Kızılkayalar Hamburger

I was skeptical. Steamed/​soggy burger?! It’s weirdly delicious. And cheap. Grab one before you stroll down istiklal

Die berühmten türkischen nassen Hamburger zum staunen. Sehr kleiner Laden mit einer unglaublichen Kundenfrequenz, da ist nichts mit chillen beim Essen. Reingehen, Fressen und raus.
Trotzdem ganz nett nach einer durchzechten Nacht und typisch für Istanbul. Unbedingt mit der Limonade oder Ayran bestellen, mindestens 2 – 3 Hamburger braucht es zum Satt werden.

My husband and I tried their chicken shawarma sandwich and it tasted absolutely amazing. The chicken was nice and tender, not dry as the other places we’ve tried. We had it inside a pita bread, which was even better than a regular wrap, in my opinion.
It was only 5TL compared to other prices out there, this is a steal for a great tasting sandwich!
Back in the states and craving one of these right about now !

I happend to see Kızılkayalar Hamburger mentioned in an AFAR magazine article I was reading about Istanbul’s street food scene. For some reason, the sound of a «wet burger» appealed to me. I disagree with the other reviews that the burgers are more similar to pulled pork. I don’t see the similarity at all. It’s just a burger with tomato sauce — more like a meatball sub. It wasn’t mindblowing, but I think it’s a good cheap option, especially for 3 liras a pop. I would say that it is comparable to the McDouble burger at McDonald’s, but I like the wet burger more!

As an American I was quite interested in these «wet» hamburgers. They are cheap and great for the price — 3TL for a hamburger and 4TL for a cheeseburger. The cheeseburger is worth the extra 1TL. Taste wise they are more like an American meatball sub.
The beef donnor was just ok. I’d give it 3.5 stars, would definitely come back again.

They look gross but they taste great.
It’s pretty simple. A burger with tomato sauce. Very inexpensive and just something you gotta try while taking a stroll down Istiklal street or just hanging around people watching at the square.
I have yet to try Bambi and compare but who cares? Enjoy your burgers

«Islak Hamburger», the most phenomenal burger I have ever eaten. When translated in english it literally means «wet burgers» sounds terrifying huh? But wait till you taste it. Its made in the steam box as i call it with ketchup and tomato sauce to make the burger bread wet, and the outcome is the best burger ever. I have eaten many burgers in all prices but this burger is even better than the most expensive burger i have eaten, and the price its not even «$ 1.50» literally its that cheap. In Istanbul, Turkey there are many place who does «wet burgers» but if you really want to taste the best one go with this name Kizilkayalar. It has two locations; first one is right on the entrance of Istiklal avenue, and the second one is located on Bagdat Avenue, these two places are located in safe and nice places of Istanbul, and also touristic places. So if you love your burger and consider yourself burger hero, I would say you are not one until you taste «wet burgers». But place does not have a place to sit, so this should not be a meal but a snack, grab n go style.
Bu zamana kadar yediğiniz pahalı burgerleri bir kenara bırakın, bu ıslak hamburgerlerin tadı apayrı ve inanılmaz derecede uygun fiyatla. ye kalk bir mekan dolayısıyla küçük ve önünde kuyruklar oluşabiliyor.yinede ayaküstü atıştırmak istiyorsanız daha güzelini ve uygununu bulamazsınız.hamburgerleri gibi döneri de çok iyi. not:sarımsak sevmeyenler burgerini tercih etmemeli.

Good and cheap. Don’t get the Doner it’s too expensive and the guys try to scam you on the higher priced one. Good location in the square.

Warning: For Americans, this is similar to a pulled pork sandwich, not a burger!
It’s tasty and inexpensive. It’s a fun thing to check out. burgers sweating in a box?!
I really enjoyed the taste of mine — rich in flavor — has a tangy tomato based sauce. Don’t expect a lot of meat.

A rival to Bambi Café, Kızılkayalar is rather assertive when it comes to good Islak (Wet) Hamburger and Kaşarlı Dürüm (Cheesy Wrap). It has the same concept as Bambi Café and Marmaris Büfe. A bit difficult to distinguish the tastes of the burgers since all three offers similar fast food with similar tastes. Nevertheless, the burgers and wraps are so delicious that you end up ordering three different things. The prices are very reasonable.

It’s a hamburger with spicy tomato sauce, similar to a sloppy joe in American culture. It’s not a sit down restaurant really, there is some counter space to eat quickly if you don’t want to take it with you. I recommend ordering more than one. I really liked them!

Awful stuff, okay hamburgers. No one will ever forgive their behavior during Gezi Protests.
Go to Bambi instead.

Okay, I know that the city is littered with shops selling «wet hamburgers» (or properly known as an islak burger), and yes, I’ll confess that I hiked all the way up to Kizilkayalar simply because I saw them on one of Bourdain’s shows. But hey, it was a tasty burger. 2.50 lira for a visually unappealing and soggy-​looking hamburger, that actually has a surprisingly well-​seasoned beef patty within a tomato sauce (?)-laden set of buns.
Worth a try, but worth the trip specifically to this store with all the other options in the city? That question I’ll have to leave to others who have spent more than 4 days in the city to answer, but it was still a tasty treat nonetheless.

Its a squishy hamburger — so basically a perfect end to a night of partying! And its 2 TLS. So really you could enjoy 2 :) There are many of these wet burger spots right around Taksim, but really, go here.
Its delicious, don’t judge, don’t think about it… just order a few with friends and enjoy. Recommend.

Hoooooo boy. Although these little wet hamburgers are available everywhere, you are gonna regret it if you don’t get them from Kizilkayalar. The locals know best. Follow them to the glorious wet hamburger. You’ll see them sweating balls in a hot little plastic box by the front door. Point, pay, eat your heart out. The perfect on-​the-​go snack or drunk food.
PS. As a note, not all of my foreign friends have enjoyed these as much as I do. Some find them completely horrifying, largely due to the impossible-​to-​identify meat inside. They are a bit greasy and disgusting if over analyzed. If that kind of food bothers you, avoid trying wet hamburgers altogether.
Edit: I have to agree with Gokhan & Firat on this one. Unless they take back what they did during the protests, I degrade them to 1 star. This is a temporary rating, however. Please do not go there.

This place serves up some wet burgers, which is essentially a lamb slider dipped in spicy tomato sauce and left to steam for awhile. They are less than a dollar each and really some of the best drunk food I’ve ever had. Someone needs to bring these to the US pronto.

Gotta say these little burgers represent. Spicy, meaty, nicely dressed on a soft bun makes this a winning burger. Get two for 5TL and enjoy. Go further down the block to their «pide» place for some amazing thin calzone deliciousness.

Re-​edited after Gezi — This place sucks!

Word of advice: When in a foreign place, it’s a good idea to go to the places where it’s usually packed with people.
With that being said, I still ponder why it took me and my friend 3 days into being in Istanbul to try this place out!
It’s ²⁴⁄₇ and I think every part of the day, its packed!
When we finally decided to try this place out on our third day, and sure enough it was packed! After fighting through to get inside, we bought our items at the register. After you get your receipt, you take to the person that will get your item. Now this place is famous for their hamburgers, which I believe were 2.50 Liras. Unfortunately, I got the doner kebab because I was just craving one, and it was pretty good! My friend got the hamburger and said it was to die for! But no worries, he’s still alive :-)
If you live in Istanbul or are just visiting, go here, and eat the delicious food, you’ll thank yourself for doing it

When you walk by a place for a few days and there’s a line going out the door 24 hours a day you start to wonder what the deal is. Well, on our 3^rd day in Istanbul we decided we had to check it out after we ended up seeing Kizilkayalar pop up on the internet as a local hotspot in Istanbul (as if we couldn’t already tell for ourselves).
What this place is famous for is their special spicy hamburger. Think similar to a sloppy joe if you’re American, but not quite full sized. All the places around this place serve the same selection of kebabs and burgers but this place is THE one. After pushing through the line to get inside, which is so incredibly tiny (we’re talking maybe 4 seats and room for 4 other people standing) but you yell your order to the guy who takes your money and hands you a receipt. Then you start heading to the outside and on your way stop by the guy standing by a little grill, or outside if you wanted a kebab, and wait until they give you what you want.
We stood just outside the restaurant to eat our food. While my friend got the kebab, which wasn’t anything extremely special… and is a little on the costly side for what it was, I got the burger and wow. It was exactly what I’d been wanting even though I didn’t know it. Be careful because it can be a little messy. I was sober when I had it and loved it, so I can only guess how much I’d be craving one after drinking. This place is even more insane between 12 – 2 am (it’s open ²⁴⁄₇ by the way).
Anyway, if you’re around and a little hungry don’t pass this place up because you don’t want to have a hamburger like you would at home because it’s a real local favorite, and after getting one you’ll feel like one. Enjoy!

I came here at least two to three times a week whilst doing a student exchange program in Istanbul. The gentleman at the doner station is so nice! I always asked for a kasarli et durum and asked him to pack in the extras to make it nice and fat! The guy operating the juice stand next door would give us freshly squeezed orange juice while we waited.
I tell ya, NOTHING beats standing around in your stillettos, freezing your butt off at 4 AM after a night of dancing, with freshly squeezed orange juice in one hand, and a juicy, fat kizilkayalar doner in the other!