My family & I had a nice lunch at Falaknuma. I was recommended this restaurant for the Mutton Haleem, and it definitely delivered. Maybe the best in the Bay Area (though I'd like a few more onions ;) The Pathar ka Gosht and accompanying Rumali were delicious as well. Finally, I enjoyed the Zafrani Mutton Dum Biryani, but I'll note it's not quite the spicy "Hyderabadi dum biryani" that you may expect. The drinks were fine but not as good as the food. The Saudi Champagne is a curious mocktail, and other restaurants make better Irani chai. The service was adequate. It took about 25 minutes for our full order to be brought out, which felt a tad slow given the relative quiet. The building looks nicely-decorated, but it could use a clean-up, including the restrooms. I'm overall happy with my experience and plan to try some of the other recommended dishes. read more

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Came by for Teo Chow Noodle Shack takeout and saw this red notice posted on neighboring Falaknuma's front door: "Alameda County Department of Environmental Health CLOSED Due to the temporary suspension of health permit this food facility is closed: Falaknuma Indian & Arabian Restaurant 4161 Cushing Pkwy This facility has been inspected by the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health, Environmental Protection Division in accordance to the California Health & Safety Code and failed inspection conducted on: 8/31/2026 by B. Saraswatula, Registered Environmental Health Specialist." "This food facility is ordered to remain closed until the permit to operate is reinstated." Yelp user Brianna W. posted a photo and review on August 15, 2026 that she saw staff preparing ingredients outside by a dumpster. For some reason, the review is filtered into ones that aren't recommended but you can still read it by clicking the filtered review links and her photo is still up (search using keyword "dumpster"). read more

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Great portion of biryani! One is def enough for 3-4 people to share. I have had the mandi here before and found both dishes to be rich and flavorful in a way only slow cooking can produce. They do lean to be a more upscale establishment, the type of place people have birthday parties and dress beautifully for Ramadan and eat with extended family. Though they have great value lunch specials (around $25) which are perfect for one person so you get rice, curry and naan without feeling like you need to compromise. I think more places should do this. Love the raita! read more

This is restaurant is much better for takeaway than sit down. Everything kind of tastes the same and that's where the food loses its authenticity if you want to try a variety of dishes because everything slowly starts merging into each other. One entree and one main kinda place read more

Falaknuma - Mutton Haleem - (Family Pack) with Chicken 65 on sides - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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Great food, poorly run. Biryani never ready for lunch. Today, called multiple times - I was told its delayed, will be ready by 12:45pm and when I call at 12:45pm, its 1:20pm. Same story last week too. Poor discipline. I don't understand how can you open the restaurant for lunch with only chicken 65 on the menu and some curries. This is the story with most Indian restaurants- they start strong then go downhill due to poor management and discipline. read more

Restaurant's interior is vibrant. I really like their wall decor that expresses their culture. The mandi was definitely delicious. I would come back here for this. Margh (marag) was not overpowering with spices. Just taste perfect for me. Will not be my go-to though as it is a bit oily. Service? Well, prople were really nice but getting the food to our table was slow. I would give 3 stars for the service, but cant separate the review for service and food taste read more

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The food was excellent--we especially loved the Paneer 65 and rumali roti. The ambience and décor were beautiful and made the restaurant feel very inviting. Unfortunately, the front-desk staff member seemed grumpy and unwelcoming, which spoiled the overall experience. Despite the good food, we probably won't return. read more

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Tried takeout from this place on a Friday evening. I tried rumali roti and paneer 65 combo. I called and placed the order - hoping to try the vegetarian food here and the food was ready in about 20ish minutes. The roomali roti was thin and a little wispy for my liking - maybe it tastes best in the restaurant warm and just off the pan. The paneer 65 was disappointing. It felt like the paneer was just stir fried in something and it felt very last minute like. It lacked salt or had very little to no masala. Probably gonna skip this place for lack of vegetarian food. read more

Falaknuma - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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Eats- Zafrani Chicken biryani. Chicken mandi, Reshmi kabob and butter naan Loved their Zafrani Biryani's and Kabob. Mandi was okay but Biryani's take the top spot. Apricot creme is decent but a bit sweeter than i expected, Would definitely go back when i have Biryani cravings read more

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Food is pretty average to be honest. Chicken Reshmi kebab was bone dry and came without any chutney. Nizami Mutton came with one rumali roti. Mutton pieces were super soft but very few. Zaffrani chicken dum biryani was disappointing, no flavor, no dry fruits, no hint of saffron. Irani chai was the only decent thing. Not coming back to this again. Service is limited and ambience is good. read more

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Amazing food!!! We especially loved the pathar ka gosht and haleem! They have a really unique blend of Arabic and Indian food to create an awesome combination of food. My family loved the biryani and chai and we were impressed by the ambiance and decoration. I will definitely come back! read more

Falaknuma - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

This review is in regard to the service provided. The gentleman taking my order wasn't very honest and I didn't appreciate it. I had placed an order to go, in person. I paid via cash and I waited for him to give me my change. And I waited and he didn't open the cash register and give me my change so I told him that I'm short so he register to give my bill. I felt disappointed that if I didn't say anything, he would not done the right thing. It's not so much about the bill but more of the ethics. I would have happily left it as a tip. As lovely as the decor and ambiance is, I would never recommend a place where I feel so cheated. read more

Just had an amazing meal at Falaknuma and I'm still thinking about it! This spot brings you the boldest Hyderabadi & Arabian flavors under one roof -- everything we ordered was packed with taste and left us super full and happy. Here's what I ordered: Irani Chai with Bun Maska Chicken 65 with Rumali Roti Tandoori Chicken Chicken Mandi Zafrani Goat Dum Biryani Royal Fruit Treat Every single dish hit the spot -- from the spicy, crispy Chicken 65 to the aromatic Goat Biryani that melts in your mouth. The Irani Chai + Bun Maska combo was the perfect cozy start, and that Royal Fruit Treat? A sweet ending done right. read more

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Ordered through DoorDash and had a disappointing experience. We ordered Reshmi Kebab and Zafrani Chicken Dum Biryani. The restaurant ran out of the chicken dum biryani and sent goat dum biryani instead assuming customer would eat it (Unacceptable) . Unfortunately, the biryani was below expectations - lacked quality/flavor and failed to leave any impression. The Reshmi Kebab was quite hard to eat and didn't taste great either. Overall, this order fell short, especially given the substitution without consent. read more

Interesting new Indian (and Arabian?) restaurant in Fremont. The restaurant is small but well organized; it's self service - order your food, get your plates and cutlery, pick your order number sign and take a seat. They do bring food to the table. And when you are done, you go get to-go boxes yourself. No fuss. The menu also is limited but looks like they are focusing on quality and efficiency versus variety. We had the Pathar Ghosht (Goat meat on a hot stone), and Chicken 65 - both served with Roomali Roti. Definitely their best dishes and both go really well with what probably is the most authentic Roomali Roti I've had in the Bay Area in years. We also had the Zafrani Chicken Dum Biryani which was also good. The portions are generous, like really generous for the price, which is great. The biryani, while flavorful, was too mild. I understand they are catering to a wider customer base but I wish they had atleast increased the heat on the saalan (chili based gravy served as a side with the Biryani). Overall, I am glad we tried the place. Waiting to see how their menu evolves over the years.... read more

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I would rate this place a 3.5 overall, good ambience and quick service, you have to place order at the counter and pickup your cutlery before you get seated We ordered goat mandi, chicken 65 and mango malai- chicken 65 was flavourful and rumali roti was soft Goat Mandi is very bland but mandi is usually bland but I did not find depth of flavour, goat was well done and mango malai was decent Overall few dishes hit the spot and few missed the mark for me read more

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Zafrani chicken biryani was so good it's the closest to the most iconic Alpha restaurant biryani from Hyderabad. The fragrance, aroma, taste, fluffy rice and lots of well cooked chicken pieces all packed in a big bowl of goodness. Took me back to my days in Hyderabad. Absolutely must try. I've never tasted anything this authentic in the US. Patthar ka ghost: very disappointing. So bland, tasteless, lacklustre and boring. Regretted ordering this dish. Rip off. We door dashed so cannot comment on ambiance but looking at the pictures seems really good place to dine in. read more

Falaknuma - Zafrani chicken biryani - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

New place. You stand in line to order, pick up the number and find a table. Limited menu, a bit price but the portions are large. We just tried the appetizer Pathar Ka Gosht (goat) with Rumali roti. It was ok but will have preferred if it was not charred. Not sure if the chef forgot to check and burned it. Willing to give this place another shot. Disappointed with charred goat. Rumali roti was perfect. read more

Falaknuma - Pathar Gosht with Rumali Roti - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

Excellent food! Lovely Mother's day lunch! We ordered chicken 65 with rumali roti, zafrani chicken biryani, Goat Mandi and Irani chai. Rumali roti was just perfectly thin, very well done. I did find that it was served a little lukewarm. Nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed it with chicken65. Chicken65 was flavorful and perfectly spicy. Chicken biryani (too yummy that we forgot to take a pic), the right amount of right spices. The meat was cooked to perfection! Finally I found a place that serves biryani very close to that served back home in Hyderabad. Zafrani was a little overpowering, but this is very minor drawback. I'm tired of the many biryani places in the BayArea that serve biryanis filled with random spices and claim Hyderabadi Biryani. They can all take a page out of this place's book. Smells great, check, doesn't burn the tummy, check, meat flavor enjoyable without the spices overpowering, check. Goat Mandi - my first time trying this. The rice was yummy! The sauce that came along with is a must to bring out the flavors in rice. I cannot figure out what this sauce is, definitely made with green chillies. The meat, I didn't find it cooked to perfection, it was medium rare in certain areas, would have liked it well done, but still pretty good. Irani chai - can totally skip this, nothing different from other places and I'm not a fan! I expected the salan and raita to standout, nothing amazing, just the usual. Beautiful ambiance too. Nawabi style n all. read more

Falaknuma - Goat Mandi - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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The food is delicious, but the service could be improved. The entire restaurant has only three menus (hard copies) for those who come for the first time and prefer to spend a few extra minutes reviewing the menu. I texted my friend, who recommended this yummy place, and she told us to order these two signature dishes. Falaknuma is a Hyderabad traditional dood restaurant, and we really enjoyed the traditional dishes. We also ordered a mixed grill dish, which took a long time to serve. The mixed grill was ok, not my favorite, so I will not order it next time. I sure would like to try Hydrabadi Biryani next time. It was a Friday night, so the owner should have extra help for weekends, but again things happened. The best part is that we enjoyed the food and then went to Qamaria Yamani cafe, which is situated in the same shopping center. This shopping center has a big parking area, so parking is no problem. The ambiance is casual, and yet we can still hear each other during rush hour. Please try this place and I'm sure I'll love to go back. read more

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Quality went down in my last visit. I still think the biryanis is the only thing thats good and even that is starting to loose its taste and freshness. Hopefully they pick up. read more

Falaknuma - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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Goat biryani is one of me & my boyfriend favourites.. he is picky with goat biryani but surprisingly he loves it here ... considering the rating we almost didn't come but we've been here about 17 times.. but we get the same thing every time.. the haleem is great too but can be oily ... but that's about it .. every thing else is not worth it considering the prices and portion sizes. service can be bad or can be really smooth. Depends who's at the counter. Bathrooms aren't horrible but definitely could be cleaner. Chai is okay we get it sometimes after dinner.. Did I mention it's beautiful inside ?? Love the scenery read more

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Today was terrible service. Also they are not completely honest... I placed a pick up order via Yelp that got routed through DoorDash, the restaurant did not fulfill my order completely. Charged me an extra $25+ tax for a dish they did not give me. They did not even mention the full order was not there they charged me for the entire bill. I came home and found it was missing my order I called the restaurant they were not helpful at all, I called DoorDash it was the same. So how do I get my money refund? What a waste of time. The food was not that good either... so what a waste of time to drive 40 mins one way to go pick up my food and then have this terrible experience. Not going back here. read more

This place gives you large quantities of food at a reasonable price. The atmosphere here is a bit loud and it is crowded. We went here on a Friday evening and it took us 15 minutes to get a table for 2. We ordered Pathar ka Gosht and Chicken 65 as starters. Both of them come with Rulmali Roti(an Indian bread) and huge quantities of meat. The taste is good as well. These items arrived within minutes of ordering. I would recommend ordering extra Rumali Roti as the quantity of meat is a lot. We also ordered Zafrani Chicken Dum Biryani. It took around 20 minutes for this item to come but it was worth the wait. You must order the Zafrani Chicken or Boat Biryani when you visit this place. This is their best food item. All the items were mild spicy. I loved it. read more

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Great food with a lot of flavor for a good price. It was our first time here and the guy at the counter was more than patient explaining which ones we might like based on what we asked. Lots of seating and natural lighting. read more

Falaknuma - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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I have been here three times for dine in (have done takeaways multiple times) but before commenting anything about the food and its flavor, I would like to say that the service is really very slow (they say that they cook fresh due to which it takes time but sometimes, the customer is too hungry to wait) and honestly I'm not being critical but they really need to work on the service. I revisited after six months only to see that the service hasn't improved a bit.Took almost 50ish mins to get our goat & chicken Mandi. Food however is really nice, have tried their Mandi (chicken & goat both), haleem , chicken 65 (takeaway) & pathar ka gosht and apricot crème as well as tea. If you're someone who enjoys Indian flavors, you will enjoy eating here. Ambiance is nice. Cutlery is clean read more

We went to Falaknuma for Iftar during Ramadan. They offered free dates and rooh afzah drinks to break our fast. The Ambiance is nice. The food was delish. We had Hyderabadi Biriyani, Haleem and patthar ki gost and Doi bora. It was yummm. Highly recommend this place. We took our tiny baby out. She cried most of the time lol read more

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This restaurant is low class, I had stomach upset with their Haleem and horrible microwaved chicken biryani, I also ordered fruit treat and they gave huge amounts of ice cream with dry fruits and there was no fresh fruits, it was disgusting to see that, when I told them to change to a different dessert the manager/owner bluntly denied and he was reading namaz right there around reception, I came out of restaurant to see some beggars outside the door begging when I came out, total trash ambiance, then I immediately ran into McDonalds restroom and then had their oat meal which was super nutritious yummy than falaknuma's manipulated, dirty managed food, if you don't want to get disappointed then don't even experiment this cheap class and cheap service restaurant, choose wisely and stay safe, I absolutely don't mind giving minus 5 rating to this desi substandard restaurant read more

The most authentic Hyderabadi Food in the Bay Area. Each dish was served to perfection. The Rumali roti and chicken 65 combo hits all the right spots and the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is the real deal. The Ambiance is so elegant with mini chandeliers and comfy chairs. As we went on opening day the service was a bit slow due to the crowd, but would definitely go when there's not much foot traffic to really enjoy the food in peace. All in all it's amazing and authentic hyderabadi cuisine 10/10! read more

Falaknuma - Chicken 65 ( With 1 Rumali Roti) - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

The best hyderabadi biryani and haleem i've had in the bay area. It's rare if not impossible to find restaurants making this style of biryani here read more

Tried this Indian Arab restaurant for a quick bite today. Very flavorful and great service. Recommend if you're in the area. read more

Falaknuma is a beautiful Hyderbadi restaurant. I love their biryani, phatar ka ghosht and other items. The interiors are always being updated and the owners are super nice! We came here with a bunch of friends for dinner and they had enough seating for all of us. Highly recommend read more

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Ordered a family pack chicken dum biryani, family pack haleem, and a small goat biryani. The Chicken Biryani was a major disappointment of all. It was sweet, flavorless, dry and lacking spice - four out of four people didn't like it. I definitely won't be trying it again. The Mutton Biryani, was flavorful and definitely many times better than chicken biryani. The Haleem was the absolute best item we ordered and a definite hit, making it worth trying again. Be warned about their 'Family Pack'. It's advertised as a family size but serves about two people, not definitely four, which is quite pricey for a 32oz bucket at $40. While the Haleem's quality justified the price as a seasonal item, the 'Family Pack' concept for biryani is poor value. I'd recommend the Haleem and Mutton Biryani, but steer clear of the Chicken Biryani and don't expect the "Family Pack" to feed more than two, 3 at best. read more

Took home the biryani, and it was burnt and overcooked. The restaurant served it despite knowing it was burnt, which is completely irresponsible. Extremely disappointing. read more

Falaknuma - Burnt mutton - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

Worst food and worst service. (Stale meat) Please be aware. Please change your staff and food quality. read more

The food is really good here. As the name says this is Arabic Hyderabad food. All you spicy food lovers please understand this place and stop leaving stupid reviews wanting to eat spicy food. There's 100 of the restaurants in the Bay Area that are serving crazy spicy biryani that are over engineered please go there. This place is for people who like tasty flavorful milder Indian food. Please stay true to your vision. Love it. read more

Good food, authentic Hyderabad, Indian food service service was really good. They are very good and they have really good parking place to nothing to easy to find a place. read more

I'd been hearing a lot about this place, so I had to check it out. Parking was decent, and the inside looks great. The menu has some cool options. we tried the Pathar Ka Gosht which is goat fry and it tasted good. The Paneer 65 was a little bland, and the Irani Chai was nice, but I've had better. Some dishes like the Paya caught my eye, so I'll definitely come back to try more. Overall, worth giving it a shot. read more

Falaknuma - Pathar Ka Gosht ( With 1 Rumali Roti) - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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We tried this new restaurant in town for authentic dum biryani. Besides the biryani we ordered the popular items on the menu. Pattar ka ghosh- 2/5 the meat is chewy and lot of fat around and we could not eat it Chicken dum biryani- 5/5 the rice is perfectly cooked and I can smell the rose water with lot of fried onions. The chicken is well cooked and it is falling apart from the bone. This is the true hyderbadi biryani I ever had in the bay area Chicken mandi- 3/5 chicken is very dry and I cannot eat more than a bite I would definitely go back just to eat the dum biryani. Great service and it is a brand new restaurant ambiance with green interiors. read more

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Falaknuma kept showing up on my yelp page and for a long time, I didn't realize it was just across my office. Looking at the menu and the reviews, I have been wanting to try this place for a few months now. Finally, my husband and I went there for dinner today and we really enjoyed the food. We had pathar ghost and nawabi chicken and the bun maska with irani chai. We totally loved the gosht and the chicken. My husband found the bun a bit sweet for his taste but I liked the bun maska too. Chai was great as well. The ambience isn't bad either, but the place might be a little tight in space. Would definitely go back! read more

Falaknuma - Pathar gosht - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California