Homemade in the Midway
By: Kelsey Kern
Date: 12-05-2021
The Black Sea was the first Turkish restaurant in Minnesota. The owners are Cigdem and Tolga Ata. They opened their first location in the Midway in 2000 and then opened another location in White Bear Lake in 2013.
Cigdem Ata said, “Before we opened our first location, there was no Turkish restaurant in Minnesota, so our family wanted to introduce Turkish food to Minnesotans.” They saw Saint Paul as a great spot to start their first restaurant as Hamline University is only a two-minute walk from their location.“College students are usually more open to other cultures and their food. And when we opened our second store in White Bear Lake there was still the same idea: introducing Turkish-Mediterranean food to that area. Now both locations have a lot of regular customers plus new people are finding us every day,” said Ata.
When asked what their greatest pleasure of owning a business is, Ata shared how much they enjoy talking about their culture and the stories behind their dishes.
“We can meet with a lot of people at our restaurants, and we have a chance to talk about our Turkish culture and cuisine with our customers who want to learn more about Turkey. Sharing our culture and food makes us happy and we can do this at work!”
Being the only Turkish restaurant that offers Turkish, Mediterranean, and Greek style food helps Black Sea standout and keeps locals coming back. However, COVID-19 has had a large impact on many local businesses in the Midway, and the Atas ran into the same challenges that other restaurants are running into: shortages and rising costs.
“Lately the biggest challenge for us was the Pandemic, of course, and nowadays, shortage in supplies and increasing costs concern us. We don’t want to increase our prices, but these days are hard for small businesses,” said Ata.
Luckily, Black Sea has lots of community support and the Atas are very appreciative of their customers. Plus, most of their dishes are homemade and made from scratch!
“Our favorite dish is the “Black Sea Combination”, which is also one of the most popular dishes. You can try three different kinds of meat with this meal, and it is very fulfilling,” shared Ata.