Persian Room Fine Dining — Restaurant in Phoenix

Last night, my boyfriend, some friends, and I visited this restaurant to celebrate his birthday. We were expecting a high-end Persian dining experience but unfortunately had a very uncomfortable and awkward evening — primarily due to our server, Rico.

When I first arrived alone, Rico already seemed irritated when asking how many people were in our group. He took our drink order, which was fine, but things took a turn once he returned to take our meal orders. My boyfriend politely asked to substitute the grilled tomato in his entrée for a small side of grilled onions. I followed with the same request, and then a third person in our group did the same. We ordered the mast-o-khiar (as listed on the menu) and Rico looked agitated as he corrected my boyfriend, "OK you mean the cucumber yogurt?". At this point, Rico visibly rolled his eyes, threw his hands down dramatically with his notepad at his hips, and stormed off to put the order in. It was incredibly unprofessional and made everyone at the table uncomfortable.

A little while later, Rico came back and interrupted our conversation to tell us he “just got into a huge fight with the kitchen over our onions.” Thinking he was joking, I responded playfully, and he replied sarcastically that the onions were “$9,000.” I asked, also jokingly, if he’d just cover it for us, and he laughed and said no. At this point, we still assumed he was just being playful.

When the food arrived, it looked great — except for a huge, excessive platter of grilled onions that no one at the table expected. We calmly mentioned that this was way more than we intended when asking for a side, and Rico again became defensive. He told us, “You want upscale? This is upscale,” followed by laughter and walking away mid-conversation.

The vibe at the table completely shifted. We were trying to enjoy a birthday dinner, but the energy Rico brought was awkward and passive-aggressive at best.

Then the manager approached us — even though we hadn’t asked to speak with one. It was clear something had been said behind the scenes. We explained we just didn’t want to be charged for what felt like a misunderstanding, not a custom order. The amount of onions was excessive and not clearly communicated by our server. The manager said, “That’s 3 skewers of onions. That’s how we do it.” We clarified that we’ve been to plenty of Persian restaurants that happily accommodate a small saffron-grilled onion side. This wasn’t communicated at all, and if Rico had simply said, “This is how we do it here,” or even asked the kitchen before placing the order, the issue could’ve been avoided entirely. The manager reluctantly said he’d “take off a couple” and walked away, clearly annoyed.

To make things worse, Rico came back to confront us about what we said to his manager. He asked, “So why are you saying you didn’t know it came in skewers?” as if trying to argue with us and prove a point. This felt incredibly immature and out of place for a fine dining experience. He said, “I didn’t know the chefs would put it on skewers” My boyfriend responded, “Exactly — you didn’t know, so I didn’t know either.” It summed up the entire issue: poor communication, defensiveness, and a total lack of hospitality.

The food itself was delicious, but the service ruined our experience. What should have been a fun and special birthday celebration turned into an awkward evening that felt more about Rico’s mood than our night out. This is not what you expect from a restaurant claiming to offer a fine dining experience.

To top it all off, we later saw that the onions were only $4 each. Had Rico simply explained that upfront — rather than making it sound like we were going to be charged $30–$40 or sarcastically saying “$9,000” — the entire situation could’ve been avoided. The whole interaction, especially his repeated use of the term “upscale,” came off as condescending and...

Wow! Atmosphere and excellent food make this spot a treat for all the senses.

Its a big place, with a grand staircase to an upstairs dining room plus the dining area on the main level. Decor is ornate with bright colors and geometric designs. It feels more like you're in someone's home than a restaurant.

Big meals with the whole family are a Persian cultural tradition, and the restaurant buzzed with many tables set for groups of 10 & 12. Definitely plenty of Farsi being spoken! All of the families gathered adds to the warm, communal atmosphere.

Service is good, if rushed. It's a busy place, but the kitchen keeps up. We waited about 15 minutes from oder to service.

The food? Outstanding! And voluminous. Bring your appetite!!

The appetizer sampler includes stuffed grape leaves, hummus, eggplant, yogurt & cucumber dip, and torshi (pickled vegetables). Perfect with the house-made, still-warm-from-the-oven lavash. Everything is fresh and each flavor contrasts and complements one another. A great start.

You'll have trouble picking from all of the favorites on the menu. Portions are enormous, so with a group it's a great place to order a few different entrees and pass them around family-style.

I tried lamb koobideh. A pair of foot long skewers are served on a platter of rice, with a char-broiled tomato. Rice is a perfectly cooked, Persian-style - white basmati is served with a sprinkling of saffron basmati on top. This koobideh is ground lamb, generously spiced, fashioned into meatball-sized chunks, skewered and flame-broiled. The meat is tender, juicy and flavorful - perfect with that rice.

Others at the table tried beef kabobs. Chunks of marinated tenderloin, peppers, onions and tomatoes, skewered and flame-broiled. The kitchen brims with confidence... they know the meat is so tender, they don't even offer you a steak knife! The marinate adds a unique and mouthwatering flavor to each bite.

Stewed lamb shank is served on-the-bone, fork tender. It's accompanied by rice mixed with dill and fava beans to complete the earthy tone, excellent mixed with the delicious stew broth.

If you're already a fan of Persian cuisine, this is your place. If you want to expand your horizons and try some authentic and delicious food, this is your place....

To get the most important matter out of the way first: this is not a fine dining restaurant.

Courses are not arranged in a manner consistent with a fine dining experience, the food does not reach fine dining quality (nor did it reach conventional dining quality), and the service we received would have - in an actual fine dining restaurant - warranted the immediate firing of our servers that same night. Both of our servers (as we began dealing with two of them further into the night) seemed incredibly discombobulated, lacked any apparent knowledge of the menus, and repeatedly spoke in a hushed, indiscernible tone. I wouldn't say I'm hard of hearing in the slightest, and even I struggled to make out what they were saying, so my mother - who was with us on this outing and who does have poor hearing - had her experience greatly diminished.

Several of our drink orders had to be sent back, and our servers were remarkably inattentive besides, even as it was time to deliver the check. Every return to the table on their part felt like some kind of confrontation, their perpetual confusion about the basic facets of their job making all of us feel like quite unwelcome guests.

The food was okay. I have little more to say about it, and for a restaurant that demands reserved seating and uses the moniker of "fine dining", that is incredibly disappointing. The taste of the hummus was inconsistent between dishes (incredibly strange choice altogether), and the only real standout in my experience was the rice.

In all, my dining experience with my family at the Persian Room was exceptional in only one way - my family and I had very much fun laughing about the experience as one of the more subpar dining outings we've ever had. But as a restaurant, especially as a fine dining restaurant, it did not hit any expected marks, especially not for the price.

If you have a serious hankering for Persian food, find a smaller, more reasonably priced establishment. Not only will it be easier on your wallet - it is entirely likely the service and the food will be...