Nazish: a tale of tasty tragedy Yesterday was quite the experience! We were in the neighborhood and we stumbled upon a small Turkish restaurant in the middle of fancy part Houston. My hunger level was at medium, appropriate for dinner time. They started with bread and tasty oil. I enjoyed the bread, it was fluffy on the inside and not too tough on the outside. The entrees were overall simple to understand but it helped they had a picture book to better illustrate the portion sizes. I thought the portion sizes were fair although you still only seem to get one kebab vs 2 at most Persian places. I'm starting to think it's a Turkish thing to eat less meat and that's probably better for you. And at medium hungry it was ok. The lamb shish and the kabob were very well cooked and tasty and moist and I enjoyed my time eating them. There should be more bread with the eggplant thing but you can always ask for more bread for free. Sounds like everything went pretty well right? Well... things then took a turn for the worst! We like most people came for the kenefe. I had it in el paso a couple of times but never in Houston so it was my responsibility to try it. A single order is $5.45 which is not outrageous but a little more pricey than most comparable desserts in the area. You can get an entire cake at costco for $18 or a dozen muffins for $8. They are really good Anyway it turns out you can not take the kenefe home unless you eat half of it first. I was like I'm too full because I came at medium hungry but they have a very strict policy. I think you can sneak it out because they won't give you a to go box if there's more than 50 percent left but wrap it in some napkins and hide it in your pocket for a quick stealthy getaway. They don't want you to eat it at home because it gets cold and it turns out it is not as warm as when you get it at the restaurant. Overall a good experience, if you enjoy food with a pinch of drama then you will enjoy this place Thank you for reading Have a great evening! read more

Nazif's - Forget everything you learned about the ottoman empire, meat on eggplant with bread and tomats is everything about global politics - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

I'd been wanting to try this place for years since they opened and finally did in late 2014. Best restaurant picking decision ever! Everything is delicious! I recommend: -Labne -Hummus Ezme(their version of Lebanese 'Muhammara', but tastes much better) -Turkish Shepherd's Salad(like an Arabic Salad, or Fattoush) -Eggplant Salad(I love eggplant but even this was an acquired taste for me( -Lahmacun(meat pie, or Lebanese/Palestinian mana'eesh) -Turkish Sausage Pide(sausage, egg, and cheese pie) -Mixed Pide(sausage, salami, and cheese pie) -Cheese Pide(cheese pie) -Adana Kebab(ground lamb, served with rice, bread, grilled veggies, pickles, and cabbage) -Beyti(like a Turkish enchilada! Stuffed with your choice of Adana, Urfa, or Doner Kebab and topped with spicy red sauce and melted cheese; served with rice and yogurt) Probably the most delicious thing I've tasted in my life! -Lentil Soup(some of the best in Houston) -Chicken Kebab(if you love grilled chicken and you love Shish Tawook, go for this) -Turkish Tea(it's delicious and it's on the house) -Yogurt Drink(it's homemade, cheap, delicious, and it's the best one I've tasted out of any restaurant in Houston) -Knafeh(the classic Middle Eastern dessert that deserves to be more famous than Baklava but somehow isn't, it's fresh baked and made-to-order here, all sweet cheese, shredded wheat, and rose water syrup goodness, yummm) Did I mention they give you a pan big enough for about 4 people? --For the Sunday Brunch and Friday nights it's best to make a reservation as it gets crowded; but if you don't, they're so kind they'll take you anyway. --Most of the entrees are on the expensive side by my standards, so go for lunch if it's your first time to take advantage of the slightly cheaper lunch menu. --We've taken multiple family and friends here for dinner and lunch and they were all impressed. --Nazif the owner is always there to greet and chat with customers, and you can see him hands-on in the kitchen, I think it's mostly all his recipes. read more

The food was outstanding. Meets very tender and juicy. Chicken same way. The service was excellent. I will definitely come back . This restaurant is going to be added to my list of Favorites read more

I hardly recommend this restaurant, good quality and delicious food and kind waitress

Food in this place is outstanding delicious and fresh all the flavors are there the service was great they took care of every detail will definitely come back to try more of the plates on the manu and the famous des read more

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This place if probably my favorite place for lahmacun and chicken wings. Nazif, the owner of the restaurant always interacts with the customer and makes sure that people are served well. Also recommend this place for their Sunday brunch, even though it's a bit pricey it's a rare Turkish breakfast experience where you can only see in Turkey. Overall a good place to go with family as well. Fridays also they have live Turkish music. read more

Delicious food, super fresh - just a tad bit pricey but if you're looking for quality, I highly recommend this spot. Waiters are nice and very professional. read more

Nazif's - Medium sized kunefe - amazingggg - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Hands down the BEST Turkish food and middle eastern/Mediterranean cuisine in Houston! Very fresh, tasty, portions are generous, and the kunefe desert is just PHENOMENAL! 5 stars Definitely worth a visit and make sure to request for a cup of their tea or 'chai' as they call it. read more

This was my first visit to this restaurant not far from my apartment. I was pleasantly surprised that it was so quaint and inviting. The staff was warm and very friendly. But, the food was the best Turkish I've had in quite awhile. Excellent, tender lamb with fluffy delicious rice pilaf, succulent red cabbage etc. What a delightful meal and I will come back with friends the next time. Thank you for exceeding my expectations. read more

Over cooked kebab and the rice was not fresh plus the kebab portion was a lot smaller this time. Not nice of them to short there guests

We love Nazif's. Their food is authentic Turkish food. We had the appetizer sampler last night with Lahmacun and baby pide. Nazif's has great Sunday brunch buffet with great delicious food. Included in the buffet price is Turkish tea. Service is good too. On Sundays it's a bit busy but still good. Meat and chicken is very tasty. read more

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I can't get over how great this place is. Truly a hidden gem. Restaurant is neat and clean, some cute Turkish decor on the walls. I love when restaurants actually play authentic music based off location! Makes the experience so much better in my opinion. Service was great, attentive the whole time. Now for the food. I ordered my favorite Turkish dish, Lamachun. This was hands down the best one I have ever had! And they had the option to make it spicy! Absolutely delicious. My husband ordered the Iskender Kebab. Meat was very tender. Serving was generous as well. Finished our meal off with Turkish tea and the usual Baklava. Cannot wait to come back here! read more

Nazif's - Lamachun - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

We have a hundreds of catering today with awesome Chef Mr.Nazif! Love this handsome guy!!! He is a Hero! read more

Nazif's - We just delivered a catering with Mr.Nazif! - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

Wow. Nazif's Turkish Grill for lunch was a great choice with several options for the noon hour. I picked the Combo #5 with Donner Kebap, Shepheard Salad, and Baklava with a drink for $13.95. The Donner was a generous portion of thin sliced beef, herbs and roasted on a vertical grill. Served with bulgar, lettuce, red cabbage, chopped onions. Everything was so fresh, service was excellent, and the Baklava was easily the best I've had in Houston. read more

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Nazif's Grill is one of the best Turkish restaurants I have dined at, and trust me, as a Turk, I have been to MANY Turkish restaurants. Right off the bat the owner was incredibly welcoming and customer service was top notch. The restaurant has a very professional and elegant class while also finding a way to feel right at home with the food, design, and overall vibe of the place. I ordered the lamb chops, and can proudly say that Nazif's has the best lamb in town! If you're looking for the the authentic Turkish experience in Texas, Nazif's Grill is the number one place to go. read more

Amazing restaurant. The food was awesome! The servers were great. If your looking for a great Turkish restaurant, this is the place to go! read more

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The service in the beginning was slow; however it picked up later. The food was great and tasty. The proportions were good too. read more

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I love it , This place is amazing, I've visited turkey 5 times and I'm one of the Turkish food fans.Nazif's have the same food flavor that I've tried at Istanbul. I ordered the Adana Kebab and it was fresh , hot and well done . The shish kebab was very good too. I appreciate the free tea the offered . Nice place and great service. read more

Nazif's - The great free tea - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

Loved this place. I had never tried Turkish food and it was amazing. Everything I ate was amazing definitely recommend!! The bread was over the top. read more

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Great food, welcoming atmosphere, elegant restaurant. Iskender was so delicious. 5 stars

Had a worst experience with the food. We were 2 people, and ate Adana and urfa kebab was horrible no taste at all. And in where in the states any restaurant chargers you %15 gratuity for 2 people ? I understand if we have a party 6 people or more. I don't care about the bill if I eat something worth. But it was overpriced. So don't even waste your money or time going this place. I would rather go eat steak somewhere else. I was just too stubborn, and didn't listen my friends. Also it was my first time and I don't even know any of those people. It's just pissed me off when I eat something with no taste and they try to screw you with %15 gratuity. Wrong business and wrong attitude my friend. read more

Went to their breakfast buffet and it was great! They refill your Turkish tea and you get a variety of breakfast foods to choose from. Most of the dishes I have not heard of before so it was nice to try something new. Their croissants and fresh and so soft. They have a cream and jam that pair so amazingly well together. The ravioli is good and the egg mixture with tomatoes. I enjoyed everything! read more

Great food! Difficult to find halal ribeye steak in Houston and they serve it very well with yoghurt. The new Signature Dinner Menu has the steaks, paca soup and "Lokum" the filet mignon... wow Nazif knows his job well. The wrap-macun is heavenly! Well satisfying as a portion alone when I could not decide between Adana and Lahmacun. Also The kofte is I think the best in town. I'm usually in trouble choosing and try to come with friends to order everything and share. :) read more

Nazif's - Signature Menu - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I'm visiting in Houston and I've been to many restaurants and I have never been disappointed. This one was recommended to me by a friend, but I didn't have many expectations. I was disappointed with the restaurant. It was very clean and the food tasted decent, but the customer service was somewhat poor. It wasn't 2 minutes as we sat and we were asked what we wanted to order, 2 minutes later we were asked again. The waitresses were alright but impatient. My sister ordered chicken wings and they were somewhat undercooked, I ordered the beef lahmacun and requested it spicy but they didn't make it spicy. As we were eating they were removing plates from the table not waiting until we finished, I felt like I was stayed at by the waitresses and I didn't feel very comfortable eating hahahaha. Overall, you wouldn't miss anything if you don't go to Nazif's. I'd try another restaurant! read more

Nazif's - Beef lahmacun - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

Great food. This place is known for Kunefe desert. Ask for it if you have a sweet tooth. read more

Nazif's - Kunefe - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

I have visited Nazif's a number of times, but usually for the Sunday brunch. The first time my husband and I went here on Sunday morning it was because we wanted to take a nice walk and grab some coffee nearby (Nazif's is walking distance from our house). We decided to indulge instead...after all we have just walked nearly 2 miles ;-) The brunch buffet is one of the best in the city. It's relatively inexpensive and features a variety of dishes; most of which I can't name. They are all really good though--full of flavor and just something new for our tastebuds to experience. Thursday was the first time I ate dinner here, and I don't know why I waited so long! Once seated, our waitress informed us that the lahmacun was their special for the night. It's regularly priced at $7.95, but on that day it was priced at $4.95. We had no idea what it was, but they made it seem like a steal! We knew we had to get it! Turns out I really ended up liking the crispiness of the dish and the combination of ground meat and onions. It was really flavorful. We also ordered the mixed pide. It was delicious! Similar to a calzone and perfectly cooked. For our main entree we split the alinazik. It's a puréed eggplant dish and we topped it with lamb. It's also served with bread, and Nazif's bread is super soft and perfect with any dish. We loved every dish and will definitely be back! read more

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It's really nice and tasty food, we love this place, clean, and all guys over here really professionals. It's yammmmy, please try donar kabab. read more

Nazif's - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Got extra mixed grill meat was dry and corners burnt. Price for product was not worth it. Thank you for reply to make it right however I am a tourist and leaving town. Do it right the first time for right price. Take it as a learning opportunity . These reviews are as much to let other consumers know as well as business to improve so they could succeed. The appatizer and prayer Area was great. I want hallal business to succeed so there is more variety for me to pick from. Do not take the review personally. read more

For my first experience with Turkish food, I must say that I am a fan. The first thing I noticed is that it is a very family friendly location, some of these families being very traditional. I was glad I was conservatively dressed. The server immediately greeted and seated us. Quite a variety of options on the menu but we opted for an assorted plate that could be shared. It was probably enough food for up to four people, well worth the price. The decor contribute to the relaxed atmosphere. Didn't get a chance to try the turnip juice (and I can't say that I was super dissapointed as I was going to try it on a dare) but apparently it's popular as they were sold out. I would definitely recommend the location and look forward to going back. read more

Nazif's - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Love this restaurant! Great food and service! My family loves to go and enjoy the food! It's a treat!

Don't miss out. This is a great spot for amazing lunch. The wraps, lentil soup, naan, rice pudding, and service is good stuff. Authentic and delectable. I love it when i work nearby read more

Just opened and came by for Sunday brunch. Its a buffet with no descriptions but what you get is a plate of dips, creams, salads, and olives that looks like a painter's palette. Service is spotty but probably because all the tables were filled. But they do a good job of the cheese blintz that resembles a taquito and the chicken salad (which unfortunately was not on ice, so I had iffy feelings about getting seconds when it was left out all afternoon). Good family atmosphere and a guitar vocalist playing in the background. read more

Nazif's - Tea and simit () - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

What keeps me coming back? The food is what obviously keeps me coming back... I plan on continuing to come back since I haven't tried all of their dishes. One can't visit and not try all what they have to offer. It is a great place to come and have lunch while you log on to their wifi. This spot always gets busy throughout the week and even more so on the weekends. They do have enough space for meetings or large groups. They offer buffets for organized large groups that I have seen which I thought was nice. They try to accommodate your needs as much as possible which is really great. Very friendly family oriented dinning experience. Their staff always friendly and happy to serve you. I have had their baklava after a dinner plate and it was filled with sweetness. I was tempted to try their other sweets but that will have to wait for next time. They always have music playing but its never too loud. It is kid friendly of course and there is no rush to leaving which I enjoy a lot. If you enjoy tea, you should try it. It is very soothing and goes down well after your meal. Enjoy the Turkish experience! read more

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The place itself doesn't look much, but you forget all because the food is amazing. Very nice staff. Thank you very much!

Luci S. and I decided to go here for a girls' night dinner date. I had never had Turkish food before so I was pretty excited. We decided to split the eggplant salad appetizer and Nazif's Mixed Grill platter. The Eggplant came out first. I was thinking maybe it was something similar to babaganoush, but it was actually more straight up eggplant chopped up served with thick bread. I wouldn't really call it flatbread because it was pretty thick and dense. It was pretty tasty, but nothing I would need or crave again. Then the platter came out. Every meat was pretty dry (cooked a few minutes too long) and the array of sides were just okay. I thought it was interesting that they served fries with the meal... is that a Turkish thing? Anyway, 2 stars seems harsh, but it really was a "meh" experience in which I've had better. Seriously, though, when you've had Kasra, you're pretty much ruined for any cuisine similar to it. I know I am. read more

Nazif's - Eggplant Salad - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Great place. We had the mixed appetizer, the mixed grill, and the mixed pida. Everything was great. The grill plate took a little longer, but they brought out more appetizers for free and the service was really great. You also get free tea and the price is good. I would definitely recommend this place. The place is also really clean. read more

Great dinner on a Tuesday night for a group of 5 We brought our own wine so the evening was a bargain! Ordered some hummus & their eggplant appetizer. Both were great. The entrees were great as well, including the meatballs and the lamb chops. Would be happy to return anytime. read more

2.5 stars!! Order: Chicken Shish Kebap Occupancy in the restaurant at the time I went: Besides me, there was only one other table occupied, with just 2 people. Restaurant has good acoustics and appears to be clean. Food itself was decent, but nothing extraordinary. Chicken could have been more tender and the dish could help with a little more standard serving of rice. Flavor was just okay. Here's the bummer: even the owner (at least i thought he was) was eating his 'traditional' (as they say) Turkish meal with Sriracha sauce. That speaks a lot about taking pride in one's cuisine. Well, I followed the suit!! Thanks to Yelp I knew they had hot tea on the house. However, they won't mention anything about tea unless you ask them. That is weird - either start charging for it, and if not, then mention it when you're taking the order. And subsequently, don't forget to bring the tea just so as to be reminded again. * Tip for the owner/management: When the restaurant is nearly empty and a customer walks in, take a break from Sriracha-decorated-Turkish-Meal and take a minute to address the customer, esp. since it's a new restaurant and good service goes a long way, even to compensate for the average food. read more

Nazif's - Chicken shish kabob - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas

This place is amazing!!! The food is absolutely delicious! My husband and I ordered 2 separate entrees and both were packed with flavor. A must go to. read more

Having just got back from Istanbul, I was craving some Turkish Mediterranean. This grill was spot on, from the wrap to the cacik, meatballs and shepherd salad, to the baklava and coffee. Highly recommended. read more

Nazif's - Turkish coffee - Turkish Near Me - Houston, Texas