Best Time to Eat in Side: Lunch, Dinner, Happy Hour & Late Night

Holidays in Side run on their own clock. Some mornings you're up early for the beach, some you surface at noon, and the best evenings drift on far longer than you planned. So "when should we eat?" is a fair question, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on the kind of day you're having. At Hawaii Restaurant & Bar, tucked into the heart of Side old town on 512. Sk., the doors are open daily from 10:00 until 02:00, all year round — which means we can fit around your plans instead of the other way round. Here's how the day actually unfolds, hour by hour, so you can time your table.

Late morning to lunch (from 10:00)

We open at 10:00, and the early part of the day is deliberately unhurried. If you slept in or want something proper before hitting the sand, there's a full English Breakfast to set you up. As the sun climbs, lunch leans lighter and quicker — this is when the salads earn their keep. A crisp Season's salad, a Greek salad, or the goat cheese salad with walnut and honey are exactly right when it's hot and you don't want to feel weighed down before the pool. Want more? A Margherita or Funghi off our thin-crust, 33cm Italian-style pizzas, or a plate of Spaghetti Napolitan, does the job without stealing your whole afternoon.

Midday is also the calmest, most relaxed stretch of the day to sit in the old town shade. If you're weighing a light lunch against a bigger meal later, our lunch in Side guide and salads in Side rundown walk through the easy-going options.

The golden hour: happy hour 19:00-20:00

If there's one time slot worth planning around, it's this. Every day between 19:00 and 20:00 we run Happy Hour on selected drinks — the natural moment to arrive, grab a table, and ease into the evening while the light softens over Side. Come for a Mojito, a Pina Colada, a Blue Hawaii or a cold Efes before dinner, then roll straight into your meal without moving a muscle. It's the single best-value window in the day and a genuinely lovely time to be sitting out. For the full drinks picture, see our happy hour in Side and best cocktail bar in Side pages.

To be straight with you: happy hour is the only fixed daily event we run. We don't publish a weekly BBQ or theme-night calendar, so you'll never turn up expecting one that isn't there.

Dinner (roughly 19:00 onwards)

Evening is when the kitchen really opens up. This is the time for the real wood fire and charcoal grill to do its thing — a Beef steak or T-bone, a plate of Lamb chops, the Mixed grills (for 2), or something built for sharing like the Hawaii Special (for 2). Prefer Turkish? The Testi kebab and Ottoman kebab are proper occasion food. There's a whole world of pizza, pasta, Mexican fajitas, curries and fresh seafood too, so mixed tables are easy to please. Dig into our wood fire and charcoal grill story or the best steak in Side guide to see what the grill's built for.

Families, take note: kids get their own menu and alcohol-free Spider Man, Barbie and Hawaii Cocktail mocktails, so the little ones are sorted while the adults settle in.

Late night (kitchen runs late, until 02:00)

This is where Side old town shows its best side. We're open until 02:00, and unlike a lot of places that quietly shut the kitchen early, ours keeps going — so a late steak off the charcoal grill or a proper meal after a long evening out is genuinely on the cards. There are the karaoke bar and live sport screens (football, F1, hockey in season) if you want to make a night of it, or just a nightcap cocktail and some Calamari to round things off. Curious? The late-night food in Side and karaoke night pages are your friends.

A note on timing your transfer

One practical tip: if you're coming in from your hotel, factor travel into your slot. We offer free round-trip pickup from selected hotels plus an affordable two-way transfer for places a little farther out. Because pickups need coordinating, the smart move is to book ahead — that way your table and your ride line up, whether you're aiming for the happy-hour window or a late dinner. Read more on our free hotel pickup page.

Whatever hour suits your day, we'll have a table ready. Reserve at /reservation/ or message us on WhatsApp at +90 533 930 12 83 — tell us your rough timing and any pickup needs, and we'll sort the rest. Side runs on its own clock; we just make sure there's always a good meal waiting on it.