Kabob Palace — Restaurant in Washington

READ TO END... UPDATED..GETS DOWNGRADED

I certainly would have given this place a five-star rating except for the fact that their PRICES seemingly go up every 6 months.! I have been going here forever and make no mistake about it, their food is great and cooked to perfection. I highly recommend their lamb chops and their (bone in) chicken kabob. If you do ""take out/pick up"", make sure you call ahead because it's usually a long wait... sometimes even when you call ahead..! Inside seating is available but limited and very crowded . They serve a healthy sized meal... some great side dishes... but their prices are really getting out of hand. A small part of the problem obviously is the 10% Arlington food tax that they add on.... I spent 40 bucks so I lovingly added on another $4...!! for the City of Arlington..!

UPDATE JULY 2022...DOWN- GRADED TO 3 STARS.. (BARELY)

Well, sadly prices have gone up (about $2.00 per entree) again..! Last week when I went, I called ahead which as I noted, you must do if you're ordering pick up.. otherwise it will be almost an hour's wait or so on busy nights. Unfortunately, when I arrived, 30 minutes after I called which usually is about right for pickup, they told me it would be another 25 minutes. They were not very busy at all. When I argued that's why I called ahead, the cashier just shrugged, smiled ( took my $48, ) and walked away. Standing there waiting, I realized why it was taking so long. It is my opinion that they are filling Uber/Door Dash (and the like) orders as soon as the driver arrives (with customers pick up orders like mine already done and sitting there)....ahead of ""regular"" customers like me standing in front of them. Additionally, I truly feel they have cut back on the quantity of sides that you receive. More money less food. So, higher prices, deceitful tactics, poor customer service, less food, and their general attitude has dictated I drop their rating from 4 stars to three

2nd UPDATE NOV 22 Once again the prices have gone up.... way up.. The last increase above in July was about $2 per meal.. this one is $4 per meal..!! The two meals I usually get went from $44 to $48 in July.. and now $56..!!!!! I think these guys are pricing themselves right out of the market.. Unbelievable..!!!! my suggestion now is to...

Went here last night. Ordered at 9:20PM - didn’t get handed my food until 10:05 - after approaching the register and demanding a refund. Food was good; generous portions at a reasonable price. But the place was a total cluster. Full to the brim - jam packed. It wasn’t full when I ordered. But after I saw dozens come and go, while also observing others complaining they’ve “been waiting an hour and a half” - I realized there was a problem. It seems like delivery drivers come in and speak to the cooks first hand and get priority. While others who waited in line are left to wait for their number to be called. I was number 86. I waited 20 minutes and they were only in the 60’s. When I finally complained after 45 minutes of waiting, they were only in the 70’s. I’m sure I would have been waiting another 45 minutes if I didn’t say something. And they were not short on staff. There were at least 3 cooks and 3 expos putting the orders together - and several other staff running around. The place was clean considering the crowd coming in and out. I’ll give them credit for that. But they have a severe issue with getting orders out in any timely manner. I certainly won’t step foot in there again. Food qualify was good, and portion sizes were generous. But certainly not worth the wait. And for the record, the guy who ordered in front of me (number 85) was just as mad as I was - he complained when I did. The cashier we complained to just looked at our receipts and grabbed a box of food certainly bound for someone else, served us our sides, and we were out of there. For the life of me I can’t figure out what the delay was, since I had time to study their whole operation. They had a big grill, tons of servings prepped in the cooler (on display), plenty of cooks, and plenty of expos. Again - I think it had something to do with delivery orders messing up the queuing system for those who ordered in store. A total disaster, especially for a restaurant claiming to be there since 1992. Would think they’d have service figured out by now. If I had a coworker I really dislikes - And wanted to ruin their night - I’d recommend this place to them. It wouldn’t make them sick - but it would certainly...

I probably hadn’t eaten here in about 15 years and recently decided to give it a try again, mostly because I’ve heard how it’s regularly rated the best kabobs in the Northern VA area. It’s got a decent size dining room and a lot of folks working in the open kitchen, making kabobs, curries, and naan. The menu is nice, as it has several curries (some available as sides with the kabob entrées) and lots of kabob options. I tried the combo of Seekh and chicken, with muttor aloo and aloo saag. The chicken was tender and spiced perfectly… it tasted amazing! The spices used were great too, which is hard to do in a chicken breast kabob. The seekh kabob was equally flavorful and perfectly spiced. But the two curries I got as sides were boring and bland. I found this VERY disappointing, as they looked great and I really wanted them to match the flavors of the meats, but no luck. The naan was the worse thing though… They premake a pile of them and they grab from that pile to fulfill orders, which I watched them do for me. The naan was rubbery and slightly cool. Typically when “real naan” that’s made with the proper dough, that’s spread properly, and that’s baked in the Tandoor properly… typically that naan will crisp up as it cools and become hard. This naan was cool but turned to rubbery – horrible dough was used! Inside the restaurant was interesting… lots of absolutely silly stickers (junk like BLM, etc) all over, which they clearly let others put all over the sides of fridges in the dining room, etc. And there were several police related stickers posted, which were vandalized. The ownership needs to clean all these nasty, hateful stickers up. Overall… If in the mood for midnight (tho I went for lunch on this visit) kabobs, I’d come back. But otherwise, it’s decent, not all it’s cracked up...