Ant Bookstore & Cafe

I went recently with my son because we want to support local, small businesses.
A few observations. First, this bookstore and café is very clean and has a great café selection.
Second, this is a primarily a Turkish and Muslim oriented bookstore. Which is fine and as such has a selection of titles oriented for a Muslim Turkish clientele. If you are Turkish and or Muslim this is a great little bookstore. The selection of «contemporary» and «western» titles is very limited.
They have a good selection of Turkish language books and books in English about Turkey for adults and children.
If you want a great café and are interested in expanding your horizons to learn about Turkey and or Islam culturally this is a a great spot.
The 4 stars reflects 5 stars for the café and 3 stars for the book selection. If this café and bookstore was named A Turkish Bookstore I would have given 5 stars for the café and 5 stars for the book selection.

Great place, cozy environment and very reasonable prices. I suggest to everyone and great books too!

Such a nice little corner of the world to study: quiet, quaint, and has free wifi and outlets! The bagels were cheap, obviously homemade, and delicious. Did not get to do much in the bookstore since I was there primarily to study, however I would definitely love to return and check that half out! It’s awesome how it has two separate sections of tables — one in front of the café counter by the windows, which I imagine can get busy, as well as a section behind the counter that’s perfectly isolated when in need of focus. Am definitely returning for another study date, and to try all the Turkish delicacies!

Love this place! Charming and quiet little bookstore, perfect when I need to study. It even has free wifi, unlike the nearby library. The food and drinks are super cheap and delicious. Book selection is really interesting and diverse. Very unique place.

Went to look for two books with my girlfriend and we are obviously not identifiable being from Turkish or Middle Eastern descent (Yes this has to do with the one star rating). We wait at the front desk to be assisted with asking about the books. We see a man sitting at the front desk talking through the phone. We continued to wait. He didnt even told us to wait one second. He just kept going with the conversation until he was done. Then finally we found out that the books are not in the store and that had to order them. Fine, my girlfriend ordered them. We went off.
Couple days later, we went to pick up the first book. We saw a man talking on his cell phone between book shelves and looking at us. We thought he was just another customer. Later on, we saw two women (they wore hijabs so they were obviously Muslim) came to the front desk to be assisted. The man that was leaning over quickly came to their assistance. We were amazed that he didn’t assist us but quickly went to them. We don’t know if it was because of our ethnicity or what we were wearing or whatever reason. Then when the ladies went away WE had to ask for him to help because he decided to ignore us and go to a call instead of helping the people who already we’re waiting. He then tries to sneak us paying for the second book that didn’t even come in yet. We only pay for the first one and we are told the other will come in a couple of more days. 3 weeks later to today which is the day I’m writing a review, the book still hasn’t arrived or they didn’t even bother to call.
To sum it all up, this place discriminated because we weren’t Arabic. They had poor customer service. They also tried to get money for something that wasn’t probably never been ordered. Would not recommend this place unless you don’t care about customer service or you are from the Middle East or Turkey.

I have to say… It is much needed to have a bookstore, let alone one thT can survive! It has an adorable café and is kid friendly. The staff is wonderful and the toys are affordable for that child of yours that always wants to walk off with a cheap trinket. I love the tea and though I haven’t picked up a book there in years, I can’t wait to surf there on my own time, and check out their selection!

Kid friendly environment. Nice and quiet. Great place to meet up with your friends. Breakfast and pastries available

The best cappacino in the area! Also the pastry made with tahini is really good! The people who work there are super nice and the whole place has a really nice relaxed vibe. The books are worth a good browsing as they are not all Turkey related. They do have some really beautiful Iznik pottery in the back which is for sale. I work down the street and I love coming here to chill out or meet with someone for a quiet chat.

I love this place. I usually go to have a snack while catching up on email. It is a peaceful setting and has some interesting titles. I have also picked up some great artwork that is extremely reasonable in price.

This place is peaceful and lovely. They don’t push you to buy anything and they don’t nudge you out the door if you stay too long. It is largely Arabic in titles and food but still have a good selection of English stuff. If you’re looking for romance novels and cheap thrillers this isn’t the place. If you want great coffee and baklava and a nice comfy place to sit while you peruse the mysteries of faith and the universe, chat with friends, or just kick back and read a travelogue this is the place.

If it said «Ant Turkish Bookstore» I would understand. It is a bookstore that does not have conventional sections like «fiction» or «history». It is entirely a Turkish bookstore and you will not find many common English titles here. It is large, clean and beautiful inside and considering I was the only one there, will probably not last very long.

Great clean place. This Bookstore has great Turkish Pastries. They offer a lot of foods, books, CDs etc. The music is calm and the atmosphere is peaceful with great staff. Pictures taken by nicholas8nj from YouTube channel. I love to try different foods and this is refreshing.