Divan has opened at 1788 Fourth St., in the former Pollara Pizzeria space on Delaware Street, behind Peet's and past the Vino! wine shop. The restaurant began serving lunch in late June and added dinner service in August, bringing Turkish dishes including pide, mezze and kebabs to Berkeley's Fourth Street corridor.
Before Divan
The previous business identified at the address is Pollara Pizzeria. SFGATE reported that Pollara first opened in 2019 and announced June 25 as its final day.
In its report on Divan, The Oaklandside said co-owner Serkan Sozer describes the restaurant's approach as Turkish cooking with a California influence. Sozer also co-owns Taksim, a high-end Turkish restaurant in San Francisco's SoMa district. His former Taksim manager, Serhat Şahin, joined Divan as a co-owner.
Chef Cüneyt Karaçam leads the kitchen. Before coming to California, he spent six years cooking in luxury hotels in Dubai and London, then worked as sous chef at Meyhouse, a Turkish restaurant in Palo Alto. Labneh, a strained yogurt thicker than the Greek variety, appears in several dishes. In the same Oaklandside account, Sozer described labneh and yogurt as staples of Turkish home cooking.
Pide, Kebabs and a Breakfast Built for Two
The restaurant serves four types of pide, the canoe-shaped flatbread often nicknamed Turkish pizza, alongside sesame bread baked fresh daily. Shish kebabs come in beef, chicken and vegetable-only versions at lunch, while dinner narrows the kebab offerings to vegetable-only. Divan's menu, viewable on the Divan Berkeley website, also lists slow-cooked lamb riblets with basil pesto and sumac onion.
Other mains include Mediterranean branzino and lamb chops finished with pistachio chimichurri, giving a Turkish spin to a dish more commonly associated with Argentine cooking. For dessert, the menu offers sutlac — traditional Turkish rice pudding baked to a caramelized finish — along with baklava, poached pears and kunefe.
Divan's breakfast menu has drawn its own attention. An East Bay Times report from August listed a Turkish breakfast for two at $44, with a $4 charge to upgrade the eggs. Behind the bar, Can Tura, who also works at Saltyard in Burlingame, created all of Divan's cocktails.
A Name Rooted in Ottoman History
The restaurant's name carries its own layered meaning. Divan refers both to the Ottoman imperial council and to a low cushioned bench once found in the main room of a traditional home, according to the Oaklandside report.
The food has received mixed reviews. An East Bay Express review criticized the falafel for being dry and the wrap as unremarkable, but favored the lahana sarma. The reviewer found Divan's stuffed cabbage less appealing than Esnaf's version.
Hours Still Settling In
Published hours for Divan have shifted since its opening and vary by source. A June preview from Berkeley Eats listed initial lunch hours of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday, while the August East Bay Times report listed lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekends, with dinner running 5 to 8:45 p.m. daily. A more recent listing in the Oaklandside report gives lunch as 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekends. Given the discrepancies across listings, diners may want to confirm current hours directly with the restaurant before visiting.
