Best Places to Eat in Izmir
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Izmir’s food identity is Sephardic Jewish and Aegean, not the kebab-and-baklava version of Turkish food most visitors expect from Istanbul or Anatolia. Here’s what to actually order, by dish rather than by restaurant name, since specific spots come and go faster than we can keep this page current.
Boyoz and gevrek: the breakfast signature
Boyoz is Izmir’s own pastry, brought by Sephardic Jewish immigrants fleeing Spain in the late 15th century, made with flour, sunflower oil, and tahini, which helps the dough rise into flaky layers. It’s traditionally plain, though you’ll also find versions filled with leek, eggplant, or cheese. Gevrek is the local name for simit, the sesame bread ring, but it’s genuinely different from Istanbul’s version: dipped in molasses and briefly fried before the sesame coating goes on, which earned it its own official geographical-indication status in 2021. Order both from a street vendor with a glass of Turkish tea, the classic Izmir breakfast.
Kumru and İzmir köfte
Kumru is a roughly 150-year-old local sandwich, officially registered as “İzmir Kumrusu” in 2017: a slightly sweet, sesame-topped roll grilled and filled with sucuk (spiced beef sausage), salami, tomato, pickles, and melted cheese. İzmir köfte are the city’s own take on meatballs, oblong and spiced with cumin and garlic, baked or simmered with potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers in a tomato sauce, distinct from the grilled köfte found elsewhere in Turkey.
Mussels, olive oil dishes and seafood
Along the Kordon and around Kemeraltı, street vendors sell midye dolma (stuffed mussels, packed with spiced rice, herbs, and sometimes currants) and midye tava (fried mussels), both finished with a squeeze of lemon. Zeytinyağlı, the region’s cold, olive-oil-cooked vegetable dishes, reflects the Aegean’s olive-growing character and runs lighter than the meat-heavy cooking further inland. In the evenings, seaside meyhanes in Alsancak and along the Kordon serve fresh Aegean fish and meze, traditionally paired with rakı, the anise spirit.
Söğüş, lokma and şambali
Söğüş, sliced poached sheep’s head, is a real local specialty and a less-touristy order than anything above; ask locally if you want to try it. On the sweet side, lokma is a fried, syrup-soaked dough ball sold hot by street vendors, and şambali is a semolina-yogurt cake topped with clotted cream (kaymak) and pistachios, a common corner-shop treat.
Where to actually eat
Kemeraltı Bazaar is the best spot for street food and a Turkish coffeehouse, with vendors selling gevrek, lokma, and simit alongside the market’s spice and textile stalls. The Kordon and Alsancak are where the sit-down seafood restaurants and meyhanes cluster, with more evening energy the closer you get to 1453 Sokak. Book an Izmir food tour on Viator if you’d rather have a local walk you through the market stalls with the context and the good addresses.
What should I order on my first morning in Izmir?
Boyoz and gevrek, both from a street vendor, with a glass of çay. It’s the cheapest, most authentic order in the city, and it sets you up to recognize the same pastries in every bakery window for the rest of the trip.
For the full lay of the neighborhoods these dishes come from, read the Izmir travel guide , and see the things to do guide for pairing a Kemeraltı food stop with the rest of the old town.
One concrete tip: buy your boyoz in the morning only. Bakeries sell out by midday, and what’s left in the afternoon is rarely the same quality as the first batch.