Turkish food in Palo Alto

Turkish cooking has a stronger foothold in Palo Alto than most visitors expect. Downtown has a meyhane, the Turkish tavern where friends share small plates and wine over a long evening. California Avenue has a family kitchen that cooks the food of the Anatolian plateau. Stanford Shopping Center has a sit-down restaurant that bakes pide and serves a full Turkish breakfast on weekends, plus a mezze restaurant from José Andrés that pulls Turkish dishes alongside Greek and Lebanese ones.

Each place on this page was confirmed as open in October 2026 through its own website or a verified page in our business directory. Menus change with the season, so treat any dish named here as an example rather than a promise. For the wider region, see our Mediterranean and Middle Eastern guide.

Turkish restaurants at a glance

The four split neatly by mood. Meyhouse is the place for an evening out. Anatolian Kitchen is a neighborhood restaurant with all-day hours. The two shopping center restaurants are easy for a group with mixed tastes or a break between errands.

Meyhouse, 640 Emerson Street

Meyhouse takes its idea from the meyhane. In Istanbul a meyhane meal unfolds slowly: cold meze first, then hot ones, then grilled meat or fish, with wine or raki throughout. The restaurant calls itself a convivial meyhane and says its menu draws on contemporary Turkish cooking and the culinary heritage of Anatolia. The kitchen's stated approach is to start with good ingredients and handle them as little as possible.

Dishes shown on its website include grilled octopus over a creamy purée, grilled fish with greens and roasted vegetables topped with tomatoes and herbs. The current dinner and drink menus were updated in October 2026 and are posted as images on the Meyhouse Palo Alto page, so read them there before you book.

Wine matters here. Meyhouse announced in 2026 that it had received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. It also allows corkage for a fee, with a higher charge after the first two bottles. Lunch runs every day from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a lunch prix fixe that suits a first visit. Dinner runs until 8:30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. A bar tasting menu covers a lighter evening.

The Istanbul Room seats up to 38 for private events. Sister restaurants operate on Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale and in San Ramon. The company also runs a music brand called Meyhouse Jazz. There is street parking only, with no valet.

Anatolian Kitchen, 340 California Avenue

Anatolian Kitchen is a family-run restaurant that cooks the food of central and eastern Turkey. Longtime diners remember its first home at 2323 Birch Street, a short block away. A 2022 report on its move named Dino Tekdemir as the owner and described the menu as Turkish and Kurdish home cooking made in house. Its website now greets guests with a note that it is serving Palo Alto once again.

The website posts separate lunch, dinner, dessert, wine and catering menus. The lunch menu is dated April 2026. Muhammara, a spread of walnuts and roasted red peppers, opens many meals. The Alexander kebab layers ground lamb and beef over pita with tomato sauce and yogurt. Moussaka comes with lamb or beef, eggplant and kasar cheese over rice pilaf. Manti, the small Turkish dumplings, have also appeared on the menu. Kunefe closes the meal: shredded kataifi dough, melted cheese, kaymak cream and pistachios, served warm.

The kitchen is open all day, from 11:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are by phone and takeout goes through Toast on the Anatolian Kitchen website. The car-free blocks of California Avenue are a few steps away. Our California Avenue guide covers parking and the Sunday farmers market.

Turkish food at Stanford Shopping Center

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen sits on the main level of the center near Sigona's Farmers Market. It is one of four locations of a small Bay Area group, with sisters in Mountain View, San Francisco and San Mateo. The name points to its hummus menu, but the Turkish side is what sets it apart. Pide, the boat-shaped Turkish flatbread, comes in versions such as a soujouk pide with cured beef and mozzarella. A thin flatbread is topped with minced lamb and beef. The clay kebab cooks lamb or chicken with potato, onion, tomato, mushroom and pepper and finishes it with thyme.

The weekend Turkish breakfast is the reason to set an alarm. It runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes scrambled eggs with tomato, onion and pepper in the style Turks call menemen, shakshuka, eggs with soujouk, simit, spanakopita and clotted cream with honey. Turkish tea arrives by the pot. A breakfast board is built for two people to share. Our brunch guide has more weekend ideas.

Zaytinya

Zaytinya, from chef José Andrés, serves a mezze menu inspired by Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cooking. It is not strictly Turkish, but it is a good fit for a table that wants Turkish meze alongside Greek dips and Lebanese grills. Book through its website. Our Stanford Shopping Center guide covers parking and layout. The center suggests parking near the Sand Hill Road entrance for the dining area by Hummus.

What to order: a Turkish menu primer

Turkish menus share a vocabulary with Greek and Levantine ones, with a few words of their own.

• Meze. Small plates for the table. Cold meze come first, hot meze follow.
• Muhammara. A spread of roasted red peppers and walnuts, sweet and a little smoky.
• Pide. An oval flatbread folded around toppings such as cheese, soujouk or minced meat.
• Soujouk. A dry, spiced beef sausage, often fried with eggs at breakfast.
• Manti. Tiny dumplings, usually served with yogurt and a spiced butter. Our dumplings and noodles guide covers the rest of the dumpling world.
• Simit. A ring of bread crusted with sesame seeds, the classic Istanbul street snack.
• Kaymak. Thick clotted cream, eaten with honey at breakfast or with desserts.
• Kunefe. A hot dessert of shredded pastry and melted cheese soaked in syrup.

A simple plan works for a group of four:

1. Order three or four cold meze with bread.
2. Add one hot meze such as grilled octopus or a pide to share.
3. Choose two grilled mains or kebabs for the table.
4. Finish with kunefe or baklava and Turkish tea or coffee.

Vegetarian, halal and allergy notes

Meze menus are friendly to vegetarians. Muhammara, hummus, baba ghanoush, stuffed grape leaves, lentil soup and most salads contain no meat. Pide and simit contain wheat. Kunefe and many meze contain dairy.

• Meyhouse asks guests with vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free needs to contact it before ordering. There is no kids menu, but the kitchen makes simple meals for children on request.
• Anatolian Kitchen does not label vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or halal dishes online. Ask your server or call ahead.
• Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen marks vegetarian breakfast dishes and dishes that can be gluten-free without pita. It warns that it cannot rule out cross contact.

None of these restaurants states halal certification on the pages we checked. Our vegetarian and vegan guide lists more meat-free options around town.

Booking and timing tips

Meyhouse says weekends are usually fully booked while weekdays and lunch are easier. Free changes end 24 hours before a booking. After that it charges a per person fee. Weekday lunch is the simplest way in without planning ahead.

Anatolian Kitchen is calmer, though Sunday lunch can be busy when the California Avenue farmers market brings crowds to the street. The California Avenue Caltrain station is a short walk away, which makes it easy to reach without a car.

At the shopping center, arrive close to 9:30 a.m. on a weekend for breakfast before the stores open and the lots fill. If you are visiting from out of town and want to stay near both downtown and the shopping center, you can compare hotels near downtown Palo Alto along El Camino Real.

Frequently asked questions