Shiraz Persian Cuisine — Restaurant in San Diego

I had an incredibly disappointing experience at this restaurant! My friend and I arrived on a Saturday night after a day of skiing, looking weary but appropriately dressed. Despite numerous empty tables, the waitress suggested seating us near the entrance. We reluctantly agreed, but things only got worse from there. After waiting for a long time, the waitress finally came to take our order, even though we hadn't been given menus yet. We wanted to start with soup before deciding on our main course, but she insisted we have to order both simultaneously, which was not mentioned anywhere in the menu. Frustrated, we said our plan is to order a main course too. The waitress went to ask her manager who is the owner as well. She came back and said sorry we can’t make sure you order the main course after your soup!! At this time, I was so pissed off and asked my friend to leave immediately. Unfortunately my friend disagreed since he was tired and hungry and ordered two stews for us. To our dismay, the food quality was poor, with literally no meat in the stews we ordered! As we were eating, the waitress even asked if our food had been served yet! Since found us unhappy, she said sorry I just started three days ago and the manager is very bad-tempered. When I went to pay the bill and express my dissatisfaction to the manager, the waitress joined our conversation. I told manager what the waitress said about the strange ordering rule, the manager surprised and said I didn’t tell her such thing while asking his other employee (whom I think was his wife) to take the waitress to the kitchen. Then he said, we want our customers to at least get a main course with their appetizer as we don’t charge for belly dance. Unfortunately, it was the manger who told the poor waitress to do so and he repeated himself in front of us while lied when he was confronted with his waitress earlier. I told him you’re so unprofessional, you deserve the right to refuse service to us but you can’t judge your customers based on their appearances and treat them disrespectfully. Just paid for my food while telling him there was no meat in our stews and this’s so cheap behavior. Despite the manager's attempts to justify his behavior by citing our shared nationality, I explained that respect should be mutual and that I had never experienced such poor treatment in any restaurant. Overall, it was a disappointing and...

I had the opportunity to dine at this restaurant on two separate occasions, and unfortunately, both visits were marred by significant issues. During my initial experience, I observed that the owner lacked a nuanced understanding of running a successful establishment. His demeanor was loud and authoritative, and to exacerbate matters, the side dish bread arrived 15 minutes after the main course. The overall food quality left much to be desired, although I held onto hope that improvements would be made in the future. FOOD AND SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE!

Unfortunately, my second visit to the restaurant was particularly disheartening. It coincided with a somber occasion, as my friend had recently lost his young son and intended to host around 50 people for a post-funeral meal and desserts. Despite my prior warning about the restaurant's poor food and service based on my recent dining experience, he chose it due to its proximity to his son's graveyard.

Shockingly, the owner exploited the situation by consistently overcharging, particularly for the most expensive menu item. He also engaged in contentious discussions over various elements, such as flowers, food selection, seating arrangements, and even traditional desserts meant for the funeral that my friend was trying to provide!

On the day of the funeral, the service was painfully slow, and when the food finally arrived, it was both cold and below the expected standard. Despite my friend acquiescing to all imposed conditions, he paid an exorbitant amount out of respect for his deceased son. It was disheartening to discover that post-event, the restaurant owner unjustly billed my friend for five additional people, despite ample leftover food that could have been donated to charity.

My friend confided that the loss of his son was an already challenging experience, and the actions of the restaurant owner only compounded the difficulty. Since then, I've made it a point to inquire about others' experiences at this restaurant, and consistently, I have yet to encounter anyone satisfied with the food or service. It appears that the owner adeptly addresses negative reviews, yet the fundamental issues persist, casting a shadow over the...

As the son of a father who was born in Shiraz Iran, I am family obligated to love all things Shirazi. This is not easy. Because not all things Shirazi are nessarily lovable.

Not in the case of Shiraz restaurant in Rancho Bernardo. And good Persian food is not easy to find.

I originally tried the Joojeh kabab for take out and it was perfection. Especially tender chunks of perfectly cooked chicken kabob, seasoned and marinated in lime juice. Just like back home!

Two days later I found myself craving Persian food again and this time decided to dine in. Our server was excellent and we got the Mirzaghassemi appetizer and a very nice homemade Mast-o-Mooseer.

Mirzaghassemi is a spicier reddish dip. Think babaghanoosh on steroids. Delicious with warm pita bread.

Mast-o-Mooseer is shallot infused yoghurt. Always a very nice light creamy balance to the Mirzaghassemi.

Since my brother was buying, we added a Soltani platter which is a skewer of koobideh and a skewer of barg.

Good koobideh seasoned and spicer ground beef kabob, is an impossible art, so I'll give Shiraz a solid 8 out of 10.

The barg, which is a marinated tender filet cut kabob sliced thinly. However, was excellent.

On both the Joojeh a soltani generous portions of fluffy rice topped with saffron. I like a bit of sweet with my joojeh so I got the Zereshk polo. Which has sweet and sour barberries cooked in the rice.

Shiraz is dedicated to a higher quality of Persian cuisine. They offer all of the usual rice and kabob dishes along with the minimum standard four stews and casseroles.

One item I do not try but which sounded great was the Bakhtiari kabob. I will get that next. Probably in 2 days.

If you are in Rancho Bernardo whether for take out or to dine in, you will be very very satisfied.

And my father...