Soltani Restaurant

They serve the basics but still very delicious. Good price, well balanced plate, clean establishment, and good service. Will definitely come again.

I can’t say anything was particularly bad about the food, or service. we were greeted and sat immediately. The older man, I’m assuming was the owner (muhammad) was friendly and courteous to us. I like that the drinks were bottled, as I often worry about germs. The restaurant was clean and the dining room looked very traditional. There was a tv, but it wasn’t on. I wish there was a little ambient music or something to distract from the clink of silverware. I ordered the #2. It was a boneless chicken kabob. It came with a salad and rice with grilled onion, jalapeño and tomato. The portion was HUGE. I felt a little guilty for not finishing it all, but when you see the portions, you will understand! The yogurt and cucumber dip was a large portion as well. Overall I was pleased with my experience and would recommend this place. They have only been at that location for a year ½. I believe they could last a long time, with the quality of food and service they provide.

Love this place! I recently discovered it after reading an article about hidden gems in Santa Ana. Boy oh boy is it a hidden gem!!! The food is delicious and the service is amazing. It never ceases to leave my daughter and I satisfied.

The food is great don’t get me wrong– I always get beef or chicken koobideh when I’m in the area.
The service is what kills me– it is glacial and unorganized, which makes me question coming here when I’m in a hurry. Definitely give this place a shot– it is good no doubt. Just don’t expect top notch service.

We came here by Unilocal.It was a small, clean restaurant. The boss was really nice. He is very talkative and honest. He thought people doesn’t like his food. But I told him look at review on Unilocal.People loves your restaurant. We ordered the beef kabab, chicken kabab combo. And also the lamb shank. Believe me the lamb was soooo good. He also took some special Persian seasonings and let us try.
I remembered his words: the restaurant should be like a house. If you could feel warm, comfortable, and honest in this house, then you feel like a home. You will love it. Great service, delicious food and nice people. Five star.

The food was amazing-​will definteley be back.

I honestly thought it would hit the spot, the smell is delightful but the taste was not what I expected I got a combo which was the chicken and beef not satisfied with it for the amount of food and for the price it’s ok but the taste I could say that was not worth it. I’ve tried others where they even give you humus this place you have to pay extra for it. Tried and moving on to the next.

Always great food! This place is my new weekly spot. Keep making that food the way you do and ill be coming in all the time. Try the beef koobdeh or the filet and you will be hooked. Rice w saffron and wow doesn’t get much better. Great place to try you wont go wrong here.

Great place the chicken and beef was sooo Juicy and good
the man that took our order was so happy and loved what he did
over all this place is a great awesome place to have dinner with your family
They also have really good prices I will come back more and more times :)

One of the best Persian food restaurants. The food is always full of flavor. Great prices and doesn’t take long to get our orders out. Only down side is when eating in, They don’t make you feel as welcome for being in such a casual environment. But prices and taste alone will have me coming back.

The best food, the owner always make us feel part of the family. My wife and I travel for an hour to get the food. That is how special the food and the family feeling is worth a lot. Thank you for the best food.

Was walking past here one day and was lured in by the aromas. Very interesting selection of Mediterranean and Persian dishes, one of which is the very best chicken and rice I’ve ever had! Large portions of delicious chicken breast perfectly cooked in saffron and lime with a huge serving of Basmati saffron rice, fresh flatbread and fresh garden salad with homemade yogurt dressing and a side is sauteed mixed bell peppers and onions for only $ 10! A number of beefsteak and salmon dishes are very good, too. (I’m slowly working my way through the menu.) Excellent use of seasonings and spices, subtle mix of flavors. Lovely ambiance, too, very clean, quiet, and no one rushing you, with a very sweet elderly gentleman who runs the place. Christie B.

The food here is VERY reasonably priced and the quality and taste excellent. The service is outstanding. I’m not sure if the elderly gentleman is the owner, but he is extremely courteous and makes you feel like you are eating at your own home. It’s a small and amazingly clean restaurant. Even the bathroom is spotless. Really good food. There is private parking. It’s small but never crowded.

Very impressed by the quality of food and prices.
I would have never thought that their would be a amazing Iranian Resturant in downtown Santa Ana
I ordered a chicken and beef combo plate for $ 9.99
Definitely recommend this place.

We just had takeout for our new year small family gathering. Food was simply awesome:
1. Soltani: Filet minion was very tender, well cooked with great seasoning
2. Rice: one of the best moderately smoked rice dishes I have had in OC
3. Chicken Cornish: very tasty and tender
4. Beef koobideh: very tasty, flavorful and definitely a favorite
Overall, very good experience with the food :)
Tip: don’t forget to get Moosir yogurt if you haven’t tried any…

It’s a small place from outside but when you go in there is a warm welcome and setting is clean and neat, food is amazingly good, highly recommend the combo of beef and chicken.

Yummy food and super nice, polite and friendly staff. Just been here once but definitely be back with my fiancé.

I’ve been to the Soltani Restaurant to pick up lunch several times. The restaurant has a casual and clean atmosphere. But, I think most of their bizz are «to — go» orders. The last time I placed an order to go was:
Cornish Hen:
Served with rice, salad, a grilled tomato and naan. The cornish hen was very moist and seasoned well. The rice was fresh and fluffy and I really enjoyed my meal.
I’ve had some of their lunch specials also which were all delish. The only drawback is that the restaurant takes some time to prepare your meal because it’s made to order. So, if you’re not in any hurry, this won’t be a problem for you.
Soltani Restaurant offers delicious Persian meals with friendly service. I’m a fan … 4 Stars!

My rating means: 5 = great/​perfect/​yes, 1 = poor/​no, 0 = would recommend to my enemies
Food has good quality within a price range: 5
Portions/​plating are appropriate to the concept and the price point: 5
Atmosphere /​Ambiance: 3
Speed of service: 2
Accuracy of orders: 5
Order taker menu knowledge: 5
Waiter (s) friendliness and attention: 5
Food presentation: 5
Taste of food: 5
Quality of food /​freshness: ⁴⁄₅ (see note below)
Price range: 4
Menu: 5
All You Can Eat: no
Kid’s Menu: no
Focus on a specific style or cuisine: yes — Persian
Speed /​accuracy of guest payment: 5
Noise level: quiet
Décor and furnishings: simple
Alcoholic beverages: not available
Outdoor area clean and safe: 5
Indoor area clean and safe: clean
Location: 5
Parking space availability: 4
Accept credit cards: yes
Hello and goodbye: I was acknowledged at both ends, with a pleasant greeting and a pleasant farewell, in a timely fashion.
I’d recommend: yes
Does restaurant meets its own expectations: yes
Bottom line: I would like to go back and try something else there. Amazingly friendly staff and very good food.
I had: (1) Beef Koobideh and (10) Chicken Koobideh.
Beef Koobideh was OK. I felt like if the meat was not very fresh. However, the Chicken Koobideh was heavenly!!! If you don’t know what to order, try Chicken Koobideh, you won’t regret! The chicken meat was fresh, juicy and delicious! I have never had such a tasty Chicken Koobideh!
I give this place 4 stars because when we asked for water, they gave us bottled water and charged for it. Isn’t water free?
DISCLAIMER: I have always tried to measure a restaurant by what it is attempting to be: I give McDonald’s five stars because I know what to expect and they almost always deliver. I also ground my opinion on the «experience».

The Chicken Koobideh was delicious! I also tried the shirazi salad, which was very refreshing. It has cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, and another herb, which makes it healthy and delectable.
The prices are very reasonable for lunch. I would definitely come back for good, traditional Iranian
Food.
The owner was so sweet! He treated us so well and provided excellent service the entire time we were there.

im confused as to whether or not this is the same restaurant that the reviewers rave about or if the owner has a lot of friends that like to write delusionally to get free side of yogurt but the food was, sadly, below average.
PROS: the owner was very nice and friendly. also, we didn’t get mugged in the parking lot, which is nice.
CONS: the crispy rice was like chewing gum, apparently warmed up tidbits from earlier in the day… what a disgrace for tah dig. worst i’ve had outside of grandma’s house. it was covered with «ghaymeh» which literally had 2 gheymehs on it, the rest a watery orange dishwater that was just unappetizing.
Next the kabob and rice… the owner came to us and explained that the rice is kinda burned so naturally we thought this was a prelude to «…so if you can wait a little bit I can make you a new batch» or «i won’t charge you»… BUT instead he packed our togo order and sent us on our way.
Having had the tah dig at the restaurant while waiting for our togo order, we expected average food… much to our expectations the food did manage to be below average as we tasted each bite. rice was burned so it was like having yesterday’s forest fire… the chicken had no flavor whatsoever… the koobideh was underdone, and the barg was also tasteless.
All in all a first and last visit.

Soltani is worth the drive to Santa Ana! It’s one of my new favorite Persian restaurants in OC.
The salmon kabob entrée was perfect — The fava bean rice that accompanied it was steaming and flavored to perfection; the simple salad of iceburg lettuce and tomatos was surprisingly refreshing; and the high quality salmon was cooked to maximize flavorfulness (slightly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside). It was $ 15 for the dinner portion, which was huge. We also got the cucumber yogurt dip as an appetizer, which was delicious and strangely addictive.
The owner/​server is one of those peope who obviously loves feeding people good food and seeing them enjoy his creation. The restaurant was spotless throughout (including restrooms).

Shit! This Iranian food is among the best I have ever had, and I have had it in Dubai!
This tiny little shop in a Mexican neighborhood is pumping out really delicious food from scratch. I highly recommend it.
We shared a Soltani, which is a skewer of koubideh (ground meat) and a skewer of barg (filet mignon). The meat was so tender and flavorful. The rice was great. And the salad was perfection. The portion is huge!
The owner is very nice and friendly. We will be back, for sure.

Overall it was good. Good prices and tasted good. A bit dry in the filet mignon.
The place was clean. A typical hole in the wall, but with good food.
Service was also good. A bit slow at the end, so we had to go ask for our check, but I think it was an anomaly.

There are many quality Persian restaurant, this one stands out because
it’s close to work and night seminar location, inside is neat and clean sitting, table cloth classic
All grilled items are made while I was waiting
Curious about where the owner found all the mature staff; chef, grilling cook, cashier, wait person, all males.

Randomly spotted this new restaurant and quickly made a u-​turn to check it out! As another Unilocaler mentioned, it’s a Persian restaurant in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.
Service was excellent, it’s a family business and they take their job seriously. They were very friendly and accommodated us. We brought our 4 month old who was a bit fussy, originally we were going to take it to go but when she fell asleep we stayed to dine in. They were very gracious.
My husband and I ordered the barg which one filet mignon and one kubideh with rice and veggies. The meat was fresh, hot and juicy. We also ordered a side of salad Shirazi which was great. Often the salad is heavy with oil and lemon, this was not it w as very fresh.
Overall is was a great experience and the food was delicious. We will definitely be back when we’re in the area.

An excellent Persian establishment near DTSA! Why this place deserves 5 stars:
1. Excellent food
2. Reasonably priced (especially the lunch specials! Only $ 5.99)
3. Excellent service
4. Has private parking lot (though very small)
I had beef koobideh lunch special which comes with basmati rice with saffron, grilled veggies, and salad. Rice was nice and fluffy! I loved the grilled veggies (half tomato, green bell peppers and onions) because they had nice grill flavor. I appreciated that veggies were well-​selected. They had so much flavor and really enjoyed their inherent sweetness without adding any condiments. Beef was very tender and flavorful. I was full after eating my lunch but it was so good that i did not want my lunch to end!
Re service — the people there are so helpful and courteous. Even before i got to the restaurant, an elder guy came out of the restaurant and helped me park in a very narrow stall. That was so sweet of him!
I’ll definitely be trying out more of their menu! So happy it’s close to my work :)

I discovered this place thanks to Unilocal.There aren’t too many Iranian food places in Santa Ana. This place is still celebrating their grand opening and for people who live or work in downtown Santa Ana, I’m envious of you because Soltani delivers within a 2 mile radius.
I was so curious and excited to try this place. My husband and I placed a phone order on a Sunday evening and I was told our food would be ready in 15 minutes. It took me 13 minutes to get there and they were closing the containers and putting everything in bags when I showed up. PERFECT! It’s pet peeve of mine when they say 15 minutes, but it takes way longer. The gentlemen who were working there were so sincere and friendly. You could tell they appreciate their customers. When I got home, I told my husband «I hope we like their food, because they were really nice!»
My husband ordered the chicken and beef koobideh combo and I had the Soltani combo which is basically beef koobideh and barg. Both of our orders came with rice, a side of salad, a barbequed tomato, onions and peppers. We also ordered the mast-​o-​mousir which is basically yogurt and shallots.
I was really looking forward to my mea. Five months ago, I stopped eating beef. Once a month I allow myself to indulge in a cheat meal and this was going to be my February splurge. I started with the side salad and immediately loved it! The dressing was delicious! Next time larger salad order for sure. I did not like their rice which for an Iranian restaurant is crucial. Lucky for them I was not in a rice mood any way and just wanted the BEEF and I LOVED both their barg and koobideh. They don’t use a lot of sumac but they do give you small packets to add yourself which works for me.
I’m so glad Soltani is in Santa Ana. We needed a good Iranian take out place close to home for the days that we don’t want to trek the extra 2 – 4 miles to Tustin.

I wanted to try this place out since we need a good Persian place in Santa Ana. I’m biased since I know Persian food very well.
Pros:
–great lunch specials ($ 5.99)
–Quick service
–Takes credit cards
–Phone Orders are smooth from what I can tell
–Friendly staff
–High chairs and booster seats available so kid-​friendly
Cons:
–food was meh, the grilled chicken wasn’t as moist, and the beef and chicken koobideh were dry and needed more seasoning.
–the rice wasn’t as puffy and again, dry
–the salad was drenched with dressing and I would’ve preferred a shirazi salad, not just a few lettuce and tomato slices
It wasn’t busy so I’m not sure why the food wasn’t up to par with what the others experienced. I went after the lunch rush around 3:30 pm and ate in with my child.