Italian Restaurant in Side — Wood-Fired Pizza & Fresh Pasta at Hawaii

When you type "Italian restaurant in Side" into your phone, you're usually not after one specific dish — you want a proper Italian-leaning dinner where the table can share a pizza, twirl a plate of pasta, and open a decent bottle of wine without hopping between three different places. That's exactly the corner Hawaii Restaurant & Bar has held down in the heart of Side's old town since 2000. We're not a pizzeria that grudgingly keeps spaghetti on the menu, and we're not a pasta house that microwaves a frozen pizza. Both sections are cooked properly, and both come out of the same kitchen that runs a genuine wood fire and charcoal grill every single day.

What makes it feel Italian at Hawaii

The pizza is the anchor. Ours is thin-crust, Italian style, 33cm, baked over real wood fire rather than a conveyor oven — so you get that blistered, slightly smoky edge and a base that stays crisp instead of going floppy in the middle. There are fifteen to choose from, ranging from a clean Margherita and earthy Funghi to the loaded Carpricciosa, the spicy Vesuvio, a folded Calzone, and a seafood Frutti de Mare for anyone who wants the coast on their crust. If pizza is the whole reason you came, our best pizza in Side rundown and the deep dive on thin-crust 33cm pizza walk through every option.

Then there's the pasta line, and this is where a lot of "Italian" spots in a beach town quietly fall apart. We keep it honest and classic: Spaghetti Napolitan, Spaghetti Carbonara, Spaghetti Bolognese, Fettuccine Alfredo, and Fettuccine Pesto. Five plates, each done the way it's supposed to be done — the Carbonara rich and savoury, the Bolognese slow and meaty, the Alfredo creamy, the Pesto bright and herby. It's a tight list on purpose, because we'd rather cook a handful of pastas well than pad the menu with a dozen we don't stand behind. There's a full breakdown in our guide to the best pasta in Side.

A quick honesty note on the "Italian classics"

Search "Italian food" and you'll picture lasagna, ravioli, risotto, gnocchi, maybe a tiramisu to finish. Here's the straight answer: we don't make those. Our Italian side is built around the wood-fired pizza and the five fresh pastas above — that's what we cook, and we'd rather tell you plainly than let you order something we can't serve. If you had your heart set on ravioli tonight, no hard feelings. But if you're happy with a properly blistered pizza and a real Carbonara, you'll eat very well. Always check the live menu or ask your waiter for exactly what's on today.

Building the full Italian-style dinner

An Italian evening is about the sequence, not just the main. Start with garlic bread, crisp calamari, or our oven-baked white cheese in foil — all of which sit naturally alongside pizza and pasta. Our starters and meze guide has more if you want to graze before the mains land.

For the table, a shared 33cm pizza plus a couple of pastas is the sweet spot — nobody's committed to one thing, and everyone gets a taste. To drink, we pour a proper Turkish wine list: reds like Idol Cabernet Merlot and Kavaklıdere Yakut hold up beautifully against a Bolognese or a smoky pizza. If you're new to it, our Turkish wine guide makes picking a bottle painless. We won't quote prices here — they change, so check the live menu or ask, and we'll steer you honestly.

Why families and groups land on us

Pizza-and-pasta night is the great peacemaker when you've got fussy kids and one steak-obsessed uncle at the table. Little ones get their own kids' pizza and simple plates, the pasta crowd is happy, and anyone who suddenly wants a grill has the whole wood-fired kitchen behind them. It's why we come up so often for a family pizza night in Side. We also handle group dinners and birthdays — tell us the headcount and the occasion when you book.

Getting to us

We're on 512. Sk. in the middle of Side old town, open every day from 10:00 to 02:00, year-round. There's free round-trip pickup from selected hotels, and an affordable two-way transfer for hotels a little farther out — details on our free hotel pickup page. Prefer to eat in? Reserve a table through our reservation page or message us on WhatsApp at +90 533 930 12 83 and we'll save you a good spot. Come hungry — the wood fire's already going.