First time here. Place is very clean. Plenty of options for food thou. The food tastes pretty good. I especially like their garlic nan. Chicken tikka masala is also good read more

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They got a good chicken masala there none is awesome the rice is wonderful tandoori chicken give me a break cup of water

Pakwan has been a to go place in our family for the past 10 years. We used to drive from Hayward to the Fremont location, hands down the Fremont location is the best, always FRESH. I wanted to give the Hayward location a 3.5 star, but I went ahead and pushed them to a 4. My wife and I have been going here since we got married, i really enjoy how this location is always quiet, only Issue I have is that the workers seem like their on crack, and the curry style foods are always COLD, and I know it's not as fresh as the Fremont location, nevertheless it's our spot and we still go and support it. read more

Its a self-service diner. Good interior decor and good option for parties. We did a take out for dinner with Beef Kofta, Chicken Haleem, Nihari and gajar halwa- I am a snob and was not disappointed. Food is flavorful. Giving it four stars because tables were not clean when we went and staff didn't seem like they cared for the dirty tables. Other than that good place. read more

The food is very good not to expensive not to cheep just in the right place I would really recommend it there

It's been over a year since we ate at Pakwan. We ordered chicken tika masala, eggplant and nahiri. Everything tasted exactly the same and were overpowered by LIQUID SMOKE. We couldn't even taste the acidity from the lemon juice and onion side dish. Even the naan and garlic naan tasted the same because our palettes just taste liquid smoke. What a shame. Hopefully this will change in the future because we loved their food before. read more

Oouuuuu Pakwan, where do I start? This is right down the street from my school, so when I need a quick bite I'm here. Pakwan has been in the family so many years and still is. This is your average self service Pakistani restaurant. You order, sit, and pick up your food when ready. Food never disappoints! My personal favorites are: chicken thikka masala, chicken breast or chicken boti, chicken wrap, seekh kabobs, and naan! If you want to eat some authentic Pakistani food and don't mind the customer service, this is the spot read more

I don't know where to start. Since the pandemic died down and the store re-opened, the prices got raised and the place turned into a literal ant-farm. Ants all over the ice machine, in our drinks, on the tables and even the front counter. We tried talking to the man at the front desk, to let him know about the problem and all he said was, "ohhh, yeah." or "yes ma'am." read more

We order take out from here all the time. Chicken Biryani is our favourite. Some days it's a miss but mostly it's a hit. Generous portions for reasonable prices Make sure you check your order though. This is the second time they got it wrong. I just love their food so won't reduce a star. read more

I do agree with other people who said "they would never ever go back there again" We are saying the same WE WOULD NEVER EVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN!!! Not sure if they even deserve a one star. I agree with a lot of other customers that I would give them zero stars if I could. We ordered our food to go on a Monday in December 2016. All of the food was so disgustingly bad and old, but we were hungry and tired so we we endup eating a little bit. Minus the Haleem because Haleem was visibly bad it was bubbling, which we had to throw away in fact we had to throw away everything after taking a few bites. Nihari and other things were leftover from the buffet. Long story short we felt like we would get sick with food poisoning so end up throwing away our food and waisted $60. We didn't go back to talk to them because they are known for their bad attitude and we knew we would never get our money back, so we just let it go and decided to never ever go back there again. P.S. 12 hour later all three of us got sick me my husband and my brother. We got food poisoning from a little bit food we ate before we threw the rest away. I still can't believe how did they have the nerve to pack rotten food to go. Health Department need to check this place for proper storage of food and hygiene. Service: Horrible Food: Horrible Hygiene: Horrible read more

Great food I love it. My son loves the chicken tikka masala. My other son loves the beef seeks kabob. My daughters love the dal. I come here at least once a month. It has something for every person read more

Man, this place serves excellent Indian food! We went for their Sunday buffet, which is from 11-3pm. The earlier, the better because their parking gets full that you have to park in the vacant lot across the street or on the street. The line moves fast and as you enter the door, you pay and then grab your plate and go! My favorite item was the Tikka Marsala. I could hang out at that chafing dish for awhile LOL! The dining area looks like a cafeteria, but for all you can eat, what the heck. I plant to return. Check it out! read more

Poor on hygiene (there was a hair in the sooji ka halwa!). lateron when I checked on yelp, I realised many people have complained about hygiene on this forum. Food was not fresh (kheer was going sour). Staff were rude (while we went to get a second plate for the buffet, they removed our chairs!). Definitely not going there again, totally not worth the $16 you pay for the buffet. UPDATE on owner's reply (11/11/15): No, that hair was deep embedded in the sooji ka halwa and was waiting to be served at the buffet. So no, its origin was not from any customer. read more

Where to begin! -Its not an Indian or Pakistani restaurant, unless you want to consider Panda Express as Chinese or Taco Bell as Mexican. -Food is Americanized for weak ass folks, who can't handle any spiciness, and when you ask to make it more spicy, they deny! WTF, at least "lie " that you'll do, like at other restaurants and that might make one think its more spicy than normal! -Same fuckking menu as 90% Ind/Pak restaurants, nothing new. -They will serve Haleem, even though its not completely cooked without hesitation, as normally people have no idea what it is, and once they didn't stop my friend from ordering just Haleem and Nan-WTF (Haleem goes by itself, its not a curry and Nan needs curry) -They employ il%*$al immigrants who have no clue. - The employees who serve can't even pronounce the menu item names, and gives the orders to wrong people. -They charged my friend, even when the curry is bad to a level one cannot eat, He ordered veg curry called Mirch Salan which literally tasted like vomit, trust me vomit!. -Its expensive! not worth. read more

Pakwan Restaurant - Pakistani Near Me - Hayward, California

Initial impressions: Went with a colleague for lunch. Saw the "seat yourself" sign and did. we were brought menus and then waited 15 minutes. Finally, I went up to the cashier and he annoyingly told me "this is self service." Ok, so why didn't the server, er, menu bringerer tell me that. Additionally, my concept of self service is buffet, not grab your own plate, utensils, and drink, go sit down, and then we'll bring the food to you. The food: we ordered a chicken curry (I forget what it was specifically) and a lamb curry (achar gosht). They were tasty enough but I'll be damned if they didn't just take a cleaver mercilessly to the meat, leaving bone shards and fragments in the curry! I don't know if this is 'authentic' or not (and I really don't care) but please, PLEASE, warn your customers about that or be prepared to do the Heimlich often. It's really too bad because the taste of the curry was enough for me to proceed with my meal and just be really cautious about eating and have a napkin nearby to spit out the bone shards. Payment: I'm a firm believer that in 2009, if a restaurant takes cash only there better be a huge sign that announces this at the door. And, the sign should say "CASH ONLY" not "no bankcards or ATM" or whatever else. Also, I'm a bit more tolerant of mom and pops, or older, established eateries (like Val's) being cash only - it's a part of their charm as it reminds you of a different time. With Pakwan, that just isn't the case. This is a contemporary restaurant with a good sized parking lot, nicely decorated interior that is new, and servers - er, make that, menu bringerers (at least in my case). Get the damn merchant account and be done with it already! Upon leaving, I couldn't use the door I entered in (it was locked). So the guy behind the counter is yelling at me and my colleague to "use the other door." Which one? The one marked "private?" The one going to the bathroom? the one to the kitchen? Oh I see, the one that isn't clearly labeled "EXIT." What? You can't exhibit customer service and just unlock the main entrance for me? That's my recollection of how businesses run it when they have customers who leave after closing. read more

Probably wouldn't come back here. Chairs are very dirty & threadbare. Plates had bits of dried food that wasn't cleaned off by the dishwasher. I don't mind that the place is self service. You'd think that would actually help to save on overhead costs. But the place is pretty pricey considering and not a good overall value. For 2 people and $38 later, we ordered samosas, 2 meat dishes, naan and mango lassi. There are other nearby Indian places that are a better value for the price paid. read more

Luv this place... I have been a regular for the last 12+ years. Food is always on point. The best comfort food for me and my friends!!! They are also great for Sunday Brunch that is the same as a fully loaded Buffet and worth the calories. My go to faves are Tandoori Lamb Chops, Chicken Biryani, Goat Curry and Naan. Enjoy! read more

1 star for the terrible management who completely ruined my uncle's birthday celebration. We made a reservation for 16 ppl for Sunday brunch at 11 am. It was my uncles's 70th birthday and my aunt had brought some balloons to decorate the table. 3 ppl of the party were late but the manager refused to let anyone in the party in the restaurant to set up the "reserved" table. So 15 ppl had to wait for 20 mins until the last 3 ppl showed up. Now I understand that this makes sense in a restaurant where the servers need to take orders but this place has a Sunday buffet so it made absolutely no difference. Also we paid for the entire 16 ppl upfront at the fixed rate so it wasn't even a matter of money. It was just a difficult manager who refused to see the bigger picture. I will never return to this restaurant. The manager's name is Munis and the owner is Zahid. STAY AWAY!!! read more

Road work on Mission was soooo bad that it took 26 mins to drive one mile. Our lunch hour was running out and, like a mirage, Pakwan appeared so we gave it a try. Ugh...where to begin... You order your food, pick up your utensils, help yourself to free chai tea and find a spot to eat in what looks like a banquet hall. The center area was blocked off so we were limited to a few tables along the side which hadn't been bussed. It took three tries before I found a clean fork and two tries to find a clean glass. The table was sticky and all the chairs at our table were ripped and stained. My chicken tikka masala with optional side of naan was decent but frozen Indian dinners from Trader Joe's are also decent. It cost $9.88 which is a bit high considering we could have eaten at the lunch buffet at either My Favorite Indian or Kokyo Sushi Buffet for the same price! My Favorite Indian includes soda, all you can eat naan, dessert, soup and at least 10 entrees. Service was chaotic. People who came after us and ordered the same thing received their meals first. The man running the register seemed panicked and came across as unfriendly. Not sure why this place was packed because there are certainly better places within a one mile radius. read more

Something's gotten into the management's head and they are desperate to take their business on a downward spiral.They kicked us and friends out after 50minutes at the buffet. They also asked other friends not to sit at our table although the restaurant wasn't that busy and we had space at our table. They had notes up saying 50mins is max seating during busy hours. Who knows what they count as busy. Since when have buffets been timed??! Ridiculous! What's worse the food quality also seemed to have dropped. Why would you do that to your lovely loyal fans,Pakwan? I will return if I hear they knocked some sense into their heads and improved their customer service. read more

Let's be real, I ain't dragging myself outta bed and driving to Hayward on a Sunday morning for anything...except the Pakwan Sunday Brunch. Your $11 entrance ticket buys you a fabulous and extensive culinary journey through Pakistan- Biryani, Haleem, Leg of Lamb, Chicken Tikka, Nihari, Seekh Kababs and more. You name it, this place has it. I like to start my meal with the super tasty (and deliciously oily) Halwa and Puris and then hit up some of the main entrees. Dare I say it, Pakwan's Nihari is better than my mom's (shhh) and my mom makes a mean Nihari! The best part is the steaming chai that's constantly being refilled because people like me drink three cups! Free refill sodas are also included in the price. Be sure to grab a $1 Paan on your way out if you have an inch of room left in your stomach. If you're looking for a great introduction to Pakistani cuisine, try this brunch! You'll get to taste every dish imaginable without having to commit to ordering a large dish off of a menu and hating it later. Go early and go often- this place gets packed by noon and for good reason! read more

I am a total spicy food wimp. I can appreciate the taste of an excellent, spicy dish, but I can't get more than a few bites down. It is a little embarrassing to admit, but I've heard admitting it is the first step so, I feel better now. This Pakwan has great food just like the San Francisco location, but everything seems to be pretty spicy and I have instantaneous heartburn every time. If you like spicy food, then this is a 4 star place. For me, it is a 3 star place that I still go to often when I have a hankering for good Pakistani/Indian food and a handy pack of Tums. Favorite Indian has become our regular place however. For those that have not been, it is nothing fancy inside and everything is do-it-yourself like the high school cafeteria. Also, no BYOB like the SF location which took some getting over for me. read more

Game for a group dinner and food was very disappointing. Came here for halwa puri and chhole. Chhole was blant with no masala and salt. Halwa was not upto the standard. Spoke with couple of workers and asked to speak with their managers but nobody ever showed up. Only good thing was the chai that we had towards the end. Paying $16 for buffet and not getting the expected food was very disappointing. read more

Pakwan Restaurant - Chai!! - Pakistani Near Me - Hayward, California

Actually 3.5 is what I really give it. I think their food tastes better than Shalimar in Fremont. I don't know why my family is so in love with Shalimar, it's pretty chaotic in there. I actually prefer tasting other flavors in my chicken tikka masala besides fire. Will be back w/ the family to try new dishes. -1.5 stars for feeling kind of like a funeral home - It seems they moved since This review is based on my 1 & only visit during a birthday party a couple years ago. read more

They just increased the price significantly even though they are very busy. This is the last time I will order from them. Just using Covid as an excuse to screw the customers. read more

Ok so let me start out by saying I didn't actually go there. lol I am here at work and I one of my coworkers said he wasn't going to eat his leftovers from Pakwan. So he offered it and No I am not to shy to accept. I see these people more than my family. ha-ha I finally got hungry about 7ish and walked to the lounge. Heated up the the chicken tikka masala, maybe 1/4 cup rice and half a naan. It was soooo delicious! Lets just say I'll be hitting up this spot next week for a full meal. lol read more

Real Punjabs serving real Indian food - ie. Not Nepalese passing off their inauthentic, bland tasteless version of North Indian cuisine - start paying attention Bay Area people you will notice once you figure out who owns what. read more

This is one of my favorite places for indian/Pakistani food. I always ask for mild and it's still spicy! Just the way I like it. The Nihari is my favorite. read more

Today I had the worst experience of my life at pakwaan restaurant in Hayward. Please be careful with employee name, Muneer at the counter. I have been going to this restaurant for many years now. Today we bought a chicken biryani, when I opened the biryani there was only 1 piece of Chicken inside. I told my daughter, go back there an tell them. When my daughter told this to muneer, he started talking rudely and with attitude. Muneer said we always put 3 pieces of chicken inside the biryani this is not possible. At that moment the restaurant owner walked inside and Muneers attitude an voice changed. Money was refunded at that time. I went back there to talk to the owner, I went in an told muneer I want to talk to zaid the owner, Muneer said owner is not there but he was there. Muneer accused me of lying he started yelling, pointing a finger at me and talked to me with a bad attitude loudly. Omg I felt like he was going to jump from the counter an hit me. I have been mentally abused by this employee muneer. Muneer has no respect and dosent know how to talk to a female. Instead of accepting his fault he kept accusing me of lying. I did talk to the owner, he said I will talk to Muneer. Before I left, I put money on counter an said to muneer u can go an eat food and my last word for Muneer was allah will take care of this. read more

Pakwan Restaurant - Pakistani Near Me - Hayward, California

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This is one of the best Indian Buffet's in the bay area.. Food was as good as it gets.. hence its a little more pricy than normal indian buffets.. I sooo wished my stomach could take more.. :-( the 2 negatives I found made me give it a 4 stars.. which was.. * The food was really unhealthy... I had to clear the oil on top of the Non-veg dishes to get to the gravy and the chicken pieces.. Made both me and my husband regret eating all that grease. * The customers there was really pushy and couldnt gwait to fill their plates.. This is not their fault.. But I guess being it a sunday afternoon when most people splurge on food, and the tasty food.. who cares about being polite.. LOL In spite of these negatives.. I give it a 4 star.. thats how good the food was.. We had the buffet around 12.. and we were full till night around 10 before we went to bed.. Thats how much we let go and EAT!!!! LOL I would definitely go there again.. read more

Paya, Nihari, Seekh Kabab, Kheer, Biryani, Haleem, Fish Pakoda. These are my personal favorites and eternal part of my buffet picks. Some of these are hard to find in other Indian restaurants and all of them taste consistently better. There was a time my wife and I spent every Sunday at this place for their lunch buffet until I came to know about my high sugar levels (not blaming Pakwan for it of course). With almost zero visits these days, I must admit, I miss different and unique ambiance this restaurant offers: where people care less about dining etiquette and focus on business (food, family and friends). Crowd here gives you a feel as if you were attending some marriage in India or Pakistan. Only side effect is, I cannot get that annoying song (annoying mentioned here in comic way) they played again and again - 'Jumme ki raat me'. Hope, next time they will play something different or add some variety. Even if they don't, who cares. :) This place is the best buffet ever. Parking improvement would be a plus. read more

Oh Lord, don't even get me started on this place. Walked into the restaurant and was completely ignored by staff for 10 minutes. The place wasn't even crowded. Once we finally got our seats, they called us up to get our plates and utensils, which were completely filthy. The tables were all sticky and dirty as shit. You would think they washed the table with maple syrup. The chairs were all torn and ghetto while the floor had used napkins on it. You could see the oil fingerprints of the employees on the plates and spoons. Getting a drink is a horrible experience as well, they serve you water in A FUCKING VASE. WHO THE FUCK GIVES YOU WATER IN A VASE? WHAT DO I LOOKS LIKE? A PLANT?!?! Food took like 45 minutes to get, and when we did get it looks, they messed up our order. All throughout this the service was showing us tons of attitude. The food was sub par, the chicken tikka Masala only had like 3 pieces of meat in it and it tasted like it was drowned in BBQ sauce. The Naan was thin and burnt while the biriyani was dry and Nasty AF. Shit tastes like it was microwaved. They charge you 1.99 for a refill, which is bull shit since the glasses are like 4 inches tall. Overall, this place is a shit house with sub par food that barley passes as food. Would not eat here again. Tl:DR DON'T EAT IN THIS PLACE read more

Pakwan Restaurant - A FUCKING VASE?! - Pakistani Near Me - Hayward, California

Went to have brunch on Sunday. OMG never seen so many people waiting in life ever in my life. I used to count how many people are on the waiting list before me, here I counted number of pages. Yes, our name was after three pages (full of people waiting) of the serving page. Food was ok. Nothing special. My rating: 4/5 Ambience was over crowded, noisy. I can understand its not their fault. 4/5 Service was average. As it was a brunch buffet, they were talking away plates in every 10-15 minutes. But I found some dry gravy in the fresh plates. That's uncouth. For hygiene: 2/5 They also put the AC very low I guess. It was freaking hot inside. I was sweating while eating. May be it's part of their business plan so that people don't eat a lot!! Haha JJ... Joking apart my rating 2/5 for overall environment. May be won't come again for Sunday brunch buffet. read more

A friend and I did take-out from the Hayward location of Pakwan. I have heard a lot about how soft the naans from Pakwan are and how it complements the food from here. While their menu pretty much covers every possible North Indian/Pakistani food, my favorite remains to be their Achari(Pickled) Chicken. We'd ordered 2 Tandoori Chicken breasts, 1 achari chicken, 1 butter chicken, 1 paneer saag and naan's to go. While the naan's lived up to their reputation, I was a little disappointed in their butter chicken. It tasted good alright. But I have eaten better. Either that, or the achari chicken was just way better than the butter chicken. My golden rule to judge a Pakistani/North Indian restaurant is to check what their butter chicken tastes like and whether they pass it off as Chicken Tikka Masala. The achari chicken had just the right amount of tang that an achar(Pickle) would have. And the spice was just right. The saag paneer was phenomenal too. I am usually not fond of Saag Paneer, but this one had me licking my fingers. I didn't try the Tandoori chicken, but it sure did smell awesome! Probably next time. The place seems to have been renovated/relocated. Because from what I had heard of the interiors, what I saw was not what I had heard. It was rather nice and mellow. Yes, you gotta serve yourself. But that's fine since that's the case with most desi restaurants in the Bay. Besides, why would you care when you are here to eat the awesome food!?? They are priced fairly cheap. Our total bill came to $47 and the quantity served was quite a bit. I still have some left in my fridge after 4 people ate the order! The guys were rather warm and welcoming too. While our order was being fulfilled, we were asked to wait patiently and got ourselves some good old desi chai :-D I would definitely go back alright! read more

One of the better pakistani restaurants at a decent price. But the best deal is the Sunday brunch, where you can eat whatever you want for 11 bucks. I don't often see that many non-browned skinned people at a restaurant like this...it's a testament too how good their food is. i only say that because whenever my roommates take me out to eat indian/pakistani food, i'm often one of the few, if only non indians in the restaurant. The place isn't much to look at. It's a total hole in the wall, and a lot of people get their orders to go during the weeknights. The meat, from their chicken to the beef and lamb, is almost always tender. They have the best Chicken Tandoori I've ever had. It has a ton of flavor with the spices and the halal chicken, and it's cooked perfectly (not overcooked like most restaurants will do to be safe). Foodwise, this place is easily 5 stars. among my favorites are the chicken tikka masala, which i almost always get. it's not oily like in some other restaurants, and the breast meat is usually nice and tender. i also love the mixed vegetable curry, and the nihari (super tasty chunks of beef in curry). for any of those dishes alone, i will venture out to the outskirts of hayward. all the other dishes i've had range from average to very good; so this place is definately worth trying out, especially for the sunday brunch when you can eat a bit of everything. It's also cash only, so make sure you have enough before you head out! read more

Food here deserves 6 stars, but the place and the service is pretty bad. The restaurant was too cheap to turn on the heater and it only has a small box heater near the plates. It was cold! Service was non-existent and slow. Plates and silverware were not clean. You see bits of dried food on it sometimes. All that said, the food is super delicious. Brain Masala here is sooo good. Chicken Tandoori is tender and savory. Not dried up like in some other places. Mutton Briyani is also perfect. Everything is spicy, just the way I like it. I guess I learnt my lesson and will get it to go next time. read more

Best food ever! One of my first times trying a "hole in the wall", and i must say that this place is amazing! I had the naan and butter chicken, and it just melted in my mouth! read more

I agree with the comments on the weekend buffet pricing you can order a la carte and still.pay the same... food is good could use a little cleaning... especially the tables and chairs... Lamb shank was an attraction but don't see it on the buffet anymore... curries are good ... don't come here if you plan to eat healthy. ... read more

We went here for Sunday brunch! The place was super crowded!! I was excited to check out all the hype, but when we actually tried the food it was okay! Where was the chicken tikka marsala? I was dissapointed to not find any there. Overall, not much meat dishes and plenty of veggie ones. Most were spicy, which I didn't really care for. The quality was very average. I don't remember one single dish that I really, really liked here. The roti and naan kept on coming tho! The deserts were okay. The tea was good. I def had better indian buffet elsewhere! However, this place gets extra points because in Hayward, there are no other indian buffets with a big venue as this! read more

OMG this place is AMAZING! EVERYTHING was good. You have to go for Sunday buffet brunch so you can try everything but go early because it gets really crowded. We got there at about noon and as we were leaving there was a line out the door. My favorite was the tandoori chicken , Chicken Biryani and Tika Massala. The cost was about $15 per person, a great value. Unlimited beverages included. The staff was very welcoming and friendly. I am looking forward to going back. read more

Pakwan Restaurant - Chicken Biryani, veggie somosa, tandoori chicken, paratha and curry potato YUM - Pakistani Near Me - Hayward, California