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Istanbul Grill & Deli Turkish Cuisine

MY REVIEW: Pretty good food.

I got the Sucuk Pide and found it to be tasty, coming with plenty of food to spare too. The restaurant itself is a nice, authentic atmosphere. Parking (like all of Rice Village for the most part) is a problem, but it's to be expected in that area.

NAME: RyanV
SUBMITTED: 3/2/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: Feb/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: We made our first visit to the Istambul Grill with a group of friends last week and overall we were pleased. Our waiter was polite and attentive, the food was good, not great, but good. The place seemed clean and the atmosphere, while a bit cramped, was nonetheless pleasant. As noted by other reviewers parking can be a problem. My biggest complaint is that the portion sizes are marginal. I am not one who expects to leave a meal with 2 days of leftovers, but were it not for the complementary pita bread we would have left somewhat less than satisfied.

NAME: Vinnie
SUBMITTED: 6/26/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: June 2009
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: I love this place. I order the Narik which is a thin layer of baked eggplant with a layer of sour cream and crumbled lamb on top. It is out of this world! They serve it with this bread that cannot be compared to anything else. You can see they bake it fresh in house in a brick oven. The service is excellent and the place is very clean. When the weather is nice, you can sit outside on their patio. I tried one of their homemade desserts and it was outstanding as well. Now I am hooked and will be back often.

NAME: Jean Marc
SUBMITTED: 3/14/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/09
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: first time to istanbul grill- i order the doener kebab- and i was not impressed. the rice had more flavor than the doener (meat). the waitress seemed disinterested and the parking was practically nonexistent. t*ur&quiose is so much better it is not even funny. wont be making a 2nd trip to istanbul grill...

NAME: tideturns
SUBMITTED: 8/19/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: august 2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Yesterday was our first time here and we are so glad we did! Cute, clean little place. Our sweet waitress had a good sense of humor about me asking the pronunciation of every thing on the menu. Since we'd never been here before we tried a little of everything. The roasted eggplant appetizer was awesome so I was delighted when it ended up being the filling on my vegetable wrap. We stuffed ourselves and I practically had to be rolled out of there by my husband...all for $40 by the way! Wow! Rice pudding is excellent too. We'll be back.

NAME: TM
SUBMITTED: 7/7/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: July 2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Good simple Turkish food. Parking is a hassle, as it is everywhere in the Rice Village. The only complaint is they charge for extra slices of bread....$1.25ea!

NAME: menefreghista762
SUBMITTED: 1/19/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: jan 08
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: We (three friends) went here for lunch for the first time. We lucked out and got a parking spot right out front. We all found the food quite good and will go back again. As one of my friend's birthday was coming up the next week, it was my plan (unbeknownst to both friends) that I would pay the bill. However, I had to sneak off to the ladie's room as an excuse to relay to a waiter (not our waiter) that I wanted to do this as well has have the staff surprise my friend by bringing out dessert with a candle. This waiter got the word to our waiter and everything worked out beautifully. (In the meantime, my other friend was trying to pick up the bill, but since I had asked first, they handled this surprise well, too.) The dessert plate they brought out was beautiful, with three different types of small desserts for each of us. Bottom line, we had a great time. Thanks to the staff for playing all of our games. We will go back.

NAME: LLITL025
SUBMITTED: 9/19/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2007
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Turkish is my favorite variety of Mediterranean food, and Istanbul grill was my favorite Turkish restaurant. The Ali Nazik is something I can actually daydream about. Also, it is one of the few places I have found which serves authentic Turkish bread -- a sort of French interpretation of pita -- delicious! Ahhh, there's the rub -- they have started charging for more bread, charging OUTRAGEOUSLY -- $1.25 per HALF a pita. Now, when I go with a friend and we order the Meze Tabagi to share and then the lovely plate of delicious Ali Nazik, we can easily eat six whole pitas. So this extra charge is irritating and seems nitpicky to me; especially when you consider that this same delicious bread is simply left on the table in very large containers at truckstops all over Turkey. Bread is an expression of hospitality and the extra charge seems to me to signal a change in the attitude of the owner of Istanbul. Turkish food in the absence of Turkish hospitality is just not as satisfying.

NAME: eats_ethnic
SUBMITTED: 7/15/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 04/07
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: I generally liked this restaurant. I'd give it about a 7 out of 10.

Good points:
Friendly service inside the restaurant
Great advice for food and drinks
Wonderful food
Clean and cozy atmosphere
Reasonable prices

Bad points:
This probably only applies to me, but still it was a mistake they made. When I first parked at the restaurant waiters came out and told me I couldn't park there. They didn't ask if I was a customer or anything, they simply said I had to leave. I was new to the restaurant so I just complied. When I returned to the restaurant and they realized I was a customer they apologized several times and even paid for the parking that I was being charged for. I will return to this restaurant since the food was delicious, but that is the only negative thing I can say about Istanbul grill, and I am sure it is a one-time occurrence that will never be repeated.

NAME: Mai
SUBMITTED: 7/9/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: July 2007
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: We hadn't been there for a while, but nothing had changed. The food is still excellent, the staff friendly and the atmosphere generally pleasant. Highly recommended! If only there were better parking in the village......

NAME: Milo3814
SUBMITTED: 2/25/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/2007
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: Wow! My new favorite restaurant in Houston. How did I overlook this place before? The food is the best mediterranean food in the city that I've had (and I've tried a lot. It's my favorite kind of food). The prices are very reasonable ($8-12/entree, $5-8 for sandwiches, $2-4 for appetizers, and all the desserts are less than $2 and are great).

I got the vegetarian appetizer sampler for dinner and it was awesome. I had the baklava (hello?! Finally, moist, honey-dripping baklava! None of that dry stuff that I have gotten at other places around town).

The waiters were all Turkish and ours was so friendly and attentive. He helped us pronounce everything, kept checking up on us, gave us a history of the Turkish language and its roots in Finnish and Japanese (?!). He was also totally honest. We kept asking for suggestions. "Should I get the apple tea or the regular tea?" "I suggest the apple. The regular tea has kind of been sitting out for a while." We had to send something back for a silly reason and he was so totally willing. He went out of his way to get us special side dishes.

HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE.

NAME: Eugenie
SUBMITTED: 5/19/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/06
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Really good Iskender Kebabs , The Wet Cookies ( Shekar Pare ) were awesome , so was the rice pudding!!!!!

NAME: Hashir Saleem
SUBMITTED: 5/3/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2006
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: I grew up eating Turkish food at home and I must say this place really gives me a genuine taste of old Turkey-tastes like mom's cooking! My wife is new to the entire Turkish cuisine and she loved Istanbul Grill. Everyone is very knowledgeable and courteous. Can't wait till our next visit. The restaurant is a little on the small side but it gives it a very nice atmosphere. Just like in the old country.

NAME: Turkish Delight-06
SUBMITTED: 3/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 02/10/06
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: The food is tasty, but I think the portions are very small for what they charge. We spent $30.00, and I left the restaurant still hungry. I wish we had gone to D*imassi's instead.

NAME: TRYLON
SUBMITTED: 11/17/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: November/2005
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Loved this place! The food was inexpensive but delicious! I took my dinner club Eight Friends Out there for 2 nights, and they treated us royally! I loved the food because it is fresh--not overcooked or processed like some Mediterranean restaurants. The place is small, but they still fit 24 people each night, and the place was packed. Love the Turkish coffee and the baked rice pudding. Zubeyir is the best! I would definitely go again. This may become my new hang out.

NAME: Andrea Foster
SUBMITTED: 11/11/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: November/2005
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

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