Like most Yelpers mention, this spacious restaurant has lots of delicious and authentic selections for Afghan (and Persian!) dishes-- including the classic mantu, kabuli pulao, and more. You can tell everything is cooked with love and fresh ingredients. My best friend and I got the classics-- some mantu, pulao, shirazi salata and torshi. The lamb in the pulao was super juicy and tender, the mantu were supple, and torshi was perfectly pickled. Oh, they also have self-serve tea stations (a choice of green tea or black tea), which is a perfect end to the meal. The restaurant itself is clean and open, and the service is warm and friendly. We, Afghans, are known to be hospitable and welcoming, and this restaurant really embodies that. Anyone who walked through the entrance was deemed family. I seriously miss this place so much and I hope to be back soon! read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Qabeli Palaw, Mantu, Shirazi Salad, Torshi - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

If you're in the mood for a quiet halal place, I think this spot on Polk should meet your needs. The multi-page menu spans a lot of popular Afghani and Persian choices, especially variations on kabobs, curries, and wraps. They serve unique dishes like Qabeli Palaw (lamb rice with raisins) and Mantu (Afghani steamed dumplings in spicy yogurt sauce). They also recognize the need to serve food outside of their cultural specialties, so you can have a beef burger or a whole fried chicken, either one with fries of course. Believe me, I was tempted by the fried chicken, but it was probably a lot of food ($24) and kinda defeats the purpose of coming here. Know what I mean? Instead, I ordered the $20.99 Combo Tikka Kabob plate (Photo 9). It reminded me of yakitori with skewers of lamb and chicken tikka kabob charred along with a cherry tomato and a padron pepper. It came with basmati rice, one part plain, the other infused in saffron. I would've been satisfied with that, but I also added a $2.99 side of Afghani Naan still warm from the oven (Photo 10). My meal was filling and quite delicious. FOOD - 4 stars...savory tikka kabobs nicely executed AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...spacious enough and very quiet SERVICE - 4 stars...efficient and quiet TOTAL - 4 stars...if halal is on your mind RELATED - Exploring Nob Hill? Here's my collection of places I've patronized and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2IfTVOB read more

See all

Heard about this place so had to try it for myself. The food was great and service provided by Mr Hazrat was phenomenal. Will definitely be back next time were in the city. read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Lamb kobideh with qabeli palaw - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Afghan cuisine neighborhood restaurant (very similar to Persian cuisine) that is clean with good service and affordable prices. Pretty big menu with many selection of kebabs, rice dishes and other standard Afghan / Persian food. I've had the combo of kobideh kabob $21.00 (1 skewer beef & 1 skewer chicken) with rice, tomato and bread butter. Also I got an order of fries to go $3.50 As a matter of taste, it was good but also kinda plain in term of spices and seasonings. But taking into consideration, overall it was still a good value. Just don't set your expectation too high. read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Fries $3.50 - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Delicious Afghani food! Definitely a shareable meal that can be enjoyed with family and friends. The Qabeli Palaw, lamb cooked with special seasoned rice, with raisins and chopped carrots, was wonderful! The lamb was very tender! The Mantu is another Afghani dish to go for. Steamed dumplings stuffed with ground beef, onions, and spices served with yogurt sauce. Very authentic! The meal was filling we didn't have room for dessert. Highly recommend Se7enbuds for an authentic Afghani food! Our server was very nice, engaging, and attentive. read more

See all

I found this restaurant on Yelp's hot new restaurants feed! It's a great location along the Polk St bike lane at Polk and California--I picked up takeout lunch as I was biking there and there's a beautiful bike lane right outside the restaurant. I ordered the mantu--it was well-seasoned and filling, even though it was deceptively a small portion at first! I loved the bread it came with and also the vegetables. Service was wonderful and warm and friendly, and the interior was light, airy, and had lots of art and flowers at each table. The tea is great too! I'll be back to try more of their delicious Persian food, like I was eyeing their gyros. read more

See all

TBH, my original plan was to get food from Cordon Blue Vietnamese Restaurant, but they only take cash, and I left my wallet at home. Just a block away, I stumbled upon this new, well-lit restaurant shining bright. Their menu sounded intriguing, so I decided to go for the beef/lamb Gyro. When ordering (they take Apple Pay), they mentioned it's made with just beef, which I was totally fine with, so I patiently waited for about 10 minutes. Once I got home, I couldn't resist diving right into the fries. OMG!, they taste like McD fries, which I absolutely love! The Gyro itself was incredibly tasty, especially with the addition of the white sauce - it took it to another level. And of course, I asked for the hot sauce because I enjoy a bit of heat, and it was delicious. I'm already looking forward to going back soon and trying more items from their menu. Unexpected joy in every bite - this place has me hooked! read more

This place is so good. Like, phenomenal. The food is delicious, the staff are so kind and friendly, and I love the chill vibes. We always order the hummus, the rice/skewer platter and split it -- plenty of food! read more

Great afghan and Persian food. Delicious. I had the lamb curry. It was all meat cooked in special saucy with tomato, onion and spices. Super freaking good. My hubby ordered the whole chicken. A bit dry but it was well seasoned. Ordered the Bolani Bread. This was so good. The potato and tomato base were super delicious. Ed also ordered beans and bread, hummus, and extra bread. A feast for sure, but we wanted to sample the fare. Definitely, make it over to this place and give it a try. It won't disappoint! read more

Dear Se7enbuds Owner, Congratulations on your restaurant! It has so much potential, and I can see the care and effort behind the scenes. I truly wish you the best of luck in growing your business. As a former restaurateur (I won't claim to be an expert!), I'd love to offer a few friendly suggestions that I believe could make a big difference in customer experience--and potentially increase your traffic significantly: Add greens to your plates. Right now, most dishes are heavy on carbs and meat, but light on vegetables. This can make the plates feel a bit dry or unbalanced. Just a small portion of boiled green beans or another fresh vegetable would elevate the dish. Balance bread and carbs. If a plate already includes rice or fries, a single small piece of bread--ideally placed next to the meat--is more than enough. Tikka portion size. The meat in your tikka plates is cut very small, which might leave some customers feeling shortchanged--especially at a $20 average price point. A more generous portion (6-8 oz) with slightly larger cuts would feel more satisfying. Add sauce to meat dishes. Your green sauce is great, but not everyone knows to ask for it. Consider serving it automatically or offering another complementary sauce with meat dishes. Soup improvement. Simply serving a small piece of bread with your soups would make a great addition and enhance the overall value. Salad pricing. The Shirazi and green salads are quite small, so pricing them at $5.00 instead of $7.50 would likely encourage more people (like me!) to order them regularly. Torshi and cabbage pricing. Reducing these sides to $4.00 each would make them more appealing as regular add-ons. I share this feedback in the spirit of support--I really want to see Se7enbuds thrive. You're off to a strong start! Warm regards read more

cute little restaurant with great food and great service at great (sf) price! me and my two friends got dinner and caught up here, shared 2 kobideh plates + hummus + shirazi salad. great bites of freshness and flavor thru the shirazi salad, rice, and bites of pepper, onion, and tomato in between. read more

See all

Super tasty Iranian restaurant. The decor is really cute and inviting. The workers are super nice as well. We got fries, hummus, doogh, rice with barberries, chicken, lamb, and beef koobideh, doogh, and saffron ice cream. The kebabs were delicious and juicy. And the rice was so fluffy and addicting. Fries were also crisp. Saffron ice cream was refreshing. It was a lot to share between 2 people, but I really didn't want to leave leftovers because of how good it all was. I would gladly come back to support this business. The beef koobideh was probably the best tasting beef koobideh I've had. Reminded me of vietnamese beef sausages wrapped in betel leaves. read more

See all

Swung by on my way home to grab something for lunch. I got one of the best falafel sandwiches I've ever had. Delicious, nice and sour, yet a good savoury flavour, I would happily get this again. They appear to be doing a lot of delivery/take out business so service is going to be dependent on that, but it wasn't unreasonable. My only small complaint is the size of the serving wasn't what I was expecting. It was delicious but could have been a tad bigger to carry over as a full lunch. read more

Wow! This place is a find! This restaurant serves Afghan food, which is not a cuisine you normally get to try. We had two dishes: Qabeli Palaw and Muntu. The Qabeli Palaw is a huge piece of lamb on a bone (incredibly tender lamb) covered with seasoned rice, raisins and carrots. The lamb alone was amazing: fall of the bone tender, the type you find at truly top restaurants. It was delicious! The portion size was huge: it would have been enough to satisfy my wife and I for dinner. Our second dish, Muntu, was steamed dumplings stuffed with ground beef, onions and spices with a special yogurt sauce. This dish, too, had a incredible robust flavor. Again, it was a large portion. A side of freshly baked Afghan bread was served with both dishes along with a spicy green sauce in a separate small bowl. The two dishes were so big we took leftovers home and had them for breakfast the following day. There is complimentary tea available to have with your meal, which we enjoyed. The ambiance of this very clean, well lit restaurant is pleasant and relaxed. The owner, who served us, was wonderfully friendly. And lastly, the cost of the food was really, really reasonable: $20 for Qabeli Palaw and $19 for the Muntu. I don't live in San Francisco but if I did I would be going back on a regular basis. read more

See all

Excellent food! Everything was fresh and tasty! Generous portion for the prices! Friendly service! I like the bright dining room too! read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - chicken and beef kubideh combo - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Food was amazing and very clean environment, definitely will be coming back here. Service was perfect as well

Many tasty authentic Afghan / Persian dishes on the menu. Also items that children would enjoy. Quiet atmosphere and friendly and engaging staff made it an enjoyable experience. My Afghan friends loved it, spending a couple of hours there in the mid-afternoon. read more

Great tasty options. Reasonable prices. very friendly service! Casual ambiance. Great for a quick dinner when in town on business.

Absolutely fantastic restaurant. Highly recommended!!! The food is so good and authentic. Can't beat the service as well. The ash was great, the bolani just right and the kabobs are the best. Can't wait to come back! read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Bolani and Ash - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

This is a wonderful restaurant! The food is fresh and delicious with lots of flavor. The staff here is very friendly! I also enjoyed the complimentary hot tea bar with green tea and black tea. The restaurant itself is very nice and clean. If you're hungry or looking to try Afghan food this is the place to come too!! Highly recommend!! read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Combo Tikka Kabob - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Great food at low prices. The Qabeli Palaw is my favorite, but there is an assortment of great dishes and tapas here. The service is great, and it is a low-key ambiance in a relaxing setting. Definitely would recommend if you want an affordable bite in the heart of the city. read more

All the food at this restaurant is delicious, but the mantu and veggie sambosi are absolutely the best

A healthy, fresh and welcome Afghan food addition to SF. I tried the combo koobideh kabob, which comes with one ground chicken and one ground beef, served with a side of rice. The kabobs were seasoned well and tasty. The chicken was a tad bit dry, but overall I'd still recommend it, as I think they are still dialing in their process. This dish was reasonably priced at $21. I also tried a side of beans (kidney, in a rich tomato-base sauce), which is a heaping bowl served with bread for $9. While these were good, the portion was quite large and I would have appreciated a smaller, cheaper option as this was just a side dish. I also ordered a side of "yogurt" thinking it would be like a tahini, but instead was a very large bowl of what appeared to be straight sour cream. Honestly, the portion is way too large as a side (and somehow only $2?), but I appreciated the creamy counter-balance to the meat. I might go for the garlic option next time. Overall, a solid meal! read more

See all

This is a new Restaurant on POLK STREET. It's very clean the staff is Friendly and the food is very good. The tea is free and the big surprise Is their delicious AFGHAN ICE CREAM A MUST GET DESERT! read more

This restaurant is a hidden gem. The owner of the restaurant is very friendly and welcoming. I asked him for a side of fries and he was very accommodating even though it wasn't technically on the menu. The fries were super delicious - like one of the other reviewers said. The lamb kebabs were super good and the portion size was very large. I'm not sure what they put in their rice but it tastes amazing. Looking forward to coming back again. read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Absolutely terrible restaurant I ordered one lamb rib and it was 4 small rib on my portion for $35. It was not tasty and it's not absolutely Persian restaurant. It might be an Afghani restaurant which I don't know the taste but absolutely not Persian restaurant.why they wrote Persian restaurant!!!! read more

The service in here was so sweet and the food was delicious. The music is also very soothing. We had the shirazi salad, the combo kobideh kabob (with chicken and beef), qabeli palaw (per the recommendation), some regular yogurt and naan. My favorite was the bolani, a yummy savory potato and cilantro pancake, and the mantu, traditional Afghan dumplings. All around lovely and enjoyable experience. Attached is a photo of the feast :}. Thank you Se7enbuds! read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Qabeli Palaw, Mantu, Shirazi Salad, Naan, Yogurt, Combo Kobideh Kabob, Bolani - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

This new restaurant on Polk is authentic, has big portions, and the staff are so kind. We ordered the combo kobideh plate and karahi chicken, which came with delicious bread. For dessert, we got the saffron ice cream which was also amazing! Will definitely be back read more

See all

Went here with my family and honestly, everything was amazing! The food was super delicious, the service was great, and everyone was so kind and friendly. The place has a really nice traditional vibe that made us feel right at home. Definitely a spot I'd recommend--can't wait to come back! read more

Good Food nice servers Had to walk a short mile to eat here ! But worth the walk Liked free tea after we ate.

Stumbled into this restaurant while waiting for a friend tonight and ended up having a really good and tasty dinner. I ordered the mix platter with chicken and lamb. They have really big rice servings and the proteins were tender and moist. I got a garlic dipping sauce on the side and it made the taste even better. The server was really nice and attentive. There was not a lot of people when k ate there earlier, not sure how the crowd is on a later time but definitely good food. read more

Se7enbuds Restaurant - Combo plate with chicken and lamb - Persian/Iranian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Delicious food and phenomenal service! Would definitely recommend to all friends & family. We ordered a lot and everything was 10/10 read more

See all

I strongly recommend you come try this establishment ASAP!! They just opened two weeks ago and have some of the best food on polk street with an incredibly affordable price! As soon as I came in I felt so welcome and wanted, rather than ordering take out I decided to stay and eat. The owner was incredibly kind and they have serve yourself tea too. Everything is made fresh and in shop too. Couldn't recommend supporting a local and small business more :)). Not to mention the food is incredible! I am vegetarian and it is very friendly for me, but the meat options also look amazing! The afghani bread is seriously some of the best bread I've ever had too, made in store and perfectly. read more

See all

We had chicken and lamb tikka kebabs and chicken kobideh . Lamb was ok, kind of overcooked but chicken kobideh was flavorful and highly recommend. Bread with butter is so good. They give free tea too. read more

I have been there for the first time. The kobideh kebab and Chenje kebab were so delicious, juicy. It has been very clean. I do recommend to try it especially the best Persian and Afghan food have been found in the restaurant. read more

Good addition to the neighborhood! Food is tasty, décor is new/clean/well-lit, and staff is friendly. Everything so far has been fresh and flavorful. Would recommend the kebabs/koobideh, but plan to go back and try some other Afghan specialties. Always better to eat in the restaurant, but sounds like they also deliver through most of the apps. read more

Best customer service restaurant is very clean. Food was delicious. Presentation was awesome. Price wasn't that bad at all

Came here for dinner and it was sooo tasty! I got the koobideh and the bolani (was so good with yogurt too) and both were delicious and exceeded my expectations! read more

I recently dined at Se7enbuds, and it was nothing short of amazing. From the moment I walked in, the ambiance set the tone for a fantastic meal -- cozy yet modern with a welcoming vibe that immediately made me feel at home. The menu is full of creative dishes that blend bold flavors in ways I hadn't experienced before. I opted for their signature dish, and I was blown away by the combination of fresh, high-quality ingredients and perfectly balanced spices. Each bite was an explosion of flavor. The staff was attentive without being intrusive, and their recommendations were spot on. The attention to detail, both in the food and the service, really made this a memorable dining experience. If you're looking for a place that offers delicious, innovative food in a relaxed setting, Se7enbuds is the perfect choice. I can't wait to go back and explore more of their menu! read more

Excellent afghan dinner- highly recommend the combination plates so you can try a smattering of every kabob (chicken, lamb, beef). Recommend the Bolani as a solid appetizer, not too oily like some of the other bolanis out there. Awesome tea with cardamom served on site while you wait for pickup or dine in. Ample space and seating to accommodate a small group and open till 10 which is a plus! (Also looks like they have extended hours on weekends- definitely worth a visit if you're seeking afghan cuisine in SF) read more