Al-Mueed BBQ — Restaurant in Plano

Was confused on what to rate this place overall, 4 stars felt a bit too generous, and 3 stars felt a bit too harsh, but considering this is the new hyped up place, it definitely did not meet expectations taste wise at all. The prices are very good, but we do not plan on coming back here, especially because it is almost an hour drive. Parents were very excited to try this place because they are from Karachi - although this is harsh, but just like many other places in DFW that use the Karachi name, the taste is nowhere near close to that.

Outside of the food: the place is very clean, well lit, and just overall has a good ambiance. Definitely needs to be the new standard for any south asian restaurant going forward. It unfortunately gets pretty crowded and it honestly becomes a maze to just find your way to the fountain machine for a refill. The restaurant unfortunately does not really have control over this, glad they are getting so much business.

Service was good as the staff was quick to answer the phone and answered any questions we had, but I cannot speak to much beyond that: this place is fully self-service. You grab a menu from the register at the front, sit down, figure out what your party wants to order, then go back to the register and pay, and are given the classic restaurant pager. When it blinks, you go back and get pick up your food. It's nice that since you are putting in the effort, you do not feel obligated to tip, especially because you pay beforehand for everything.

Now for the dishes we tried: Chicken Tikka Leg: very good, best dish we had. Very well cooked meat and seasoning was great. Price and size was great too, especially compared to other Pakistani BBQ places in the area. If all of their other dishes had this quality and taste, I would have easily gave a 5 stars Chicken Malai Boti: good, but I question the masala choice. The color is supposed to be white, not red. I also wish the meat was more tender and broke apart easily a bit more. Puri Paratha: taste is fine, better than some BBQ places I have been to because it was thankfully not super oily. But here I also question the type of dough they used for it. They probably used the same dough as they do for naan, but that is not fully authentic. Chicken Seekh Kebab Roll: taste was just very okay, have definitely had better from many other places. Size was good, and came wrapped in a paratha. Naan would probably taste better. Seekh kebab inside too just tasted very plain and okay. Beef Seekh Kebab: Does not taste like a traditional seekh kebab at all. Spices seemed very off. Would be improved if the chutnies were better, but... Chutnies: Green/raita was just okay, nothing special. The brown/tamarind was pretty bad, not authentic at all. Halwa Puri Special: Halwa was good, but man the "tarkaris" were authentic at all. Aloo pieces were too big, masalas on both were off, etc etc etc. Was surprised to see this listed as a signature dish, these definitely need improvement.

Overall, it's in a fantastic location, close to the EPIC and the fast growing Pakistani community nearby. If they keep their prices great like they are, I am sure they will...

Went here for the first time recently because of all the hype I am seeing about this restaurant these days.

Restaurant was busy when we arrived. Floor and bathroom were dirty with trash. Trash were overflowing and was not getting emptied in a timely manner. A lot of stuff like, plates, utensils, etc., were running out quickly and the refill was slow with most of the time you have to tell them to do it. Pl

This is a full, self service, type restaurant. You find your own table and get in line to order. After ordering, get your own plates, utensils, drinks, chutneys, drinks, tea, etc. After eating you can leave your trash at the table and/or take it to the trash can as it will not be picked up when you are eating.

Once we were in the line, it took 20 minutes to get to the cashier to order. Then it took another 45 minutes for the food to come. I definitely suggest to go early. They make everything fresh after you order. Here is my review for the items we ordered:

Chicken tikka - Leg, bone in - 8/10 - I liked it as it was nicely seasoned and juicy. Some of my family members thought it was little salty.

Beef seekh - 3/10 - These are mini type of seekh kabobs and not the standard size. Although it was soft to eat I didn’t find it tasty and thought it needed more seasoning and/or spice.

Beef & Chicken malai boti - 6/10 - Both were good, but may need little more spice and cream to make it yummy.

Paratha - 7/10 - These are standard puri parathas and it was good. Little hard to chew at times. However, charging $4 for these are hard to justify and very expensive in my opinion.

Naan - 6/10 - Different style of naan and felt more like those frozen naans instead of the fresh that you do get at normal desi restaurants.

Suji halwa - 9/10 - Really good as it wasn’t as sugary as other desi restaurants will make their like. However, at $5 this was expensive to me as well.

Don't even bother with calling as they are not picking up phone due to all the rush. Also, Google has a different phone number than what is listed on their website. Phone number from the website is: 4698149022

This restaurant was out of my way but I still went just to try it out. Overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way next time and will go to BK Khan instead as it is much closer to me and has more varieties than...

Bottom line: The food does not make up for the poor service, lack of basic condiments, unclean facilities, or the miserable indoor temperature. We will not be returning. You can get the same quality BBQ elsewhere—with better service, atmosphere, and working AC. Save yourself the trouble (and the sweat).

Experience: When you arrive, you get in line to place your order. Even during rush hours, there’s only one cashier, which makes the process slow and inefficient. After ordering, you’re left to hunt for a table—sometimes you find one in 5 minutes, other times it can take 30. It’s entirely luck-based.

The food is freshly made on grills, which is a plus. The wait for the food itself wasn’t bad considering it's fresh. We ordered the beef bihari, chicken breast, and malai chicken with parathas—and honestly, the food is a solid 4/5. Unless you specifically ask, they don’t give you basics like onions, tomatoes. The chutneys are placed next to the fountain drinks in self-dispensing containers and were disappointingly bland. They ran out of raita so I had to hunt down a worker to refill it.

But that’s where the positives end.

Inside the restaurant, it’s hotter than outside (which was 97 degrees). The AC clearly isn't equipped to handle the grill heat and crowd. It was uncomfortable to sit and eat. If you want to open a restaurant where people see their food being cooked, you need to make sure your customer's aren't dying of heat.

The bathrooms were disgusting and hotter than the restaurant. Honestly I don't have alot of good to say about this place. Management needs to improve their service -- and even then we won't be coming back because we can get better pakistani BBQ with better service somewhere else.

I read another review that said it reminded them of getting BBQ in Karachi. I think they enjoyed that aspect of it, I did not. In Karachi the food doesn't cost $4 a paratha or $15 for beef bihari, so maybe if you have to sit in the heat or find a seat it's not a bother. I think that's the part that really bothered me -- the prices should go to service and atmosphere too. The food and prices don't...