Food is so good and people are friendly Luke is the goat in recommendations. Persian ice cream is a must

We are visiting SD for business and stopped for lunch. We ordered Persian baba ghanoush and falafel for appetizers and for the main course, pomegranate stew + chicken and lentil soup. We completed our feast with an order of baklava and faloodeh plus hot tea. Everything was delicious it brought me back memories of my Isfahan neighbors back in college. We all liked the personalized, prompt service and quiet atmosphere. Thank you a great experience! read more

Was craving aush e reshte. They let us come in 10 minutes before closing and were so welcoming and hospitable. I'm so grateful for the kindness shown to us that night. Amazing food as well! read more

Food was excellent. Staff was friendly and attentive. Tip: the yelp classification says "Classy" - I'd personally consider this more casual. read more

Sadaf - Vegetable Skewers with Rice $11 - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

Amazing food and service! They give you a lot of food! They were so kind and the food was fast!

There are no words to describe how delicious this restaurant is! The tadig and fessanjoon was incredible. And what was better was the amazing service. I will come back when I'm back in town! read more

Sadaf - a plate of food on a table - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

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We are Persian and this is the best Persian restaurant in San Diego! The food is always fresh and tasty. My mom is picky so if she likes something, you know it's good:) read more

Delicious food and awesome service. I ordered the boneless chicken and ground beef that was amazing. All their food is very tasty. They also bring you their home made bread before the main course that is out of this world and so yameee i would be back for sure and would recommend this restaurant if you are in San Diego and looking for an excellent and well prepared food. read more

The food at this restaurant was not bad but our overall experience was lacking and it wasn't necessarily all at the behest of the restaurant. First they stay open until 9 pm which worked well for us. We started by sitting outdoors but the music coming out of the clubs next door was so loud and obnoxious that we asked to be reseated. They did so cheerfully and re-accommodated us fairly quickly. We were literally the only ones there on a spring break weekend so couldn't understand all of the great reviews that we saw. My husband had a lamb dish and my son had chicken. It came out fairly quickly and everything was ok. I think maybe it was an off night for them but honestly, with so many places in the area, I will choose somewhere else in the future. read more

Coming in for dinner during the week was amazing! I have to admit, I have eaten here before a few times but lately, they have been knocking it out of the park! The service was great, the servers gave us some great suggestions like the Lamb Shank & adding the Albaloo Polo rice option on the side. Everything tasted fresh and homemade, I highly recommend this place to everyone around here! Luke and Julian were wonderful servers and the night time ambiance with lower lighting and a warm atmosphere was perfectly romantic and coming in during the week when they are not packed was a real plus! read more

Delicious food, and truly many more vegetarian options than most Persian restaurants! Definitely should get the eggplant-tomato and pomegranate-walnut stews, and the shallot yogurt dip. Reasonably priced and high quality. If not too busy they may have their own oven baked bread too! read more

Was visiting in town and was craving Persian food. Very good food and portions. Service was quick.

Fantastic service and pleasant setting for dinner in the gas lamp quarter.sambosas were outstanding with the sauce. Kudos for the fresh, light salad dressing. The hint of lime paired very well to bring out the freshness of salad and vegetables. The chicken soltani and lamb kabobs were flavorful and were very large portions. Simply excellent!!! read more

Sadaf - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

I think this place is honestly underrated. I read some of the reviews which kept me away a couple times, but I decided to give them a try for myself, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I tried the chicken kebab the beef koobideh and lamb kebab And all were delicious. I also thought the Fesenjān was good. it wasn't exactly a stew like it normally is but I think that's because they have a vegetarian option for it as well so I think that they make the pomegranate sauce separately and then they just add chicken kebabs in there if you want it with meat, but I personally didn't mind because I thought the chicken kebabs were delicious. I've been trying to find a good Persian place in San Diego and this was my fourth one that I've tried and it was my favorite so far. read more

The food here was amazing, perfectly cooked. The service was great and the owner was very present. Ambiance is great with nice music playing in the background. Would HIGHLY recommend read more

This place is horrible. The chef is not Afghan. I ordered food for 30 people to go. We pretty much trashed everything. Kababs were burnt, beef was probably marinated for more than a week. It was tasteless. Will never go to this place again read more

Barg Filet Mignon, Chicken Barg, cucumber dip ,& Mediterranean Salad. So yummy! I eat this every month. No broiled tomato for me. The filet mignon is so tender. The chicken kabob is so juicy and flavorful. I can't live with out the cucumber dip. The Mediterranean salad tastes so fresh. This is my same order each time. It's the best things on their menu. read more

Sadaf - Barg Filet Mignon, Chicken Barg, cucumber dip ,& Mediterranean Salad. So yummy! - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

My first Persian restaurant recommended by an Iranian friend was excellent. Vegetarians will find ample here--the Pomegranate Fesenjoon with a walnut based sauce was my favorite but the eggplant dish and date-barberry rice were also good. The Shirazi Salad with cucumbers tomato and lime-based dressing was delicious. We went at 4 and received fresh from oven bread for our baba ghanoush and yogurt appetizers. Service was attentive and authentic. Ambiance was patio casual but inside blue goblets were arresting. read more

Sadaf - Pomegranate Stew (Fessenjan) Veggie is excellent. - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

Food was amazing ! Service was great, definitely going there again! We went Monday and it was not that much crowded read more

Sadaf - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

Owner was really nice . I think she owns this restaurant got more than 20 years. She provides such a good service . Romantic / ethnic place in downtown San Deigo . They have a small patio with 2-3 tables which would be fun to sit and enjoy downtown life with delicious Persian food . However , if you want to. E fancy and romantic more formal their inside is beautiful. Baghali Polo with mahiche ( Lamb ) was amazing . However I loved their kabab kobide much better. The only thing I think I did not like that much was their tea and not playing good music at that time . Other than that everything was delicious and enjoyable. read more

Sadaf - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

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I always order to go from this Resturaunt. It is always OK. This time both of my orders were wrong! When I called to ask to correct them. She argued and refused to correct my order! My Soltanian supposed to be half rice and half Shirazi salad; there was no shirazi salad and was just some unwashed green with dirt on the lettuces. And my fesenjoon did not have any chicken as supposed to have. NEVER order from here again. I am all about supporting local businesses but come on, at least respect the customers! read more

Excellent place, good service Friendly people so respectful Price was reasonable Wonderful food So satisfying read more

I grew up in Iran so we wanted to try this restaurant. The tables were small and we had a party of 7, but the staff were very friendly and quickly arranged tables. The menus were all Persian food, and there are vegetarian options. Service was a little slow but it was worth it. The staff was very nice and helpful, and they took all orders without problem and got us straws and butter upon request. I got a Koobideh and the portion was huge. Two pieces, with a serving of rice and a cooked tomato. It was delicious and definitely worth the wait. We also got a Caesar salad that was a little soggy but okay, and a Shirazi salad that was good. Everybody agreed that the food was good. One thing they didn't have was fresh baked bread, which would have been nice. If you're in San Diego, consider coming here for some Persian food. read more

They are super nice and the food is so yummy . Love the place , definitely will come again . Thank you read more

Recommend shish kabob And Fesenjoon Food was delicious and fast service Recommend their shish kabob as well (comes with grilled onion, green pepper and tomato) read more

Ordered for a special occasion through DoorDash and the restaurant left out the hummus and the bread was super rubbery. When we called the restaurant he said "too bad-tell DoorDash." So we did. I think this place is probably good if you go to the restaurant- but the attitude of the person we spoke to (in Farsi) was enough to keep me away forever. Too many good places in San Diego to choose from to accept this kind of service. read more

If you wanna a great meal, great service and some delicious wine in San Diego, you have to try this place out. The food is so clean, flavorful and delicious AND Luke is AWESOME!!! The Salmon, chicken and seasoned rice is perfection. read more

Luke was outstanding, excellent service! Exceeded my expectations. Julian came over and was very nice when explaining my dish that I was ordering with questions and even mentioned there is Dj on the weekends. Will definitely be coming back for that and more. read more

Excellent place to get some persian food, family atmosphere, great service, reasonable pricing. Definitely recommend this place!

Food was excellent! We got carry out: lamb kabob; chicken kabob; hummus; grape leaves; and falafel. Each one was so good! Portions were generous - was enough for dinner for two then lunch for two the next day. The food exceeded my expectations! 10/10 read more

The food is delicious. There are lots of Middle Eastern restaurants around, but I believe these folks are Iranian because they offer cherry rice. And that's pretty rare. Sooo delicious! The portions are very generous and when the food is this good, that's a great thing! The owners, or whoever is running the place, are gracious and welcoming. I wish they'd open another restaurant in La Mesa. read more

The only positive thing sadly about this place was the young lady that was serving us. She was really sweet and was working hard with assisting everyone at the restaurant. I have never had a weird experience at a persian restaurant. Were from La and Iranian. When you go to a persian restaurant, they atleast give you some bread. This place did not give us bread or any greens (sabzi). Not even onions. We asked for sumac and the guy brought us two "to-go" packets. No peppers or even BUTTER!!! My mom specifically asked for chicken thigh kabob, and got chicken breast. The older lady came and said they only serve this type of chicken and thats it. My beef koobideh had alot of cartilage in it which was gross. I didn't even feel like this was a restaurant. It felt more like a fast food persian joint. Sadly, i do not recommend. read more

We had my son's college graduation gathering at Sadaf Restaurant on Friday 6/14/24. It was wonderful!!! The food was delicious! Everyone enjoyed all the various dishes served. The filet mignon kabobs were tender and juicy and the boneless chicken kabobs cooked to perfection. All the meat dishes in general were so tasty! Luke our waiter was super friendly and attentive to everyone's needs. Thank you Sadaf for making our son's graduation celebration much more wonderful! read more

I'd definitely not recommend this restaurant. The food was horrible. I'd definitely had better skewers before and the rice was so dry! It's in the middle of gas lamp so if your planning on stopping for a bite to eat for dinner DONT. It gets super loud because of the music and drunk people roaming around the streets of downtown San Diego. The waiter was nice but he could've at least closed the door so we could enjoy our dinner. Lastly the food is way too overpriced. The quality of food isn't great and I'd had Iranian/Persian food before so I know what I'm talking about. Either way it was an experience my family and I laugh about and for that I'm giving it 2 star read more

Sadaf - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

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Food is excellent quality, great service. Place is located in the heart of downtown san diego. Family-friendly restaurant

I came here for lunch on a weekday and ordered the Lamb Shank. It was one of THE BEST Lamb Shanks I have ever had. It was, literally, a lamb shank that was placed in a square bowl of red broth. The meat was fall off the bone tender, seasoned very well, and the soup, despite being thin, was very hearty. It actually reminded me of Mexican birria. It also came with a side of basmati rice seasoned with dill and lima beans. It was tasty on its own, but a dash of sumac made it even tastier. All of this for $14 for lunch (though I think it's a few bucks more for dinner) made it a great deal. They also asked if I wanted bread before serving it, which I appreciated...because I don't always, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste. I think the owners were the ones who served me, and they were very nice and welcoming. The decor is elegant (but a little old fashioned), but it was very casual inside. I would come back anytime. read more

Sadaf - One of the Best Lamb Shanks ever, in richly flavored broth with tasty rice. - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

Having tried (what I believe to be) the best persian food in all the major cities in the US (LA, San Fran, Seattle, Dallas, VA/MD/DC, NYC, Chicago, ATL, Las Vegas, Miami/Ft Lauderdale) I'd say this place does just as well as the most familiar in the above cities but still can't touch Raffi's place in Glendale, CA... I came in Super Bowl sunday (after the game) and ordered a chicken w/ barberries (aka zereshk) and a soltani combo which consists of a skewer of filet mignon and a skewer of ground beef kabobs w/ rice. Disappointed they didn't have any crunchy rice (tadig), the cucumber yogurt sauce was clumpy and sort of sour (tasted homemade) but everything else I ate was delicious. I had a large amount of left over food which I took back and realized later the Marriott Marquis Marina didn't have refrigerators in the room....... Food was fantastic, service was just as good it almost worried me how fast the food came out. But 2-3 days later I didn't have any bubble guts so the food was safe!! read more

This place is so amazing! My friend and I had the Mediterranean salad with chicken and the flavors were sensational. We also had the saffron pistachio ice cream which was the best! 10/10 service thanks to Cyrus! read more

Sadaf - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Diego, California

Amazing service especially with Luke being an awesome server. Also appreciate the prices are reasonable with a lot of options on the menu!!

I had a private party for my sons graduation and we had the best experience. The service was amazing and their food especially their kabob was delicious. Will definitely be back! read more