Meyhane

A meyhane is a traditional restaurant or bar in historical Iran, Turkey and Balkans region. It serves alcoholic beverages (wine, rakia, vodka, beer) with meze and traditional foods. "Meyhane" is composed of two Persian words: mey (wine) and hane (house). The word entered the Serbian and Bulgarian languages as mehana (механа, plural механе, in Bulgarian механи) and in Macedonian is meana (меана, plural меани). In Bosnian language the word "mejhana" is used. A meyhane used to serve mainly wine alongside meze until the late 19th century when rakia established itself as the quasi-official national drink of Bulgaria. In Serbia, the word mehana has mostly fallen out of use, while in Bulgaria it refers to a restaurant with traditional food, decoration and music.