Turkish Kitchen — Restaurant in Riverview

I will start off by saying I really was excited to try Turkish Kitchen based off all the wonderful google reviews and did not intend on coming out with anything but good to say, but I have share my experience truthfully.

As my wife and I walked in, we were cheerfully greeted and presented a table or booth of our choice, which is awesome. We also noticed how clean the restaurant was and the beautiful assortment of green, brown and black colors - very well designed space.

As we took some time to look through our menu, and ordered, we were both eagerly awaiting our iskender and mix shish entrees along with a Lahmakun appetizer.

My expectation was for the appetizer to come first and was fairly surprised to see it come slightly after our entrees were presented to us, but no big deal is what I said in my head. It happens. But there were more mishaps.

My wife pointed out to me the family that was seated well after us were given a bread and butter complimentary appetizer (as is common in restaurants such as these). I thought the best at first and told her maybe they ordered some other appetizers we can’t see, but she also observed another couple (also seated after us) that had bread and butter given to them. No big deal I concluded, then signaled to our waiter to stop as he was going to rush past our table, to address that we would like the same. He nonchalantly said he would bring it out. He then proceeded to bring out the entrees, and appetizer we ordered, along with the bread and butter all subsequently within seconds of each other. We ended up telling him to return the bread and butter as it was too late.

Our server also continuously and promptly served the other people in the restauarant as he passed by our table to not fill up our water or ask us if we are doing ok. When we noticed that rice was missing from my wife’s entree, he replied with “it’s the kitchen fault” then proceeded to talk with the kitchen staff to give us rice lazily spread on a small place with no apology or recognition on his part of the mistake.

As we finished our food to the best of our ability and relaxed, we waited 10 minutes to observe if our server would offer to take our plates, ask us for to-go boxes or ask us if we finished or want dessert. He did none of those things and continued to ignore us as he passed by our table to serve other customers, where there were only 2-3 other tables besides us that he was responsible for.

I concluded something was off. Was it because I’m black and no one in the restaurant wasn’t? Was it because my wife wears hijab? Was it because he’s new? I have no idea but I did bring it up to another employee who very kindly acknowledged these mishaps, apologized and offered some complimentary dessert as an additional apology, which helped salvage the customer service somewhat.

I do not know if I would come back here, but I wanted everyone to know there’s work left to be done for this place to deserve a close...

Love it! It's great to have such a unique Turkish experience here in Brandon. I love what they've done to this space to make it so open & welcoming. It's located on Bloomingdale Avenue next to the Olde Town Pizzaria.

We visited during its soft opening. Everything is on slow mo at the moment, so please be patient and allow more time to enjoy it. Our late lunch visit was the perfect timing even though it started getting busy around 2pm. I can already foresee that they will be hiring more servers once the word gets out. They still handled it well.

Ercan (Can) greeted us immediately, and was so very helpful & professional. It took us a little while to decide. Everything on the menu looks so good. There are so many hot & cold mezze on the menu. We ended up skipping the starters, and ordered 2 of the Mix Shish (beef shish & chicken shish) with a boat-shaped cheese pide. It was more than enough food for 2 people. The oven baked pide is a meal in itself. Everything was delicious! We had enough left over for dinner.

The shish was tender and well-seasoned. The grilled Turkish pepper served on the side is super hot. My husband loved that. I gave him mine. Lol! You've been warned.

The biggest surprise was the incredibly cheesy pide. I can't believe how much I'm craving it again. Some say it's like a Turkish pizza. It's so much better than that description. I love the thin flatbread, and you'll actually see them rolling out the dough after you order it. It is so fresh, light, and crispy. I can't wait to order more than just the cheese next time. I want to try them all. It heated up very nicely the next day.

I finally tried Maras ice cream for the first time. It was better than imagined. The traditional chewy texture was there. It was super rich & milky from the goat's milk. What a cool experience! The Turkish tea was also delightful. They have many other desserts including kunefe, kazandibi, and sutlac. I can't wait try them.

Looking forward to more visits. I can see lots of future success for this...

My longing for a good Turkish restaurant in the Brandon/Riverview Area has been present since I arrived in 2000. Finally, one has made it's way to Bloomingdale, near John Moore. Turkish Kitchen is a great addition to the food fare, and it did not disappoint. A little history here, I was an exchange student to Uşak, Turkey in 1977, and made the trip back just this past May for three weeks, just as this restaurant was getting started in the area. So, my cravings for authentic Turkish food was reignited. I was finally able to visit yesterday, as part of my birthday celebration, with a great friend. Özlem (Özy), greeted us and sat us at a lovely table where we could see the scratch kitchen in action. We chatted for a short while, since I wore a Turkish t-shirt representing the area where I stayed. Was pleased to see that Efes Pilsen was on the menu as a beer choice. That did not disappoint, either! To start, we ordered the Kalamar, Kibbeh, and an order of Peynirli Pide as appetizers. (So many appealing choices, just narrowed down to these. The other person in my party was unfamiliar with the cuisine, so I helped navigate for her, and chose several options. All were fresh, and excellent. Our two entrees were Kofte (which was a favorite of mine made by my Turkish Anne when in Turkey) and Lamb Shish. We each provided the other a taste of the entree. The shish was awesome. My Kofte was very tasteful, juicy, and cooked to perfection. Definitely, on the list for ordering again. There were many options we thought of ordering, so definitely will return to try the others. Özy was very attentive and friendly, welcomed the conversations, and was genuinely interested in the stories. Could not leave without having the Baklava, which we shared. So good! I cannot recommend Turkish Kitchen enough! You won't be disappointed. The staff was so welcoming, the food was awesome, and I can say that this birthday was perfect because of the experience here! We'll be back! Harika bir türk yemeği için teşekkür ederim!!...