Zalla Afghan Grill

If you are the only person in the restaurant standing next to the register and the waiter passes back and forth in front of you, don’t expect to be helped until after a Muslim family comes in several minutes after you, is seated, served water and you subsequently ask if you can get any service.

We’ve only had take out (twice) and let me tell you the food was awesome both times. This was our first experience with Afghani food and we were really impressed. I wish we had tried them sooner :)

Wow. The pumpkin lavash were sweet and delicious — especially when paired with spicy sauce.
The qabuli pallow was amazing (lamb, rice, carrots and raisins) Probably the tastiest lamb that I have ever had (growing up in the uk we are a lot of lamb/​mutton). The rice was perfectly textured, super flavorful and the lamb just did off the bone. Wow again.
I’ll be back for more.

The food here is crave-​worthy. I have tried the aushak, mantu, bolanni, chicken/​beef tikah/​lamb/​shami kabobs, qabuli pallow, firnee — all flavorful, tender, and delicious with generous portions. I love the spicy torshi dip on everything.
Service is casual and warm. Once, when my sister’s meal was going to take longer than the rest of our party’s, we were given a (large) free appetizer to share. This place is great for a weeknight meal because there’s plenty of seating, it’s quiet, and the lighting is dimmed down.
But the food. that’s what I shall return for. :)

We went there for lunch. There was only one other table with a few patrons. We were seated right away… The lady working was on the phone… After about 5 min we asked could we get the lunch special menu please and water. The water came and there were floating particles. While waiting two people showed up and were seated nearby. They ordered and their food showed up before ours. When I food finally arrived the people at my table were annoyed… And then we took a bite! Screw the crappy service screw the muggy water the food is delicious! So much flavor good portion sizes. Sooo tasty! We will go back for sure!

3.5 Stars!
We really enjoy Afghani food, and this is the fourth restaurant we have tried. We regularly go to the Afghan restaurant in Concord just because it’s just closer to where we live, but Zalla Grill is also delicious.
The dining room is spacious, clean and, actually, feels a tad bit upscale with the tables covered in cloth. The only problem is that it is pretty chilly inside, so sit by the space heater if you can.
We ordered the Chapli, Shami and Chicken Challow. All were hot, flavorful and hearty. We especially loved the fluffy, long grained rice. The small side of salad is fresh and nicely dressed in a tangy, minty vinaigrette.
They do serve bread as you wait for your meal, but it’s a bit dry so I skipped it.
We will definitely return!

As an Afghani, I would only visit again if someone else really wanted to and they were paying for it. At the outset, they openly took my reservation for 6. But when we were seated my maroon table cloth was dirty, it had a white-​ish strain on it. Next, I ordered a bolani to start. It took about 20 minutes to come out. I will credit that the bolani was delicious. Next, we ordered the following plates: Mantu, Chapli kabob, Beef kabob and Kabuli with Lamb Shank. First of all, the inside of the mantu was cold so it was not fresh and tasty. The chapli kabob tasted like red pepper spice and nothing else. The kabob was so spicy that I sent the plate back. It was not edible for a normal taste palate and not authentic to Afghani Chapli kabob spice. When the beef kabob arrived, it was also pretty spicy. The beef was not flavored and dry. The rice accompanying the plates was hard and dry. Finally, the Kabuli with shank was a very small portioned plate. There was barely any rice on the plate. Also, the meat was tougher than expected. We did not have desert. All in all my party and I were pretty dissatisfied and will not likely return.

Just found this place. Oh my God this is good food. I had a kabob combo and the chicken was perfect. I mean perfect. The beef was awesome.
If you have never tried this place, you will love it. If you seen it driving by and not sure about it. Just take a chance, and it may be your favorite place.
I truly think that this is going to be added to my favorite family meal places.
I look forward to getting to know everyone that works there.

The quality and consistency has gone down significantly. The portions have gotten smaller, the meats aren’t seasoned as well as before, they often get phone orders wrong… It’s getting disappointing, especially since this was our favorite place for quite a while, eating here at least 1 – 2 times a week. We hope they pick it back up.

Just wow! It looks like I’ve found my new favorite spot around Pittsburg-​Concord area. Every dish we have ordered was amazing, can’t explain enough how much I like their meat. And, yes, it was the best baklava I’ve tried in my life.
Coming back again to try more of their dishes!

What a wonderful hidden treasure! The staff was friendly and prompt I ordered to go items that were absolutely delicious! Highly recommend support this delicious hidden treasure! Love the chicken kabob and rice and bread and salad!

We came rolling in with a party of 20+ totally unreserved and gave no prior notice (apologies!) But the staff — owner and daughter, handled this huge party very gracefully. They systematically took our orders in 2’s or 6’s to create an easier way to divide the bill.
Forgive me, but I forgot the name of the dish I ordered. I do know that it was a lamb shank hidden under a bed of brown rice, raisins, and carrots. The most delicious $ 12.50 I have ever spent. Each meal comes with naan and yogurt. And the portion size of the order is huge.
The interior of the restaurant is cozy, clean, and elegant.
Thank you Clayton for having a hidden gem like Zalla Afghan Grill. I’ll be bringing my friends!

The spinach lamb shank entrée was astounding. The pudding for dessert was likewise astounding. Our waiter was efficient and extremely friendly and the service was totally acceptable. The prices are extremely affordable and will allow me to have dinner at this fine restaurant more than once a month. The entrée was so delicious that I want to try every single item on the menu.

Usually I drive to Berkeley and Oakland for ethnic food but this place was a pleasant surprise for Concord. Everything I ordered was delicious from the eggplant, chicken curry and the mantu steamed beef dumplings. I ordered their food for takeout so I cannot comment on the service. Their food however was excellent and fresh and I would come here again!

Been here multiple times. Food and service is always terrific! Perfect place to go when you are in the mood for something different, filling and yummy! They do catering too!

Iv been eating middle eastern food my whole life and have to say this place is truly home made food. The owner is a sweet heart. They gave me samples of different items freshly prepped to try as i was waiting for my food. It doesn’t get any better than this. Im very surprised people have complaints about this restaurant. If their were more stars to give id give more!
For the appetizer i had the freshly baked potato bolani, with house yogurt dipping sauce and 2 kinds of spicy sauce’s.
Definitely try the lawan chalow if you like curry. It’s not spicy, but its very flavorful.
I also had to order kabuli! The lamb shank covered with brown rice with carrots and raisins melted in my mouth. The lamb shank was prepped to where it was slidding off the bone. It was simply delicious.
I recommend trying this place for yourself to taste it for yourself!

Seriously I’m not sure why this place has a lot of good reviews. I’ve been to many Paki/​Indian restaurants and this is my least favorite.
First of all, the food it is not the best. My husband and I ordered the Beef Kabob and the Lawan Shallow. The beef kabob plate had a better flavor than the other dish I have to say. The Lawan Shallow tasted sour and plain at the same time. It wasn’t good and it didn’t taste like Middle Eastern food at all.
The second thing that really disappointed me was that the portions were awfully small… like seriously though. Very small.
What made me really mad was that I asked the guy what size the beef kabob was and he said it was a lot of beef. This is was my husband’s plate and it literally looked like a kids size meal. If we knew it was that small, we would have order more food. It looked like beef scrubs.
I don’t recommend this place to anyone and I would not be coming back here. I’m not trying to be hateful and I usually go easy on restaurants. However, I’ve been to many Middle Eastern restaurants around the bay just because I LOVE this kind of food. This place is the worst!

We odered the beef kabob and dumplings. The beef Kabab was too dry for my taste, rice a little oily, with over dressed salad. The dumplings were soft and with layers of flavor. We ordered baklava for dessert it was wonderfully sweet, soft and chewy. Different than the baklava I have had in the past which is flaky with lots of nuts. I prefer Didar down the street but it was a good place to try, don’t know if we will be back.

Food is just amazing. The rice is the tastiest I’ve had in ages. The kabobs are phenomenal, juicy and tasty. Service is slow. Every time I’ve gone there, I had to ask for the bill, otherwise I’m afraid they’ll never fetch it.
5*s for the food
3*s for service
5*s because the food keeps me returning. :)

The lawan challow is so good that my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I haven’t been able to order anything else here. My husband has tried a few things — my favorite of his has been the talapia (quite delicious). I normally like mantu a lot, but I think I enjoy their Aushak better. (I hope some people aren’t put off by the names — I’m as pale as a ghost, but this is perfect for my palate!)
I really think the owners and waiters are very generous. The first time we came hear, one woman couldn’t stop bringing us things to try (free of charge). The next time, the waiter overhead me mentioning that I was curious what the borta tasted like, so he just brought me some — again, free of charge. They’re so generous here — and they don’t even need to be! Just that lawan challow would bring me back over and over.