Deezi Cafe

Costumer service is a joke here.
Hair in the food.
Aged food and rice are being served with unprofessional preparation.
My last day story there:
The young waitress (with dark lip stick etc) came with lots of strange wound on both of the hands, all over hands. I was scared of a severe illness. I lost my appetite and I was scared so I left there without touching anything. I was not brave (or stupid) enough to go back again.

Im always looking for a good Koobideh, so I seek out Iranian restaurants. The Koobideh here is decent as is the rice. I think the tahdig was unfortunately not crispy enough. Staff is small, well meaning. Drove by recently and it looks like they are closed.

HAIR in FOOD TWICE
I ate at this café half a dozen times. The food was o.k. but what brought me back was the hospitality. A free appetizer to go along with my entrée-​a nice touch. It has a home style feeling, relaxed atmosphere… maybe too relaxed…
On a recent visit, I ordered the beef joojeh and found hair in it. It was a long, black, kinky hair-​no mistake that it came from someone other than myself. It was cooked into the beef. When I brought it to their attention, the son of the owner just looked at it like it was impossible that it was their mistake and dismissed the incident by giving me my check. I rationalized O.K. mistakes happen, paid the bill and left.
Several days later (August 31, 2012), I went back in and ordered the beef joojeh and while I was chewing, i got that sensation, the one you know you have a hair in your mouth and you’re trying to use your tongue to find it? The daughter of the owner was just about to refill my water when she asked if something was wrong as I had my fingers in my mouth trying retrieve the piece of hair. It was several inches long, black and kinky… perfect match for any of the three family members who work there.
Feeling totally disgusted, I just said I was done. She said she was sorry and I politely replied that I was sorry as well. I knew from that point on that I would never return.
The place in my opinion, the restaurant is unsanitary. If I found hair in my food twice on two separate visits… what else could be in it?

I have mixed feelings about Deezi Café. The food is definitely good here however I was quite disappointed with the Ultimate Kebab Special. We had a fairly large group and I felt the portions were not enough for us given the price. I don’t really have any complaints about the actual food though but honestly I was expecting more. I loved the dessert we had though, the ice cream was different than what I was expecting but it was great.
Service here was good and I enjoyed all the decorations. Although when it comes down to it, our group would probably have had a better experience somewhere else and it wouldn’t have been as expensive.

Meh. Now, it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten here (I’m going through and posting reviews for the new year, often using the reviews I wrote for *myself* so I remember the places I liked and what I didn’t like about the restaurants).
Nobody (there were 5 of us) was impressed with the food. It wasn’t BAD, but it wasn’t that memorable either. We asked for suggestions and the guy at the counter suspiciously recommended the most expensive things on the menu. When I’d ask the difference between 2 or 3 kebobs (one of them the most expensive one, that he recommended) all we’d get is «the one I recommended is so much better:» with no detail on why or what made it different.
Not much ambiance, mediocre food (the one time I went) and it’s a bit expensive. It’s not surprising we’ve never been back.
{I’m almost caught up reviewing the restaurants I’ve eaten at in 2011.}

This small little café is located in the shopping center where Walgreens and Fresh and Easy is around the corner. Since the Japanese place I was going to eat at was closed, I decided to give this place a try. I’m glad that I did as this place has some of the BEST Persian food that I’ve had in awhile!
I got the Shiraz salad I think. It’s a tomato and cucumber salad and the portion was generous and good. I also got a huge complimentary piece of freshly baked naan bread. It was soft and thick on the edges and thin and crispy in the middle. It came with a piece of cheese, onions, mint, and butter. For the entrée, I got the koobideh beef which was amazing! The two pieces of meat were very tender and cooked perfectly. It came with lots of rice and grilled tomato’s.
The service was good and fairly fast. I left feeling full but not over stuffed. I loved that there were two beds inside there with pillows. How cool! Every place should have a bed to rest in after you eat or while you wait for your meal, lol! Parking here is plentiful and they do have lunch specials.

I really should have listened to the suggestions, but I couldn’t help it. When visiting a new joint, I order and try new things… OBViOUSLY. it’s what keeps life interesting.
Major. Persian. FAIL.
I ordered the Tahdig. It should be called a hot mess.
Described as crispy rice topped with ghaimeh or gormeh sabzi topping, this dish failed to deliver on key word: crispy. You know that rice you cook in college? The kind that gets stuck at the bottom of the rice maker that you have scrape and throw out? I ate that. Sure it had a flavorful sauce, but it didn’t excuse the chew factor. I should have ordered the kebab. It smelled good, it looked good, and it probably tasted better than the 5 year old cooking experiment i was eating.
Clearly, order the suggested menu item… if not, you may be wishing for a side of butter and naan bread.

When it comes to challenges and stepping out of our comfort zone, Americans tend to take the easy way out. This is why we continue to consume fatty fast food, sugary soft drinks, and watch IQ-​dropping movies such as Fast Five.
The same mentality applies when it comes to Mediterranean food such as Italian, Greek, and Persian cuisine as it tends to be bland, boring, and flavorless. But to wannabe (idiot) foodies, it offers the opportunity to eat «exotic» food without ever challenging their limited palettes.
A true lover of international cuisine knows that best Latin-​American cuisine comes from Mexico. Likewise, the best Middle Eastern food comes from Afghanistan. But people tend to stick with what is safe or what they are used to, so they opt to eat (the usually bland) Persian cuisine. That doesn’t mean that Persian cuisine is always terrible. In fact, it can be quite good. But since it lacks distinctive flavor and spice, the only way for it to stand out and truly be delicious is with the freshest of ingredients. In hip hop terms, it needs to be «fresh to def.»
For the most part, the Deezi Café prepares their dishes with the freshest of ingredients. So it proved to be a nice little date night meal for La Novia and me. Let’s break down the meal from start to finish.
Bread: The complimentary bread is made fresh and served hot and fluffy. It comes with some feta, butter, basil, and raw onion to add flavor. Persian cuisine seems to feature a lot raw onion. This can lead to some major dragon breath. But I guess in a country such as Iran that does have arranged marriages, bad kissing due to a funky breath isn’t really a deal breaker, huh?
Bread Rating: 5 stars.
Shirazi Salad: I ordered this salad for us to share. It was okay and featured tomato, (way too much) onion, cilantro, and lime juice. All of it was fresh, but was essentially «Pico de Gallo» salsa with no jalapeño. I told you Persian cuisine is bland. At $ 4.99, it seemed a bit steep for a salsa that usually given away at Mexican restaurants.
Shirazi Salad Rating: 3 stars.
Ultimate Kabob Special: For $ 28.99, you receive a plate full of kabob goodness with four kabobs, 3 roasted tomatoes, 2 raw onion sides, and some basmati rice. It features two long koobideh (ground beef) kabobs, one chenjeh (sirloin steak), and one jenjeh (chicken breast or thigh) kabob. Personally, I’m a breast man.
Bad-​dum-​cha!
Hello? Is this thing on?
Anyway, the koobideh is soft, tender, and delicious. The chenjeh was some of the best chicken kabob I have ever tasted. La Novia was delighted with every bite. Unfortunately, the chenjeh kabob was lackluster and disappointing. It was really chewy, bland, lacking distinctive flavor, and far from fresh. Of our entire meal, this was the only item or ingredient was not fresh. It was put off to the side and eventually fed to my sister’s Dalmatian. She spit it out too.
By the way, this plate is recommended for a parties of 4 or more. Of course, La Novia ate for half a person and ate for three and a half. When it came to the koobideh and jenjeh kabobs, I was like Britney Spears during her mid 2000s fat phase: Gimme gimme more! Gimme! Gimme gimme!
Ultimate Kabob Special Rating: 4 stars.
Baklava and Persian Tea Rating: To settle the meal, we had some Persian tea and shared a small piece of baklava. The little pastry was delicious, but the tea was even better. It was strong and filled with a pleasant aroma. And it was fun to drop real sugar cubes into my teeth as opposed to packets of fake sweetener. Gross.
Baklava and Persian Tea Rating: 4.5 stars (Baklava 4 stars and Persian Tea 5 stars)
Overall, the service from Kevin was top notch. All of the food was made fresh to order and with a smile. It was fun to kick back, relax, and enjoy was some Persian music videos on the HDTV. Since I was trying (and succeeding) at pronouncing the dishes correctly, the owner thought I was Iranian. La Novia politely informed him of the truth by joking:
«While he looks like a beautiful Shirazi dish, El Novio is more of a Pico de Gallo. He brings his own level of spiciness. Just the way I like it.»
I was ready to kiss her. But I realized I had raw onion all on my breath.
That’s hot.

I met up with my cousin who was visiting town and we randomly selected this restaurant off of Unilocal.What a delight!
We were given prompt, pleasant service once we entered the restaurant. I ordered the joojeh kabab and my cousin ordered the ghormeh sabzi. Both were excellent, and had a home-​cooked feel to the dishes. Portions were large enough for a hefty appetite, but you could finish the plate and not have a food coma. There was traditional Iranian music playing in the background, but it wasn’t loud enough to ruin any conversation.
The server checked on us periodically, but not too much as to annoy you. She also did not rush us. One of my pet peeves is when a restaurant clears your plates immediately after you look like you’ve finished your last spoonful. She waited until we asked for the check and then began to clear the table.
After asking for the check, we were offered dessert which we politely declined. Even still, we were brought after-​dinner hot tea on the house!
A great experience from a place hidden away in a strip mall.

I used to order from them every week for my engineers for the evening dinners. The owner is really sweet and he took care of us at Montalvo. We’ve used him for catering offsite. They even brought out the grills and made everything onsite at the park.

I came here on a Saturday night with a group of 10. I think they need a little bit more help in terms of service (my order never came).
But forget service– we were a huge group. Let’s focus on food.
A pro– you can come here late at night, which is HUGE for young Iranians who love to party.
A con– there is better Persian food in the area, but this may not matter much to you if it is 1 am and you want some persian food!!!

We came here on a Saturday around 4pm and the place was pretty empty. There were a few people sitting on one of those weird bed things but my BF and I were the only ones sitting at a table. It was a little awkward since the beds face the tables so it was like those people were sitting there watching us which I wasn’t too fond of. I think if there would’ve been other diners there then it wouldn’t have been odd.
The waitress was awkward too. She didn’t ask if we wanted drinks so we just asked for water. She was nice just awkward. We ordered koobideh & chicken koobideh. They bring out this great bread, cheese, onion, butter & mint thing which is really good. The food came out and the portion was pretty big. We split both dishes between us. The BF really liked the chicken koobideh it was surprisingly really tender & juicy. The koobideh was really good as well — in fact I preferred it. Their rice was cooked perfectly as well.
This place is really good — better then Negeen in my opinion and I really like Negeen.
If you want to try some awesome persian food come here. I would’ve given 5 stars if the meal wasn’t so awkward between the odd bed/​couch thing & the waitress.

Food was delicousss! I had the cornish hen kabob and it was really tender and well done.
I feel like somehow their service was lacking? Or something… The place wasn’t packed and the waitress didn’t hustle to serve me and my friend. She just kind of walked around leisurely, and we had to ask for the menu, and serve ourselves water.
Décor is cute and I think it’d be really fun to sit on one of those giant cushion things next time XD
**edit: Haha well the owner was very very nice and emailed to inquire about when we went to eat etcetc. I am impressed. :) Props!

I love you DeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeZi!
This is our go-​to Persian spot from now on!
The service and hospitality here is top notch and the place never gets super packed so you get seated right when you walk in.
I really really really enjoy the freshly made Naan here. Especially when you sit down and the naan comes out with mint leaves, raw onion and butter. Sounds weird, but it’s like our new fave thing! Super yum when you make it into a naan sammich. :)
I also love ordering their tea. It’s very very delicious and has a different taste than most teas, a bit stronger I would say.
The last time I was here I ordered a lamb shank soup I believe. And the cook came out with it and started smashing the meat for me to add to my soup. Super crazy! But the SBBF and I love that kinda stuff. The more authentic the better!
The waiters also keep bringing out more fresh naan with your entrée too. So you definitely will leave with your jeans unzipped, cuz yo ass can’t breathe after all that food.
If you’re in Saratoga and you wanna try really amazing Persian grub, you best be hittin up this joint and quick!

Hospitality is what they should name this restaurant as. This is a fine example of Persian hospitality along with excellent food.
I went there with my family (wife and 2 kids) and we were treated like a Royal family. The owner just fed us with different types of breads and he served my soup and even squashed it for us.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for different food to eat. It’s simply the best!!!

The Koubidah was the best I’ve ever had. I know that this is Michelle V’s and my new spot for «Persian» food.
I really wish that people would stop using Persian… I mean there is no more Persia, it’s been a dead ethnicity for too long… Let’s just call it what it really is. Middle Eastern Cuisine, because no matter where you go in the Middle East. Be it Saudi Arabia, or Iran, or Afghanistan the cuisine all has some of the same in each… And they all taste good!
Bonus to this spot is the fresh bread. Oh man that ish was GOOD! And when you get the eggplant purée appetizer and you put that on the bread, total SCORE!
We’re definitely going to be going back here again real soon!

Deezi Café was surprisingly good. Now I know of two great restaurants in this hard to find plaza. The portions are amazing here. The koobideh was deliciously tender. The chicken was a teeny bit dry, but great flavor. They didn’t scrimp on the rice (altho they charge $ 2 for it), and meal came w/​grilled tomatoes, which Rose Supermarket charges for. I still like the rice at Rose Supermarket better, but it may be because that’s where i was first introduced to Persian food.
The flatbread here is soft and warm. We also ordered the eggplant appetizer, Mirzagazemi. Not sure if I’d order it again, since it didn’t add much flavor, but not bad and it came with feta cheese.
It was interesting watching them make the kabobs, interacting with all the persian customers, and seeing how the soup is served in this contraption where you mash the the soup yourself (i’m not too sure what they ordered).
You get your own water here, and no indiviual menus (at least we never got any). The person who was combination server/​cashier/​waiter seemed friendly in between frantically getting to all the tables. Oh, and our first flatbread had a hair baked in it. *sigh* happens to the best of them.
Food: 4 stars
Service: 2 (for the amount of $, I’d like a lil more personal service)
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3.75 stars

3. 4
My first dining experience at a Persian restaurant! The pictures of the food on the outside of the restaurant looked good. Came in, not too many diners. My fellow diner and I wanted to split a full lamb kabob. but they ran out of LAMb! LAMe! So we decided to order the combo kabob with the ground beef and steak. It was called Soltani. If you get just the steak, it is 11.95 or so and the combo is 15.95 so why not. They asked if we wanted rice or something else. I could not hear too well so we just agreed to get rice. FYI, it is an extra 2 dollar charge.
There was complimentary… umm…flatbread type of thing with a plate of basil, cheese, butter and onion. I should have asked what it was. I said I would, but I do not know why I did not. Anyways, I took a piece of the flatbread thing and spread it with butter and cheese. Then added onion and basil. correct way to eat it? No idea. The waitress did not say anything, so I assume there is no «correct» way to eat it. I decided to leave some for wrapping the meat in.
The ground beef kabob was pretty darn delish. It is a popular item there. I saw them make it, and it was appealing to watch. The steak was more bland and just okay. They give a lot of rice, which initially tasted like the smell of an empty pasta carton… but I got used to it by complementing it with the meat and the grilled tomato. The rice was different, not to say bad, different. I added the meat to that flatbread thing (I do not know what it is called and I feel rather embarrassed calling it the flatbread thing. it was not quite naan… so yea… flatbread thing that was powdery) just as an experiment since I like variety and mix and matching.
Service was alright even though there were not too many diners. They did not refill water, they gave me room temp water instead of hot water, and they took awhile to take our order. However, they did make me feel welcomed. The Soltani with rice and a cup of hot tea totaled 21.05 which satisfied 2 average appetites. You won’t leave DYING full, but you will leave satisfied.

After reading such positive reviews and being a lover of Persian food, I was looking forward to trying this place with my girls on Friday night.
When we got there it was REALLY hot, and when I say really, I mean REALLY. Like sweating into your food hot.
Even though it was hot, we were hungry and decided to deal with it.
(Before I go any further, let me say I did not deduct stars because of the oppressive heat.)
The service started off ok, we were brought some amazing bread with herbs and feta. The bread turned out to be the best part of the meal.
Since it was so hot, we were all really thirsty. The first pitcher of water was brought to us, but when I asked for a refill, the server snidely informed me that there was cooler behind us to fill ourselves.
I’m not lazy, but in a sit down restaurant I don’t expect to get my own water. Also, there was no ice around so the water was lukewarm.
It seemed to take quite awhile to get our food, and they weren’t very busy. I started to notice that the few other tables that came in after us had gotten their food.
I still wasn’t that bothered, the company was good, and we were hoping the food would be too.
Half the table finally got their food, and it was kind of gross. Really greasy ground meat. Obviously, the cheapest meat possible is being
had a nasty sheen of grease over it, and was pretty unappetizing.
My other friend got a Persian stew, hers looked good. I think she may have gotten he best dish at the table.
My food FINALLY came, and… drumroll…it was raw. Nothing more unappealing than raw chicken!
I don’t like to make a fuss in a restaurant, but if my food is undercooked it’s going back. I’m paying for it either way, it might as well be edible.
When it was brought back, the piece I had cut into was still on the plate, but not re-​grilled. Yuck.
I did eat some of the chicken breast kabob, (I really needed some lean protein) but It was pretty flavorless. I make better chicken at home, and mine is NEVER raw.
There were no apologies for the bad food, or lackluster service throughout the meal.
No one wanted their leftovers, and in all honesty, we were hot and really wanted to get he hell out of there.
When the bill came, we were in for another unpleasant surprise.
Three of the girls at the table had been charged for their rice.
Are you kidding me? I’ve eaten at lots of Persian places, and rice ALWAYS comes with kabobs, and Persian stews. ALWAYS.
When I went up to pay the bill, I told the server it would have been nice if he had told us the rice was extra. It was only $ 2, but not telling us really annoyed everyone.
He informed me that it stated on the top of the menu that rice is an additional charge. I told him none of us had noticed that.
He grabs a menu, and lo and behold, he can’t find that. It doesn’t say anywhere that rice is additional.
He finally found tiny blurb halfway down the page that said, the dishes came with bread and salad.
Salad? No one got anything even resembling a salad. I really hope they aren’t passing off a pile of herbs and a couple chunks of feta as a salad.
I said ok, but told him that every other Persian place I’ve been to includes rice. He then told me that’s why their prices are so much lower.
Ummm…ok…really? I didn’t notice that their prices were that much lower, and if they are it’s because they’re using inferior products.
Our tip reflected our displeasure, and none of us will never be back.
There are plenty of other Persian places in the area that will bring ice water to the table, free rice, and do it all with a smile.

GREAT Persian food at AWESOME prices. More casual Persian restaurant experience and I love it. Now I can have high class Persian food with out having to be sat at a table and pay up big bills.
Deezi’s 2 signature items (to me)
1. Their bread, they make it just like they do in iran. Its heaven dipped in any of their appetizers
2. Their Googeh Kebabs. No one does googeh like Deezi. No one.
Also the people are REALLY nice and fun.