Traveling to Antalya? Here are the best restaurants to eat like the locals

Best known as a beach getaway, Antalya’s resort-lined coast draws travellers from across the world with its turquoise waters and surfside restaurants serving international dishes. Yet in its metropolitan centre, you’ll find a food scene shaped by the regional cuisine of local migrants who support the vast tourism industry that underpins the city and its eponymous region. It’s easy to stroll down any major avenue and find restaurants championing flavours from across Turkey: from the hearty sheep and dairy dishes of Antalya’s highland Yörük communities and central Anatolia’s mantı minced meat dumplings, to yağlama – a pie of stacked flatbreads layered with minced meat and garlicky yoghurt – from Kayseri, and Erzurum’s horizontally roasted lamb cağ (skewer) kebab, plus the classic grill houses of Turkey’s southeast. Combine this with the sunshine-soaked farmland surrounding the city and the cattle-rich highlands of the Taurus Mountains that rise sheer off the Mediterranean, and Antalya offers a diverse menu of exceptional produce. Here are some of the best restaurants in Antalya to get a true taste of the region.

7 Mehmet

Best for: traditional food in an upscale setting
Ask a local for a restaurant recommendation and it’s likely that panoramic hilltop spot near the coast west of downtown Antalya will be their first choice. Run by Mehmet Akdağ, 7 Mehmet has evolved from a modest soup shop set up by the chef’s grandfather in 1937 to a Turkish dining institution frequented by celebrities. Diners are welcomed to the expansive terrace overlooking the waters of the Med with a thick, leather-bound menu taking in everything from seafood, tandoori meats, fresh salad and rich vegetable stews to deeply indulgent desserts.

For a taste of traditional southern Turkish cooking, try olive oil-rich stews including braised vine leaves studded with pumpkin seeds. The restaurant’s original pilav recipes also enjoy cult status, where the classic buttery rice base is combined with savoury and sweet elements, such as roasted walnuts and candied figs. To finish, the wood oven-roasted pumpkin pudding is a must: a decadent dessert buried under a mountain of clotted cream and topped with double roasted tahini and walnuts.

Kadirşinas Ocakbaşı

Best for: fireside kebabs
At this classic ocakbaşı (charcoal grill restaurant), you’ll find skewers of kebabs expertly handled by the moustachioed usta (grill master) who instinctively knows when the meat is perfectly cooked. Those on tables centred around the flaming grill pit watch with hungry eyes to see if their order will emerge from the smoke next. If you don’t want to be in the thick of the action, book one of the white-clothed tables on the well-lit terrace, where locals sip glasses of the aniseed-flavoured rakı, chasing the spirit with plates of meze — the likes of baked hummus topped with pastırma cured meat, or çiğ köfte — a faux-tartare made with bulgur wheat and spices.

Among the must-try kebabs, are the classic Adana with minced lamb including tail fat seasoned with red pepper flakes and — the showstopper — the dil tava, with soft cubes of beef tongue served still bubbling away in a piping-hot cast iron pot.

Özgül Kebap Şişçi İbo

Best for: discovering Antalya’s piyaz
Among Antalya’s signature dishes, piyaz is perhaps the most widely known throughout Turkey: white beans coated in a sharp tahini sauce and topped with chopped boiled eggs, tomatoes and parsley. While many casual restaurants in Antalya pride themselves on their piyaz, the humble Özgül Kebap — a small, favoured lunch spot in the city’s central Elmalı neighbourhood — stands out from the crowd. Each portion is prepared to order, the tahini whisked by hand with vinegar until silky before being folded through the beans and topped generously with the remaining ingredients. The small shop also serves good shish köfte (grilled skewers of minced meat) but the piyaz is substantial enough to stand alone — a filling and satisfying midday meal for a measly 230 lira (around £5). Address: Elmalı, 17. Sk. 2/C, 07040 Muratpaşa, Antalya.

Yıldız Serpme Börek

Best for: crisp böreks
On a quiet residential street west of the city centre, you’ll find one of Antalya’s best places to eat. Hidden behind a white canopy that shades a handful of plain wooden tables, Yıldız Serpme Börek is the small realm of owner and börek master Metin Dönmez. He has perfected the art of Antalya’s serpme börek, a thin and crunchy pastry with a variety of savoury fillings. His yufka (filo pastry dough) that’s key to the success of a good börek is so thin, you could read a newspaper through it. Each pastry is made to order and it’s thrilling to watch Dönmez stretching the dough across his marble counter to its thinnest possible form, then scattering minced meat and parsley or feta and herbs — ‘serpme’ means ‘to sprinkle’ — and folding the börek into a snug, layered rectangle. After a brief, high-heat bake, it emerges with a golden, caramelised crust that shatters at first bite. Served piping hot with roughly chopped pickled green chillies and a glass of tangy ayran (yogurt drink), it’s Antalya’s börek at its best.

Yusuf’un Yeri

Best for: a quick and filling lunch
Located in the north of the city, near the auto-repair district, this simple, vine-clad restaurant dishes out comforting Turkish classics to a loyal clientele of workers looking for a quick, filling lunch. The aromas of oregano, simmering fresh tomatoes and the sweet smell of fried onions invite guests inside. This is a casual shop where the kitchen counter is laden with huge metal trays gently bubbling with pilavs, coloured peachy orange with tomato paste and vegetables braised in liberal amounts of olive oil. But Yusuf is renowned for its slow-cooked lamb dishes. Try a portion of kuzu haşlama, a hefty lamb leg with meat that falls off the bone, served with potatoes delicately cooked in its juices.

Chayote Chef Restaurant

Best for: fine dining, local style
Tucked away at the eastern end of Lara Beach, within the gardens of the five-star Nirvana Cosmopolitan hotel, Chayote is a rare upscale restaurant in Antalya devoted entirely to Turkish flavours. In the smart casual dining room with a decor reflecting the city’s laid-back character — all low-lighting, ceiling fans and plenty of natural wood — you’ll see chef Tuncay Gülcü walking from table to table, checking on guests and sharing fine details about, say, the olive oil (it’s made from Antalya’s distinct tavşan yüreği olive variety) or how the butter is aged for six months in dried cow intestines. His menu takes familiar local dishes and adds flair and depth without losing their traditional soul. Keşkek, an Anatolian beaten barley risotto often served at weddings, comes with three types of wheat and a rich paprika butter sauce topped with oven-roasted kid, while the Istanbul street-food kokoreç (grilled lamb intestines wrapped around offal) gets a bright lift from sumac jelly. To finish, go for the Antalya favourite: oven-roasted pumpkin, paired with tahini and walnut ice cream and a tahini glaze.

Dilara Yaşar

Best for: traditional sweets and ice cream
Serving Antalya since 1954, this dessert shop in the city’s central Muratpaşa district welcomes guests into an unfussy space for its small selection of traditional desserts. Behind the glass counter, large metal trays of syrup-soaked pastries glimmer invitingly, sold to eat in or take away by the kilo. The standout here is the tulumba tatlısı (stubby, churro-like, ridged batons of fried dough soaked in syrup) that once cooled, develop a dense, sticky crunch before yielding to a light, fluffy centre. Equally celebrated is the yanık dondurma (burnt ice cream) made from the rich milk of local highland sheep and goats. Light in texture yet bold in flavour, it’s an acquired taste worth acquiring, with intensely smoky notes that lean more towards charcoal than a caramelised sugar.

Meşhur 18’in Bağaçaları

Best for: local baked goods
In Antalya’s old centre, Meşhur 18 might look like a typical bakery, its brown frontage plastered with faded, low-resolution photos of the biscuits it produces. Inside, however, you’ll find a far from standard offering in this tiny, family-run bakery that’s been perfecting the city’s beloved bağaça (tahini cake) since 1940. This soft, dark brown, cake-like biscuit is unique to the region, made with tahini, cinnamon and mastic among other spices. Yet the real crowd-pleaser here is the acıbadem (traditional biscuit). This palm-sized marzipan cookie has a sand-coloured shell that’s patterned with fine cracks like sun-baked earth, and when bitten gives way to a chewy and soft interior with an intense almond flavour, which makes it impossible to stop at one.