Johnny’s Kabob Restaurant

I order delivery to my house for my daughter graduation and they were on time prices are great food the best better than moby dick!!! And Juan is the best thanks Juan for you service

Best most authentic persian food. And fyi to you ignoramuses saying the Hispanic people who run it can’t possibly make authentic persian food, I know for a fact that first generation Iranian women trained Johnny himself and he has mastered every recipe. I’m persian and my mother is best friends with them! Delicious food and great service.

This place is mediocre kabob… The lunch buffet they have out is nice, it has baghli polo and gormeh sabzi on it– kubideh, kabob chicken, rice, cauliflower and zucchini mix. The kubideh is probably the best thing on the buffet it’s juicy… The chicken is a little dry and there is no bread on the lunch buffet. The yogurt is great, actually hands down one of the better ones I’ve tried The prices are reasonable, the place is clean and the staff is friendly. Overall not a bad place to grab a quick bite but you won’t leave raving about it.

my boyfriend loved this place. but he ordered kubideh once and found something inedible in his food so he called and complained. they completely denied that they would have that particular inedible thing found in his food but told him to come back the following day at a particular time so they could give him a refund. he was there as told and found that the door was locked (but sign says they were open). too bad because we patronize lical food chains and we have been recommending friends to eat here. no gratification for regular patrons. never coming back here again

be really careful with this guy if you looking for someone who can steal from you and ripe you off that’s a guy we had an event over the weekend and order about $ 2000 worth catering this guy such a scam and thief by the time event was over there was big tray of untouched fruit salad which was not been touched also couple of the dish so his staff with his supervision took all the fruit salad and the those dish which we paid for day after when I called to ask him what happened to fruits and those two dish and why did they took them, he was responding very rude on the phone so we had to stop by his restaurant he acted even worst this is not they way you handle professional business
other problem quality of his kabob was so bad looks so most of the guest couldn’t eat his kebab
seems like he is one of those business owner as soon as he become little popular he forgot how to treat and serve costumer
if you catering with him make sure somebody is supervise them very untrustworthy and arrogant guy before he takes the money act like such a nice guy when his dirty business is over he be come such arrogant person
never recommend him poor quality of food untrustworthy

I had the baddest craving for Persian food last night and found this place with exceptionally high ratings on Unilocal.
As we walk in there are a ton of articles about how the chef is from El Salvador but apparently a renowned Persian cuisine chef. I try not to let that sway my opinions on the authenticity of the food. I mean I am clearly not Korean but I have dreams of opening a bon chon place. I am sure some people are like, «hey brown girl of unspecified ethnicity put that gojujang down and stick to your own cuisine» but I think I could make some bomb wings.
But anyway after a meal here, yo your kitchen staff needs to put the sumac down. The thing is I don’t think it is Chef Melgar who is responsible for the food being off, he clearly developed a well earned following, something went amiss with the training of the staff to replicate recipes or even what the menu says.
Case in point let’s begin with the salad shirazi, the national salad of Iran and our version of pico de gallo. The menu says it has onions, tomatoes, lime juice, cucumbers and cilantro. Typically, it has mint instead of cilantro, but I love cilantro. What came out was a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, dill for some reason with a ton of lime juice that was sweetened. Where are the onions? Thats the whole point, to have those raw like sushi onions to compliment your kabob.
The hummus was lumpy, you left out the tahini to add creaminess.
Mast-​o-​khiar means cucumbers in yogurt. Try adding the cucumbers next time.
The rice was bland, clearly more saffron and butter could help. Also salting the water the rice is cooked in works.
Dry kabobs, I poured sumac all over the platter to add some favor.
Incredibly average food for a high price. The saving grace is the incredibly sweet woman with fantastic eye make up who works there. Loved how she was always helpful and refilling drinks but for food I would rather go to Moby Dicks.

Love and hate this place. Love it because it’s so close and their prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get but I hate it because I’ve had a lot of kabobs in my day and it isn’t the best and not really authentic. The pitA is either burnt or taste stale sometimes it is good. the meat is very salty perhaps purchased frozen. I also the chicken kabob platters it’s got like rice the chicken a lemon wedge I think and I am not terribly impressed. The chicken was a ok the rice was rice they also give you tzsaki sauce and some pita but my pita was very dry somewhere between a chip and stale bread. Overall if I am in the area starving I will think about stopping but otherwise no show stopper here!

We’ve had food both sitting here and as take out from this place. The food has never been a problem for me. It’s relatively quick service when you consider it’s rice casseroles and stews and kebabs.
Today though when we went there was no one at the counter, the place was empty (to be fair this was for a late lunch for us). It took us calling out to the kitchen a couple of times for them to finally come out and take our order (after maybe 3 minutes of them having noticed us). Just saying they should always have someone at the counter. Or have a bell or something.
Food was good. Today we got the shirin polo and the koobideh combo. Now shirin polo is really sweet. It’s not a touch of sweetness. It’s sweetened rice with candied orange peel and pomegranates and I find it to be an acquired taste. For people not accustomed to that palate, I’d advise going with a baghali polo (lamb shank with dill rice and fava beans). The koobideh was great too.

I’ve only been once, I can’t just dive in and give 5 stars yet. .. but if I have another couple experiences like today, 5 it is.
I stopped in for lunch with my 4 year old based on the positive reviews from other Unilocalers. On the surface of the menu, one would not see much difference than the local Moby Dick or Caspian, but this was different for sure.
There were just a few customers at lunchtime on a Thursday, so no problem grabbing a table after placing my order with Johnny himself. I ordered the Chicken & Ground Beef Koobideh to share with my daughter. The service was very friendly as the gentleman brought us bread with cucumber sauce (Must-​o-​Khiar?) and a short time later the kabob dish. The friendly service continued as Johnny offered to get a plastic fork and spoon as he suggested the smaller utensils would be easier for my little girl to use. I appreciated that.
At first glance, the dish looks like I had experienced at other local kabob places, but the taste was much better. The chicken and beef were full of flavor. The chicken was moist despite the nice char on the edge of each chunk. The beef koobideh was tasty and not chewy, like I’ve experienced elsewhere. The taste of butter within the dish was nice, and although some of it may have had a bit more salt that I care for, it was very tasty. We will definitely be back, and if I can be this impressed again, I can bump up those stars.

«I stay breathing, I win!»
–Daryoush
Daryoush recommended we all eat Johnny’s Kabab as a thank you meal. I edited Daryoush’s biography. If you would like to read his amazing story, kindly contact me. You will learn a lot of wisdom from reading his story.
The owner of the restaurant gave us special food because Daryoush is his favorite customer. The food was some spinach dish. I liked it. I love the herbs and vegetables, too. The mint leaves + the handcrafted bread made a great snack.
I ordered the barley soup. I loved it! It was so hearty.
I brought home chicken kebabs and rice for my mom. She enjoyed the marinated meat. The rice is great. It’s colorful, and the flavors work well together.
On the way out, we saw many cute girls walking out of the Subway next door.

Although they have delicious kabobs I have found their portion sizes to be inconsistent. On my last visit, I ordered filet mignon kabob with salad shirazi. The kabob portions were about 25% less then previously. The salad shirazi was an absolute disgrace (although the kabob was good). I’m giving Johny’s 3-​stars due to the fact that their kabobs are actually pretty good.
Bottom line, if you’re looking for:
1) Consistency in portion size = Nope, had varying sizes for same dish (same $)
2) Anything good besides kabob? = Nope (ex: mosteh museer = water + garlic, salad shirazi = old watery veggies)
3) Good Kabobs? = Yes
4) Nice environment? = Typical Persian kabob joint (not impressive)
5) Good Service = Better than average, nothing to applaud them for

3.5 The ground beef in the kubideh was fresh but not well-​seasoned; it lacked the usual flame grilled taste too, but was still pretty good. The accompanying salad (seen on-​line, but not on menu– had to ask) was superb– all fresh tasty baby greens, not one piece of tough white romaine rib like most places. The hummus was just OK, I like the one at Caspian kabob (and their kabobs) much better, but the traditional Iranian flat bread here is slightly better, though still a let down from a nice warm pita. However, the best surprise was the fruity rice and chicken dish, with orange peel and currants– I forget the name, but it was a standout, although the chick breast was a tad dry. (I poured some balsamic vinegar on it at home– OMG, what a flavor combo!) Worth a visit, although its Indian next-​door neighbor is the real gem in this entire strip mall.

By far the best kabob I’ve ever had! Reasonable price, meat are cooked to a tender perfection. I have yet to tried out the other dishes but from what I’ve tried, Johnny has some great stuff here! I’ll update once, I’ve tried more items here.

I have eaten at Johnny’s Kabob many times. I think the food is a solid 4. Meats are always tender and juicy and the prices are reasonable. I’ve had better but I’ve had worse. Beats Moby Dick for sure. The woman whose there is always very nice. Only downsides for me are: The bread and the store image and condition. I think they could bake better bread, maybe a whole wheat option would be nice. The store is out of date but other then that food is worth the money.

amazing food with real authentic Iranian food. Staff is super nice and even hooks you up if you ask for tadig (Persian burnt rice). Great place if your looking for something better than moby dick as they have all the popular Iranian dishes other than just kabobs.

This place is okay but the food lacks something… It’s just not authentic enough. Idk if that made sense. The staff is nice though and so is Johnny so giving them 3 stars.

I don’t care what anyone says this place is «tha bomb» ! If you like a variety of meat with whatever you order it can be a little expensive but other than that it’s great. Great service and clean.

Not only are the kabobs first rate, but they aren’t skimpy with the portions either! These are some of the best kabobs in the DC area (and there are plenty of great places around here). I would love to try some of their more exotic dishes, but I keep coming back to the kabobs.

Exterior: Located in the shopping center with Lotte!
Interior: There are maybe 10 tables so enough to bring groups. Lighting is very dim to me. Great for to-​go. Small display of main entrees.
Service: Waitress/​cashier was very friendly.
FOOD: I took a Jujeh Kabob to go. It was delicious! I don’t know why their on the side salsa stuff was so perfect. but it was the best I’ve had. I wish I had more grilled tomatoes! 5 stars.
Love

Having tried a number of Moby Dicks and also Yekta in Rockville, I have to say that Johnny Kabob (there is no apostrophe s in the window) is the best when it comes to chicken and beef. I found the chicken to be succulent and moist, and the beef perfectly cooked and well seasoned. This is compared to sometimes dry chicken and under-​seasoned beef at the other joints.
The bread here is more like Moby Dick (thick but less chewy), than Yekta (thin and off the shelf from the grocery next door).
The accoutrements here are much more plentiful than at both other places. You get a whole quarter large onion, a number of radishes, and a boat load of pleasantly bitter greens.
This place is a little bit out of the way, and the staff are hard to find as other reviewers have said, but the food is generally better than the other two contenders.