How do meal times change in Ramadan?
Short answer
In Ramadan most restaurants stay open all day; what changes is the evening. At sunset comes iftar, and for that half hour everywhere is full. To find a table at iftar you need a reservation or an early arrival; after iftar the tables are laid a second time.
For those not fasting, Ramadan does not change the flow of the day: breakfast houses, tradesmen's restaurants and cafés work as usual. In big cities lunch is like any other day's.
The evening is different. The hour of iftar is known to the minute, and at that moment every table sits down at once; the minutes just before are the busiest and just after the quietest. Restaurants usually offer a fixed-price iftar menu.
Sahur is the meal before dawn; in some neighbourhoods places serving it stay open. There are also records belonging to this month: pide, güllaç and dates are the three things most looked for.
Related records
These are also easy to miss
Updated: 2026-10-06 · The guide offers technical and cultural information, not health advice.