11/01/09

Best (and First) Turkish Restaurant Ever!

by deedster

This is one of my favorite restaurants. It has great food (large variety of meat and vegetarian meals) and awesome service, I go there about 2 times a week! They recently opened a new section where the mail station used to be and they decorated it beautifully. Definitly recommend going there, and if you can reserve the side room :D

• Pros: soft bread, cozy atmosphere, real brick oven, kind workers
• Cons: limited parking(unless you use the garage across the street)

05/04/09

Not Constantinople

by colt45

Always ask your waiter what is good today. Turkish waiters in my experience have always been really honest with me and this place is no exception. Those guys have always told me which meats haven't roasted long enough and which ones have roasted too long. Go there and sit outside. Smoke a cigarette with some mediteranian people. And don't order an iced tea. They have really good hot tea and a bunch of crazy Turkish soda pops. You go now!

• Pros: Tasty
• Cons: Parking

02/18/09

Excellent kebabs, the real doner, at great prices.

by tud

My wife and I like this place a lot. Ever since we moved to Houston 2 years ago we have been going there on a regular basis - it's our favorite comfort food. We have taken all visitors to the restaurant and everybody liked it. Istanbul Grill is not fancy, I would not call it romantic, but it is clean, comfortable, laid-back, relaxed, excellent for lunch or dinner. As this place is usually busy the service may be just a bit slow at times, but the servers have always been nice and helpful.

All the kebabs on the menu are extremely good: tasty, tender meat, well spiced for taste but not hot, accompanied by rice, a small salad, and good bread. The doner kebab is the real thing, layers of real beef and lamb meat on a large vertical skewer, slowly cooking, not the preprocessed artificial stuff sold in most places. We also really like the red lentil soup and most of the appetizers, especially the eggplant (paste) salad. My wife and I could literally have this food every day. (P.S. The sandwiches are an especially great value.)

Overall I highly recommend Istanbul Grill for the great food, good prices, and pleasant, relaxed atmosphere.

• Pros: Excellent food (especially the kebabs) and good (cheap) prices.
• Cons: None so far.

02/09/09

I am a huge lover of turkish food. The price, location and portions were above expectation!

by supersupperer

My girlfriends and I were shopping across the street (very conveinent) and we were starving, wow were we ever surprised! The hummus, the fresh bread and herb dip, and their specials of the day were phenomenal!! I couldn't even finish half my meal, there was so much food, and as a bonus it was cheap! I plan on going back many, many times and so do my friends. Don't pay attention to the negative reviewer- I was in the service industry for over ten years, tight spaces and full restaurant might make it a little slower, but the service was still very good, and the food came out promptly. We all parked in the garage across the street, there is hardly any parking available in front. If you like savory foods, lots of flavor and not a lot of greasy, deep-fried junk this is the place for you!

• Pros: Great food taste, quality and price
• Cons: limited parking

10/23/08

Just terrible...

by DayTrader1

I went to this Turkish Restuarant 3 days ago, but was not particularly pleased. Although the food was different, the thing that turned me off of this restaurant was a roach-like creature. I was and am disgusted. They comped 15% of my meal, but gross. The more embarassing part of this situation was the fact that I was on a first date with service less than satifactory. Plan to have extra time on your hands when you visit, because staff will try to avoid you.

04/09/08

My favorite casual restaurant

by cse1973

Every thing that I have had at this inexpensive restaurant is delicious. Not to be missed the weekend specials - sultan kebob and lebanese ravioli. THe bread is so good i could eat it all night. Plus table service and beer. What could be finer?

Sometimes the service is slow, but other times it is fine, and always friendly friendly.

What can I say, I love it!

• Pros: Food, relazed atmosphere, a few outside tables for those nice evenings
• Cons: Parking, sometimes the service is slow - when they are busy

07/31/07

What a delightful atmosphere

by barringad

Charming little place. Great food, great atmosphere and nice, friendly staff who will explain the menu and help you choose. I have the chicken/pita which was delicious, very tender chicken marinated to perfection. Love the little herb in oil they serve at the start when you fist sit down. Great terrace to sit outside also. I love this place to just hang out, eat good and spend some relaxing time.

• Pros: everything is great specially desserts
• Cons: none really

A singular experience: Explore exotic tastes at Houston's only Turkish restaurant.

by Contributor

The Scene
Located in the Village, this smallish restaurant--a few tables inside, a few on the sidewalk--features an impressive brick oven in one corner. A couple of nicely done wall mosaics and a handful of gleaming copper pots complete the look. Don't be intimidated by the seemingly eccentric menu--the staff is engaging and happy to explain.

The Food
The seasoning is a bit different, but Turkish food is, for the most part, the kebabs, pita bread, rice pilaf, grape-leaved dolma and cucumber salad you may have encountered in Middle Eastern establishments. On weekends, manti (small pastry shells, filled with ground beef, in a yogurt sauce), su borek (layered dough and meat or cheese fillings) and a wonderfully piquant red lentil soup called ezo gelin are must-try items. And if you're a fan of the Indian yogurt drink lasse, you'll find a kindred spirit in the Turkish ayran.

11/09/06

The brick oven makes this place!!

by texas_flood

Generally quite good! Its not cheap, but any Turk will tell you that their cuisine needs many hours in the kitchen, and experience. For that, I'd say the price is worth it. Great taste but small portions for Texas. The food is juicy and bursting with flavor, whether is an appetizer or entree. In particular the sandwiches and lahmajun are amazing! They make fresh bread daily and heat it up fresh for you in a brick oven. The taste and the texture is fantastic. I highly recommend the adana kebab and the lahmajun platters (veggie or meat). I have yet to try the penirli, but that should come up soon!

• Pros: Delicious food, fairly healthy, good selection available.
• Cons: No disappointments to report

10/30/06

Great Food

by texas85

Everything I've had on the menu has been very good. The Ratouille, Humus, Mixed Grill Kebab are some of my favorites. Parking can be difficult when the bars around it are packed but I've always managed to find a parking spot.