Istanbul Grill

I know everyone like Turkish food!Kebabs, mezzes, doner, iskender,...This is the place that you can find all the kebabs, mezzes and dessert!Also you have try Raki, traditional Turkish alcohol if you are stand up to! It's pretty strong! But goes together with the mezzes.This is how we do in Türkiye."Raki- Mezzes" or "Raki- Balik" (fish)You have to try iskender and adana kebap here for sure! All the mezzes nice and fresh!Try Ayran instead of coke. Ayran is traditional Turkish drink! Health and fresh! Make by yogurt.And this is a little advice you have to add it your diet instead of any other soft drink!Aaand try baklava for sure because they make it here!One thing rice pudding was a bit thick and less sweet for me. I prefer a bit liquid and more sweet...Service always fast, nice and clean!Ambience also nice after they chance the decoration! I like that huge Bosphorus photo on the wall!They have patio and car parking

The ambiance was nice. It's a beautifully decorated restaurant. One can tell that they took time to design the interior. The service was fine. I enjoyed that they provided electronic tables as the menu. Something I haven't experienced before. Concerning the service, they were kind and respectful. Didn't check up on us as much, but I'll admit that it was busy when we were there. I ordered the iskender kabob and it was good. Solid 4/5. Flavor was there, sauce was good. The base was nice with a yogurt taste and the bread. It was a lot of food for me but it made for good leftovers.

Hole-in-the-wall Turkish spot with authentic and delicious food and drinkMenus are on iPads with pictures for all of the items Both indoor and outdoor (patio) seatingComplimentary bread and olives, but the bread was kind of staleI got a chicken shish dish and it was very tastyVery friendly people who provided great service

Authentic Turkish restaurant with delicious food and generous portions. However, the service could be improved, as it tends to be slow with fulfilling orders.

Istanbul Grill is good...but 4.5 stars good? Respectfully, not in my opinion. But first the positives I noted:* Attached parking lot. Blink and you'll miss it, so be sure to be on the lookout as your driving up, for the small-ish parking lot off the side of the restaurant. In this part of Arlington where parking is a premium, it's a nice benefit for diners.* Menus are...iPads? I think its kitschy, but ultimately a cost conscious decision that this place uses iPads to view menus. The devices have a ruggedized rubber case for protection (since, no doubt they've been dropped before) and it is smart to use electronic devices to updates menu offerings and prices instead of constantly having to reprint.So-So notes:There were about 8 of us in our group, so I ordered the mixed cold meze platter, which was a sampling of dips such as hummus, baba ganoush, etc. It was served in a star shaped platter and was accompanied by a bowl of warm pita bread, and small plate of olives. Overall, I thought the meze was good...not outstanding but good. The baba ganoush was probably the best of the bunch with a nice smoky flavor and the eggplant was grilled to a nice soft consistency. Bread was fresh enough and was perfect for ripping into pieces for sharing.I forgot to take pictures of my entree, which was the mixed grill; but there are plenty of other pictures of the dish on the Istanbul Grill page. Kabobs were well seasoned but slightly dry and chicken thighs needed salt. Otherwise all of the meats had decent char flavor and grilled marks for effect. Also bonus that the serving size was large enough to save some of my meal for lunch the next day.Service was attentive with water glasses being filled and dishes cleared in a timely manner. And we definitely appreciated the fact that the restaurant didn't make a big fuss about breaking the bill into separate checks. I guess with such as high rating I was expecting to be blown away by the food and experience but TBH, everything was just "okay." Meal with entree, splitting the cost of the appetizer, and just water for beverage, with tax and tip came out to about $50.

Great Ambiance. The chairs are so comfortable, the dining room is relax and very relaxing. The service is wonderful and the servers and manager are very accommodating and take their time with explaining the menu and answering any questions you have. The food is very tasty and they have a variety of appetizers/starters and their main courses are authentic, fresh and very deliciously created. Highly recommend.

Food is not bad, especially the complimentary bread and well-seasoned rice. A solid 4 stars on food, no doubt. I took two stars off just because the restaurant did not honor its own listed deal (free dessert upon check-in on Yelp). When asked if we could use that listed deal on Yelp, as we made the reservation on Yelp, the server gave a very cold "no, we don't do that anymore." Well, if you don't do that anymore, then you should take that misled advertising off from Yelp. Or at least to be able to explain that in a professional way to your customers. In any economy, nothing is more important than honesty and customer service. I would just leave it there for the business manager of Istanbul Grill to think about. Personally speaking, I would not go back, nor would I recommend this place to any of my friends, based on my dining experience.

Istanbul Grill is a bit further west from Ballston on Wilson. I came here with a few friends this past Friday evening for dinner and had a decent experience. We were given water and complimentary pita (came with olive oil with olives!) pretty quickly. The pita was good, but a bit dry. The olive oil was very fresh, but we found the olives themselves to be a bit bitter.RED LENTIL SOUP - 7This looks small, but it was pretty filling. Lots of flavor and it went well with the pita bread that we got. If I was looking for a light meal, I could just get a lentil soup, enjoy it with a couple pieces of pita and be satisfied. I'd recommend giving their lentil soup a try -- it's very hearty and delicious.LAMB SHANK - 25My friend and I shared the lamb shank since we weren't too hungry. The lamb was so, so tender. It fell off the bone so easily and had a good balance of meat and fat. The tomato sauce was pretty good (not my favorite, but I acknowledge that it's good) and had a variety of veggies (carrots, peppers, etc.) mixed in. There's also a small bed of seasoned rice that you can enjoy with the meat and veggies or on its own. We thought the lamb was pretty under-seasoned and bland, but its tenderness made up for it. Overall, this was OK.Our other friends got the CHEF'S MIX GRILL which had a lot of differently seasoned meats which were good. The steak was super tender and well-seasoned. We thought the kebab was too salty. The thin piece of meat (I think beef) was good. It also comes with a lot of veggies.Overall, glad I finally got to try Istanbul Grill. It was a good experience.

Cool interior with Turkish design. Service is super nice as well. The food was delicious. I enjoyed the cold mezze platter with dips, especially the hummus. The doner kebap was flavorful and portions were well sized for the price

What a lovely dining experience at Istanbul Grill! From the zucchini cakes with yogurt we had as an appetizer to the spicy doner kebabs we had as our main course, everything was incredibly flavorful. And the fresh-baked bread was so delicious! The service was top-notch, as our server was very warm and attentive throughout our meal and lighting quick in getting our food out (we were in and out in less than an hour on a Saturday evening.). I especially enjoyed the Turkish wine he recommended, and we loved admiring the beautiful decor throughout our dinner. As the parents of a toddler we don't get out to eat much, but when we do, we choose Istanbul Grill 9 times out of 10. Thanks again for such a positively wonderful experience!