Ankara became Turkey's capital in 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk moved the seat of government from Istanbul to this Anatolian city of approximately 5.7 million people. The city sits at 938 meters elevation on the Central Anatolian Plateau, where continental climate and historical position as a crossroads have shaped a food culture distinct from coastal Turkish cities. Ankara's dining landscape reflects its role as administrative center, with restaurants serving civil servants, diplomats, and the university population of Middle East Technical University and Ankara University, which together enroll over 100,000 students.
The Ulus district contains the oldest restaurants in Ankara, many operating since the early republican period. Taşhan, a caravanserai built during the 15th century Ottoman period, now houses multiple restaurants serving traditional Anatolian dishes in stone-vaulted rooms. The building's courtyard remains a functioning commercial space where approximately twenty small eateries operate. Hamamönü, a restored Ottoman neighborhood adjacent to the Roman Baths of Ankara, contains two dozen restaurants in renovated houses, most opened after the district's 2007-2010 restoration project. These establishments serve standardized Turkish home cooking rather than regional specialties, targeting domestic tourists visiting the neighborhood's museums.
Kızılay, Ankara's central commercial district laid out in the 1920s, operates as the city's primary dining zone. Sakarya Street, running perpendicular to Atatürk Boulevard, concentrates approximately forty restaurants in a three-block stretch. This area serves the weekday lunch trade for ministries and private offices, with most establishments offering set menus priced between 80 and 150 Turkish lira as of 2024. Tunalı Hilmi Avenue in the Kavaklıdere neighborhood holds Ankara's highest concentration of international restaurants, with Korean, Japanese, Italian, and French establishments opened primarily between 2010 and 2020 to serve the diplomatic community.
Döner kebab in Ankara typically means lamb and beef blend cooked on a vertical rotisserie, sliced thin, and served in bread or over rice. Uludağ Kebapçısı, operating since 1964 on Denizciler Street, serves İskender kebab, which originated in Bursa not Ankara but has become standard across the city. The dish layers döner meat over pide bread, adds tomato sauce and melted butter, serves yogurt on the side, costs approximately 200 lira, and arrives on a copper plate heated before service. Kebapçı İsmail Usta in Ulus has operated since 1952, serving Adana kebab made from hand-minced lamb mixed with tail fat and red pepper, shaped on flat metal skewers one meter long, cooked over oak charcoal. One portion contains two skewers, each approximately 35 centimeters of meat.
Ankara tava, a local specialty, consists of rice pilaf cooked with lamb chunks, chickpeas, butter, and sometimes dried fruit, baked in a clay pot. The dish originated in Ankara households, not restaurants, and appears on menus primarily in Ulus and Hamamönü. Hacı Arif Bey, operating since 1982 on Çankırı Street, serves Ankara tava in individual clay pots sealed with bread dough before baking. The seal breaks at the table, releasing steam. The restaurant also serves tarhana soup, made from fermented and dried mixture of yogurt, wheat, tomatoes, and peppers, reconstituted with stock. Tarhana preparation traditionally occurs in late summer when tomatoes and peppers reach peak season, with the dried mixture stored for winter use.
Beypazarı, a district 100 kilometers northwest of Ankara, supplies the capital with güveç, a meat and vegetable stew cooked in clay pots. Multiple restaurants in Ankara identify themselves by Beypazarı in their names, serving güveç made with lamb or chicken, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and onions, cooked in individual terracotta vessels. Beypazarı Sofrası on Konur Street, opened in 1995, uses clay pots made in Beypazarı specifically for this dish, replacing them after approximately fifty uses when thermal stress causes cracking. The same district produces kurutma, air-dried beef aged for several weeks, which Ankara restaurants serve thinly sliced as part of breakfast spreads.
Turkish breakfast, called kahvaltı, operates as a distinct meal category in Ankara restaurants, typically served until 13:00 on weekdays and all day on weekends. Van Kahvaltı Evi, a chain with four Ankara locations as of 2024, serves breakfast platters for two people containing approximately twenty items: white cheese, kaşar cheese, olives, honey, kaymak (clotted cream), butter, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs prepared multiple ways, sucuk (dry sausage), pastırma (cured beef), börek, and bread. The bill runs 300-400 lira for two people. Kahvaltı restaurants brew Turkish tea continuously, serving it in tulip-shaped glasses, with refills included in the meal price.
Çengelhan Brasserie, located in a restored 1522 Ottoman han in Ulus, operates as Ankara's oldest continuously functioning caravanserai building adapted to modern restaurant use. The building originally served merchants traveling the Silk Road routes through Anatolia. Since its 2008 conversion, the restaurant serves Ottoman palace cuisine recipes researched from 15th through 19th century palace records. The menu includes hünkar beğendi, braised lamb served over smoked eggplant purée, and mantı, Turkish dumplings smaller than European versions, containing ground meat, topped with yogurt and brown butter infused with dried mint. The restaurant's mantı contains approximately forty dumplings per portion, each about 2 centimeters square.
Köfte restaurants occupy multiple blocks in every Ankara neighborhood. These establishments serve grilled meatballs as their primary product, typically made from hand-minced beef or lamb-beef blends, mixed with grated onion, salt, and sometimes cumin or black pepper. The mixture receives no breadcrumbs or egg binders, distinguishing Turkish köfte from other meatball traditions. Şahin Tepesi Köftecisi in Çankaya, operating since 1978, produces approximately 800 portions daily during peak months. Each portion contains six meatballs weighing 60-70 grams each, served with grilled peppers, sliced onion, tomato salad, and bread. The restaurant uses beef from eastern Anatolian cattle, claiming higher protein content produces firmer texture.
Pide restaurants in Ankara function similarly to pizzerias in other countries, serving flatbreads with various toppings baked in wood-fired ovens. The dough differs from pizza dough through higher hydration and the use of Turkish flour types. Karadeniz Pide Salonu on Selanik Street, opened in 1989 by a family from Trabzon on the Black Sea coast, serves pide in the Trabzon style: boat-shaped, with edges folded but ends open, toppings spread inside. Kaşarlı pide contains kaşar cheese. Kıymalı pide contains ground beef. Sucuklu pide contains sliced Turkish sausage. A single pide measures approximately 35 centimeters long and serves one person as a main course. The wood-fired oven reaches 350-400 degrees Celsius, baking each pide in four to five minutes.
Lahmacun, sometimes called Turkish pizza by foreigners, consists of thin dough topped with minced lamb or beef mixed with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and parsley, baked until crisp. The finished product measures 25-30 centimeters in diameter, arrives on a plate with lemon wedges and parsley, gets squeezed with lemon, rolled, and eaten by hand. Restaurants typically sell lahmacun by quantity rather than as a plated meal, with prices running 30-50 lira per piece as of 2024. Öz Kilis Lahmacun ve Kebap Salonu in Kızılay, established in 1983 by a family from Kilis province near the Syrian border, makes lahmacun according to southeastern Anatolian proportions, which use more pepper paste and less tomato than central Anatolian versions.
Börek appears in Ankara breakfast restaurants, bakeries, and specialized börek houses. These phyllo-based pastries come in multiple forms. Su böreği layers thin phyllo sheets with white cheese filling, boiled briefly, then baked. Sigara böreği rolls phyllo around white cheese or potato filling into cigarette shapes, then deep-fries them. Kol böreği forms a spiral from rolled phyllo filled with cheese or meat. Kadınbudu Mantı & Börek Salonu in Bahçelievler, operating since 1991, makes phyllo dough daily by hand, rolling each sheet to near-transparency before layering. The restaurant's su böreği uses twelve phyllo layers separated by eleven cheese layers, produces a product 4-5 centimeters thick when baked, and serves portions cut into 10-centimeter squares.
Ankara's meyhane tradition, though less prominent than Istanbul's, operates in the Kavaklıdere and Çankaya neighborhoods. Meyhanes serve rakı, an anise-flavored spirit distilled from grapes, alongside mezeler (small plates) and grilled fish. Raki's alcohol content is 45% by volume. Diners dilute it with water, turning the clear liquid milky white. Meal progression follows specific patterns: cold meze first, hot meze second, grilled fish third, fruit fourth. This structure can extend across three to four hours. Meyhanes calculate bills by counting empty plates and bottles. Trilye Restaurant on Kızılırmak Street, established in 1987, brings whole fish to tables for customer approval before cooking, displays them on ice beds at the entrance, and sources from both Aegean and Black Sea fisheries depending on season.
Turkish coffee in Ankara follows the preparation method standardized across Turkey. Finely ground coffee powder, water, and optionally sugar combine in a cezve (small brass pot with long handle), heat over low flame until foam rises to the pot's rim, pour into small cups without straining, leaving grounds to settle for two to three minutes before drinking. The tradition involves reading fortunes from grounds remaining in the cup after drinking, though restaurants do not provide this service. Hacı Bayram Veli Türk Kahvesi near the Hacı Bayram Mosque in Ulus, operating since 1946, roasts coffee beans daily in a vintage roaster visible from the street, grinds them to powder consistency finer than espresso grind, and serves Turkish coffee in cups placed on embossed copper saucers.
Simit, circular bread crusted with sesame seeds, appears from street carts throughout Ankara every morning. Street vendors purchase simits from wholesale bakeries operating night shifts, load them onto wheeled glass cases mounted on bicycle carts, and position themselves at bus stops and metro exits. Simit costs 10-15 lira as of 2024. The bread has a chewy interior, crisp exterior, and the distinctive taste of molasses water used to coat the dough before sesame application. Some vendors also sell poğaça, a softer bread sometimes filled with cheese or potatoes. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality licenses approximately 3,000 mobile food vendors as of 2023, with simit sellers representing the largest category.
Çiğ köfte, despite its name meaning raw meatballs, now uses bulgur wheat as the primary ingredient rather than raw meat due to a 2009 Turkish food safety regulation that prohibited the sale of raw ground meat products in restaurants. Restaurants shape fine bulgur mixed with tomato paste, red pepper paste, spices, and lemon juice into torpedo shapes, serve them wrapped in lettuce leaves with pomegranate molasses and lemon wedges. The product contains no meat but retains the name. Öz Urfa Çiğ Köfte in Kızılay, opened by a family from Şanlıurfa in 1996, prepares batches every three hours to maintain freshness, kneading the mixture for approximately thirty minutes to achieve the correct texture. Ten pieces constitute a standard portion, priced at 50-60 lira.
Katmer, a dessert from Gaziantep province adapted by Ankara pastry shops, consists of thin dough layered with butter and ground pistachios, cooked on a griddle, folded into squares, topped with kaymak and more pistachios. The dessert measures approximately 15 centimeters square, arrives hot, and requires immediate consumption before the kaymak melts completely. İmam Çağdaş, a Gaziantep-based chain with two Ankara locations as of 2024, ships pistachios from Gaziantep (Turkish pistachio production concentrated in southeastern provinces) and makes katmer to order rather than holding prepared inventory. One portion costs approximately 150 lira, contains roughly 30 grams of pistachios, and provides 600-700 calories.
Künefe, another southeastern Turkish dessert, appears in Ankara at specialized künefe houses and as an after-dinner option at kebab restaurants. The dessert layers kadayıf (shredded phyllo) with unsalted cheese, bakes in a round pan, soaks in sugar syrup, tops with ground pistachios. The cheese must melt without becoming liquid, creating strings when the künefe is cut. Künefe arrives at the table still bubbling from the oven. Hatay Medeniyetler Sofrası in Bahçelievler, operated by a family from Hatay province, uses hatay künefe cheese, which melts at higher temperature than standard Turkish white cheese, preventing the dessert from becoming soggy. A single-portion künefe pan measures 18-20 centimeters in diameter.
Baklava in Ankara comes primarily from shops operating their own production facilities rather than purchasing from wholesale bakeries. Layers of phyllo dough receive brushing with clarified butter, stack to depths of 30-40 sheets, receive filling (pistachios, walnuts, or no nuts), cut into diamond or square shapes, bake, then absorb sugar syrup flavored with lemon. The ratio of phyllo layers above and below the filling, the syrup's sugar concentration, and cooling time all affect final texture. Baklavacı Naci in Kavaklıdere, operating since 1958, makes phyllo in-house using a mechanical sheeter that rolls dough to 0.5-millimeter thickness. The shop sells baklava by weight, approximately 400 lira per kilogram as of 2024, with one kilogram containing 18-20 pieces.
Turkish delight, called lokum, appears in Ankara confectionery shops primarily as a tourist purchase rather than everyday consumption item. The confection combines sugar, starch, water, and flavorings, cooks to gel consistency, sets in trays, cuts into cubes, dusts with powdered sugar or desiccated coconut. Rose and lemon represent standard flavors, with variations including pomegranate, bergamot, mint, and mastic. Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir, a confectionery company founded in Istanbul in 1777, operates a branch in Ankara's Kızılay district, selling lokum in boxes ranging from 250 grams to 2 kilograms. The shop produces lokum in Istanbul and ships to Ankara locations three times weekly.
Meze culture in Ankara operates differently than in Istanbul or Aegean coastal cities, with Ankara restaurants typically offering 8-15 standard mezes rather than the 30-40 options available in Istanbul meyhanes. Haydari, a thick yogurt dip mixed with dill, mint, and garlic, appears on most meze menus. Acılı ezme, a paste of finely chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions, and walnuts with pepper paste, provides heat. Patlıcan salatası blends grilled eggplant with tahini, lemon, and garlic. Restaurants present mezes in small oval dishes, with diners ordering multiple types to share. A table of four people typically orders 6-8 mezes, along with rakı or beer, before ordering main courses.
Gözleme, griddle-cooked flatbreads filled with cheese, spinach, potatoes, or meat, appears at Ankara's weekend farmers markets and in home-style restaurants. Women typically prepare gözleme by hand-rolling thin dough, adding filling to half the circle, folding, and cooking on a convex griddle called a sac. The process happens in view of customers. Çiftlik Evi Restaurant in Çankaya, designed to resemble a farm house, employs women from Anatolian villages to make gözleme in the dining room. The restaurant operates an open kitchen where customers watch dough rolling, filling, and cooking. One gözleme measures 30-35 centimeters in diameter, serves one person, costs 60-80 lira.