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    Grill Kabob Express

    3.8 (218 reviews)
    ModerateAfghan, Salad, Soup
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Order Grill Kabob Express Takeout or Delivery

    Grill Kabob Express Photos

    Business Info

    GRILL KABOB EXPRESS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Grill Kabob Express

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    Lamb kabob

    This is my go-to spot for Afghan food! Their dumplings (mantu and awshak) are the best I've ever had at a restaurant. They also cook their lamb very well! Their food tastes home made, and their service is great, making you feel right at home! Overall, I highly recommend trying Grill Kabob Express if you're craving authentic Afghan food!

    Mantoo insta @ SpicyAivy
    Aivy H.

    @grillkabobexpressva Great and tasty food served up by a lovely family in Fairfax that's been operating for over 10 years! I don't know how I've never had Mantoo's before because they were phenomenal. Mantoo: STAR of the show, these dumplings were not only so pretty but SO tasty and probably my new obsession. Chicken tikka kabob: Cooked well, a classic and my usual go-to. Chicken & beef koobidah combo: Another classic but the seasoning on these were SO flavourful. The sides: bread, rice, chickpeas, chanti & white sauce were all sooooo good and paired perfectly with the entrées. Definitely worth a visit and I know I'll be going back next time I'm in that area! - insta @ SpicyAivy

    Xiaohong S.

    It's a gem. They have the BEST kabobs! We tried lots of Kabob restaurants in the area. This place is our favorite! Food is automatically ( in our humble opinion) fresh and delicious! Portion, price, service and quality is very great! Their bread is super good! Can't say enough about their food!

    three containers of sauce on a table
    Israt J.

    Came here today for my lunch. It's good place to eat lunch. Taste was great and service was okay. This is my favorite kebab place.

    Lamb and chicken kabob
    AJ A.

    My regular kabob joint. They have a bunch of delicious options and also fresh daily sides. I ordered the super deluxe meal $21.95, which has a skewer if each meat, lamb, chicken, steak and kobidah. It also comes with salad and side of choice of veges and we chose the chickpeas. The amount on Deluxe is definitely enough for 2-3 people. I also ordered kids chicken meal with fries for the little one. They are super friendly and provide quality Afghan and halal kabobs.

    Salad
    Rebecca A.

    I ordered 4 platters for an event on a Sunday. The restaurant doesn't officially cater on Sundays so they combined the platters into a family style format. The lamb and chicken were excellent. The beef kubideh was a bit dry, which is unfortunate because it is usually my favorite. The Afghan bread was half delicious and half tough and overly chewy. This shop has really well done green and white sauces (which can be hard to find).

    Order in person or online
    Thuy V.

    I've done delivery several times here and came in once in person for carry out. You really like the kubideh chicken and beef (minced meat with spices). The rice is good and so is the flatbread. We usually have leftovers. the place itself is a little bit of a hole in the wall. There are a few people eating in and it's more of a order at the front and self-serve.

    Beef kubideh

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    2 months ago

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    4 months ago

    Food is amazing. Very unique. Young man was very friendly. Will come back again.

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Amazing Afghan food, friendly staff, and clean place. I tried it once and had to come back again, and again, and again.

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    3 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Best kabob spot in nova. They have chicken kubbideh which no one else really has. Great owner.

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    5 years ago

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    18 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Love the food. We always cater for here. Consistent and high quality. Highly recommended.

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    5 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Must visit! Authentic Afghan food at it's best! Family-run business and they make you feel so welcome.

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    4 years ago

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    5 years ago

    The food was very dry but also lacked any flavor whatsoever. I live close by to here but will travel further to get better kabobs.

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    9 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Rice and kabob was great. Side of bread and chatni sauce were the cherry on top. Hit the spot. Would recommend.

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    Page 1 of 6

    Ask the Community - Grill Kabob Express

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    Aracosia McLean - Qabuli Combination Platter - this was ok. The channa and eggplant were good.

    Aracosia McLean

    4.8(482 reviews)
    10.1 mi
    $$$

    Loved my lamb dish! Surprisingly reasonable pricing when you at opening/lunch too!…read more Nice cozy but elegant vibes. Great to take out your family or significant other. Interesting art on the wall and nice bathroom. Park on the parking garage below or on the side street/lot nearby. Make sure if you don't finish your lamb and ask to put it in a takeaway box go specify that you want your lamb scraps. Learn from me because my waiter tossed all my lamb and just boxed up the rice likely thinking I was done with them. Big bummer since I was looking forward to my leftovers but oh well.

    Overall it was a good experience! We absolutely loved the bread and the difference sauces that…read morewent with it. The pumpkin dumplings and pan fried veggie filled dumplings were great as well. I thought my salmon wrap and the chickpea side was ok. Interesting flavors for sure. As for the service, there was always someone filling up our waters and our waiter was very nice checking in every now and then. The only downside of the experience is at the end when the waiter was boxing up all the food for us. Very sweet that they do this but when boxing up my partners food, they only boxed up the rice and they got rid of the lamb that he was looking forward to eating more of later. So that was kind of a disappointment for us. I think if we go again, we would request to box our food ourselves since I'm not sure why they decided to get rid of all of his lamb.

    Photos
    Aracosia McLean
    Aracosia McLean
    Aracosia McLean - Bread - good.

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    Bread - good.

    Afghan Restaurant  - Lamb kabob

    Afghan Restaurant

    4.4(57 reviews)
    10.5 mi

    Came for the Sheeryakh, but had such delicious, authentic Afghan food! I'd give 4.5 stars for some…read moreconstructive modifications to make in the future related to service, but overall amazing food! I left with a full belly and a happy heart. Got a combo of chicken kabob and shami kabob along with a side of their borani banjan/eggplant dish. The eggplant was honestly one of my favorite things- it's a must get in my opinion. Homey dish with incredible flavors! Their naan is fresh and pairs well with it. The chicken was good, but I've had better honestly. The shami was a little disappointing as I expected more flavor and it was slightly dry, but good. Their rice was so tasty and I loved the sweetness coming from the carrots an raisins. Of course, the sheeryakh was great- quite a big portion for one person, but I loved the texture. It tastes very similar to the Indian/South Asian/Pakistani ice cream, "Kulfi." CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: Service needs improvement. The whole time I was there I had to keep looking for waiters to make eye contact with to ask for menu, water, paying, etc. It took about 10 min or more for me to have to call a busy waiter over just to look at the menu- no one came over on their own. Things just took time for a Saturday night- plus they were hosting an event on top of this. Needless to say, I've never had service like this, but the vibe and food made me be not as harsh. Despite the service, this place is a must try for authentic Afghan cuisine. Can't wait to try more of their menu (and the borani banjan again) in the future!

    Unfortunately, this restaurant didn't live up to my expectations…read more When we arrived the dining room felt very humid and sticky which made it uncomfortable to sit and eat. We were also a party of five but were only given one menu to share so not very convenient. I ordered the Chicken & Shami Kabob and it came with a choice of white or brown rice, one side, and naan. The meal looked nothing like the photo on the restaurant's website. The portion was overwhelmingly rice with very little meat. None of the garnishes shown in the picture were included on the rice. For $24 I expected a much better presentation and a more balanced portion. Oh and the meat was kind of dry. Parts of our order were missing, some dishes that came out were incorrect. The experience felt disorganized and the food didn't justify the price.

    Photos
    Afghan Restaurant
    Afghan Restaurant
    Afghan Restaurant  - Tea party set with Afghan cream roll and cake

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    Tea party set with Afghan cream roll and cake

    Panjshir - Zamarod palow

    Panjshir

    4.0(247 reviews)
    8.9 miFalls Church City
    $$

    Food and service at this afghan restaurant are top notch! The menu is comprehensive, with an array…read moreof mezzes, salads, kabobs, vegetarian entrees and drinks. The complimentary bread brought out was warm, chewy and delicious. My companion got the kabab-E-Gosfund, which consisted of grilled lamb chunks marinated in spices with saffron rice and chickpeas. Meat was tender and flavorful, rice was aromatic. I got the combination vegetarian platter, which was a choice of 3 vegetarian entrees served with spinach rice. One choice I got the zardak chalow, which was a stew of prunes, chickpeas, tomatoes, and carrots. It was sweet, savory and a little tart. Very unique and delicious. Another choice was the banjan chalow, which was eggplant, onions and garlic in a savory brown sauce topped with yogurt. Eggplant was tender and soft. Yogurt was creamy and complemented the dish. Rounding out the veggie trio was the sabsi chalow, which was pureed spinach with onions, garlic and spices. A side of spinach rice came with the combo platter, also yummy. Will definitely be back!

    Panjshir is gorgeous and I'm still not over it. I'm also sad I had never visited before. It was the…read moreperfect place to grab some lunch after an appointment. I really enjoy Afghan cuisine. Service was friendly. I ordered the eggplant and the stuffed bread. The eggplant was so fragrant and I could smell it before it arrived. The stuffed bread was addictive. I wish the complementary bread would have had the mango sauce, which is my favorite, but I still appreciated it. Everything was good and I had leftovers, which made me happy. I'm looking forward to returning and trying more of Panjshir's offerings.

    Photos
    Panjshir
    Panjshir - Kadu Palow Entree, Combination Kabab & Bulanee Gandana

    Kadu Palow Entree, Combination Kabab & Bulanee Gandana

    Panjshir

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    Kabobi By The Helmand - Banjan borani (eggplant)

    Kabobi By The Helmand

    4.6(291 reviews)
    8.6 mi
    $$

    Six of us were staying in a hotel near enough to walk to this restaurant. The server suggested we…read moreorder the family-style meal, so we did. Wow! Everything was so delicious! Dish after dish was brought out, each with its own unique taste. Vegetables, lamb, meatballs, rice, all tasted great. Two oldsters, two 50-somethings and two teens gobbled it all up.

    I don't usually leave negative reviews, but this was my second poor experience with the same…read moreserver, so I felt it was worth sharing. I'm a local customer and live just a minute away, so I've visited more than once. I came in for lunch today with my wife and our 1.5-year-old son. After placing our order and sitting down, the server loudly yelled from behind the counter for us to come get our water. It felt uncomfortable and unprofessional, especially with a young child. When I placed my order, I asked for extra white sauce, and I asked again when the food came out. Both times, the request was ignored. I also mentioned that we hadn't received our drinks, but instead of addressing it, the server again yelled for us to get the drinks ourselves from the cooler. The food itself was okay, but the bread was very poor--hard and barely edible. I even called the restaurant later in the evening to share my concerns, but was told the server was off at that time. Overall, very disappointing experience, mainly due to the customer service. I hope this feedback is taken seriously and leads to improvement.

    Photos
    Kabobi By The Helmand
    Kabobi By The Helmand - Chicken lawand

    Chicken lawand

    Kabobi By The Helmand - Kabuli Pallow Bowl

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    Kabuli Pallow Bowl

    Grub Palace

    Grub Palace

    4.6(21 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    tldr; possibly the best kebab/kubideh spot in Fairfax area - seriously, you'll stop searching for…read moreany other. I freaking love this place. Delicious kubideh. Perfectly seasoned. I thought I'd like the beef more than the chicken but the chicken far outshined the beef (not saying the beef was bad by any means. EXCELLENT quality). Their dish composition is also thoughtful - two different types of rice, delicious when mixed, especially with the chickpea spread. The salad is a nice touch to cleanse the palate every few bites The chickpea with the bread was a really nice starter. Idk how they do that chickpea sauce/spread but I'm obsessed. And I didn't even pay for it. Get your kubideh/kabob fix here. Quality and quantity for price is S+

    I highly recommend Grub Palace for kabobs in the northern VA area…read more I placed an order over the phone and needed to make some substitutions within the 2 Family Platter packages we got, and they were so kind and patient in taking my order. Everyone who got to enjoy the meal thought everything across the board was delicious. It's my dad's new favorite kabob place, so we'll definitely be back. The only downside to our order was that we placed it for a 6pm pick up, but it wasn't ready until 6:30pm. It is a small business, so I'd recommend leaving some wiggle room if you're ordering a larger order.

    Photos
    Grub Palace - Grub Palace Halal Restaurant.

    Grub Palace Halal Restaurant.

    Grub Palace - Beef & Chicken Shawarma with free Fries at Grub Palace, Halal Restaurant in Fairfax.

    Beef & Chicken Shawarma with free Fries at Grub Palace, Halal Restaurant in Fairfax.

    Grub Palace

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    Grill Kabob Express - afghani - Updated August 2026

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