Great spot for authentic Turkish food! The dishes are fresh, flavorful, and everything taste…read morehomemade in well seasoned. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the staff are super attentive and friendly. It's just the perfect place for a delicious and comforting Turkish meal. I absolutely will be coming back to dine at this wonderful establishment. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this restaurant is reasonably priced and definitely a bang for your buck! So definitely check out Istanbul Cafe and restaurant. Because you won't be disappointed. I hope you enjoy!

Good ambience, great staff. The food was ok ish. It used to be much better a couple of years ago…read more We got the chicken adana and suc kavurma. Both were average

I am not an expert of Turkish food, but I am very familiar with cheese pide (think Turkish pizza)…read more My family are allium-free vegetarians and the cheese pide fits the bill. We moved and it was finally time to try to find our new go-to place for our pide fix and out of the 10+ restaurants in the area that also serve pide... I chose this one. This place is conveniently located on a very central and busy street. It's mostly street parking (good luck) though they do have 2 dedicated spaces in front if you're lucky. It's a cozy place with maybe 4 tables when you walk in - all were full when we got there around 1 pm on a Monday that happened to be a federal holiday - and we were told that there were more seats around the corner. They built an addition - you will be briefly exposed to the outdoors for a few steps - and it's so much more roomier and brighter with more (and larger) tables. It's climate controlled as well. There was only one man manning the front and everyone else is in the kitchen so expect some wait if it's busy and especially if you're in the separate room, but it honestly wasn't that bad for us. We were all given menus (the two adults AND my two young kids) and given sufficient time to peruse. The menu is fairly simple: they specialize in pide and lahmacun. There's a small salad section and beverages but no dessert. Their pide is different from what I'm used to; they have a super long version that is at least 2 feet long (don't quote that; I didn't bring my tape measure) and a round one that is likely around 12 inches in diameter. I focused on the cheese pide section and the drinks and ordered: Kaşarli Pide (mozzarella pide) - this was for my daughter. It is LONG. I'd venture to say it could even be 2-1/2 feet long as the ends were longer than the board it was on. The dough for this is stretched thin so it comes out almost like boat shaped flatbread with an equally thin, but adequate layer of cheese. It's crisp with a chew and is positively delightful. It says mozzarella, but the cheese used in pide always seems to be more and wonderfully three dimensional. Yuvarlak Kaşarli Yumurtali Pide (2 egg and cheese round pide) - I actually wanted the cheese with tomato long pide but I was also intrigued by a circular one so he added in some sliced tomatoes in this as well! We weren't sure how to eat it as the eggs were still mostly raw but we ended up breaking it up and spreading it everywhere and just cutting it like a pizza. It was AMAZING. The dough on this is thicker than the long pide but not very thick either. Not as crispy but does have crispy edges. The combination I got from this was perfection. I can't pinpoint it but it's definitely juicier - whether that be grease, tomato juices, the egg, or all the above - and that made it nice. Very nice. Ayran - we always order ayran when we get pide. This place doesn't make their own, sadly, but it was nice. It's essentially a salty yogurt drink and still hit the spot. Şalgam (fermented turnip juice) - this is completely new to us. I got this because I noticed that almost every Turkish restaurant in the area also offered this as a beverage and adventurous me got curious. They don't make their own so it's bottled and they only have the spicy version (which is the default). This thing is STRONG. It's got an earthy taste to it like beets (but it's mostly made of purple carrots for color and turnips) but it packs a punch like pickle juice and V8. Salty, spicy, earthy, intense... deep flavors. And I LOVED it at first sip. I chugged the first third. It actually reset my stomach enough that I ate more pide, haha. BUT definitely an acquired taste. My husband thought it was okay and let me have most of it. This drink surprisingly contains wheat, so avoid if there's an allergy. Note: my youngest child has multiple food allergies including to wheat and eggs. They don't have a gluten free alternative, unfortunately. There's a sign saying no outside food allowed, but we brought him his pizza and he was perfectly content with that. We never managed to ask the man if it was okay since he was in and out fast, but he didn't question us when he caught a glimpse of the Pyrex. The pide both came with their own pizza cutter wheel for convenience. They also typically come with pickles on the side but we opted out because their pickles contain garlic. I'm supposed to be trying other pide places to give everyone a fair chance, but I've fallen in love with this place. Even my husband who mostly eats to survive... well, he said it was good (which is huge compared to his usual "it's okay"s). They have good service, the pides are stupendous, it's clean (antibacterial wet wipes at every table), single restroom is tidy, and they introduced me to şalgam. I'm thrilled Pide 28 was my first foray into Turkish food in NJ and am looking forward to trying all the cheese pides on their menu in due time.

Great pides We went two times past month and tried almost half of the menu Love the crunchy crust…read moreand fresh ingredients Staff was quick and nice

Very good food and very nice staff. The restaurant is nice and clean. Our whole family, which was…read morequite a large party, was accommodated perfectly and of course the chai is very good.

Adorable bakery with a great seating section. A vast assortment of sweet and savory items prepared…read moreby what looks like Turkish grandmas in the bakery section (I don't think it could get much more authentic). Beautifully decorated with natural elements and subtle elegant nods to its culture. Great prices and flavors on our savory items. I saw many beautiful desserts in the case but was short on time. I def intend to visit again to try more options.

Turkish food like Mom's! Well, if your mom is Turkish! This is not the watered down food of…read more'American Turkish". Today I had fresh green beans in a light broth of olive oil and fresh tomato, most often served room temperature and the lovely 'pilaf', short grained rice browned in butter with just a bit of pasta. I also had a stewed beef dish that was tender and flavorful! The meal begins with a serving of homemade pickled veggies, unfortunately I couldn't taste it today, but it looked fresh and crisp and refreshing on this 95 degree day. Pictured is stuffed eggplant with Sukran, the lovely chef who makes everything fresh from scratch. On the menu today was also stuffed peppers. These are traditional dishes served in most Turkish homes. Even in Turkey, it is difficult to find these wonderful dishes in restaurants. Don't miss out on the strong, black tea!

The best Turkish pie/pizza I have had. The host family is very gracious. Even though English was…read morea bit challenging as a form of communication, we managed just fine. I guess it speaks to the authenticity of the cuisine and experience of dining at a small Turkish family restaurant. Highly recommend!

Was in Paterson and passed by this restaurant . I love Turkish pides and thought of picking up one…read more. The store seems small from outside but has decent space. .. good service. Nice and quick food. Liked the taste of the food. Was a bit expensive though. Parking is crazy in Main Street . Overall a good experience though ..

We tried both the lahmacun (Turkish meat pizza) and the mixed pide ,and both were really good…read more Prices were reasonable as well. Would recommend

Come here right now best Doner ever. Still want more and more. And the service is amazing here too…read more It was happy hour so it was a full house but they gave us a spot as fast as possible. Thank you our fellow Turkish people. Also the place was clean and had fire to warm us up. Thanks again for the food and kindness. Very much recommend this place if you love Turkish food.

The service here is amazing! We were well attended to and found they were really generous with the…read morebread. I had the 3 dip appetizer, iskender, and baklava. Overall a great dinner.

This spot was a random hole in the wall spot, that was such a delightful surprise. The staff was so…read moreaccommodating to my non-Turkish palate, and even surprised us with complimentary dessert at the end. Overall, my Turkish boyfriend said it was "one of the closest to home." He thought exceptionally higher of cig kofte and the bread / salad/ sides served on the side of all entrees.

It was a random choice but we absolutely loved Halva! Food was delicious and service was great as…read morewell. Ambiance is not fancy and space is a bit tight but food is made directly in front of your eyes and brought in fresh and hot. We had hummus for appetizer and it was very good and creamy. For entree we had liver shish kebab, one of the best ever. We wrapped up our meal with Turkish tea and cheese kunafa, made to order in advance so be ready to wait 15 min but it absolutely worth it, it was delicious! Definitely recommend Halva.