Ankara - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
Getir and Yemeksepeti are king here; they are easy to use and very affordable - Nov 2023
So many Turkish restaurants to choose from! Many places that specialize in grilling, kebabs, mezza, deserts, coffee, dondurma (Turkish ice cream). There are also many restaurants that sell western style food like pizza and burgers as well as western restaurants like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc... There are several grocery and food delivery platforms. Some do not allow you to pay cash or use a western credit card, so you will need to sign up for a Turkish bank account. I have also heard you can use the Turkish Amazon, but I haven't tried that yet. - Jan 2023
Lots of food options. Yemeksepeti is a great delivery app that gives you a range of food. Indian and Mexican is harder in Ankara to find. Istanbul has more choices. Turkish food is great! Many, many restaurants both chains and small places, international and Turkish. - Nov 2021
The food in Ankara is okay. There is standard central Anatolian fare, but it is very meat heavy and can be bland for some people. That said, there are some very good restaurants in Ankara, as well as many fish restaurants, and some ethnic ethnic cuisine. Being a vegetarian is doable, but challenging, as most veggie-based foods are still supplemented with meat broths. You can get a filling meal for under $10 per person for a normal meal, and $50 a couple for a fancy dinner with wine. Food in Istanbul and along the coasts are significantly more interesting and flavorful. Alcohol Is heavily taxed here and can be expensive at restaurants, but still cheaper than in America. Take out is extremely easy, abundant, fast, and affordable. - Sep 2020
Ever seen six restaurants in a row all offering the same menu? That is the Ankara food scene in a nutshell for me. Great, fast, cheap Turkish food on every corner. American pizza franchises (Dominoes, Papa Johns) are around, although they taste really nothing like their U.S. namesakes. Lots of U.S. fast food chains (e.g. McDonalds, Burger King, Popeyes, Arbys, Sbarra, Subway) of comparable cost and taste (though not quite the same) to U.S. franchises.
There was a decent local burger joint and Chinese restaurant not far from the U.S. Embassy. Krispy Kreme was in Istanbul, but to our chagrin not in Ankara. The malls also have things like Sushi Co. if you traveled to Turkey for a California roll. Most places deliver, even in the worst weather. Most folks ordered delivery via website or app, whose pictures were great for non-Turkish speakers. - Oct 2018
Ankara has fantastic Turkish restaurants, but basically nothing else. They try to cook foreign food, but it is not to my taste. There is one Italian place, Mezzaluna, which is passable. There is also one Asian place, Sushi Co, that is bearable. I did not like the one Indian restaurant, and there is nothing else.
Downtown, there is a Uighyur restaurant (Chinese Muslim) that is simple but quite nice, when desire something other than Turkish food. Turkish breakfast is perhaps the best in the world though. One never tires of it! - Oct 2018
Tons of options both American fast food (Burger King, McDonalds, Arby's, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Dominoes, etc., and Turkish restaurants. Some good Italian places like Mezzaluna, and great steak places like Gunaydin. - Sep 2018
There is a variety of food available here through delivery using the app, Yemeksepeti. The food is always almost right with a little bit of Turkish flair, but they really do try hard. - Jul 2018
Yemeksepedi is the online ordering service with anything you want (Papa John's with beef pepperoni, McDonald's, Domino's, etc.). There is decent range of American fast food, along with lots of kebab places here. Good, cheap, fresh food is a perk of Ankara. - Oct 2017
Ankara has just about any kind of restaurant that you can think of. Being from Texas, I find their Mexican food lacking but it's here and the Yankees I work with seem to like it. Almost every restaurant here delivers with an online service called "yemeksepeti" with no delivery fees. You can get a meal from most restaurants for around 20TL ($6) if you are not ordering drinks. The very nice, fine dining restaurants, run around 45TL ($14) a meal. Alcohol is heavily taxed in Turkey and you will pay Miami prices, usually $5 for a beer or $10-$15 for a mixed drink. - Sep 2017
Anything and everything. You can order from almost any restaurant in the city with yemeksepeti.com. Coming from Texas I miss really good BBQ and steak. There are a few steak places if you know where to look but no luck on finding good Texas brisket. There is a lot more to Turkish food than kebab. Get out and experience it. - Jun 2017
There is a delivery service called Yemeksepeti, which you can get in English and get delivery of just about anything. Very reasonably priced items as well. - Sep 2016
Many good Turkish options. There are a few western-style places and Asian food is recently becoming very popular. - Jun 2016
All kinds of restaurants of varying types and quality available, from 5TL on the street durum (wrap) to pretentiously over-priced steak and everything in between. McDonald's, Arbys, KFC, etc. - Aug 2015
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Starbuck's, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Stone Cold Creamery. Lots of good Turkish restaurants in all price ranges - kebab, kofte, and fish restaurants. - Apr 2015
Everything. Every mall will have a food court with local and expat focused food. Then more restaurants. There is Subway, McDonald's, Popeye's Chicken, BKing, KFC, endless Kabab options, Starbucks -- I even heard Cold Stone Creamery recently opened somewhere along a very busy street downtown. Almost all restaurants deliver and you can go online and order from a general place. Quick China is our favorite for some great Chinese food. As far as costs: 6" sub ~ US$6, McDonald's meal ~US$7, chai tea latte ~US$5/venti, Kes1Doner Kabab meal ~US$3, Turkish tea ~ US$1/$2, Simit ~US$1. If you go for steaks, it will cost a lot though - for a nice meal for two plus wine expect to pay about US$100 easily. - Feb 2015
KFC, Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Dominos, Arbys -- cost is roughly the same as in the U.S. - Jun 2014
Yes and cheap. They all deliver! Download yemeksepeti on your smartphone. - Apr 2014
Everything is available and is delivered but fast food pales in comparison to a good Turkish doner or kofte. - Mar 2014
Many restaurant chains that are available in the U.S. Food is decently priced. - Mar 2014
McDonald's, Burger King, Popeye's, Arby's, Domino's, plus local chains like Timboo, NumNums, Sushi Co., and my favorite Liva Patanesi. - Jul 2013
MacDonald's, Dominoes, Little Caesar's, Burger King, Sbarro, etc. Prices are comparable to those in the U.S. - Aug 2011
A lot of American fast food is available. McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, etc. - Jul 2010
