Member Spotlight: Istanbul Grill
Member Spotlight: Istanbul Grill
Istanbul Grill
Address: 1206 Twin Stacks Drive, Dallas
Joined the Back Mountain Chamber: March 2020
Phone: 570-310-1242
Website: www.istanbulgrillpa.com
An interview with Elif Kacor, who owns and operates two Istanbul Grill locations with her husband Ennis.
Tell us about your business, your locations, your team and your customers:
We had been operating our restaurant in Wilkes-Barre since March 2018 and my husband and I decided it was time to open a second location. We wanted to find a larger restaurant space, and we came across the open location in Twin Stacks. It was a perfect opportunity to expand and serve a new customer base in the Back Mountain.
We worked hard to renovate and decorate the Dallas location and get our team ready to open. Unfortunately, we were only opened for one week before the state-ordered shut down of non-life sustaining businesses. We re-opened as soon as it was safe to do so and are thrilled to be back in business.
Running two restaurants certainly keeps us busy, and our staff is top notch. They are very customer-focused and want to make sure every experience is perfect. Ennis and I are very hands-on. We really enjoy the opportunity to visit with our customers and get to know them when they come in. We have a lot of regular customers and adding our Back Mountain location has been a great opportunity for us to meet so many new friends.
We are also always hiring for front of house staff (servers) and encourage anyone who is interested in applying to come and see us in person at either the Wilkes-Barre or Dallas location.
We love the outdoors and the people! Everyone is so friendly and welcoming, and we love our customers. Ennis and I have made great connections here.
Why did you choose to join the Back Mountain Chamber?
Chambers help businesses and owners to expand their network and market their businesses, and we love the support the Back Mountain Chamber has shown to us. They’ve helped us to promote our new location and even stopped in to work with us on our pandemic-related grant applications!
Share something interesting about your business that most people don’t know:
We take a lot of pride in how we source our ingredients so we can serve exceptionally fresh and high-quality meals.
Istanbul Grill is also a BYOB (bring your own bottle) restaurant, and we find that a lot of customers like being able to bring their own wine and spirits to enjoy. We do not charge a cork fee and have ice buckets here to keep wine chilled.
Both of our restaurants have outdoor dining space and some customers even tell us that they feel like they are on vacation when they dine outside with us! We have belly dancers and live music on the weekends — our Facebook page is a good place to find updates on what is happening each week or you can always call the restaurant to check.
At our Dallas location, we also have a large indoor party room that can seat 70 guests.
Learn more about Istanbul Grill and check out their menu online >> www.istanbulgrillpa.com
