Online Meyhane turns 5!
Five Years of Screens, Stories, and Shared Tables
Five years ago, in the stillness of pandemic-era April 2020, two old friends — Memet Ali Alabora and Tan Morgül — decided that if we couldn’t go to the meyhane, the meyhane should come to us.
And so, the Online Meyhane was born.
Built on the gather-in platform, it wasn’t just a response to lockdowns. It was a revival. Of conversation. Of rituals. Of a culture that doesn’t need a physical corner to exist — just a table, a glass, and someone to say “Şerefe” to.
Since that first night, the Online Meyhane has hosted thousands of guests from across the world. Rakı is poured, mezes are shared, and the kind of conversations that usually echo through narrow Istanbul streets unfold through speakers and screens.
Some arrive alone and leave with five new friends. Others come in groups, recreating the feeling of a favorite table back home. There’s music, laughter, the occasional tear — everything a real meyhane offers, minus the smoke and the check.
What makes it special is the experience — and the familiar faces that keep gathering around our virtual tables. The ones who know where to sit, who pour their rakı without asking, who’ve been showing up since the early days. The ones you look for on the screen and smile when they log in. And then there are the new ones — curious, a little shy, but always welcome. That’s the thing about this place: it may be digital, but the müdavim spirit is very, very real.
When it first began, we called it Meyhane Elsewhere — a tribute to the feeling of carrying Istanbul’s spirit wherever we were. But when our physical meyhane opened in London, the lines began to blur. So, with a little help from our regulars, we gave a name of its own: Online Meyhane. Simple, honest, and exactly what it is.
As we mark five years of this living, breathing, digital table, one thing remains clear: You can take the meyhane out of the city, but you can’t take the spirit of the city out of the meyhane.
Our tables are always open. The invite is still warm.
Have you booked your seat yet?
