Old Cairo Grill

Everything is fresh and made from scratch. The tahini was smooth and aromatic with a nice «zip,» and the hummus was smooth and fresh, with a pleasant kick. Everything about the tabbouleh was fresh and well-​assembled. Forget other tabbouleh. The kebabs were really good, and the accompanying rice was among the best I’ve had. However, the Koshari was *awesome*.
In addition to being maybe the only place to get it in the DC area, it’s just purely delicious here. The subtlety and integration of the many ingredients is expertly accomplished.
The owner is a *real* owner. Pleasant, involved in his business, and charmingly engaged with his customers. He stopped by each table and chatted beyond the typical pat «how is everything?» He offered suggestions on how best to enjoy the Koshari, and he was spot on.
The only thing I’d change is the service setting. The artwork is beautiful and evocative of classical Egypt, but the dining room feels sparse and utilitarian, which is a stark contrast to the warmth and inviting demeanor of the owner. Also, the tableware is styrofoam and plastic: functional, but uninspiring.
The food here is definitely don’t miss. The last time I went by there in April 2012, they were closed and looked to be moving.

This place is awesome. I was ordering take out from Old Cairo at least 2 times a week before I moved. The chicken is tender and flavorful. The lady behind the counter is a sweetheart. I usually call ahead about 15 minutes before picking up.

The Old Cairo Grill has the best kebab platter I’ve ever eaten, hands down. I initially fancied the Chinese place next door, but chose Old Cairo when I saw the ad for a $ 6 lunch special that included a chicken kebab, rice, bread, salad, and chickpeas.
Food: ⁵⁄₅. Best kebab anywhere. Big chunks of chicken completely free of gristle, a seasoning recipe I’d pay money for, and perfectly cooked. Rice was moist and well seasoned, and the chickpeas on top were superb. Salad had more cucumber than I enjoy, but the dill on top was a fresh touch that I haven’t encountered anywhere else. I didn’t eat the bread because I didn’t need to.
Service: ⁵⁄₅. Very friendly owner who brings your order to you and then checked up on me as I left.
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅. A little sparse on décor, but very clean, even down to the restroom. Free local newspaper to read while you wait.
Value: ⁵⁄₅. The lunch special, at $ 6, was by far the best deal, but everything else on the menu was reasonably priced. And I wasn’t hungry enough for the bread.
Bottom line: I look forward to my next visit.

The food was all prepared fresh and was fantastic! We had the chicken kebab and the chicken shawerma.

I had take-​out. The service was great, with a very friendly and nice casher. The food wasn’t spectacular, but was good. The baba ganoush was a bit too garlicky. The reason why my rating is 3 is that I received no bread with my dip. I got all the way home and had to use some regular sandwich bread with the dip. I don’t know if you have to purchase it separately or if they just forgot it.
Edit — I mentioned the lack of bread the next time I visited and was supplied double or triple the normal amount of bread. Not exactly what I needed, but the gesture was greatly appreciated.

My husband and I went to Egypt in 2008 for vacation and had their staple dish, Koshari, a few times, and fell in love. When I got back home, I searched and couldn’t find it anywhere. I live in the DC area, and we’re quite well known for our mixed ethnicities around here, so I was quite shocked that I could not find Koshari. Until one day in 2011 when my mother-​in-​law told me about Old Cairo Grill. Now this I HAD tro try.
We both got the Koshari, while our other family members got items like shawarma or kibeh. Everything was quite delicious. I will say that we would have liked a little more tomato sauce on our koshari, and it is not served with all of the condiments (vinegar, hot sauce, etc), like it is in Cairo, but it was still quite delicious, and we will return. I also had Turkish coffee. I was brought a full dila (pot that the Turkish coffee is made in), rather than just one cup. The coffee and cardamom scent wafted all around the table :-)
One thing I did not like too much is that we were served from paper plates and styrofoam cups. Even my coffee was served in a small styrofoam cup. And we were given plastic ware to eat with. I think the place could step it up a notch for its eat-​in guests and get some real serving dishes.
The owner was very pleasant, and came to each table to chat. He said that he planned to open more Koshari restaurants around the DC area because there is such high demand.
I will definitely go back, and think this place is a must try for anyone wanting to try something different.

I lived in Cairo in 2004, and ate Koshari literally every day. It was my staple. I mean… breakfast/​lunch/​dinner for 40 cents a pop?! You really couldn’t beat it.
Naturally, when I came back to the States, I was determined to replicate the dish in my girlfriend’s college apartment kitchen. Pasta? Check. Lentils? Check (kind of). Rice? Check. Fried Onions? Meh. Sauce? Meh.
Basically what I ended up with was some mockery to Koshari that led to me apologizing to my girlfriend for hyping up something that didn’t end up tasting anything like I had remembered. And that was the end of my Koshari cooking experimentation.
Fast Forward 7 years. That girlfriend is now my wife… and until last night, she still had no idea what real Koshari tasted like. Old Cairo Grill completely took me on a trip down memory lane and allowed me to share my love of the carbo load with my wife and friends.
I’m already planning a Cairo study abroad reunion to take a bunch of people there for the experience. It’s legit. The only missing element is the toothless guy in the street side cart whipping the ingredients out of separate steel containers into a flimsy cup accompanied by little baggies of sauce… hot and mild. The owner of this place is just a little too classy to allow for introducing Koshari to America as Cairene street food.
Go get some Koshari. Do it. And don’t even blink at the $ 5.50 price tag. You can’t possibly expect to get a 40 cent dinner in the US… can you?

I decided to take my daughter on an eating adventure and I noticed that there was a new place by the Walmart in Burke. What the heck! Let’s try something new.
The gentleman who greeted us and took our order at the counter appeared to be the owner, and he was EXTREMELY helpful. After reading the reviews, I decided to order the Koshari and my daughter ordered the Kibbeh. Both were excellent, but I would choose the Koshari hands down over the Kibbeh. The caramelized onions over a carb seekers (rice, macaroni, lentils and chickpeas) paradise were SCRUMPTIOUS! It had some kind of thick paste on it that I wish I could choose as a condiment. I would have smothered that all over everything. The Kibbeh was excellent as well. I fear for my calorie count whenever I eat something fried, but this was light and satisfying. The meat in the middle was a surprise to my daughter (age 12), but she ate all of them and only spared me a taste. We also ordered the hummus which I wouldn’t waste time on. And the lentil soup which was hard to enjoy given the 98 degree weather. I can imagine a day in Fall where I order that lentil soup with the Koshari and consider myself well satisfied.
It was easily worth the $ 24 I spent to enjoy the tranquil atmosphere and interesting cuisine. Don’t count on the lettuce and tomatoes in the picture. Ours came out without either, but who really eats those things? I’ll be back for that Shwarmas and the Beshamels!

I had the chicken shwarma, hummus and falafal. All were good and pretty reasonably priced.

The owner is a super lovely man.
This place is an arab fast food restaurant. The food is super great and the prices are unbelievably reasonable.
I went there with my husband and we had a great meal. We went there during the week day so it was not crowded, we ordered our food and got it fast.
The red lentil soup was amazing.

Amazing service and fantastically delicious food. If you order only one thing, GET THE KOSHARI — it is out of this world. The koshari is worth the drive alone. As the owner said, «it’s love from the first bite.»
We also had the falafel, chicken kabab, and beef gyro. All were delicious, extremely well priced, and served in very generous portions.
The baklava and Turkish coffee rounded out a perfect meal.
The staff are very friendly and happy to make suggestions and I suggest you take them up on it.
I cannot recommend this place enough.

Make sure you try their Red Lentil Soup next time in Burke VA

I love middle eastern food but in Burke that is pretty hard to come by.
Thank goodness Old Cairo Grill is here. I just went there yesterday evening with my husband. Food was very fresh, very tasty.
This will become a new weekly stop for us — highly recommend.

Never really noticed this place until a friend posted a picture of the food item. I’ve pass by it a few times going to Walmart but never really noticed it. Decided to make a stop. Place is clean with lots of space. the walls are decorated with Egyptian paintings of ancient Egypt.
I ordered the chicken kabob sandwich with fries. One bite of that thing gets you kicking with that sauce. The chicken kabobs were big in portions. The tangy sauce gave it the awesome flavor. The price is very reasonable. Most you’ll spend is around $ 6-​$ 8. I will be returning back here again.

I’ll admit it… I spent some time in Egypt and I love Egyptian food for its nostalgic value. If you haven’t had koshari, and you love carbs, then you’re missing out. Rice, pasta, chickpeas, lentils, onions, and tomato sauce all in one. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. This place also has some pretty good shawarma and plain kabob dishes. And while Egyptian food might not be everyone’s cup of tea, this place has a lot to try and is reasonably priced… And if you like Egyptian food, there really aren’t a lot of other places to indulge in koshari.

Went there Saturday evening (no kids yipeeee!). We were in our grubbies and we wanted to just sit and eat something different (no pizza, burgers, or chinese). We picked the mixed grill sampler and mezza sampler (appetizers) plus two drinks — came to @ $ 25.
Loved it. I liked the chicken, my wife liked the lamb, we both ejoyed the beef. Tahini is our favorite condiment. The stuffed grape leaves were the best we’ve ever had, the tabouleh was very fresh — more green than we are used to, and the chopped veegtable salad was just right. Falafels — yeah! My wife hogged the hummus.
We’ll be going back — maybe take out next time. Thinking a bunch of the stuffed garpe leaves for Super Bowl?!? Don’t you love a country like ours? The owner was very nice to us — no pressure just a relaxed and pleasant conversation of what we might enjoy. I wish them the best and much success as we plan on enjoying Old Cairo on a regular basis

My wife and I first ate here a few months ago and it was OK. Overtime the quality of the food has clearly improved.
At this point we are grabbing a bite here nearly every other week.
I strongly recommend their Falafel sandwich, tabouleh salad, and hummus. I can’t speak to any of the other food, but these three dishes are each topnotch.
The owner is fantastic, really goes out of his way to make sure your enjoying the restaurant.
What is particularly important about this establishment is that it is, to my knoweldge, the only middle-​eastern restaurant in Burke.

My husband (from Jordan) and I went here the other day and it’s FANTASTIC!!! We both had the lentil soup, beshamel and Koshari. All were SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!
I prefer this kind of lentil soup as opposed to the Lebanese which don’t usually blend it in the restaurants around here — Old Cairo Grill does it how my mom in law does it… yum!
The Beshamel was PERFECT and the Koshari was exactly like we have back in the MidEast.
Excellent restaurant and we are going back very soon! Our new favorite spot! :) We hope that as more people come, they will also offer some other great Egypt-​specific dishes (hint, hint).
Also, the staff are super friendly and the place is beautifully decorated and clean.
We HIGHLY recommend this place to everyone and particularly those dishes we had :)

Meh. My 2^nd trip to this place left me rather disapointed. Our Kofta was served up burnt on the outside and literally frozen on the inside. It took them over 15min to prepare another one, so much for an appetizer. I would of appreciated an offer for a refund since it came out after we had finished out entrees but no. I tried the chicken kabob sandwich this time but it was covered in so much tahini sauce I had to eat it with a fork. I have also never seen so many onions before, seriously I love onions but I had to eat around them (and the gallon of tahini) because there was so many.
I simply was left disapointed with my 2^nd experience here and the overpowering taste of onions and overwhelming amount of tahini just left a foul taste in my mouth.

This place opened up two months ago — you can find real, old-​world, Egyptian food here. This is all there is in Northern Virginia in terms of Egyptian food, and it’s authentic.
They do have kabobs, which were tasty — but you can also order real Egyptian street food classics like Koshari and Foul Medammas.
The owner checked up on us to make sure we were enjoying our meal — when we told him that the quality was great he insisted that it was only going to get better.