Cafe Istanbul

Great place to hang out and dance. The food is ok but the Music is international so the guests. Great place to unwind after a long week.

Fun, different, friendly staff. Good place for large groups and hookah. The cheese plate is actually tasty. Dark inside and again, different.

Average on everything, granted we came on Persian new year party so they were packed bit service was so slow, drinks were horrible and hookah was very average at best. Will try again on another night

I celebrated my 40^th here. I had a section reserved and had to say it was a great experience. Great food, drinks, and our waitress was fun.
Had a belly dancer and a DJ and the place is nicely decorated. Conveniently located in Studio Movie Grill shopping center.
I will come back again.

Fun, relaxing and smily faces all over the place. the decoration is very nice. we didn’t try the food though, just the hookah. Recommended for groups, couples and families.

Such an amazing atmosphere! Delicious Mediterranean food makes you feel like you’re in Turkey. The belly dancers are breathtaking and the staff is great!

I want to give them 4stars but the service was sloooooow… Our waitress was super nice so it made up for the delays on everything. Go expecting to relax and wait for your food/​drinks/​hookah. They have a DJ on the weekends and it’s very family oriented. I love the atmosphere. You can seat on a regular table setting or on the floor/​cushions setting. Food was good, had mostly veggie dishes, plenty to choose from! It’s very well priced.

The good is a little price and the service is slow but I had a great time. The food taste good and the atmosphere is nice.

Same as Larry; «Went there on a Sunday for a show… it was advertised as a $ 20 cover charge, then they told us there was a mandatory $ 25 dinner for each person but it included the cover charge. When the bill came we had to pay for the cover charge and the dinner together… and they tipped themselves 20% on the cover charge. It felt like we got scammed. A less than honest way of doing business.»
We’ll never go back to that place again. This was a scam! All of our group of 5 were very dissapointed and felt like we were cheated.

Great spot!

The belly dancer was the ONLY entertaining aspect of this restaurant. The drinks are too expensive :(
The service is sluggish and amateur.

I went on a Tuesday and it was completely dead. The food took a pretty long time to come out. My Gyro wrap took 20 minutes longer to come out than my other friends dishes which were from the kebab section. I don’t really understand why it would take so much longer to prepare a Gyro wrap, but it’s okay. I liked the fries that came with the wrap, but by the time my food came out, I wasn’t hungry anymore. The mezze appetizer was good. Our waiter gave us extra bread, which was awesome. I really like bread similar to naan. I probably wouldn’t be back for the food. The hookah was mediocre, not much flavor. Service was good though.

Amazing food. So flavorful. Reasonably priced, drinks are delicious and strong. The best hookah I’ve ever had. The atmosphere so relaxed. We sat on the floor with pillows, it was very intimate and relaxing. The DJ played the variety of music. It was a very pleasant night. Can’t wait to go back.

I had a chance to check Café Istanbul out while celebrating a friend’s birthday. I had just started taking belly dancing classes a couple of weeks ago, so I was hoping I’d get a chance to show off my new moves (I did… and it was really funny lol). There was a DJ that played a lot of popular music, and throughout the night a belly dancer came out to perform – and she was a lot better than I was. The food was okay. I liked the Hubs’ shrimp pesto pizza more than my café special kebabs, but it was only because the meat was spicy and I’m a punk when it comes to spicy foods. The drinks were potent. I had the Tokyo Ice Tea and a Grateful Dead, but couldn’t finish them. It was a cool experience overall.

Turkey is a lovely cultural and culinary crossroads. Café Istanbul nails it. along with the added menu, décor, and Rumi infusion from far eastern Turkey. Having spent a good deal of time in the Middle East and in Turkey in particular and having tried all of the other the other Turkish restaurants in Metro Atlanta, overall, I’d rate Café Istanbul most highly.
Four criteria: menu, preparation/​presentation, ambiance, & service. Menu variety is very broad with the added bonus of barg and koubideh. As a test, I off-​handedly asked our waiter for sumac, which appeared forthwith. Preparation was first rate, but not flashy. Ambiance was appealing with the Rumi poem on the wall, bright colors, and nazars or evil eye talismans. As for service, our waiter was capable and attentive, but at times a little slow and disorganized. That aspect of the restaurant needs work.

Much better than the first! I would prefer this over the first. More room, bigger dance floor, and nice manager. Also much more cleaner! The food is about the same, but I always get the Meza plate. The Bellydancers Zina is awesome ! Give it a try !

We have been seated for 15 mins. Literally just saw another server go up to our server to let her know she has a table, and we saw her do the «I don’t care» hand motions, just so she could continue talking to a couple guys. She finally greeted our table 30 mins after we’ve been seated. *Update: been sitting here for 30 mins without her checking in… Had to order a new coal from another server. Long brown hair… Will not be returning or tipping like usual.

Went during a recent trip to Atlanta and I loved it. The owners definitely took the time to create a unique and memorable ambiance at every corner. The food was delicious and fresh. Everything that I had was amazing.
I don’t like hookah but my friends really enjoyed it. There is an assortment of flavors but it really depends on the person.
If you’re ever there, ask for Nat, he’s the best bartender in town!
After a great meal, drinks, and hookah, be sure to stay around for great international music. You don’t have to go anywhere else in Atlanta to have a great night out with friends and family.

Let me start with the positives: extremely friendly staff, good service, and interesting décor. I really wanted to like this place, but the music was incredibly loud. There was no one on the dance floor but you would have thought you were in a nightclub if you had your eyes closed. We were in a booth where we could enjoy the owners/​employees and family members wonder around aimlessly during our meal. Again, our server was great and I don’t blame her, but our food took forever to come out. I ordered a chix kebab, which comes with a salad and rice. The chicken was ok, rice had no flavor and the salad was disappointing. I don’t think this location ahs been open long and it may improve over time.

We really enjoyed the atmosphere, energy and hookah! The Turkish beer and raki served traditionally was delish. The belly dancer was amazing! The service unfortunately was lacking, the entire staff seemed overwhelmed. I did hear that they had a party of 30 outside though. Maybe that was the challenge? We only ordered the lamb kabobs to share and one of their breads. The bread and yogurt sauce was delicious! The lamb kabobs were cooked perfectly. The rest of the entrée was bland and the rice, though very tasty, was lukewarm. We might have sent the rice back, but like I said before the service was lacking… we went 30 minutes easily with no one to check on us. I finally had to go hunt down our server down in the kitchen to get another coal for our hookah.
Overall we will definitely go back and definitely look forward to adding stars for better service and food. I have high hopes!