Galata Mediterranean Grill & Market — Restaurant in Temple Terrace

We were in the area to go to Lettuce Lake Park and looked for a lunch place. My daughter speaks Haitian Kreyol so we found a Haitian restaurant on Fletcher Ave., but it was closed due to Black Friday. The Turkish place was open so we went in there. It's a Turkish grocery store, on the right was a bunch of shelving loaded with food items - some easy to identify (spaghetti, canned vegetables) and some mysterious.

A TV on the wall played Turkish MTV.

On the left was a seating area for about a dozen people, and nearby was a large menu sign with numbered items. Below the menu sign were trays of all kinds of baklava.

I got a gyro plate and my daughter got a sort of pita wrap with bean spread on it, accompanied by vegetable to add before you rolled it up. The owner suggested some Turkish beverages which were delightful, and we finished the lunch with baklava. Mine was compose of ground pistachio nuts. There was a sort of cream frosting to put on top which he suggested. My daughter had some tea.

The owner also ate his lunch nearby. He and the cook were both Turkish as you might expect, but with excellent English. We had a pleasant conversation.

We enjoyed it so much we ate more than we planned (!) and it cost more (the various plates ranged from $9 to $13). But i recommend it. It's the kind of place I would consider bringing ten friends to hang out. (note: we didn't ask for alcohol but they don't seem to serve it)

The experience picqued my interest in Turkish cuisine and I thought the guy was very...

I went to this restaurant for the first time, when you arrive you are greeted by a young man who takes you to your table and will be your waiter but as soon as I sat down he deliberately left me waiting more than 20 minutes to take my order and there were only 3 tables occupied. He started talking to the kitchen staff and that waiter turned his back on me and didn't bother to serve me until he saw that I called him and asked him if I had to order there where they were cooking or if someone was going to take my order. That's when he told me I'm your waiter. He took the order and it took another 45 minutes, and he didn't bring me cutlery. I waited 15 minutes for him to bring them to me because I had to ask for them anyway. It was a complete disaster and simply because it was an act of racism from that young man towards me because the other people were eating and he would ask how they were and he ignored me. It's a lack of respect. Neither I nor my friends will ever go to sfui por primera vez a este restaurante, cuando llegas te recibe un joven el cual te lleva a tu mesa y será tu mesero pero en cuanto te siento me senté el deliberadamente me dejo esperando más de 20 minutos para tomar mi orden y estaban con solo 3 mesas ocupadas se puso a platicar con el personal de la cocina y ese mesero volteaba haberme y no se preocupo por atenderme hasta que vio que yo lo llame y le dije que si tenia que ordenar ahí d9nde estaban cocinando o que si alguien me iba a tomar la orden fue cuando me dijo yo soy tu mesero tomo la orden y tardo 45 minutos más, y no me llevo cubiertos, espere 15 minutos en que me los llevará porque igual tuve que pedirlos, fue un completo desastre y simplemente porque fue un acto de racismo de se joven hacia mi porque las de mas personas estaba comiendo y el iba a preguntar como estaban y a mi me ignoraba, es una falta de respeto jamás ni yo ni mis amistades se irán aparar ahí, Bu restorana ilk defa gittim, geldiğinizde sizi masanıza götürecek ve garsonunuz olacak genç bir adam tarafından karşılanacaksınız ama sizi oturttuğum anda beni kasıtlı olarak 20 dakikadan fazla bekletti. siparişim ve sadece 3 dolu masa vardı, mutfak personeliyle konuşmaya başladı ve o garson dikkatini bana çevirdi ve onu aradığımı ve oradan sipariş vermem gerekip gerekmediğini söyleyene kadar bana hizmet etme zahmetine girmedi. nerede yemek pişiriyorlardı ya da biri beni mi götürecekti Emir bana, ben senin garsonunum, siparişi alıyorum ve 45 dakika daha sürdü, çatal bıçak getirmedim, 15 dakika bekledim dediğinde oldu. onu bana getirmesi çünkü hâlâ istemem gerekiyordu, bu tam bir felaketti ve bu genç bir adamın bana karşı yaptığı bir ırkçılık eylemiydi çünkü başka insanlar yemek yiyordu ve o da onların nasıl olduğunu soracaktı ve beni görmezden geldi, bu saygısızlıktır, ne ben ne de arkadaşlarım oraya...

This family owned Turkish market/restaurant is quaint! The staff is so welcoming, helpful and kind. The place was so clean, cozy and the groceries were very well organized. They welcomed us with their Turkish tea in their traditional tiny tea glasses, they were so cute :) Kubilay the chef and the ladies were so ready to answer our questions about different foods they have :) We tried their Turkish lahmacun, chicken and lamb sish kebab, and beef with cheese pide (which is our favorite!). Their yogurt sauce (their best appetizer), salads and rice were so good. The food they served was freshly cooked. We would definitely visit them again on our next trip to Florida. Before we left we bought rose and fig jams, hazelnut paste and Turkish style pickles. Guys, this is the one of the top ten places to go, experience Turkish food in Tampa. Thank you for everything! (SENOCAX) HOWDY...