Kitchen Istanbul

Kitchen Istanbul has a great mix of amazing food, service, decor, and culture. Great for a romantic date night, family date, or dinner with friends. Would definitely recommend to friends and going again.

Portions are too small and overpriced

Fresh ingredients, great wine list, and wonderful service by staff and owner. Very nice value and comfortable place to settle for a few hours with friends over great food.

Great food!
Great Service!

Decent not really worth the price. Appetizers seem like made from home kitchen not what you would expect for the price.

We love this place. Food excellent but this time the brussel sprouts were a bit overdone and the Kafka was a bit salty. Braised beef and Kunefe amazing.

We really went there for the kunefe but decided on a few appetizers first. I love, love, love the haydari and the muhammara. We loved the black lentil bulgur salad with the tart cherries and feta... yum! And the fried halloumi cheese was to die for! We finally made it to the kunefe...heavenly!

Excellent as always!!!

One of my favorites, food is always good, service is excellent, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting on a cold night.

Excellent, excellent and excellent! Fantastic food with wonderful service, definitely coming back!

Food was good as always. Service was outstanding. Very communicative and collaborative team. Go early, or not during a rush cause it’s very hard to move between tables to get in/out.

Fantastic service, good ambiance and truly superb wine list with excellent, unusual bottles at reasonable prices.


All of the food was 3- or 4-star good yet only some dishes (lamb chops, kunafe) hit 5-star perfection.

Great food! Beat our expectations.

Delicious appetizers as well as main courses. A great locale for an informal meal where there is always a warm welcome and attentive service!

My wife and I came to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The food was great and the whole staff was friendly and knowledgeable. This may have been our first visit to Kitchen Istanbul, but it certainly won’t be our last.

The food was very good. I was so happy to find a veggie Moussaka! Unfortunately, we were hungry not long after our meal, which included soup and dessert. My husband lived in Turkey for a year and was not happy with the small portions, especially for the price. The Turkish red wine was light and the flavor was incredible.

Excellent service and food

Awesome as always. Food is so very good and the staff is really nice and attentive, but not overly so. Very very consistent! Definitely one of my favorites in San Francisco.

Delicious- loved the vegetables especially.

We had a delicious meal and the service could not have been better!

Its a nice restaurant and will check every box. A great option for where its located but considering its SF and with all its eating options - this place is a 4/5 not 5/5.

Great variety of delicious dishes. Good place to share a few dishes. Works well for vegetarians too. Interesting wine list and good service. I go here with friends or on my own for a light bite.

Been here at least 4 times, never fails to disappoint. We had 4 mezzes and 2 entrees for 4 people. Thee lamb kebabs were especially good, very flavorful and tender.

The service was outstanding - the waiter was friendly and accommodating - and the food was absolutely delicious. My only downsides were the noise level and the fact that it was kind of warm inside. Otherwise, a great dining experience.

Very pleasant evening w/cousins. Tasty food, good servers were attentive

Had some friends in from out of town. They (and we) LOVED it. Especially the Brussel Sprouts and lamb chops.

Our party of four loved (and shared/sampled) everything we ordered: 3-dip meze trio with pitas (excellent); roasted cauliflower appetizer (also excellent); regular and vegetarian moussaka; chicken and steelhead kebabs; desserts; Turkish coffee. Waiter was absolutely first-rate -- attentive, not intrusive. Spot on in recommending wines. Bill was a bit eye-popping (but then, there were four of us and we ordered from all sections of the menu). Atmosphere was comfortable -- we could converse easily despite other parties surrounding us (far better than many in San Francisco!) As the dining room filled up (even on this Wed. evening) the noise level rose, but not to intolerable levels. We all agreed our meal at Kitchen Istanbul was the most enjoyable dining-out experience any of us could remember.

Amazing atmosphere! Enjoyed dinner with my family for a special occasion,but will be back soon for dinner.
Chicken kebab was absolutely DELICIOUS! 😋

A bit on the pricey side for me; but great for special occasions (like my father's 90th birthday)!

Delicious! Will be definitely be back again. The apps are so so good.

Fantastic food and lovely people - and best baklava I’ve ever had!

The food and service were wonderful. It's a very noisy restaurant so I wouldn't go if you wanted an intimate experience. Or if anyone in your party is hard of hearing.

Went on a Saturday night. Food and service were both excellent (which is unusual for San Francisco on a Saturday). We're from out of town and try to go at least once when we make our yearly visits because the food is always superb. Ordered four appetizers (meatballs, a bulgur salad with cranberries, zucchini patties, and cauliflower) and one main dish (chicken skewers) for three small eaters. Everything was fresh tasting, appropriately cooked and, while complementary, each had its own individual special taste. And the baklava dessert--just right.

I said I would recommend this to a friend, but I hesitate to do so only because I don't want it to become so overcrowded I can't make a last minute reservation...

Food is great and staff even better.

Not sure what happened here, but the portions were tiny! We’ve eaten here at least 4-5 times in the last couple years and this was the first time we experienced this. The kabab order came with only 2 skewers and the size of the meat on the skewers was laughable. For a $30 plate I would expect the size to be double of what was served. The $24 dip trio appetizer came with a small cup of tiny pita triangles..not nearly enough to share. We asked for 2 more pita orders and then were charged $5 for each of them. We brought it up to the waiter when we got the bill and he did take off the charge, however it certainly doesn’t make up for the rest of the meal. Not coming back again unfortunately.

Great hospitality, fun menu!

The restaurant was noisy. I found the food to be overrated. We had the three top dishes, roasted cauliflower, moussaka, and beyti. From 1 to 5, 5 being the very best, I would rate the roasted cauliflower a 3, moussaka a 3, and beyti a 2. The roasted cauliflower was tasty but soggy. The moussaka was just a little too cheesy and rich. The beyti was a bit bland and needed much more sauce. Will not be returning.

Been there a number of times. Always great!!!

Great food, lovely staff, good drink selection. Highly recommend for a chill evening with friends.

Our dinner at kitchen Istanbul was outstanding. The service was really good too. It was very hot in the restaurant until they opened the doors. After that it was perfect. We would definitely go back again.