House of Kabob — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I enjoyed my visit to House of Kabob. I was not sure what to expect looking at the restaurant's name and exterior. When my coworker and I walked in, the interior of the restaurant felt surprisingly upscale, but still with a relaxed atmosphere. The place was busy, but service was very prompt and friendly.

If there's one negative about this restaurant, it's that although the dinner menu has about 3 pages and 34 selections, and the lunch menu has 2 pages with 27 selections, the menu is a bit limited, particularly when it comes to the sides available. My coworker and I were there for lunch, and of the 27 selections on the lunch menu, only two did not come with white, green or yellow rice, and one gave you a choice between rice and fries. Of those 24 selections with rice, 19 of them are chicken, lamb, beef or sometimes salmon or shrimp prepared in various ways (gyro style, kabob style, or kubideh) with rice and shirazi salad. The dinner menu is similar to the lunch menu in this regard. A handful of the dishes come with other sides like taboli salad, house salad, fried tomatoes, okra, or a vegetable medley, and that's about it. If you're on a low-carb diet or you're diabetic and trying to avoid foods like rice, your menu choices will be limited. They do have two plates on their lunch menu that feature chicken or gyro meat over their house salad, and they offer a chicken gyro sandwich with rice or fries.

That being said, my coworker, who is from Kurdistan, considers the food to be very authentic. He particularly likes their kubideh and their rice, and this is one of his favorite places to eat.

I chose the chicken gyro and fries, as I generally need to avoid rice, particularly white rice. I can have brown rice, but this was not one of the rice options available. Even so, I have to say that the chicken gyro sandwich that I ordered had amazing flavor and was very good, right up there with the best I've ever had. The fries seemed like the thin, skinny fries you get from a frozen bag, so nothing special there. I had a fast-food chicken gyro sandwich two days before, and while I enjoyed it, there was no comparison - House of Kabob's gyro sandwich was the king, despite the other one being from King Gyros. The only place I've had one as good is Kebab Gyro.

I had a pleasant surprise at the end of the meal. At King Gyros, I'd ordered a chicken gyro, a small side salad, and a Diet Coke. I paid about $12.50. When the bill came at House of Kebab, a much nicer place with much tastier food where I'd ordered the chicken gyro, fries and a Diet Coke, the bill was about $9.89.

So, to sum it up, great, authentic Persian / Kurdish food at a great price, great atmosphere, good service, but with a somewhat limited menu and sides, which is why I gave it 4 stars...

I have been to this place many times the service has always been great however I went there today and I am very sad to say that I was treated the worst treatment ever. The gentleman that was serving us I am not sure if he’s rude by nature or he was having a bad day I try to be nice so much but when he came and served us he was throwing away the plates on the table we asked him many times very nicely and he would answer I was very rudely. When we even asked him for a to go plate he was walking by through the to go plate on our table and started to slide my wife was very surprised and wanted to leave immediately also I asked him for coffee he told me that I have to pay for it and I was very surprised because I never asked him for a free coffee and I would never expect to get a free coffee and I explained to him that the money that I literally just gave him that $15 extra because I wanted to ask for coffee, we waited 15 minutes he was walking by and never brought me the coffee so we got up and we were about to leave he walked by us looked at us didn’t even bother to say anything and we left and never got the coffee. When we first walked in he told me if the booth on the right hand side right next to the entry is fine and I told him yes he pointed at the booth and told me to go sit there with my family and when he bought the food I asked him if I was supposed to be getting any soup with my meal he said I cannot give you any free soup I looked at him and I said again doesn’t look like I’m asking for anything free I don’t care if it’s a free or not if I want one I want one. I am Kurdish and very proud and I would love to support my people but this treatment will never take me to that restaurant and I will never recommend...

My family has been coming to this restaurant as long as I can remember, probably close to 30 years now. The food is still as good as ever, though I do miss the old location for its calm ambience and Iranian decor. Prices have gone up over the years, but I chock that up more to Nashville and inflation more than anything, as they are still competitive with local restaurants. Parking is much better at the new location—no more competing with Papa John's for a space!

If you're new to Persian food, I recommend going with the chicken sultani kabob plate (pictured here) with mast o musir. Kabobs are always juicy here. If you're interested in trying the stews, my personal favorite is the gheymeh. The lamb shank is always killer here as well! The rice here is consistently cooked well, unlike other restaurants where it can sometimes be mushy or bland. There are also several non-Iranian dishes and kid-friendly meals for less adventurous eaters, but they're missing out. ;)

Service is a bit of a mixed bag but generally good. The owner is super friendly, and most of the waiters are fantastic, though you might have to be a little assertive with a few of them if you are in a hurry to leave. We tend to let things settle with hot tea or spring for some saffron ice cream.

All in all, this is a gem of a restaurant that's withstood the test of time for good reason. The food is solid, and no trip to Nashville is complete for me without a visit to House of Kabob. It might just become one of your...