Always perfect! 10/10 The qabuli pilao with Lamb shank is delicious and always done perfectly Only wish they would open earlier, before 5pm so the food can be ordered for lunch too. read more

Ariana Restaurant - Chicken salad, eggplant, Pallow Rice - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

This is a great place to have a nice sit down dinner, with friends, family or even business colleagues! If you or someone you know is curious to try Afghani cuisine, then you should definitely visit Ariana. The ambiance is lovely - peaceful and calm. I usually go here for early weekday dinners, so it's been quiet too. The interiors are tastefully done, I also like their artwork on the walls. A lot of the options are meat based but they do have a separate smaller menu for veggie dishes (vegetarians rejoice!). You start with bread, butter and a variety of chutneys. These are addictive, you can make a meal out of them, haha! The apps we order are always vegetarian: 1. Kaddo - pumpkin based sweet sour dish 2. Aushak - ravioli stuffed with leeks and scallions topped with yummy sauces 3. Bowlani kaddo - crispy shell filled with spiced pumpkin All are delicious but my favorite is the kaddo. So simple yet tasty. For the entree, I get the murgh challow - chicken cooked with lentils and a side of rice. Again, this dish too is a blend of mild flavors which is its USP. Nothing overpowers your taste buds. For dessert, we've enjoyed the: 1. Sheerberaing - the rice pudding but it was a tad too sweet for us 2. Sheerekh - ice cream with toppings (pistachio, frozen pineapple, nuts) 3. Pineapple cake - it's nice but I would say it's my least favorite of the three Customer service is always pleasant. Whenever I've visited, it's only been one person running the show so I'm always amazed by how every table is well cared for. There's an occasional delay, but it's worth it! read more

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Authentic Afghan restaurant with great decor/ambiance and better food (and that's coming from a native Afghan). Food: The bread was absolutely delicious and served hot! I highly recommend the Qabili (rice with carrot and raisins and tender Lamb shank) and Mantu (dumplings), they are delicious and some the most popular dishes of Afghan cuisine. Mourgh Kabob- Grilled chicken breast that was very tender and tasty. Korma Challow- Tender lamb curry with potatoes Do Piaza- Lamb with strong charbroil and vinegar taste. Dessert- I had the Fereney (pudding) and it was amazing. It was super creamy and topped with pistachios and cardamom. The owner was very, very nice and made a personal connection with each customer. Great customer service. Parking- limited street parking read more

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Looooove this place! Always a go-to in Allston/Brighton. Ariana is a friendly Afghan restaurant that's delicious whether you're dining in or ordering out. It seems to be a hidden gem, I've come in all different days and always found plenty of tables open. The portions are huge, I usually share a plate with another person. You truly can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but the Manti are a MUST. I like to stick with lamb dishes because they're a highlight of the cuisine and I've loved all of the ones I've had. The quality is super consistent. One of my top recommendations in the Boston area! read more

So damn good. Highly recommend this place. Anything on the menu is gonna blow your mind and the service is great! read more

Ariana Restaurant - Kofta Kabob - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

We really enjoyed our meal. We ordered eggplant dish and puff pastry filled with leeks and potatoes for appetizers. We thoroughly enjoyed it. For main course we had ravioli some and rice dish with vegetables Desserts we had pineapple cake and pheerni. So delicious! Also the starter bread was warm and flavorful. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you're in Boston. read more

Food was excellent. Service was quick and efficient. Ambience was great and comfortable. read more

Ariana Restaurant - Tikka Kabob - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

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What a great restaurant I discovered because friends came in from out of town. They love exotic food, one is a vegetarian, and we didn't want to wait long for a table so we went at 8:30 PM on a Thursday night. A party of six. And we were thrilled with the food, we all got something different, and every single dish was beautifully prepared and delicious. The service was impeccable and the pricing is very fair. I love this restaurant. we tried the lamb, the beef, and also the vegetarian dishes. All the servings were generous and very gourmet quality. Highly recommend! Sorry we didn't take photos. read more

Food is great and authentic. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves afghan food! read more

Ariana Restaurant - Very nice from inside - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

What a treasure this restaurant is! This was my first time trying Afghan cuisine and I was not disappointed. Amazing service and attention, lovely Afghan decor and music, it was exactly the food "trip" I was looking for. Restaurant was busy. I completely enjoyed my feast! I enjoyed the grilled naan bread, that comes with 3 sauces. The cilantro and red sauce were my favorite. The yogurt sauce is very light and compliments nicely but it wasn't my favorite. My first treat was the Bowlawni Kaddo--Yum!!!!!! Wow that was delicious. I then ordered the Qabili---the lamb was perfection! Well seasoned and so so tender it jumped off the shank bone. Extremely generous portion in that plate. Two can comfortably share it. I finished off trying the cream dessert called Feereny with Turkish coffee. My first time trying all of these and I feasted like a Queen and enjoyed all of it. Strongly recommend this delightful spot. The cuisine surprised me in how light it is. Easily you can eat a variety of items and be comfortably satiated. Will visit again next time I'm in town. Sweet spot for a date too. An intimate spot. read more

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Excellent restaurant with so many dishes to choose from all reasonably priced with excellent side vegetables and salad

We were looking for a Middle Eastern place, and found Ariana, an Afghan restaurant in Allston/Brighton that was special, deeply friendly and welcoming, and most of all, absolutely delicious! The host was personable, as though we were guests at a private home. Everything we ordered was delicious, fresh and flavorful, letting the flavors of the vegetables, meats and spices come through without too much salt or distracting embellishments. The highlights were the delicious appetizers, as well as the extraordinary feereny custard for desert. The one thing I would have liked would have been a bit more lamb meat in the main course I ordered, which was a mix of leg of lamb with vegetables. It was delicious, but I wanted more! :) Will definitely be coming back! read more

The flour product was awesome. Staring with our complimentary "bread", coming warm, crispy outside and tender inside. With one bite, the delicious flour tarde enriched my mouth. We had one of the appetizers - bowlawni which was a twin pastry shells. The stuffing were spicy potatoes and chives. The pastry skins were extremely crispy. For the main course, we chose chopan which was the rack of lamb marinated. The lamb chops were grilled perfectly, not burnt, not raw. The eggplant sauce provided flavor for this course. In addition, the lamb soup was also worth trying, since it had a great smell of lamb. We ended up with pineapple cake as our dessert. The pineapple taste was not strong, but I loved the pistachio crunch on the top. read more

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Sounds great but menu items are not that delicious. May be add some sauce to spice it up

So good!!! I've had Ariana twice, once in the restaurant pre-Covid and once recently for take out. Both times were DELICIOUS! So much quality and flavor. There are lots of vegetarian options; this last time I had the special, which had a sampling 4 veggie entrees. I loved them all! The only thing I would say is that the portion sizes are on the smaller side (especially for the price). read more

Ariana Restaurant - Vegetarian special, aushak - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

I love coming here there food and service is out standing always have same friendly people who serve you great food once you come here you always come back for more love there new plater read more

Ariana Restaurant - Mixed kabobs Lamb shank And fish - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

We ordered off the vegetarian menu - Banjan and Aushak for appetizers and vegetarian special (rice, spinach, eggplant, pumpkin, and okra). Everything was incredibly fresh, flavorful, and well presented. Service was similarly excellent; everyone was kind and attentive throughout the meal. I look forward to going back and trying more of the menu. Great outdoor seating behind the restaurant. read more

Good Afghani food. Service is great. Love their Kaddo and Bowlawni in appetizers. Should totally try them. In main entrees, Qabili, Chalow and Mantu are the best. Its the kind of place where you can experiment with anything on the menu and you will not be disappointed. I always take my friends to experience the food here. Never have I ever heard a bad review from any of them. Free street parking makes it more convenient to get to the place. read more

Incredible! First time getting Afghan food, and it was a great experience. Got the Mantu and Kabob, and am still dreaming about them. read more

Ariana Restaurant - Mantu - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

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Afghani food is new to me but I recently had a really delicious takeout dinner from this restaurant. Prices are somewhat steep for the quantity of food that you get, however every dish is incredibly flavorful, well seasoned, and well cooked. I tried the kofta challow and the eggplant/pumpkin dishes. the rice provided with both of the dishes was so delicious and flavorful. the meatballs were well cooked and came with a really tasty tomato based sauce. the eggplant and pumpkin dish really blew me away, I don't generally love eggplant but this restaurant's version of it was so delicious I couldn't stop eating it. The meal also came with free bread and different sauces to try with it, all of which were delicious and provided a nice topping for the leftover rice as well. Overall I would definitely return, knowing that I might have to spend at least 20 to $25 to get full, but the meal will be really delicious! read more

Ariana Restaurant - two takeout containers of food on a table - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

As an Afghan-American going to school in Boston, I always feel nostalgic for my moms cooking. This place KNOCKS afghan food out of the park. I genuinely cannot say enough good things about Ariana Restaurant. It's one of the best Afghan food restaurants in this country (I have been to many from coast to coast). My personal faves: Qabuli Palow with lamb shank Eggplant (holy cow, so good with bread) Mantu The Pumpkin Kofta challow read more

Fantastic food- first time having Afgan and I'm a believer. The food is delicious- both meat and veggie based. I'm not a big rice fan, but the rice was out of this world and complimented everything wonderfully, as we all good the Ariana special plate to share. If I had to choose my favorite it would be lamb shank which was beyond tender beautifully hidden under the rice. It fell right off the bone and could be eaten with a spoon. . read more

I've never had Afghan food before and was surprised at the number of vegetarian options. We had the bowlawni and aushak to start, liking the aushak more. I then had the sabzi challow which came with all the vegetables separate. Every bite I took I decided a different one was my favorite. Service was fine, if not a bit over the top for the presentation and poor of my $9 wine. read more

Had a wonderful and delicious meal at Ariana. The plating presentation was just beautiful and the service was very high quality. I really like the atmosphere of the area and it was very easy to get to. Don't forget to have a tasty appetizer. And the menu is generally great for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike! read more

Ariana Restaurant - the vegetarian special plate, with pallow rice, eggplant, okra, and kaddo (pumpkin) - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

What an amazing find. The Mantu meal is out of this world and the baklava is the BEST ever! read more

Ariana Restaurant - Beautiful atmosphere! - Afghan Near Me - Brighton, Massachusetts

Great food! Friendly atmosphere...must try the pineapple cake. It was bustling even on a Monday after thanksgiving.

Friends of ours took us here and the food and ambiance were both so lovely and satisfying from the appetizers of eggplant, and a meat ravioli to the lamb chops w stewed onions and tomatoes, everything was melt in your mouth slow cooked delicious delight! It's been a while since I left a restaurant so satisfied in so many levels. And we dine out a lot! Prices are fair, moderate for excellent quality of food. Portions are generous, and restaurant is lovely looking w interesting decor and starched white linens, and nice wine selection. read more

This place is wonderful! My partner and I ordered out here last night and everything we had was splendid. We had the Korma Challow with lamb and the Seekh Kabob as well as the baklava. Everything was so well seasoned, flavorful, tender, and delicious. I'd have to say that in general Afghan food is severely underrated but Ariana is a gem here in Boston and made our night with this wonderful food which paired well with bold red wine and a movie while we social distance! read more

Ordered delivery here twice and have been here in person several times. Usually the food is pretty good but this last time the food was disgusting, oily, stale, tasted like they reheated stuff from the day before. Made us nauseous. Especially because we know what the usual quality of the food is -- it was clear they were trying to save money on a slow day by reheating old food. It was so bad we literally got in the car and returned the delivered food. Owner was very rude and blamed the Uber driver for taking too long on the delivery affecting the food which makes no sense because the delivery actually was very fast and got to us within 30 min. They have lost a customer -- will not be back. read more

Just a dream come true for the foodies !! Simply FANTASTIC, atmosphere, service, food (OMG!), drinks; along with wise/caring accommodations !! read more

Celebrated a birthday party inside the private dining room. Delicious food and incredible service with a personal touch from Baheja who was responsive to the sudden changes as well as kind and understanding. Like the decor and the ambience. Highly recommend. read more

Out of fish at 8pm? Out of lamb? And we invited the whole family for dinner! I am not planning on the group dinner there again. Such bummer!

The food took me right back to ghazni! Enjoyed conversation with the owner. Will Definitely return!

We have ordered Ariana delivery a few times during the pandemic. The food has arrived warm every time and is absolutely delicious. I love their variety of meat and vegetarian options. My boyfriend used to frequent Ariana all the time when he lived in the neighborhood, but I have only had delivery. I am looking forward to visiting the restaurant in person. read more

We ordered take-out and had an amazing experience! (it was also the first time trying their food) We placed the order through GrubHub and apparently there is a mismatch between what is available there and the restaurant's current menu. Someone called more than an hour before the delivery time to inform us about the confusion. He gave offered a replacement that was more expensive than the original order and told we wouldn't pay the difference. (we ended up choosing something of the same value) Food was delivered a bit earlier and came warm. And EVERYTHING was delicious. Wow! We had Bowlawni and Banjan for appetizers, Tikka Kabob (wonderful!) and Mourgh Kabob as entrees and Sheerberaing for desert. Highly recommended!!! read more

Can't recommend this place enough. My husband and I stopped by late night on our honeymoon thinking they'd be open, but they were closing up. We asked if we could have some lamb quabli and they were able to whip up two orders of it and the gentlemen working there clearly were just trying to get home, but we're happy to help us out. Inside looked nice although we didn't dine in. Wishing we would've asked for more food because it was so good. Go here. read more

Great food, awesome Chef and fantastic place Very clean and very delicious, we enjoyed authentic afghani food read more

Ariana is my family go to for delicious unique dinner out especially when my grown kids come to town. Ambiance is lovely with cloth tablecloths, low lights and great service. The owner often comes to the table to welcome his patrons. The food is always perfectly presented and not rushed. Nice wine list too. It's a large restaurant so will appear empty but when you are seated it lends itself to a very relaxing meal in an imitate setting. We love the many dishes with squash and pumpkin and the meat dishes are spiced just right. Don't let the empty tables distract you, it's a wonderful change from typical Italian, American and steak places we tend to choose. read more

This place was so good! We got three appetizers to share and it wasn't quite enough food, but that's on us for ordering appetizers I guess. Great ambiance, and kind waiters and prompt, orderly, and clean service. Great for dates since it's pretty quiet. read more

Hidden gem in otherwise dull Brighton. Yalla Habibi!!! The food is exceptional. My only gripe is uncomfortable chairs and tightness of tables next to each other. Difficult to enjoy a meal in private so try to go here when it's not so busy. read more