The Good: Wonderful selection in the buffet (nehari, haleem, pulau, 2 types of chicken tikka, some sort of keema dish, bhindi, channa, and siri paya). Also comes with complimentary samosa, pakora, and roohafza milk during Ramadan. The space is also nicely set up, good amount of AC. Service is AMAZING. Naan comes with buffet, your water is all refilled, and the waiters go to great lengths to make you feel comfortable. The Bad: Confusing 2 building structure. One building is the "chinese buffet" and the other building is the "pakistani buffet." Can't pick both, have to pay separately. The Chinese buffet venue has no AC and is very poorly set up, the food also looked old. The price of the buffet is also a bit too much. Even during Ramadan, $15 per head is kind of nuts. MAKE A RESERVATION! We did, but saw many people get turned away because the place was booked. And then..there was the AFTERMATH. I don't know what it is, the food was immaculate while we were eating, but everything is encased in like a vat of oil. The food is CRAZY OILY. Every dish you pour into your plate is 3 parts food, 1 part...OIL!! It's extremely greasy fare and is not for older people! Both of my parents got physically sick the night of the dinner, and the morning after everyone was groggy as if we had just endured some kind of crazy cage fight...that food really took its toll on our bodies! Overall: I would recommend it, but for the younger crowd who can handle oilier food, and as for myself, I don't think I have it in me to go there again. read more

This place is nice and clean. The food items that we tried, was tasty and flavorful. I like their nan and bread. I would recommend this restaurant for those who want to dine in that area. read more

Just delicious. I never take home food...normally, I had to in this case and ate it all! Owner was so nice and catering to my every whim. Would definitely go again! read more

Excellent good and service. Nice place and setup. Their barbecue is the best. Will definitely return read more

A true five star place. Naan was fresh from oven. Spicy food but just the right amount of spices. All round awesome place.. Very friendly.

I was there for the buffet. The food was tasty and the breads were fresh and hot but afterwards we got a stomach ache and the runs. Probably from all the fat that was used. The restaurant is also not very honest. We were told it was $12.95 per person for the buffet. But when we got the bill it was $51.02 for 3 people. They automatically added a 22% gratuity which was not disclosed anywhere. Poor management and will never go back! I also sent management an email before posting this review but of course there was no response. read more

Hole in the wall that will blow you away. The service was great and the buffet was full of options with great flavor.

The Goat Biryani was absolutely amazing! It's a very generous portion, which I had to share, but it had just the right flavor and spice. Half of the restaurant is under construction, but once it's done I have no doubt the place will be packed full of hungry and satisfied customers. read more

Some of the best Pakistani food I've ever had. EVERYTHING on the buffet is delightful. Don't miss the butter chicken. (Seriously. Most places serve butter chicken, but Dera's is exquisite.) Friendly staff and a lovely space. Eat here! read more

We had lunch here today. My wife and I take one day a week to have a lunch date to try as many places in the area as we can. There are quite a few restaurants in the area and we decided on this one as a whim. We read positive and negative reviews before we came in and I can say that the negative reviews are off base. The staff was very polite and helpful. We were seated immediately and the service was pretty quick. I opted for the lunch buffet which was very good and you get a lot of good food for the price (12.95 i think it was). My only complaints on the buffet was that there was only one beef selection and the rest was chicken (most with bones), I was hoping for a lamb selection or maybe a few small appetizers, but the amount of entrees set out makes up for that I guess. My wife opted for the lamb tikka and she got a huge portion of meat, beans and rice, enough to take home, have a snack later and still have lunch for tomorrow. She also ordered a Mango Lassi, which she said was quite good, I'm not a fan of those so I can't speak to it. The decor was nice, and it looked like it was very well taken care of and clean. They also have a huge sweets/dessert selection for those that like sweets, and they all looked very tasty, I'm just not a big sweets guy. I think at the end of it, with a big box of food to take home as leftovers, our bill was about 30 dollars which is a bit less than we spend normally on some of these dates. I would definitely say look past any bad review of bad service or price shock because that was not our experience. The food was pretty tasty (only one of the items on the buffet was a bit too spicy, the rest were perfectly spiced), the staff was helpful and polite, the menu has a lot to offer and the pricing was very fair for what you get. Give this place a try! read more

Super service and good food. We were struck by the friendly and helpful service staff. We had planned to do individual entres before we arrived, but a purview of the buffet changed our minds and that was a good decision. Ten different offerrings if I recall correctly and that did not include the rice biryana, salad and desert. My favorite was the potato and goat curry - excellent. zyangon/Springfield VA read more

Worm in my food. It was crawling inside the poori. They didn't take any responsibility and were rude and wanted to charge full regardless of such experience. Dangerous to health. Eat at your own risk. read more

Soooooo good. I order it for delivery, and it blew my mind. Not your average last option type of place. Perfect seasoning. Exciting flavors. I'm not familiarized with Pakistani food , but since now I am a FAN. Definitely ordering back from this restaurant. Btw, the food delivery guy, was really friendly. read more

I have never been to this establishment physically, but I've ordered delivery food several times in the last month. The chicken tikka is out of this world. Everything I've ordered has been fantastic and I feel confident that I can order something I cannot pronounce or without a menu description (on grub hub) and it'll be great. Definitely recommend this place. read more

I was a bit skeptical when I first arrived because I wasn't sure how good the food was going to be. I've never had Pakistani food before. But I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was very good and the service was excellent! They were serving a lunch buffet and I was able to get a variety of food. It was very good! I will definitely go there again and would recommend it to others. read more

Fresh Nan, everything tasted amazing but leave room for desert. Definitely going back with the family.

Used dera for my wedding, literally ALL my guests got sick including me and my groom.

A Pakistani friend brought me here and ordered for us. It was AMAZING food! Absolutely delicious... I live in Bethesda, and would easily travel to Springfield for their cuisine. It was fresh, flavorful, staff was attentive, the owners are fun, everything was perfect! They are opening a 24/7 carry out next door. I'm begging them to open a restaurant in Bethesda. Treat your self to an amazing lunch or dinner, you will be glad you did! Can't WAIT to go back! read more

This is the only paki restaurant u can find, witch is clean well maintain, well look, great customer service, servers willing to help and last not atleast food is sho goood. read more

Our family just loves this place. Never been there, we've only had delivery. Amazingly cheerful delivery people! We like to try all the appetizers. The samosa are great! They bring a bucket of green sauce if you ask for it. The boy loves the butter chicken. We usually get the Dera platter, three meats, good variety. 9/12/2015 Oh no! You guys don't deliver anymore? I can't get down there. I might never have Dera again? Please,,,,, reconsider! Well, if I'm in the neighborhood I'll surely drop by. read more

I've had the privilege of dining here quite frequently. The food is exceptional and their service is mediocre. They provide a lunch buffet that is reasonably priced and features various options. Overall it's good. read more

We ate there and.... the waiter seems Dont care...feel like we were at the street market instead of in the restaurant....and the grilled red chicken burned outside and uncooked inside...omg... got stomach problem once I got home.... too bad.... Very disappointed dinning experience... read more

Never go there. Specially this month of ramadan. In their buffet they serve 2-3 days old food and mixed with new cooked food. Their appetizer and drinks are worst and unhealthy. If you want to stay healthy never go their. 2 days ago i went their and got a food poisoned and admitted in hospital. read more

Cold food, wrong labels. This place is not worth it. Every item on the buffet was cold and guess what none of the Employees bothered to change it. All the items on the buffet had wrong labels. Don't waste your time here, try Mehran or some other place read more

Bahiri kabob ver good, chapli kabob best! Very nice food and very fresh, try to order from menu.

I travel here for business. Love the appetizers and vegetarian dishes. Service is awesome. Will be a regular stop for every business trip! Thank you staff for all the friendly smiles! read more

Delicious food, clean venue and super-nice waitstaff. Best Pakistani food in the area. We liked the Nehari - offered in the weekend buffet and the Haleem - which was not offered that day but brought out to me anyway after I asked. read more

One of the good Pakistani places in the DMV area. The sesame naan here is my personal fav! The service is ok. The waiters need better management training or something. Good, clean restaurant! Now serving mithai read more

I was their ordering food to take home for iftar, girl name Shazia was helping me. I was taking food from buffet and I heard a gentleman yelling at her for not getting the things right the first time, then later on when she went to get my Naan there was a misunderstanding about the quantity and I could hear the man yelling and disrespecting her. She came outside embarrassed and apologized for the delay. I am from Pakistan and I know this happens there all the time. But when you are fasting aren't you suppose to be calm and let anger not get the best of you and Islam teaches us to respect women to be kind to children and everyone else and this is how you treat your workers? I asked the girl what's the name of the gentleman which the whole place could hear him yelling and her response was " please don't complain or do such a thing" why? Is this going to fall back on her? I am sorry this was very unprofessional and hurtful to see it happen in a country like this. read more

I love to try various restaurants not normally going back twice but this place will have me coming back again and again. The food was served perfectly to my liking and the staff was attentive. I will definitely bring my out of town guests here and know they will be happy and full read more

This place is fantastic!! I normally eat here at least twice a week for lunch and I love it! The lunch buffet is only $10 and the variety of items is HUGE. You get fresh naan bread with your meal, salad, dissert and again for only $10! Keep up the good work!! read more

Fabulous Service and Amazing Food!!!!!!!! I came to eat at Dera with my friend and his family from Texas. We all were so impressed by the very professional service by Sony and Akaash. Food was very very delicious. So many items to chose from!!!!!!!! All the items were very flavorful and fresh!!! My friend and his family asked me to bring them back and when they come back for their next visit. It's sometimes hard to get great service and delicious food BUT DERA DID IT!!!!!!! Bravo to the service team and Cooks!!!!!!!!!! read more

Never go to this restaurant!!!!!! People here don't know how to treat their customers. I walked in with 4 other ppl and i was told the place is reserved. However, the people who walked in after us got a seat. Plus i had called in before driving an hr away tp this place. Really not worth it guys. Unfortunately, i had to give it a star to post this review. You wanna go to a place where ppl know how to "treat" their customers! read more

Very very rude! Customer service is so bad. They don't know how to value customer relationship.

Went too weeks ago with family and everything in there buffet was cold. A few other quests agreed to and showed displeasure as well. They did not a aknowledge it was cold and continue to just shrug it off like it was OK. They didn't offer to rewarm the food neither did anyone apologize. Me and my dad asked for a manager and the owner came. He also shrugged it off like it was no big deal. Mind u this is Sunday afternoon 1 pm. Anyhow we walked out and they still charged well knowing that it was there fault. What kind of customer service is that. The lease the owner could of done is offered an apology and said we will get u fresh warm food. But he was very rude and disrespectful. Well looks like I won't be returning here again. read more

My favorite place to go to get Pakistani food. Their butter chicken, and channay are to be my favorite!

I almost never write negative reviews b/c I don't want to make it even harder on mom and pop outlets trying to make an honest living. I'm making an exception for Dera because I just feel the need to warn others. I love Pakistani/Indian food, even when it's not great--but this was just plain inedible. We ordered $88 worth of delivery b/c some friends were coming over, and most of us could not eat what was delivered. The butter chicken was closer to Velveeta chicken. That's right--it was chicken in a curry that tasted way, way closer to Velveeta than butter chicken. The goat dish was 90% bones, 5% goat meat, and 5% curry. I'm sure it had potential, but I honestly couldn't get to the meat and curry to tell you. The most promising dish was the lamb, which was cooked perfectly, but there really wasn't much by way of curry or sauce to add anything to the dish. All of this and the delivery guy was 20 minutes late, which I could have overlooked had the food not been so unpalatable. read more

Usually when we've had the Dera weekend buffet, it's been pretty good but overtime we've noticed the quality and taste of the food decline. The last time we had the buffet here (a couple months ago), the food was just mediocre and we decided to not go again. But today we decided to give it another chance because we heard Dera changed their buffet menu and remodeled the restaurant but once again we were quite disappointed with the quality and taste of the food. They had less variety of items, and the food didn't look like what they said it was. For example, they told us that this one dish was "lamb korma", but when we tried it, it tasted like a mix of nihari and something else. The "karahi chicken" tasted more like a bad version of achaar chicken, and the "biryani" looked more like pulao. Other items in the buffet were also not great. The chicken tikka was bland, and the puri was extremely oily, to the point where we were using tissues to blot the oil. They also changed their naan to have the white Sesame Seeds on there, which wasn't horrible but could've tasted better without it. Overall, we were even less impressed with the food this time than the last and don't think we will be going again. read more

Worst customer service. The waitress could not care less about if the customer have glasses and spoons. Very hostile and judge mental environment. The food is decent but horrible service. Will not be going back. read more

I literally never write reviews but this just isn't okay. I placed an order for butter chicken and samosas and the total was almost $20, so I was expecting more than just a couple chunks of chicken swimming in sauce. No good. Never coming back. read more