery on the Kordon waterfront, whose tables spill out of the ground floor of the İzmir Palas Hotel. It's buzzing with local notables, travelers, and a swanky business crowd, who come to splurge on exceptional fish and meze, including samphire with garlicky yogurt. And it can easily turn into a splurge in terms of price, depending on the number of courses chosen.

With a huge variety of baked goods and desserts, excellent house-made ice cream and chocolates, this pastry shop has been popular for decades. This branch of the legendary patisserie, in the heart of trendy Alsancak, is also a sit-down café serving coffee and Turkish-style breakfast.

On a hot, hectic day in the Kemeraltı bazaar, you’ll be happy to stumble on this little şerbet stall that’s been selling ice-cold and very delicious fruit juices and nectars since 1971. They sell jars of their own fruit jams, too.