HABIBI GRILL — Restaurant in West Valley City

I really wanted to like this place. I have been to 60 countries and I love experiencing cultures, especially with their food. The service was HORRIBLE. Soooo many things went wrong. First off, my butter chicken was not very good. It is nothing like Indian butter chicken, but that is my mistake, in that I didn't know Pakistani butter chicken is NOTHING like Indian butter chicken, so not their fault. However, my daughter ordered a dahl dish and they asked what level of spice did she wanted. They gave the options of no spice, some spice, medium spice, more spice etc. She said NO spice, hers was so spicy she could barely eat it. She normally even likes mild spice. I asked for cream to add to it and they said yes no problem and they didn't come back with cream at all. I walked up to the front maybe 10 minutes later and asked again and the head guy acted like he didn't know what cream was. He said they would remake the dish, it took maybe another 20 to 30 minutes until this dahl dish was ready, and from the time we came in until the dish was done was about 1 and a half hours. So let's talk about my husband's food, he has been having stomach problems for about two weeks and had to go see a doctor. So he ordered a plain rice dish with vegetables. When asked about the spice level we said NO SPICE AT ALL, then I explained that he was having problems with his stomach. No problem they said. It was VERY spicy. He couldn't eat it. My husband usually always loves spicy food but he can't eat it right now. They remade it, spicy again. Finally I said can you PLEASE make just plain rice with vegetables and they finally after a third attempt and about 1 hour and 20 minutes after we arrived got it right. We are out of town and don't really have the option to cook for ourselves so we thought plain rice and vegetables would be okay, it seems that after 3 attempts they actually can do this. Lastly, my youngest who is only 6 ordered a hamburger and it was SPICY. Whaaaat a hamburger, spicy? I guess that is how Pakistani hamburgers are. First we ordered it plain and it came out without everything on it, they had to remake it again. When I finally went to pay I mentioned it to the head guy and he said this is Pakistani food everything is spicy. What I wish I would have asked was, "why then do you ask your guests, what level of spice would you like? and offer to have NO spice." This is Utah. NO spice means NO spice. I make butter chicken with cayenne pepper all the time and my 6 year old has no problem with it and yet this burger was too spicy, even more then butter chicken with cayenne pepper. The head guy even admitted yeah our burgers are spicy..... maybe you should mention that when a young child orders it. I get that things are made differently in different cultures and expectations are not always the same. But this is Salt Lake City Utah and they should be used to Americans saying NO SPICE. But all this to say the most disappointing thing was how LONG everything took. Again I have traveled all over the world and know that other cultures don't run on an American time clock. However, this is the US and when you ask for cream or if a dish is not correct, it should NOT take one and a half hours to receive your food. Others also had to wait long all around the restaurant. They need to hire more staff if they cannot handle dinner on a Monday night. Also no one even came and refilled our waters. It was like we sat there and were forgotten. The only good thing that came out of this is that the head guy(I keep writing this because I don't know his role) took the hamburger and the dahl off of our bill, since they couldn't be eaten . Would I ever come back here again, NOPE!....After reading this, do you still...

Asalaam waleikum

First of all I’d like to say Alhamdhulillah for even having the opportunity to eat food when there are many in the world who struggle to even out together a meal.

Having said that I will remain very very honest with my review… Habibi grill the restaurant itself atmosphere decor seating is brilliant, a very authentic and homely feel, I was very impressed. A 10/10 for visuals for sure!

Now to the food… the beef samosas by a country mile have to be the best in Utah if not in the USA, and im from the UK and am tempted to say they’re better than most places I’ve had there! The meat is juicy and tasty, the pastry is consistent not to hard not to soft and overall as good as samosas get! This was actually the reason I opted to sit in and dine, rather than take out my usual order of samosas and masala fries which I regularly do! But yes 11/10 for the samosas!

Now to the masala fries… crispy, flavorful, hot, tasty honestly the perfect fries, And they’re always on point ! I’ve had both the samosas and fries around 5 times and they’ve both been bang on always! And the sauce with the fries is incredible, very similar to a yum yum king of sauce, honestly at this point we remain at 11/10 and I was very very optimistic for what was to come next…. Maybe too optimistic :(

Chicken biriyani… now hear me out, when it comes to biriyani i have tasted 100’s and my expectations are high, very high. Even when my mom cooks biriyani or when I cook biryani the standards are so high because it’s such an important dish,, but I was so so so disappointed, Almost heartbroken tbh :/ the biriyani wasn’t fresh, the basics I would have expected, it was like biriyani made yesterday, warmed up the evening after! It was very very simple, didn’t have the kick of a usual biryani, the masalas the layers. If it was fresh it would have maybe been acceptable, but honestly after such an incredible start I was very very upset, and i so wanted to give this place top marks on everything.

Next I asked for lamb saag/palak, I can’t complain too much because they made a dish for me but with saag being my favourite dish in the world, It was probably the worst I’ve tasted in Utah, I don’t know if it was an off day, or if they just mixed 2 dishes together but having paid around $22 for the portion I reluctantly left 3/4 dish there without packing to take home because I knew I would not eat it. Again I have no words - as the famous quote in Spider-Man goes ‘if you expect disappointment then you can never really be disappointed’ - I expected a lot and was left disappointed..

We also had masala chai to brighten up things and give this review a fighting chance, the chai was spot on, incredible chai, perfect for a cold cold day in the snow, I wish I had some cake rusks!

Overall

Samosa beef and masala fries 11/10 Biriyani 6/10 Saag lamb 4/10 Masala chai 10/10

I’ve given a 4 star purely based on averages, but I wish I would have stuck to my regular beef samosa and masala fries order

I hope this helps, and I’m sorry habiba grill but I have...

AVOID! RESTAURANT COMMITTED TIP FRAUD! Habibi grill was one of my favorite places when they first opened! One of the best chicken karahis, naan and veggie samosas I’ve tried here in Utah. Over the years, the quality has gone downhill, as has the service while prices have increased. Despite their inconsistencies and constant changes in their food in terms of taste and quantity, I’ve supported them. To preface this, I’ve never sent food back to the kitchen prior to these last two visits and they’ve messed up our order multiple times. These last two visits were the final straws. Two visits ago, we had the worst chicken karahi I’ve ever tasted. I wouldn’t even call it a Karahi. They went from serving them in real karahis, to big red bowls and this time, in a small white bowl. I wish I had taken a picture. The co owner who knows I’m a loyal customer “fixed” it for us, but it was still terrible tasting. He then took it off the tab. We never got our 3rd naan we had requested and drinks come whenever, sometimes never. You constantly have to flag them down for service. I was already aware of the service issues over the years so nothing new. Since he took the item off my receipt, I left a 20% tip despite not wanting to leave a tip initially for how bad the service and food was. I go back a few days later, order just 3 orders of veggie samosas as I have in the past (the only good remaining item on the menu) and the same elderly co owner man took my order and brought out chicken samosas. When I brought it to his attention, he said it’s what I ordered except I have never, not once in all the years I’ve visited them ordered chicken samosas. I only like their veggie. He couldn’t get a single item order correct. Anyway, he corrects the issue and another waiter takes it to a different table and has to be redirected to us. The samosas were quickly fried, so the outside was nice and hot but the inside cold. I was again, disappointed but ate them and didn’t say anything. He removed the chicken samosas from my receipt, and I again begrudgingly left an 18% tip AND THE MERCHANT CHANGED THE TIP AMOUNT! The total was $18 something and my card was charged for $20.04 (which I of course disputed with my CC company for moral reasons). SAD THAT A MUSLIM RESTAURANT I’VE BEEN SUPPORTING FOR YEARS COMMITTED TIP FRAUD!!! if you want terrible service and terrible food, this is the...