Tahoora Grill

Food was mediocre. The curries just tasted like tomato paste. Needs more spices. WAY too much oil!

great food… floats in oil though… i drained the oil before eating it.
my choices:
sheesh kabab masala fry
butter chicken/​makhani

The best Pakistani food in the valley. Try their Chicken Karahi or Nihari

Ambiance: Medium sized restaurant, approximately 14 tables and directly attached to the Zam Zam ethnic grocery store. Sparsely decorated. Patrons range from families to co workers on lunch break.
Food: I’m not from Indian/​Pakistan/​Afgan descent so I can’t be trusted to competently judge the food, but to me everything tasted great! The samosa chat was delicious as was the daal. Most of the patrons appeared to be of Indian/​Pakistan/​Afgan descent which is always a good sign that the food is legit.
Service: Very friendly and relatively prompt.
Summary: A great place for Indian/​Pakistan/​Afgan cuisine!

I found this place a year ago. I love the mantoo. I’ve liked all the dishes I’ve tried except the heavier spiced ones. But I’m a wimp and the spice was too strong for me. Next time, I’m going to see if they will do half spice. The meals are very filling and heat up well the next day. I’ve dined in and had to-​go. The to-​go is always secure and I don’t worry about spills.
Try this place and then walk Zam-​Zam store next door.

Look elsewhere! Tried this place out and was not worth the hype. It is a hole in the wall and for a place that prides themselves on their food, they should really work on their customer service skills. When I asked my waiter/​waitress/​cook what do you recommend, I was given a look of confusion and anger. Then not to mention the food was not that good. I’m staying far away from this place.

This restaurant is absolutely delicious! I randomly stumbled across this hidden gem when I was traveling for work, and I am so glad I tried it out! The food is amazing, and most importantly really fresh. I am very picky about my quality of meat, and based on the dishes I have tried the meat is very high-​end.
The nehari is DELICIOUS and the paya is a must-​try! I also tried the beef kababs and I was so impressed I ordered some to go. Also, they have lamb chops which aren’t listed on the menu. You must give them advance notice for these. Usually I think lamb is too gamey, but their lamb chops is phenomenal. This is coming from someone who doesn’t really like meat… trust me this place is very good.
Oh last tip — Sunday buffet is seriously the best bang for your buck. It’s around $ 15 for all you can eat — around 8 dishes to choose from and freshly made naan — oh and a drink is included.

Our family goes there almost every Sunday for buffet. Food quality is unbeatable.
Customer service and atmosphere/​décor is average. Restrooms are dirty. despite all this we still go there to eat authentic food at a very descent price.

Restaurant itself I rate ⁰⁄₅. pouri chohlay ³⁄₅ and chicken handi which I read so many good reviews ³⁄₅. Overall 2.5÷5 typical Arizona desi food place taste wise. However serving samosa for free as an appetizer was very nice of them.

Ah! Finally a restaurant that does not serve you the same curry base with different names. The Handi Chicken and Chicken tikka masala were spot on, boneless pieces of chicken in gravies that were near perfection. The gravy reminds one of authentic Pakistani cuisine. The garlic Naan was fresh and full of Flavor (All gravies are served with plain Naan).
The restaurant is very basic and ambiance is just about adequate. It’s definitely not a place where one goes for a date night. I would recommend getting the food to-​go.
Also i was very impressed that the food was first boxed in containers and then sealed with poly sheets to avoid any spillage (which is very common when you box curries).
The Staff is friendly and was happy to substitute the Naan for rice.
Free Samosa when you check-​in on Unilocal.
Cheers!

One star knocked off for a lack of ambiance and no liquor license, but don’t get me wrong … this is five star food, promptly served by nice people!

To settle any confusion this place is next to Zam Zam world foods, they even share an internal door.
For lunch it is a sit down place with a waitress and a menu. The Menu has many familiar Indian items, a few Mediterranean items and the more exotic Afgan items.
I was hungry and went with my Afghan fall back the Gulpi (7.50) A Cauliflower dish with a slightly creamy flavorful sauce. It comes served with Tandor bread which in this case they use Naan and for $ 1 you can get rice which I did. The rice is pretty intresting in itself long grain and colors varry a bit. Over all a great dish but a bit more acidic than I am used to.
My friend had a intresting dish that is hard to describe other than it had meat inside dough and lots of sauce. He liked it.
Most items will break the $ 10 mark with tip and tax so I may not be doing this place for lunch too often.

A colleague introduced me to this gem of a restaurant. This is our 3^rd time coming and we are always pleased with the food and service. I love the channa masala and gulpi here, and I’m a meat lover, so these veggie dishes are very satisfying. I have tried masala closer to me in Mesa and I have yet to find anything better. Worth the trip to Phoenix. It’s close to the airport so if you’re visiting and have had your fill of Mexican food, stop in and delight your taste buds.

I am a huge fan of the boneless chicken handi. I have never seen it offered anywhere but here and it is delicious. The naan bread is also the best around. The chicken tikka (grilled chicken) is awesome too, anyone even less adventurous boring eaters would love this.
The chicken tikka masala was below average IMO.
The sunday buffet was not worth the price the one time I checked it out. Stick with the menu options.

This place is amazing! The variety of food is excellent with every dish having its own powerful unique flavor. Not only that, but the family that runs this restaurant makes you feel right at home. Definitely recommend this restaurant and have even turned all my Co workers to it! Word is quickly spreading about this place in my own circle. Try it out and continue to spread the word! P. s. Sundays they have a buffet!

Went for dinner and got vegetable samosas, paneer Tikka masala, aloo gobi, rice and garlic naan. At most Indian restaurants that would set you back at least 40 $ but it only cost us 25 $!!
The samosas were awesome. The pastry was light and airy and the filling was delicious, but the best part was the green dipping sauce it came with. So. Good.
I was a bit disappointed with the tikka masala it was pretty oily and very tomatoey. I like it to be creamier and a little sweet. The aloo gobi was good but could have used a bit more spice.

A very welcoming and family owned restaurant! The staff made sure you understood how the meal was prepared and made it to your liking. The atmosphere was perfect and the food exceptional!

This place was pretty good, service was great, and atmosphere was loud (minot detail), but it was very hot inside. I mean it was sweaty hot. The food itself was pretty good, but nothing to rave over. It was pretty close to authentic paki and afghan food. The nehari want really nehari, it was more like beef curry. The goat paya (hoof) was more like what nehari is supposed to be. There was one major flaw that stuck out but it was quickly corrected. Let’s be real mistakes happen. If I came back, it out be for take out. It’s just too damn hot inside

If you love Indian food, but you’re looking to change it up, this is your place. Everything we had was delicious. It may sound boring, but order the samosas… the pastry is so perfect on these. Loved the vegetarian options. Only negative I’d say is that the grease level was a little too much for me, but not enough to dock any stars. The flavor of their dishes is spot on… so well seasoned, and that’s what counts for me. This place is definitely going to be in our regular rotation.

This place follows all of the rules of how to find exceptional ethnic food. You’ll find this sneaky little spot in an unassuming building with very little signage. Inside, you’ll find the floorplan modestly but tastefully decorated and packed with Benghali, Pakistani and Afghani Phonecians.
The buffet is amazing. The vegetarian dishes have more robust flavors than I typically encounter, even within East Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. The saag paneer is a total winner. I’m typically turned off by saag and palak paneer dishes because they’re too soupy and creamy, but here it’s completely different. The same goes for the chana masala.
If you’re a meat eater, you won’t be disappointed. They have chicken tikka as well as a great selection of goat, chicken and beef simmered in characteristic sauces.
The price for the dinner buffet is also exceptionally reasonable. While it seems only regular-​reasonable at first blush, your drink and naan are included.
I wrote this review, and now I want to go to there…

Best food ever! There chicken handi is to die for… among other awesome dishes. The husband and wife duo are amazing cooks and very sweet people. When ever my dad comes into town it’s the first thing he brings up, when are we going to tahoora?

Based on such nice comments through Unilocalers, me n my family decided to give it a try. We went for the dinner. Ordered nihari, mixed grilled platter and the chicken karahi. It was not a busy day but still twice they brought us someone else’s order. They were not sure who ordered it. Shows lack of good customer’s service skills. Well not a big deal. When our order came out… it was not what we excepted. The chicken karahi was more like curry chicken, chicken boti was inedible bcoz of being toooo salty, rice was bland, and nihari had 5 to 6 hard & tiny pieces which seemed like been boiled & put in the curry. Only thing we liked was seekh kabob. The taste of food was average. It might be just a bad day I hope. Will give it another try. What we really enjoyed was a nice chat with the young guy who was so helpful n friendly.

If I was king of the world tahoora Grill would be my favorite place in the world, their food is the best I have ever had.
I love the Nihari, chicken tikka, and Afghani food the «Bolanee» Phirini, is perfect tasted dessert I ever had every thing is almost perfect.
The buffet on Sunday’s wow wow wow amazing: The service is also spectacular. The waiters are Very respectful to elders and anyone else and they’re cool.
The most important is to know that whatever is so good; that whatever always got haters the most haters you have the more better you are so never give up on your food; you guys are the Gods of foods. Looks like I said a lot but truly that’s what I feel about Tahoora Grill. And I can’t wait for your live BBQ which is starting soon. Keep it up guys !!!

Our office goes to Tahoora at least once a week and it’s not hard to see why: the amazing food and excellent customer service. I’ve tried, at this point, almost everything on the menu, and everything is always fresh, delicious, and authentic.
Some of my favorites are the Bandanjan Eggplant, Goat Karahi, and the Chicken Byrani, but the menu is solid all-​around.
We’ve gotten to know the owners just because of the sheer amount of times we go and they are really delightful and always incredibly friendly.

Customer Service
The greeter at the front desk (didn’t meet minimum labor age) failed to greet us, but simply just stood there expecting me to understand what and how to do. In other words, I wasn’t sure if this was a sit down place or an order and bring to your table place, or order and come get it place. After an awkward moment, I grabbed a menu and all of a sudden, another employee flew in and said «I got it» and he seated us and asked for our order. We ordered after a lot of questions and unhelpful responses. Our food came and the order was incorrect. I explained this to him and he told me that what they had brought out was what I had ordered. Incorrect, and even if I am wrong, remember the customer is always right and he should have gotten it right. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I ate what he had claimed I ordered.
False Claims
This place should make no affiliation to Afghan food. Unilocal should remove the ‘Afghan’ tag and the restaurant should remove calling certain dishes Afghan. That being said, I asked about the Afghan dish: Kabuley Palaw, which is traditionally a dish of rice with carrots and raisins featuring lamb or sometimes beef/​chicken, cooked and served with the rice. The waiter suggested their version of that dish is a Pakistani skew of ground beef with rice that included carrots and raisins. This is analogous to a pizza and a pizza with no cheese but plenty on the side.
Summary and Conclusion
Average Pakistani (strictly speaking) food with confusing service and false claiming Afghan dishes.