Istanbul Market and Cafe

Was craving something delicious today and was reading great reviews about this market and cafe. I was welcomed by big smiles, great conversations and an amazing menu for carryout meals.The gentleman behind the counter was so helpful and really had a passion for his food there...he described as the "Best Street Food Style Meals"I ordered Lamb SoupWedding SoupKofta Sandwiches Beef Shish Sandwiches Bulgar KoftaMeat filled Pide....WOWOWOWOWMany delicious recommended dessertsAll were amazing choices...I will definitely make the 30 mile drive to come try more. I highly recommend this place

First time I went (around 7:30 PM on a Wednesday), I was told that their kitchen closed at 7:30, which was NOT advertised on their website. All the website said was "open 7 days a week, 9AM-9PM". I wish their website specified when their kitchen closed, as the vagueness can be misleading for patrons. So I left and returned 2 days later. I am taking off one star for the hummus, and another for the kelle paca. First off, the hummus looked and tasted as if it was dumped straight out of a Sabra or Tribe container from Jewel. No olive oil or any kinds of seasoning added to it!! This was an absolute disgrace, as I expected better. What a waste of $5! Would've never ordered if I knew this was the "hummus" they served here. They obviously weren't even trying to make their hummus at the very least presentable, even if it didn't taste good. Second, the kelle paca was really salty and lacked flavor. Might as well have licked a salt lamp... that's literally how salty the soup was! The lamb itself (in the soup) tasted alright, was tender yet flavorless. The iskender, which I ordered for my entree, was the only saving grace for my entire meal. Loved everything about it, from the tender beef shawarma and cubed Turkish bread smothered in tomato sauce to the pistachio-dusted yogurt sauce surrounded by grilled bell peppers and tomatoes. Beautiful in presentation and excellent in flavor! The tomato and yogurt sauces blended really well together. Peppers were slightly burnt, but I don't mind that at all. I ordered a side of rice pilaf and mixed it in with my iskender, which made it even better! Would totally order this again!!Service was friendly, well-organized and efficient. I would recommend this place for those who want to try something new and interesting, like iskender. But avoid their hummus like the plague!!! All in all, this wouldn't be the first place in the area I would return to, but was good enough (only referring to the iskender) for me to be pleased that I came here.

Decided to have breakfast here on the way to the airport and no complaints. The simit was yummy and fresh and hot. I'm going to apologize as I don't remember the names but we also ordered the honey plate that we dipped the simit into. Definitely do that lol.The Turkish pizza things (again, I'm sorry, I will do better to remember the names) is not bad also. Also had the manamem which was amazing! Simple and yummy! Also the place to sit was very cute. I recommend. Ohhhh and lastly the person who was out server, huge help! Thank you! You made our last meal in chicago great!

Went back after more than a year and discovered they now have a tent set up for the cafe. That allows for more seating.Unfortunately the food wasn't as good this time. The ground beef pide was pretty good, but the kabob platter was mediocre. The cig kofte (basically mashed bulgur) was something totally new for us; it's a cold appetizer, and my wife didn't like the taste after trying a bite. I ate two full pieces and ended up with a stomach ache half hour later.

Delicious food great risotto amazing lamb chop , seafood salad good , rice pudding delicious. Not to sweet. I would give 5 star. But lacking on service wasn't busy ,they were standing around ,and ask twice to order ,other then was good dining experience

The market is a mess. The floors are torn up and things really are in a disarray the "restaurant" is a tent around the corner from the market and the food was mediocre.

Combo kabap was delicious. First time been to there and felt like hometown. The market has various stuff that you can buy. You can even find tarhana.

I wish I could give zero stars, I was hungry and wanted to have a good shawarma. To start lets talk about shawarma. Its a traditional Arabic dish which was supposed to be cheap and easily available so that everyone could enjoy it on the go or if someone wanted to have a quick bite. So coming back to the review the place is clean and employees were responsive but man $10 dollars for a shawarma, are you kidding me and I dont mind paying for my food if its good but damn man uncooked chicken one piece of lettuce and nothing else and I waited almost 20 mins for my shawarma and there was no line. Not going back to this place, highly disappointed.

This place was very good, fresh and fair prices. I came from Skokie all the way to shop there but last week I went there, they remodeled and everything was so expensive. I thought it's new management but they said no we just remodeled. I didn't shop much there and went 5 minutes away from there to another Turkish market. Çok yazık oldu.

Food was expensive, bland and had no eye appeal. No sauce or condiments of any type. The take out containers were cheap.