Where to Eat & Shop for Food

On campus

Aside from Main Cafeteria, which is an integral part of campus life at the Institute, every faculty and the Administration Building has its own café serving fast food, substantial sandwiches, snacks, and refreshments. Main Cafeteria also houses the Faculty Club. Located on the third floor of the building, Faculty Club is currently reserved for lucnheon meetings and formal occasions.

Main Cafeteria serves regular balanced meals to students, faculty, and staff as well as diet courses at exceedingly reasonable price. The current price per lunch for students and staff is well under 1 €. At higher than student and staff rates but still a little under 1 € per meal for assistant professors and a trifle above 1 € for associate and full professors, faculty pay a little more.

There is no extra charge for the dietic menu. Lunch Cards, which are the only means of payment at Main Cafeteria, may be purchased from the secretariat of academic departments and the offices of The Division of Health, Culture, and Sports located in the Administration Building.

International students and scholars with special dietery requirements contact Ayla Yemenicioğlu at the Office of International Relations.

The monthly menu is sent electronically to all subscribers to an @iyte.edu.tr e-mail box address.

For cooking facilities in campus faculty residences and student residences, see the relevant sections above.

Off campus

Food and varieties of cooking in the Izmir area are a rich subject that can easily lead one into the history of this region that has known so many cultures, religions, languages, traditions—including culinary ones—in addition to posessing agriculturally perhaps the most fertile soil yielding richest variety of produce this side of the Mediterranean. Suffice it to say, there are very numerous places to eat well at small expense. Particularly the Çeşme Peninsula , on the other hand, offers opportunity for lavish spending—on food and other spheres of indulgence. The restaurant and eatery row stretches along the coast from the village of Gülbahçe through the towns of Urla-İskele and Urla into and through the city of Izmir and beyond. Driving along the coast in the other direction from Gülbahçe, toward Karaburun, the village of Mordoğan offers numerous scenic food places for every budget. Taking campus exit along the “old çeşme road” (as opposed to the Izmir-Çeşme motorway), the scenic road is again studded with restaurants.

Aside from the classics of Turkish cuisine, the Izmir area is known for two kinds of food: sea food and greens, some of both of which are found nowhere else in the world. At Gülbahçe, the resort-cum-fishing-&-gardening village which lies virtually on campus, there is plenty of both.

Below is a compilation of village eateries that are open throughout the year (as opposed to those catering to vacation home owners during the summer months of May-October). One may leave any of the following addresses feeling rather satiated at 2-3 € per meal. Village eateries open for lunch and close around 21:00 except in the summer months when they are open for as long as there are diners. Telephone numbers are indicated and most deliver to campus for free, but few of the village folk speak English.

Entering the village from university side, just after the Shell gas station on the right side of the road is Lokanta (which means ‘eatery’), a favourite at İYTE because it is close, offers clean, nourishing food, and the owner Hüdaverdi is very friendly. Lokanta serves homecooking. The daily menu features two or three different dishes that show small variation in the course of a week. Excellent standard salad, though little else is offered for the vegetarian palate. Telephone: (0232) 765 82 71.

Across the street is another favourite, Mavişim Pide, which serves lamb, chicken, meatballs grilled in earthenware pots and a variety of pide, including vegetarian kinds. The words pide and pizza derive etymologically from identical ancestry. Similarly, the foods they designate are variations on a Mediterranean theme. Telephone: (0232) 765 81 12.

Some five minutes’ walk further down the road, on the right, one arrives at Deniz Kebap & Pide serving a menu similar to that of Mavişim Pide. Telephone: (0232) 765 78 60.

Köfteci Salih is located at the village piazza. Salih is the first name of the owner while köfte means ‘meatball’ and köfteci designates a place where you can eat köfte. The fare is similar to that of the pide places listed above. What makes Salih special is that he is open late and will deliver to campus even in the small hours. This is where İYTE people who are studying or working late order in. Telephone: (0232) 765 81 35.

There are others closer to the coast line at the village, which the stroller will come across walking toward the sea from the village piazza.

Tepe Kahve is another favourite with İYTE. It lies in the other direction from campus than does the village Gülbahçe and is not within walking distance. The drive will take about ten minutes on the ‘old Çeşme road’. The owner’s first name is Çetin. The restaurant telephone number is his GSM: (0535) 310 30 95.

Naturally, the village has a couple of Turkish coffee houses. The language one overhears there that is not Turkish is Albanian, the homeland language which Gülbahçe villagers have kept alive through generations. Even though in traditional fashion the village coffee house is a gathering place for village men—a remnant of the ancient forum, as it were—the international student or scientist of either sex will not be breaking a rule of etiquette by simply strolling in and joining in a game of backgammon or chess.

For the nearest cafés and sea food restaurants on the sea, one goes to Urla-Iskele. See Transportation below on how to go to Urla-İskele from campus.

Where to shop for food & other items

Gülbahçe has two large grocery stores that carry fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the village, dairy, cold cuts, and dry foods. They also carry toiletries, cleaning materials and so forth, but the selection of brands will be limited: those who insist on their favourite shampoo brand will have to take the dolmuş to Urla. Both stores deliver to campus when staff is available. The code of hospitality will likely ensure that the international İYTE guest receive faster service than the local. Both are open until about midnight. They are open on weekends as well.

Gülbahçe Süpermarket is a short walk down the road from the above-described Lokanta and Mavişim Pide. It lies to the left of the road, on the same side as Mavişim Pide. Telephone: (0232) 765 79 45. A few steps down from Gülbahçe Supermarket is a store that carries hardware and building materials and fixtures.

Anar Market is further down the same road, to the left. Telephone: (0232) 765 70 37. Next to Anar Market is the village meat store. Across the street from it is one of the two bread bakeries of the village.

The store at the Shell gas station at village entrance opens at 07:30 and closes at midnight. During summer months, it is open until ca. 02:00. Telephone: (0232) 765 83 93.

The lively town of Urla has two large supermarkets, Tansaş and Pehlivanoğlu, and specialised food stores as well as shopping facilities for any other item one may need. See Transportation below on how to go to Urla from campus.