İstanbul Grill & Cafe Istanbul — Restaurant in Wilkes-Barre

The food in this place used to be of higher quality, taste much better, and yet be affordable. However, they seem to have found a cheaper meat and vegetable source, and still jacked up prices more than 35% on some entrees after the COVID19 pandemic (although they received small business stimulus!). The chicken is not as juicy and soft and some of the greens are clearly canned vegetable. The head chef who used to prepare all meals is not there (probably busy with opening another place) and the food made by the new chef ends up being burnt many times. But the higher price or lower food quality are nothing compared to what I experienced during my last visit when we found a pretty decent size, and yet alive, insect (similar to earwig) just crawling out from a side salad! We had already finished the main course and felt terribly nauseous. Therefore, we notified our waitress and she took the dish away to the kitchen to show to the owner. Now it is 10 minutes we are waiting for an explanation and no one shows up as if nothing had happened. We ask one more time about the manager and she (who by the way is the owner too) finally shows up at our table suspiciously asking whether we took a picture of what we had found! We hadn't because we were so appalled and disgusted at the same time that taking a photo was the last thing would ever cross our mind. And here is the owner's exact response: "I cannot do anything because I didn't see that and you do not have any proof to show", and basically implying that we were liars while ignoring both of her employees who reported to her about our horrible experience. Long story short, she didn't offer any apology and just asked us to pay our check and leave! Side note: they still serve food in Chinese dishes and glass cups although it is recommended during the pandemic that businesses serve food in disposables. I also spotted the head chef in the kitchen working on our food while having no mask or hat. Hope this review forces them to take people's safety...

We really liked this place. It's small, so the atmosphere is nice and cozy. The waitresses were nice. I had to call ours over a couple of times for things and a bit of a language barrier with the other one. But both of them attended to us. They DON'T bother you every 5 minutes, like in some places. The food was good. A warm, puffy, crispy lavas (puff bread) was brought to the table and water. Chai tea was not strong, but good and warm. Apps: The Cigarette Borek (cheese roll) was warm, crispy, and tasty. The Dolma (stuffed grape leaves) was moist and yummy. Entrees: Chicken Adana ( seasoned ground chicken cooked on skewers and marinated in spices) comes with flavored rice, shredded onions, lettuce, a half roasted tomato, a marinated red colored shredded cabbage, and a tzatziki sauce. Same for the Chicken Mixed Grill with chicken made 3 ways, plus a spicy red sauce...all yummy! Dessert: (of course we had to have this!) Good Turkish coffee... Baklava...dripping with honey on the bottom 😊, didn't seem to have nuts in it. 😒 The owner had suggested Kazandibi (milk pudding with a cinnamon topping)...her favorite. It was wonderful! My bfs favorite thing now. They tried really hard to make us feel like they wanted us to come back. The female owner stopped over to our table and assisted with dessert choices. She answered any questions I had. She even brought something out of the kitchen to show me! We had a great...

I could not wait to get home to write my review. This place has a small town flow with a big city flavors. From the time you walk in, you are welcomed as a valued customer/guest. My first visit was wonderful. The servers (one being the co-owner) smiled warmly and helped to understand the dishes/menu to ur appetits desire. There's not a bad meal listed here. As a matter of fact, there's so much to choose from, without the servers help, I would have ordered several dishes. They have a platter that gives you several top ordered dishes for two with lots of meat (wish I had more salad added). My pallet sang like a well fed canary. Each dish had its signature assigned flavor. (The only dwn side was some of it was overcooked and dry.) The position was large. From the rice to the grilled tomatoes, makes this place a new hidden treasure in the down town Wilkes-Barre area. The pricing is fair, there's only on the street parking or a stroll away if you live locally. The F.M. Kirby is a short walk to this diamond of a find and Just a skip away to any even on public square. This husband and wife team brings a part of their culture to the valley with a heart. And a kindness to the people walking in. Don't forget to return the joy. BTW, they killed the BirthdaySong but they tried it with love. LOL thk you to the owners and staff. A kiss on the hand was a seal of approval. (Note: please...