Kafi BBQ — Restaurant in Irving

Absolutely blown away by our experience at Kaif BBQ in Dallas — this place isn’t just a meal, it’s a full-blown culinary event. From the moment we walked in, the vibe was warm and inviting, a perfect fusion of modern design and traditional smokehouse soul. But let’s get to the main reason you come here: the food.

We started with the Wagyu brisket, and right away, we knew we were in for something special. It was rich, buttery, and unbelievably tender — practically melted in our mouths with every bite. Then came the Wagyu back rib, a true showstopper: smoky, juicy, and fall-off-the-bone perfect, with a depth of flavor that only comes from expert slow smoking.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get better, out came the Wagyu pomegranate-glazed burnt ends. Sweet, tangy, sticky, and crisp on the edges — they struck that magical balance between indulgent and refined. The Wagyu Dino rib? Absolutely massive and perfectly executed. Smoky crust, juicy interior, and bursting with flavor. It’s the kind of dish you plan your whole trip around.

For sides, we had the smoked Gouda mac & cheese, which was next-level creamy with that perfect smoky twist, and Elote corn, which brought a fun, spicy-sweet contrast to the richness of the meats. Every bite felt intentional and elevated.

And just when we thought we couldn’t fit anything else, we were convinced to try the cardamom banana pudding — and thank God we did. It was fragrant, silky, and comforting, like your childhood favorite grew up, went to culinary school, and came back to impress the whole table.

To top it all off, Kaif BBQ also offers an amazing selection of Main Root drinks, which are organic, craft sodas with flavors that actually pair well with the smoky dishes. The Root Beer and Mexi-Cola in particular were standouts — refreshing, not overly sweet, and the perfect palate cleansers between bites.

All in all, Kaif BBQ isn’t just one of the best barbecue spots in Dallas — it’s one of the best we’ve ever been to. From premium cuts of Wagyu to bold, inventive sides and standout desserts, everything on the menu felt like it was crafted with love, technique, and true passion for the art of barbecue. Five stars doesn’t feel like enough. We’re already planning our next visit — and this time, we’re bringing more friends so we can try everything else...

Texas hospitality and flavor with an owner that treats this place like it’s his baby. This place beats Hutchins, Hard8s, Terry Blacks and it’s halal. This is all you need to know.

Owner/pitmaster personally came up to us to ask us how we enjoyed our food and even told us how he prepares everything in house. That they even started making their loafs of bread in house. That is something level of dedication, where they constantly want to improve their restaurant and give customers the best experience he possibly can.

You can tell he personally hand selected each employee and made sure they would perfectly reflect his values of service and hospitality while also all getting along. Thats pretty hard to do, but he also did it.

The food is amazing.

The best meat item to get is actually the Iraqi sausage, that is so good. The brisket is also amazing, they give you an option between lean and fatty brisket, personally the lean brisket is better. The Texas Twinkie tastes delicious, and they give you fat jalapeños not skinny ones. The beef empanada is delicious as well, it’s definitely something you need to get.

The sides are amazing. The best side is their cornbread, it’s got a little crunch on the outside but the inside is soft and buttery and it literally melts in your mouth. The fries cooked in beef tallow are some of the best fries I ever had. The Mac and cheese also great.

There is this green sauce they also give you, it’s got cilantro on it, that is some of the best cilantro based sauce I have ever had. Wish they gave you more than just a little cup of it.

We tried the banana pudding, it’s really good. Because it has cardamom, it does make it taste more like a kulfi or arroz con leche (for people who don’t know what kulfi is), even if I compare it to a kulfi it would be one of the best I ever had.

The most shocking thing, the lemonade soda that they have in the middle selection, I believe it’s called Rays lemonade, it doesn’t have the Main root logo on it, but that is literally the best lemonade soda I ever had. Only some freshly squeezed lemonade...

I came in the second day they opened. I'm always excited to try new food as a foodie. We got the brisket, beans, corn, cornbread and elote/corn. The staff were super kind and friendly. Even though you could tell they were under a lot of pressure because the line was out the door; they all still managed to smile and were kind when explaining things to us. (Please bare with me as I use the he word seasoning a lot because I'm not sure how else to explain the unique flavor)

Now for the important part:

Brisket was not dried or soaked in seasoning/sauce. There was a different kind of seasoning but it was bad at all! It didn't over whelm the brisket and the briskets were tender and not super fatty.

Sides: they were all still very "Texan" like. The Mac and cheese had a lot of cheesy flavor without being dry or an extensive about of cheese in it. It creamy and didn't feel like I had to struggle to eat it due to the excessive amount of cheese. Corn reminded me of elote. Some were calling it that as well. You could taste the lime and some seasoning. I don't know if cheese was in it but I didn't taste it or see it.(I know sometimes you can really notice it.) Cornbread was not dried at all. It was moist and you could taste/know it's still cornbread. There was jalapeños in the cornbread, not a lot but enough to give it a hint/kick of it. Sausage: it was good, 100% different than what I'm use to. Not bad at all though. I'm not a huge fan of sausage but want to try all I could. Beans: I saved this for last because I don't really like beans. You can tell it's bbq beans, there was a bbq taste but it's not like it was sitting in bbq sauce.

I think if you like bbq and trying new foods you should stop by and...