A meyhane (from Persian: میخانه translit. meykhaneh) is a traditional restaurant or bar in Turkey, Balkans, Azerbaijan and Iran. It serves alcoholic beverages like wine, rakı, vodka, or beer, with meze and traditional foods.

People dancing in a Bulgarian mehana

Etymology edit

"Meyhane" means "wine house" and is composed of two Persian words: mey (wine) and khāneh (house).[1]

The word entered the Serbian and Bulgarian languages as mehana (механа) and in Macedonian as meana (меана). In Bosnian language the word "mejhana" is used. In Serbia, the word mehana is considered archaic, while in Bulgaria it refers to a restaurant with traditional food, decoration and music.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ Meyhane, Etymological dictionary of modern Turkish