A meyhane (from Persian: میخانه translit. meykhaneh) is a traditional restaurant or bar in Turkey, Balkans, Azerbaijan and Iran. It serves alcoholic beverages like wine, rakı, vodka, or beer, with meze and traditional foods.

Etymology

Meyhane means "wine house" and is composed of two Persian words: mey (wine) and khāneh (house). The word entered the Serbian and Bulgarian languages as mehana (механа) and in Macedonian as meana (меана). In Bosnian language the word mejhana is used. In Serbia, the word mehana is considered archaic, while in Bulgaria it refers to a restaurant with traditional food, decoration and music.

Ottoman Empire

Meyhane ( Lisān-ı Osmānī : meyhâne / ميخانه ) appeared during the time of the Ottoman Empire and rapidly increased in popularity, becoming an institution that housed all kinds of people from different segments of society. In the beginning of the 1800's meyhane in Istanbul numbered around 500. "Tatar boza, fermented with opium and containing a lot of alcohol, has been one of the most important drinks in the Ottoman Empire for centuries, and it was only at the end of the 18th century that non-alcoholic sweet boza became widespread instead of sour boza." During the reign of Selim the Grim alcohol consumption in the Ottoman Empire increased particularly and meyhane started to appear more regularly as separate buildings built from masonry, with arched windows and doors and earth floors.

Historical descriptions

Ottoman journalist Basiretçi Ali Efendi (1838–1912) has described the Golden Horn coast and especially the meyhane around Balat in the beginning of the 1800's. Author Sadri Sema (1880–1964) describes the pub culture in Istanbul in the beginning of the 1900's as follows:

Sources