Istanbul Airport Food Guide: The Best Places for Turkish Cuisine

14.10.2024 - 18:53 / cntraveler.com

Condé Nast Traveler readers named Istanbul Airport the best international airport for 2024, in no small part because of its reputation for world-class dining. Whether you’re transiting through or you’ve just left the shores of the Bosphorus and need one last kebab, this sprawling hub with its glitzy, mall-like atmosphere features well over 100 pit stops, most offering Turkish specialties. While the domestic gates are separated from the massive international section, everything here is in one large building, so you don’t have to worry about hopping on an air train or navigating between terminals—you just have to walk a lot, passing temptations galore as you go. Think of the hike as a way to work off that gözleme you couldn't resist.

Below, our Istanbul Airport food guide for the best places to eat at the new $12 billion hub (opened in 2018, it's often abbreviated as IST or IGA). Whether you’re here on a five-hour layover or only have 15 minutes to grab a quick meal or souvenir to-go, there's an array of delicious options—the only challenge lies in making a choice.

If you flying business class on Turkish Airlines, have Sky Alliance status, or are traveling with someone who does, the absolute best place to dine here is Turkish Airlines’ Business Class Lounge, overlooking the main floor, where live-fire cooking stations and impressive buffets of mezze and dessert will spoil you for the meal in your cabin.

Not so lucky? No problem, because Cuisine Anatolia has got you covered. In the central hall near the A and B gates, this is actually several restaurants in one, each with its own menu but all dedicated to traditional Anatolian cuisine. There’s a section for pide, Turkey’s answer to pizza; one for beef and chicken döner kebab, shaved off the spit; a grill for skewered kebabs, including generous hunks of lamb; and a restaurant for slow-stewed dishes like rice-stuffed peppers; “sour meatballs” simmered in tomato sauce tarted up with sumac; and manti, Turkish raviolini in yogurt sauce. If you don’t have time for the gracious service, grab a tray for the cafeteria line where you can pick from a plethora of salads and hot dishes. In the morning, linger over serpme kahvalti, a proper Turkish breakfast of cheeses, sausages, breads, egg dishes like menemen, a soft, veggie scramble, and all the spreads both sweet and savory.

If you’re partial to celebrity chefs, Turkey’s one and only Salt Bae has a restaurant in the main hall near the D gates, where people pack in for burgers, like the signature smoked beef on a Goth-like squid-ink bun, plus steaks, ribs, and chops. Popular for drinks, too, it boasts one of the airport’s few full bars and, for the kids, elaborate milkshakes. “Golden powder” in your ice-cream