My family and I were walking around and enjoying the mall in Springfield when I came across this Pakistani/Indian restaurant that also serves a lot of sweets. We were honestly upset that we had already eaten elsewhere, because they serve exactly the kind of food we as Guyanese people enjoy too. We ended up trying a bunch of fudges, and they had a wide variety of them, along with jalebi. The service was very nice, and we bonded over simple meals and shared culture. While I didn't get to try the actual hot food this time, everything looked great and I definitely wanted to. I'm definitely going to make my way back the next time I'm in Virginia. Pretty much this whole outlet area has a strong South Asian presence, and now we want to explore more of it thanks to this restaurant. read more

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I recently went to Dera Restaurant in Springfield for their iftar buffet, and it was truly an outstanding experience from start to finish. [[HIGHLIGHT]]As soon as you walk in, you can feel that it's a place where families gather and traditions are celebrated.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]During iftar, the restaurant was lively yet well-organized, and the staff handled the crowd beautifully.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The food was absolutely phenomenal. The buffet had a wide variety of authentic dishes that tasted homemade and full of flavor. What impressed me most was the quality and freshness despite it being a buffet. Often buffets can feel rushed or inconsistent, but here, every dish maintained its flavor and presentation. I will absolutely be coming back. read more

Dera is an authentic Pakistani restaurant. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The interiors reflect Pakistani style and architecture.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The food was delicious and the staff were polite and humble. We tried the buffet and it was a great deal to try a lot of stuff for ~ $23. We met the owner after having dinner. He did not seem very welcoming though. read more

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I am always in the area for other food options and have never stopped in to Dera. After seeing a tiktok about the buffet (and to go buffet options), we stopped in. And I am glad we did. This is one of the best Indian/Pakistani buffets I've had in a very long time. Service was very good and with it being our first visit, one of the employees brought us a beef soup and tandoori chicken in addition for us to try. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The restaurant itself is very nice and good for small or big groups.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I'll definitely be back for both the buffet and ordering off of the menu. The butter chicken alone will see me often. read more

Typically Desi restaurant with tasteless, gross, cold food, especially when you ordered to deliver. Dera has all the qualities from substandard food to bad service. I never recommend this restaurant if you wanna save your money & time. read more

Worst customer service ever. Run by typical Pakistani uncles who need to retire because they have no idea how to run this business. I ordered something an hour before picking it up and when I arrived it was clear the guy never put in the order and made me wait 20mins. Never coming back again. Stay away and give your business to a Pakistani restaurant that actually takes their customers seriously like Lasani or Des Pardes. Dera needs to be shut down, no idea how they are still in business. They also did the worst packing of food and it spilled all over my car. Absolute incompetence mixed with ownership that has expired way past their time. Sell the restaurant before you go bankrupt read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]What a beautiful restaurant, and the staff is very friendly.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] My meal was incredibly delicious. The butter chicken was the best I've ever tasted, and the bread was so fresh and perfect for dipping. Leave room for dessert! I had Mango Lassi and Kheer (rice pudding). Yummy! And be sure to check out their dessert/bakery bar. read more

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Really love this restaurant I come here all the time. Great service, great food. Everything about this restaurant is just amazing. Would most definitely recommend. read more

Dera - Chapli Kabob - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

Disappointed by Hidden Fees - Unethical Practice The food here is decent, on par with other Pakistani restaurants--nothing extraordinary. I've ordered from this place multiple times but never felt compelled to leave a review until now. However, the hidden credit card fees have pushed me to speak up. The restaurant passes the entire transaction fee onto customers without disclosing it upfront--it doesn't even appear on the receipt. Isn't this deceptive? Restaurants are already highly profitable businesses, and with prices having nearly doubled everywhere (including here), it's not like they're struggling to cover operational costs. Yet, customers are expected to pay for the food, tax, employee gratuity, and now even the credit card processing fees--while the owner pockets pure profit. What a clever way to exploit the community! In all my travels across different states, I've never seen a restaurant pull this kind of trick--let alone hide the charge. Transparency matters, and this feels like a blatant rip-off. read more

Dera - Extra Hidden Charge Doesn't Add Up! - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

We ordered the buffet at $28.99 per person. The staff was polite but felt sneaky. We were a big group and expected everyone to enjoy the food, but most of our guests stopped eating after only two bites. They said they felt full very quickly and could not try many items. The food taste was horrible as well. A staff member came over, saw our disappointed faces, laughed, and walked away. He did not ask if he could make things better. We paid the full amount and left. The experience lacked hospitality and ethics and was very expensive for what was offered. read more

Would not recommend. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Not a clean place.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Food was okay but dishes were not clean[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] and [[HIGHLIGHT]]the place itself needs a lot of improvements.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

This wonderfully decorated business has been there for 35 years. They must be doing something right. The service was very professional. I ordered the ground beef Kebab that came with rice and a salad and non-bread. My husband had the mixed dish plate which came with chicken, lamb and beef kebabs when I think Bob's I think of meat on a stick as per their menu. But it wasn't like that it was still delicious though. I gave the rice to my husband who said he liked it. I found the ground beef kebab, well seasoned good portion, size and very juicy. The Nanbread was very big a little dry but it was good. It's Brad. My husband said he enjoyed his meal as well. I carried part of it home, because I thought it would make a really good base for a Bolognese because of all the great seasoning and I was right. read more

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Def one of the restaurants that is not worth it. Charge you extra for everything. Defintely not recommend it. Buffet was ~30$, was charge some like 45$ or something at the end! read more

No no way jose all day!!!! Service slow. Food wayyyyyy ver priced. Biryani literally just chilly pepper. Such garbage. I read all the rave reviews and was excited but it was literally soooooo bad. I'm going to niralla next time. read more

Keena naan and there's no filling inside, how? This is such a disappointment. Literally where is the filling?! read more

Dera - Where's the filling? - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

Terrible food. We were severely sick after eating. Food tasted bad and definitely was old. will NEVER go back. first and definitely last time. Beware of hidden charges. read more

Place has changed quite a bit, but I still come here with my family every once in a while. Food quality is very good but the spice levels on certain dishes are ridiculously high and it's like eating peppers instead of tasting flavors lol. I recommend coming on weekends for the buffet, you get to try more! [[HIGHLIGHT]]Dining has gotten larger, great for gatherings.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Service is decent. read more

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Great food! Went here for buffet in the morning and was not disappointed. Food was fresh, flavorful and made your arteries feel sorry...

Been there few times and everything used to be good. The last year every time we went, there was something wrong with either the service or the charge or the order. Stopped going there. They charged us $55 for an item that was advertised as $29 on their menu. When questioned, we were told of well it's late evening. What does that have to do with anything. You're open and not close to closing time but regardless how do you charge whatever you feel like. 2nd time my daughter went and ordered chole puri halwa and was charged $25 for it when the menu has it around $12. Very unscrupulous and rude and please check your bill they charge whatever the server feels like. The naan is wrong almost every time. I will specifically mention what kind I want, tell them they got it wrong and still they will give the wrong kind. [[HIGHLIGHT]]They have a bunch of men sitting in the back playing games cards etc, that make the women uncomfortable by staring at them and commenting cheaply about what they want to do to them. Disgusting atmosphere[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

The menu has all the classic Pakistani dishes, and each one is packed with authentic flavors. Prices are pretty reasonable too, especially for the portions you get. read more

I had lunch here and was very satisfied! The interior is beautiful and it's very spacious and very clean and so were the restrooms! Service was was great ( servers maybe a tad nervous) but were super friendly and respectful. The order taker listened and gave their recommendations. I ordered chicken briyani which very tasty not to spicy! Seekh kabob served with naan and side order of chicken peas and white rice. Also before they served the meal we got salad and the mint chaatney was tasty! They also have sweet traditional kiosk of Pakistani sweets! My favorite Gulab Janam! A healthy and happy family oriented place! Highly recommended!! read more

Dera - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

Average Pakistani food. Good value and economical. Good for normal day eating Nothing special

I came on Eid, and had a buffet. The food was phenomenal. For dessert I had falooda, which was great!! The best I've had in a long time! read more

Dera - Falooda! - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

Went for the Sunday lunch buffet about $18. They had a good variety of food and it was seasoned/spiced well. The restaurant was very clean, staff was attentive and friendly. I also purchased food togo from the buffet ($8.99/lb) for a family member. read more

Food and service at Dera is sporadic! Sometime it's so spice it can't be consumed. Eating there is not much of an option that's why we carry out. Had the food not been good we would not be driving total of 1 1/2 hours. It's most annoying when you return home to find out the entree packed was wrong on a day they had no diners. Calling the owner was hilarious. He said, I needs to investigate from the weekend crew, because there are two sides to this story This was weeks back! Hello! Can someone tell the owner the food packed was wrong it's as simple as that. Chicken is not beef & lamb is not chicken. read more

Worst overpriced food . Ordered Bhatti's , chicken kabob , beef Nehari kebab All items tasteless . Never ever recommend anyone read more

Recently I had disappointing experience at Dera as I thought it was my go-to desi food fix place!! We were a party of 5 and the lunch buffet was 14.99 per person which is no issue at all because the food is good. However, when we went to pay the bill there was gratuity charge on the receipt for about $12 additional to the bill. I had already left reasonable tip aside from the gratuity listed on the bill. After doing quick google search it turns out that restaurants can charge gratuity for party of 6 OR 8 OR MORE PEOPLE i.e large groups. Again, we were less than 6 people and sometimes even less than 5 as I visit the place often. So, my question is why am I forced to pay the gratuity? No one at the restaurant never notified us of this charge before we sat down to eat. It was only after the fact I checked the receipt because the total bill was suppose to be around $74 and in fact due to this charge turned out to be almost $92. I won't be coming back to this place anymore until the owner changes this rule as this is unfair to people who come with fewer than 6 people. Do not deserve one star read more

Dera - Receipt with gratuity charge - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

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We were visiting from Scottsdale,AZ and were looking for desi food close to our hotel. Found this strip mall which is chock full of desi eateries so it was a difficult decision to pick one. We went to Dera. The restaurant is large with good spacing between tables. Service by Rashid was prompt and courteous Now the best part, food. We ordered a keema naan for apps. Perfectly spiced keema and a fluffy naan sprinkled with seasame seeds. Perfect start! For main course we got Chicken Curry, yes the name is generic but it was cooked korma style. Good to the last drop of salaan. They were out of beef Bihari, we got chicken Bihari. Again perfectly spiced and served on a sizzler. The entrees came with naan, rice and Chana. Clearly that was too much food for the two of us and had plenty of leftovers. Not sure why the average yelp review is 3.5. I know desi food very well, this meal was definitely 5 stars!! read more

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got a chance to try deera restaurant they have great food with delicious flavor, a must visit place specially for there nihari and bbq.

Ordered chicken tikka and seekh kabob. Seekh kabob was good but chicken tikka was RAW. Cashier still charged me for raw chicken that I did not eat. Horrible service and subpar food. read more

Visited Dera Restaurant in Brookfield Plaza this evening. Leaving some serious feedback for the owners to address. Waiters need to be retrained immediately. Literally we got no service after being seated and waiters are rude. I made several trips to get our complete food, drinks, utensils, etc. I even had to go to the waiter to place our order after waiting over 20 minutes. There was only one other family there when we got there. When paying, I noticed and wasn't surprised at the automatic gratuity charge. I don't mind paying this and even more for even average service. I pointed this out to the person taking the payment and the service guys were extremely rude - made horrible comments and just started laughing. It was clear that these waiters didn't want to be there working. This is the big difference between going to an establishment which makes things right or where you know you will get good service. In this case, the waiter was disrespectful and argumentative. As a consumer when we choose to come to your place to spend a good amount of money, a business is expected to provide a level of service. We will not be going back here or recommending this place to anyone. The place wasn't even fully packed and if staffing is an issue, the owners need to hire according to traffic. read more

Got a to-go order - quick service upon arrival as usual. The butter chicken here is my favorite in the Nova area!

Definitely not what they used to be... I stopped in for lunch on a weekday and even though it's August of 2021 and Covid has mostly passed (and seems to be sparking up again), they didn't have a buffet, which is fine, as I didn't expect there to be one. But I used to love their buffet! There was no one else in there and it was around 12:15PM. I ordered samosa chaat for lunch, as it's typically filling. The order came out in a reasonable amount of time and it was cool (barely warm) on the inside. I would expect the top of it to be cooler since it's got chutney on top, but the inside should have been piping hot. The samosas were flavorless, which was disappointing. The Channa on it was also flavorless and so was the mint yogurt chutney... really, the only flavors came from the sweet tamarind chutney. Additionally, the place stunk really bad, almost made me sick to smell it. It seemed like something spoiled inside. Hate to say it, as I used to love this place, but I doubt I'll be going back. read more

Dera - Samosa Chaat - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

Last night we had food at DEERA Springfield. The service was absolutely pathetic, very un-professional staff , we told him regarding the food isn't of good quality and his reply was " essa hi milta hai yahan" ( this is what you get here). All of us are un-well and will URGE people NOT TO GO TO DEERA.... WORST EVER EXPERIENCE .... Waste of money , waste of time and rubbish food What a mistake to go there .... Rubbish read more

Catered couple of trays of haleem from here. Probably the worst haleem I've had, this place used to be good years ago, now the food does not taste anywhere close to pakistani food, shame. read more

This is a great spot for a cheap lunch! The $10 lunch buffet is great, though not much vegetarian options. It's spicy be warned, but definitely authentic! This is where my Pakistani friends go for lunch and it was soo soo good when I went with them. The qema matar, a beef dish cooked with peas was a favorite of our table. read more

Dera - Pakistani Near Me - Springfield, Virginia

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We went inside the restaurant, even though the time was until 11pm, the food was extremely bad and the girl who was in the service department had an extremely bad attitude And go without saying anything. It is not a good place to eat. Everyone is busy laughing and not paying attention to the customers read more

It was our first time at Dera Restaurant in Springfield, VA, and we had their lunch buffet on an early Sunday afternoon. We had no problems finding parking. We were greeted by a very friendly staff member. The restaurant was set up with long tables in rows and we could tell other patrons were happy and enjoying their family time. One of the employees was nice enough to separate our table since we were only a party of three (3). Their buffet had a wide selection of Pakistani food, including salad and desserts. The food was tasty and they gave a very generous portion of naan bread, which they allowed us to take home that we could not consume onsite. There were several servers that stopped by our table to talk to us, answered our questions, and made sure our water pitcher and glasses were filled. Before we left, the owner greeted us and asked about the food and service. We told him we enjoyed everything and we should be back soon. He recommended other things on the menu to try. Overall, it was a great experience with very friendly employees and owner! read more

Do you love Pakistani food? Don't come here! Seriously, it was horrible. Channa tastes like savory apple spice oatmeal. Nothing was seasoned or the kebab was inedible from so much cardamom. Reading these reviews tasted better than this food. Blegh. read more

Top Tier. this food is amazing for the price. the atmosphere is amazing. the people are vibrant. this place will have you feeling right at home. read more