Winter Park Turkish restaurant coming to St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 24, 2024

A Turkish restaurant with locations throughout Central Florida will open in St. Petersburg’s Edge district.

Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine has signed a lease for 5,000 square feet in Edge Collective, a mixed-use development from Fort Lauderdale-based PTM Partners and DoveHill Capital Management. The Turkish restaurant will open at 1246 Central Ave., with an outdoor dining garden between its building and the Moxy by Marriott hotel.

Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine has four locations across Central Florida, including along Winter Park’s iconic Park Avenue.

“Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine is a seasoned, well-established operator in Florida that aligns well with our food and beverage tenant strategy,” Shari Neissani, vice president of development for PTM Partners, said in a statement. “This new St. Petersburg flagship location will not only be a great addition to the restaurant group’s portfolio but also an amazing addition to the Edge Collective mixed-use development in downtown St. Petersburg.”

The three-story building is part of the adaptive reuse project from PTM Partners that is currently being renovated to include “modern infrastructure and technology.” It is directly adjacent to the 163-key Moxy hotel, which is set to open in June.

Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine was founded in 2005 and has locations in Winter Park, Orlando and Lake Nona. Its menu features a variety of hand-carved Halal meats, salads, made-to-order breads and pides.

“We are excited to bring our signature Turkish cuisine to the St. Pete dining scene,” Doved Sexter of Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine said in a release. “The Edge district’s vibrancy and sense of community is the perfect place to welcome our second Gulf Coast location.”