Alania Mediterranean Grill quietly opened this month on Bryan Street in East Dallas, bringing a Turkish ocakbaşı charcoal grill and a mezze-heavy menu to the neighborhood. The family-run restaurant centers its service around skewers cooked over live coals at a counter where chefs work in full view. Inside, the dining room is warm and low-key, with leather seating imported from Turkey and landscape photos of Istanbul and the coastal city of Alanya lining the walls.
According to CultureMap Dallas, Alania is the latest project from Melike and Kenan Turan and their son Kaan Elagoz, who moved to Dallas in 2012. Kenan brings hospitality experience from restaurants and hotels in Istanbul, and the family previously operated Istanbul Palace in Richardson before it closed during the pandemic. For this new venture, they partnered with chef Tuna Patiroglu to build a menu rooted firmly in Turkish flavors.
The menu leans on shareable cold mezze like hummus, atom, and whipped feta, priced around $9, plus a $13 Triple Mezze sampler for anyone who cannot pick just one. Charcoal-grilled shish skewers and stone-oven pide fill out the rest of the offerings. Online listings via Toast show chicken shish at roughly $22, other skewers in the high $20s to $30 range, lamb chops in the mid $30s, and larger mixed-grill platters meant for groups. The same platform also handles pickup and delivery orders.
Ocakbaşı Up Front, Mezze All Around
The focal point of the room is the ocakbaşı counter, an open charcoal grill where the chef prepares meats in full view of guests, creating a lively, communal feel. Co-owner Melike designed the dining room with those Turkish leather banquettes and landscape photographs meant to evoke Alanya and Istanbul, and the space also includes an outdoor patio for when the weather cooperates. The restaurant has a bar that the owners say will serve alcoholic beverages once its license is approved, and the team told CultureMap Dallas they plan to extend service into late-morning hours.
The current schedule on Toast shows evening hours and offers options for pickup and delivery through the site, which is handy for nearby residents curious about the new menu. Set on a busy stretch of Bryan Street near other bars and eateries, Alania leans into shareable spreads and theatrical grilling, giving East Dallas another late-night and group-friendly spot built around big platters and charcoal smoke.
