Bismillah Cafe — Restaurant in Chamblee

Ok, if your looking for good Indian food here you go... overall very tasty and cooked fresh Bangladeshi Desi style food. What i wouldn't order here the kebob, which looks More like a salmon cake and deep fried making it pretty darn dry...so while it was well seasoned the dryness is offputting.the Samosas are wrapped in phyllo dough and if you know samosa- phyllo doesn't cut it although they aren't bad just not as good as their more expensive counterparts found in other Indian restaurants in the area. The Halim, the tandoori, the biryani all tasty the raita style sauce and the hot sauce both freshly prepared and delicious They also have mango lassi and ginger drinks...plastic jug no label prepared in house. Very 'colloquial feel as I had to stop placing my order to ask the guy why he was taking shots of hot sauce and with water eyes he just smirked and beat his chest, lol...amusing and personal, not professional HOWEVER I suppose if you were looking for an upscale place this one wouldn't even come up on the radar which is why I only gave 4 stars. The place itself is a hole in the wall and looks like a dump. Inside there are 2 stools at the order counter, one booth and a side table...we sat at the booth to look at the menus (the workers are very hospitable asked a man to get up so my daughters and I could sit) after we ordered (takes about 15 minutes) we went and sat in my vehicle bc it was getting BUSY and there is no place to move literally when more than 4 people come in the door . They do deliver I see, so if you live around skip the restaurant and get it brought to you so you can imagine that the delicious food comes from somewhere there actually has banquettes that aren't peeled, cracking and wobbly...will I drive a half An hour in traffic from stone mountain to visit this place again, yes I will and if you're in the area skip halal guys and go up the street to Bismillah. You'll forget How the Place looks once you taste the food...They don't...

Bismillah Café is my single favorite restaurant in Atlanta. Why, then you might wonder, am I only giving it four stars?

Let's start with the good: the Chicken Shawarma Biryani here is the best biryani I've had in my entire life. That's saying a lot mind you, because I grew up eating biryani, and it's easily one of my favorite foods. The samosas here are also exquisite, and are easily the best I've had in Atlanta. The food here is comfort food at its finest - there's a ton of stuff on the menu, and most of it is excellent (skip the curry dishes though), and affordably priced. You get a ton of food every time, and can easily make a dish stretch multiple meals if you manage your portions well enough. Food wise, this restaurant is easily a five-star establishment.

The reason I'm deducting a star is that eating here can be unsafe. I've been food poisoned here on three separate occasions (to their credit, they've probably improved, and I haven't been food poisoned in the last six months!), which is unsurprising, because the restaurant itself isn't particularly clean. The outside and insides of the place are pretty dingy, on a bad day, the smell of trash and who-knows-what-else drifts in through the doors, negatively impacting your food experience.

Additionally, the restaurant is pretty small. There are only two booths inside the restaurant (along with a two or three stools), so you'll either have to take food outside or befriend strangers more often than not. Also, don't expect to be able to customize ingredients in your meal, as your directions are often going to go ignored.

If you're willing to overlook all this though, Bismillah Café truly is one of Atlanta's hidden food gems. The fact that I return week after week despite knowing everything I just cautioned you against is testament to its quality.

(...Or maybe to my bad judgement, but let's...

I decided that on Friday I wanted Indian food so I began my Yelp search and came across this gem. When I arrived I was worried I was in the wrong place, but one look at the sign I knew I was in the right place. This is what you would call a hole in the wall. It's not a big establishment with a pretty time kitchen, inside seating for maybe about 10 people and a few tables outside. There were 3-4 employees and I was surprised how they were able to maneuver in that space. There is a sign saying they would be moving soon, which I assume is going to have more space. I ordered the vegetable biryani and a few vegetable samosas to go. The samosas are located in a display glass so he just grabbed 2 from there. I was able to watch them cook the biryani and the guy asked if I wanted it spicy which I agreed, but when they were putting that spice in it got in my nose and I had to back away from the cooking a little. But it took maybe 10 or so minutes for me to get my food.They were pretty busy too with a few of us in there and there also being quite a few to go orders. The biryani was flavorful and definitely had a kick that I didn't mind. I was also given their homemade dairy based sauce which was a nice addition to help counteract the spice. I was slightly disappointed with the samosas because they weren't hot nor fresh, but they were still...