Shishkabob Express

First time here. Their food tasted incredibly good and fresh. They say it’s cooked without MSG and I totally believe it. Brought my dad who is usually a picky eater and he loved it too. Definitely coming back!

Great lunch buffet. Good food, food is always prepped in small portions to ensure freshness. The staff is super friendly.

Despite having the rare dinner buffet in the area, this place was not worth the trip. Walked in just after 6 pm on a Friday night, to what appeared to be a full buffet — cold middle eastern salads, ground chicken/​beef kofta, tandoori/“spicy” chicken and different curries and the standard chick peas and spinach. All the hot items had lids over them, so we had assumed that everything would stay hot and was fresh — not the case. All the food was cold and we had to wait for fresh items to be brought out. There was no one else in the restaurant the entire time we were there. The place is completely self serve– no one even stops by to take your plates. You are better off to go somewhere else to get something hot and made to order despite being a bit more expensive.

Came in to have a lunch with friends, and We were very satisfied with the food and the price of buffet. The food was delicious, there was beef, chicken, hummus etc etc. The thing that bothered us was the cashier behind the counter. She was very dull.

It’s a family friendly restaurant. The lady in the front is friendly, helpful and always greets me with a smile. I have been to this restaurant over 200 times at least with family, neighbors, friends, clients and acquaintances. The selection of food is amazing. This place has a range of Greek, Moroccan, Iranian, Lebanese, Indian, Pakistani and Turkish dishes. That combination of dishes is great. On the other hand the speed they re-​stock up the plates with the chicken and meat kabobs is lightning fast. It’s the Kabob Palace of Fairfax!!!

I do like this place. finding open buffet with these prices is not easy thing to find in Fairfax. i like the variety of food recipes starting from salad, rice and chicken grills. The yogurt is so good. The lady who does the customer service is so nice and friendly

This is some of the best quality food I’ve eaten. The people working there are super friendly. You get a LOT to eat, all you can eat. The bread is nothing less than excellent. Peaceful place. I only wish the place was closer to where I live!

To be able to find a Mediterranean buffet is hard but a good one is even more difficult. With choices like chicken kabob, tabbouleh and salad it provides great option for the health conscious.

Came in for the buffet on a quiet Sunday with a credit on my phone. Turns out, they preferred to have been printed, but still honored it.
Pretty good, unsurpising buffet with many options.

Great food, all you can eat, very reasonably priced, and the owner and staff were very friendly. I would definitely come back. The humus and tzatziki were creamy and delicious. The chicken was well seasoned and tender.

FOOD
+ The tandoori chicken! Actually among the best I’ve ever had.
+ Huge selection for vegetarians.
+ I’ve never had dill rice before, but OMG it was so good.
+ The hummus was oh-​so-​garlicky and I loved it!
~ All the other meat options (a total of 4) were solid but not as amazing as the tandoori chicken.
~ The bread would have been nice if it was served hot to order. Otherwise, cold and a little tough (perhaps this is a difference in flatbread style that I’m not familiar with)
— No baba ganoush or eggplant dip! Honestly baba ganoush is 80% of the reason I go to these places. So if they’d delivered a decent eggplant dip they probably would have gotten a 4 stars from me, easy.
— Some weird things like what seemed like canned corn and beets. Whaaa?
SERVICE
— Pretty non-​existent given the serve-​yourself approach. You get your own utensils and plates, and (this was unusual for me) you put away your own utensils and plates. The latter was not intuitive (I had to watch the regulars do it), and the collection bin was overfilled over the trash can, so that you had to carefully balance your dishware on top of the already jenga’d tower of dishware. Not a good or clean situation.
ATMOSPHERE
~ The preparedness and greenness of the offerings plus the huge selection and an ice cream machine lands the atmosphere somewhere between… a Chinese buffet and a grocery salad bar… But leans towards buffet because people stick around (a pretty good lunch crowd it seems!) and there’s a TV on in the background.
Not sure if I would come back here, but my mom loved this place and wants to bring my vegetarian sister out here.

I will NEVER eat from this place again (Like EVER)!
We ordered a lamb kabob meal (made from the back) and one buffet (because it had Kubideh and Chicken)…bad mistake.
Everything on the buffet was gross, case in point the spinach tasted tin-​ny (obviously a cheap brand from a can) and the Hummus was awful… who messes up hummus??? It really tasted like they mixed chick peas with rubbing alcohol and called it hummus.
If anyone tells you this place is good or worth the hefty price they are crazy, the food is downright gross!!!
You have been warned.

I went to this kabob place as I was searching for an atypical dinner. I was bored and wanted a new spot. I came to this place and was a bit reluctant at first. The facility isn’t great in my opinion. It’s small and sort of fast food like set up. Oh but wait! The food is very good and full of flavor. The variety is excellent. The spicy chicken and lamb was my favorite. The chic peas and spinach close second. I had the buffet and ordered an entrée to go. The price was great for the amount of food. One downer was the bread. It wasn’t that great. However, I did show up 15 min prior to closing. Sorry so I suspect the food would be even better if I go earlier. The cashier/​waitress was very kind and helpful. I will be back with a friend next time and plan to try more items.

I think it’s a good value for lunch and the owners are very friendly. I thought the shish was great, and constantly kept coming out of the kitchen. The rice/​fava pilau is awesome, as was the chick pea dish. I would have liked the flatbread to be warm, though. Rice pudding was yummy. Salads were obviously very fresh. Sumac on the table, too.

Shishkabob Express deserves a lot more credit than it makes itself out to be, based on décor and view from the outside. It’s a bit tricky to spot from Lee Hwy since it’s snugged on the inside corner of the strip mall.
I have only tried their lunch buffet and am sold! For $ 10, you can enjoy good quality meat kabobs that are made fresh and juicy. Can’t beat that! There is a delicious variety of hummuses and salad for the health-​conscious. Recently, they’ve added a soft-​serve machine. I’m glad this hidden gem is so close to home. I will definitely be back!

My uncle took my family there for the lunch buffet. Think the selection is pretty good for the price. I was surprised the kabobs and chicken were cooked fresh for the buffet. Fresh salad and really nicely seasoned hummus was great too.
Definitely try the grape leaves, they were my favorite part :)

Walked in on a Wednesday night. It was dead. LOL The buffet is huge with many items. Including KABOB, Lamb, chicken. The salad was fresh, almost like a Greek style salad with feta, tomatoes et., The Kabob on the buffet tasted a bit old, but the lady brought out some fresh KABOB. Service was great! All traditional Persian/​Afghani food items, chick peas, dolma etc., ALl was great, Dinner was a bit more pricey than lunch buffet. Even so I will return on a empty stomach. Thanks SHISHKABOB EXPRESS !!

Taset 5
Variety of food 3
Service 4
Cleaness 5
parking place 4
The place if hard to find

Highly recommend going during the lunch buffet. The food is freshly made and there’s always a fresh batch of food every minute. Everything was delicious! The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Message to the owner! Please try to reach or answer me,
Your prices and variety are amazing but the quality is not! Beef kabob, is taste very bad till you put a lot of salt! It’s not grilled! I don’t know how you cook it but it’s not grilled or you didn’t grill it well!
Chicken kabobs taste very bad till you put lots of salt, it’s not just unsalted, it tastes bad!
Please fix those two points because I really love your place& service and will definitely give 5 stars next time, thanks