İstanbul Grill & Cafe Istanbul

I really enjoyed my visit to Istanbul Grill & Cafe. This family-owned restaurant truly delivers an authentic experience. We tried the cheese pide, egg pide, Turkish çay, künefe, and Turkish coffee, and everything was amazingly delicious and full of authentic flavor. And i also want to mention how clean everything looked and beautiful smell. The atmosphere genuinely made me feel like I was in Turkey, which made the experience even more special. I was so happy to meet Elif and her husband, they were incredibly kind, welcoming, and friendly. I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves authentic Turkish food and desserts. You won’t regret it!

Highly recommend this restaurant, they have a variety of Turkish options ranging from pide to doner to shish kebab. Everything is made with care and the people working there are genuine. Ordered babaghanouj, which was very good but lacked a whole lot of flavor. The falafel was crispy and flavorful and came with a surprise dollop of hummus! Cheese pide and feta + spinach pide were both well made and came with a cup of marinara sauce. Finally, the chicken shish kebab was juicy, flavorful and came with yogurt and rice. Above all, the service was very good. They also have wraps for lunch, but that ends at 2:30 and then they begin to serve you like it’s dinner. Overall a great place to try out and it’s in a bustling (for Wilkes-Barre) area near the universities.

You Need To Know? Arrived around 5:30 & we were seated immediately. Our ice water was brought over with our glasses & the establishment is BYOB, so we brought a bottle of red wine which our waitress was kind enough to open for us & provided us with glasses. Then we waited! Waited to place our order which was chicken shish kebab, lamb shish kebab & a vegetable flatbread. We also asked if we can get some of the house made bubble bread. They told us they would bring to the table. Waited for our meals for quite a while, no big deal as the table conversation was filling the time. After our food came out, we waited! Waited for the bubble bread, Waited for more water, & Waited for the waitress to even look our way. After our meals were half way gone, we called out across the restaurant to get her attention & again asked for bubble bread. With two bites of our entree remaining, our bubble bread finally came out, piping hot. The food was delicious in flavor & the char was perfect on the chicken. Once our meals were finished, guess what we did? Waited! Waited for our waitress, Waited for our bill, Waited for our transaction to be completed. At one point, the waitress asked if we were going to a show tonight & once we said NO it felt like she ignored us for the remainder of the meals. Would have been a 5 star, however, nearly 3 hrs for dinner from start to finish is a bit much of a wait. Now You Know! -TBH

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