Best Persian food in the area! Quality and taste superb!! Service is excellent and restaurant is very clean.

The food was amazing that eggplant and the service was amazing and it was the best place I ever been to. I would order again it's the best.

excellent food!! I have been searching for a while for good Persian food and have found the place. The fillet mignon Kabob was so tender it melts in your mouth. Don't let the outside of the restaurant discourage you, It does need a facelift to attract new customers. You will will not be disappointed with the food. Go try it and tell your friends !!!!! read more

Mirage Restaurant - Filet mignon kebab, lots of quality meat and well worth the price - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

Wonderful buffet. We have been several times and the food is always delicious. The waitstaff is very attentive.

We have eaten here several times, the food has consistently been delicious. I had the Koobideh, pictured. My wife had chicken kabob, very juicy and tasty. The basmati rice is to die for. For an appetizer we had the Kashke Bademjan, some of the best I've eaten. Service was good and reasonable priced. Highly recommend. read more

Mirage Restaurant - Koobidah at Mirage!! - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

I found this Middle-Eastern restaurant highly-rated on Yelp, so I thought I would check it out. I arrived around 1:45 in the afternoon, and there was plenty to choose from - either a la carte from the menu or off the lunch buffet. Lunch buffet is solid. Good mix of beef and chicken entrées, as well as a variety of rice dishes. Small, home-cooking wins the day!! read more

I had the filet shish kebab an it was delicious. I love the rice and The warm pita bread with butter and the feta is awesome. Service here is hit or miss this time was a hit. Would definitely recommend have attached a couple of pictures of the menu and my meal. read more

See all

Great food. Super nice people. Hard to find Persian food, which was surprisingly very good

Authentic food, friendly staff, and just overall great experience. It can appear to be 'pricey' - but that is because I always order a filet mignon kabob AND a chicken kabob for my meal - it is 'expensive', but you receive well prepared (very fresh) food; and you get a LARGE portion of it. So WELL worth the price. I never had the opportunity to dine in, but I certainly enjoyed the take out - always handed to me piping hot, portion sizes large, flavor spot on, and all of the accompaniments included on the side. I wasn't in Florida except for very briefly, but ate here almost daily when I was. Excellent. Oh, and I was referred to this little gem by a friends' (Persian) colleague who had them cater all of her events! read more

Great place to eat. They've got a buffet from 11-2 and I love packing a to go box with as much pita break, chicken kabob, tabouli, and rice as I can. Very good good. read more

Excellent food. Very humble and proud owners. Good service too! Lamb and eggplant is my fave!

They serve free appetizers. Bread , cheese and butter. I ordered lamb shank with rice ( Baghali polo with Mahicheh ) and the portion size was more than enough :)))) Terekidam . It was fast and really delicious read more

Mirage Restaurant - Lamb Shank with baghali polo - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

Every time I come to Clearwater, I can't wait to have dinner at Mirage. The food is so tasty and fresh. Not so this time though. The Shirazi salad was oddly sweet, when there should be no sugar in it. It didn't seem very fresh. The lamb kabob was over marinated, raw in the middle and tough. I brought more than half my meal home. Not good warmed up either. Last time I had this in December it was sublime. Big bummer. I hope you get it fixed. read more

Discovered on Yelp while in the area. Friendly place with a lunch buffet option for $25.95 with a nice selection. We ordered off the menu and the lamb shank was great. Seems to be a family owned restaurant. Service was excellent and food was good if not a bit pricey for lunch. read more

Back again and still amazing! The chicken sultani is enough for 2 people and delicious! read more

Mirage Restaurant - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

My husband and I have driven past this place a bunch of times and never really paid much attention to it. However a co-worker of my husband highly recommended this place so he suggested that we check it out. We both have to admit when we first walked in and saw the small Buffet we were a little put off but but honestly it was more than enough because after the second round through we were already full. I guess that is the benefits to dieting, your stomach does shrink hahaha. We both really like the food at this place. I have limited experience with Persian food but he has never tried it. My husband likes to call himself a supertaster but that's just his fancy way of saying that he's picky so the fact that he likes some of the foods here and would come back is a major deal. We both really loved the chicken and the beef. I had to say the beef was the heavy favorite and really I could just have that with some of their yogurt sauce and pita bread. My husband really like the white rice while I preferred the seasoned rice. There was once to that I also really liked but the Name Escapes me. The staff took covid-19 seriously which I really appreciate and they were very nice and friendly. For dessert we both had The Baklava and it was super delicious that I'm drooling thinking about it right now hahaha. This is a great experience and I'm glad that we finally came to check out this place. We would definitely like to come back in the future. If you're on Gulf-to-Bay give this place to try and the price for the buffet is really good. read more

Mirage Restaurant - Inside - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

See all

Very disappointing!!!!! We ate at the buffet, but everything tasted awful. Koobideh was really dry and tasted odd. The chicken kabab was likewise dry and tasted terrible. Gheyme was bad; you could plainly taste the tomato paste and it was clearly undercooked. We told the waitress that we weren't happy with the quality of our food, and she stated that she informed the owners of our concern. Surprisingly, the owners were at the register when we checked out and simply said "goodbye" without mentioning our complaint. The worst customer service I've ever had in a restaurant! Don't waste your time and money going to this place. read more

They only had a "small" buffet and the food was like they got them out of a can, tasteless and dry meat. They told me the belly dancing was going to start at 7:30p.m. so I went ahead and booked the reservation at 7:30. It starts around 8:15 and ended shortly later; it was OK, nothing special. I've had Mediterranean/middle eastern food that's a lot better at other restaurants in Tampa and more lively belly dancing/entertainment. The place was small and there were several empty tables that were marked reserved but no one came by 9 p.m. I'd not recommend this place. Just a waste of time and money. read more

Amazing hospitality and authentic, fresh, delicious food. Stopped here on a strong recommendation for lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon and can't wait to go back. Was greeted at the door by the owner and the aroma of the home cooked dishes was wonderful. Get the buffet so you can try everything. Bathrooms and floors and utensils were squeaky clean. Highly recommend the dessert (baklava) made with love inhouse - out of this world! read more

The food is so so good .Grilled Meat Kabobs,Basmati Rice .my boyfriend have Chicken and Beef Koobideh Combo

Excellent, as always! Thanks for always being there! I just tried the Baghali rice. So yummy. I love the Shirin Polo, and usually have that.. We always start with the Veggie plate. The smoky Baba Ghanoush is some of the best I've ever had. read more

The food is fantastic. The service is great and very fair price. I absolutely recommend this place if you want to have a good experience. Yummy read more

I was initially very excited to eat here because I saw pictures of Chai on yelp and thought this is the real deal. I ordered the Ghormeh Sabzi and unfortunately, it just didn't taste how it should. I think they needed to "darken" the greens more so it ended up being very watery, missing some herbs, and lacking in some flavor. I enjoyed the cheese, herbs, and pita they gave us while we waited and I did order a tea after my meal (they did use sugar cubes in case you were curious) overall, l was a little bit disappointed and understand what the previous reviews meant. read more

Great buffet, clean, yummy selection of food to choose from and a healthy place to eat!

Extraordinary food and service. Special mention Persian ice-cream which is showstopper. The staff was very friendly and food is very good. Next time will try to have there buffet. read more

See all

Interesting restaurant for middle eastern food in buffet. It almost feel family run restaurant with some help of food serving. We were sit immediately with our choice. They have veggies side, hot food and dessert. The babaganoush is delicious. The veggie is mix well with olive oil. They have pickles okra and purple olive to open your appetite. They also have eggplant in curry type of sauce. The hot food include grill tomatoes, grill chicken, grill ground beef, falafel, basmati rice with seasoning. The have good enough selection just enough but not in the wow factor. Service is good. The owner came to our table to check out and find out if we like it. The waiter is attentive. If they include the seekh kabab will be nice. Food is simple and ok. read more

Mirage Restaurant - Veggies dish - Middle Eastern Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

See all

We have been coming to the Mirage for years. We love the Mediterranean buffet for lunch the weekends. The selection is great, and the quality is amazing. Unlimited salads, sauces that pair well with the fresh Pita bread, variety of turkish curries and soups, and kabobs. Oh the kabobs. Our favorite secret is to order turkish coffee half way through your meal so its ready for dessert. This pairs amazing with a plate of baklava. Two of us usually split a coffee. read more

If you spent time downrange with OEF, in Afghanistan, or in Takijistan and had a chance to try some of the local fare there, this very nice place could bring back memories of places/times receding in the rear view mirror. The homemade doogh was the highlight for me. The service was excellent. My 93-year old All American mother tried the doogh and sampled some other new things and went away happy and satisfied. Highly recommended. Reasonable price. read more

We were hungry for something different tonight and saw good reviews and figured, why not? We love Mediterranean foods so let's give it a shot. Upon arrival we got a bit concerned. From the outside, the place looks old and sketchy. It hasn't rained since last night yet half of the parking lot was under water (see photos) and at 6:30pm on a Friday night, pretty empty, which is usually a bad sign. OK, this is not starting well. When we got in, the place was cleaner than expected, and the staff was very friendly. They were expecting a large party but accommodated us anyways. Awash, that explains the empty parking lot. OK, getting better. We looked over the buffet and decided on that (see photos). $20/person seemed a bit steep considering the buffet looked relatively small, and......well.....IT'S A BUFFET!!! Whatever. We're here already. Let's dive in. Now for the big surprise. The food was AMAZING! Seriously! The chicken was juicy and tender and seasoned to perfection, the sides, salads, rice....holy crap the rice!!! I couldn't believe it. This is actual Mediterranean food! Authentic! Not the crap you get at some places, ON A FREAKING BUFFET!!! OK, the decor needs a SERIOUS makeover, and the parking lot attended to, all of this would usually mean I would rate it down at least one star, but the staff and for all that is holy the food....they get it back! Seriously great food, and we will have to return! read more

See all

Excellent food from this family owned hidden gem- superb service, fresh ingredients, very welcoming will definitely be back!!

Excellent food, good quality food. The owners and employees are very nice. Good to support an excellent mom and pop establishment such as this. The decor is so so, but clean and does it really matter with such exceptional food? read more

Mirage is an experience. If anyone desires a good sampling of Middle Eastern food, this is a great place to start. I was impressed by the variety of foods at the buffet. The heated foods that I felt were the very best included their grilled kebab chicken & the grilled kebab vegetables. The chilled salads that I felt were the best were the tabouleh, the dolmades, the baba ghanoush, & the Israeli Salad. The hummus & falafel were just average, but the pitas seemed fresh & piping hot. And the baklava for dessert was awesome! We got there at 11 a.m. on Friday, & it was empty. At noon the customers were flowing in. Pricing seemed about right at $14 for the buffet. read more

See all

We had the absolute please of dining at Mirage last night. In light of COVID-19 we were seated, by request, outdoors. The restaurant was very careful to compynwith safety measures including wearing masks and gloves and having a sanitizing station. Our food was amazing! Our service was spectacular!! You can tell how much love was put in to each dish. We will absolutely be back! read more

The food is amazing and it is Halal. We ordered take out and the customer service was excellent. The owner treated us like family. The restaurant is cozy and inviting and they have a buffet too. When we got home, I meant to take pictures but it looked and smelled so good that we just dug into it and couldn't stop eating. We got the combo and the meat was tasty and tender. The rice was fluffy and tasty. The bread was warm and flavorful. We even got some feta cheese that was delicious. We also had tabloule that was freshly made. We will be back soon! Parking is mostly in the back of the restaurant, by the way. I hope to post pictures, next time we go there. read more

Visiting from Los Angeles, and was looking to satisfy a craving for some specific Persian dishes. Stopped here in the afternoon and grabbed takeout. Do not overlook this place - everything is as good as I expected! Another reviewer said Mirage is as good as it gets in major U.S. cities and I totally agree. This is a great place for lamb and beef and rice dishes, but totally exceptional if you are plant based/vegetarian too! I'd make this a regular if you live close by. Ordered: Mast-o-Musir, Baghali Polo, Ash e Reshteh read more

Still love this local gem even during a pandemic. They've distanced the tables added gloves and sanitizer to the buffet. They use paper towels and sanitizer to clean tables instead of a dirty rag. We come here with our elderly family members because the food is fantastic and they are keeping us safe. They are proactive with customers and remind them to wear a mask and sanitize. Very friendly staff and owners. They treat us like family. The jeweled sweet rice has so much flavor and the chicken kebab is grilled. We also enjoy the simple pita and hummus. Something so simple can be so delicious when they take the time to heat up the pita and serve the BEST hummus. Not sure what they use for tea but we always get a pot of tea and finish it an order of baklava. You can order from the menu or get the buffet. It is a little expensive but this is quality healthy food. read more

Delicious, fresh, flavorful!!! Outstanding!! We were 4 people and each of our meals were so good! Kabobs, basmati rice, char broiled chicken, grilled tomatoes. We had the eggplant appetizer with fresh warm pita bread and feta cheese! I need to go here more often. They have a lunch, all you can eat buffet, belly dancers Friday and Saturday night. Owners very friendly and welcoming. You need to go, you wont be disappointed. read more

See all

Good is great but they should consider remodeling this place. It is always very good food, fresh, and simple, but the atmosphere is really asking for something new. read more

Non-authentic, low-quality and super expensive food. Will never go there again! Manipulative staff will trick you into buying more and more.

We came to this restaurant for dinner, not really knowing what to expect since we'd never had Persian food. We wanted to try several dishes so we ordered a few appetizers including the yogurt with cucumber dip (Persian version of tzatziki), kibbeh and the tahdig (or crispy/hard-bottom of the pot rice). The yogurt was delicious. The kibbeh was ok, kinda dry. The tahdig was a large dish despite being considered an appetizer, it was served with a choice of two of their stews (we chose the beef with yellow split peas and the lamb with eggplant). I must say I was extremely excited about trying tahdig since I've seen and read so much about it, and perhaps my expectations were a bit too high because if what we were served is what tahdig should taste like then it's not something I would enjoy eating again. Of course I expected burnt, crispy, hard rice but at least I would have like it to be flavorful, this wasn't. Also the stews were not great. The lentils were hard, almost tasted like they were undercooked, and there was barely any meat in any of the stews we tried including the stew we had as a main dish (beef with green sauce made with a bunch of herbs). This last stew was definitely our favorite but again, there was barely any beef. For dessert we had the marklot which is a combination of Persian ice cream and faloodeh. The ice cream was delicious but the faloodeh I could have done without. I'd never had faloodeh before and when I looked it up and read the description online of what it should taste like (rose water and vermicelli noodles sorbet) I was confused since what we got didn't resemble that at all. For drinks we had the Persian iced tea, which is a bit sweet, and the home made yogurt drink (Persian version of ayran). The yogurt drink is definitely an acquired taste but it's much better than the Turkish version, less sour and less thick. Nonetheless I recommend letting the ice melt a bit before drinking it since it helps thin the yogurt a bit. The restaurant also serves buffet for $25 per person which a lot of people seemed to be taking advantage of, but they really didn't have any of the Persian stews or the tahdig as part of the buffet items so we opted to go a la carte. read more