Darya Restaurant

Recommends

PersianLady

Joined 4 years ago

Great Food. Awful Service.. Darya's has been a long time favorite of mine. However, over the past year I feel that their "staff" i.e. Their long time waiters. One in particular. The one that is a little heavier set. Have become a little too comfortable. Everytime we go to Darya's we order wine. Our server is there to open the bottle but after that he is never there to pour it again. He never comes and checks on our table. Why are we tipping him? The bus boys are bringing us our food and checking on us. They are always chit chatting (the waiters) with the hostess' and kitchen staff. I have become serverly dissappointed with their service. Just awful. I agree with another reviewer. Their bread is gross. It is ALWAYS rock hard. I am very sad that they are going down hill like this. Hopefully they will read this and turn things around!

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ADowns

Joined 4 years ago

One of the best Persian restaurants in Orange County - great customer service. I have been going to this restaurant for years and they have amazing customer service and very good food. Their prices are reasonable and have a very friendly atmosphere. I enjoy being pampered by them. I would recommended it to everyone. Whenever I find an issue with anything, I ask to speak to the manager or the owner and they immediately resolve it for me. No complaints at all.

Doesn't Recommend

ThunderHeart

Joined 5 years ago

Don't Waste Your Money. I used to eat at Darya before I discovered Hatam Persian Restaurant in Anaheim. I never liked the food at Darya. I always found it be be mediocre, they used cheap cuts of meat and skimped on ingredients such as using turmeric instead of the more expensive and preferable saffron. I found the service to be so-so, but I used to go at the insistence of some of my friends that live in the area that never had Persian food before, so they had nothing to compare it to. However, my foolishness in going there stopped the first time I ate at Hatam's, which is real, quality Persian food with great service.

The lamb chops at Darya were either fatty, tough, or extremely overcooked. The beef in the Persian stew they offer was either fatty or tough as a stewing chicken. And the rice was the worst. It was as if they had cooked it last week and reheated it in the microwave before serving. I have never had gummy basmati rice before, flavorless with the texture of a styrofoam container.

The service at best was so-so. If I was lucky I would have a server who got my order right the first time and filled my water glass when it was only empty for 20 minutes or so. On a bad night the server would bring me the entire wrong order, never come back to refill my glass or to see how everything was until I flagged her/him down by getting up from my table and going to the counter and asking if my server could please stop by my table. On more than one occasion I received food that was completely cold. After complaining it came back piping hot, too hot to eat, straight from the microwave.

I don't know why anyone continues to eat there. My theory is that most of the diners, including my friends, go there to see the belly dancers, who will stick there half dressed bodies right into the diners' faces and shake their breasts 2 inches from their faces.

My recommendation is to eat a decent meal at Hatam's, the Saffron, or the Caspian and then rent a belly dancing tape.

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inder22

Joined 9 years ago

Best Persian Food in Orange County. I have been going to Darya in OC since the'90s (including the old small place) and hae always enjoyed myself at this restaurant. Food is reasonable and very tasty. Great ambience and often lie music sets the mood. The restuarant has become popular and often will have a small wait, but is worth it.

Overall a great restaurant. Everything I hae tried on the menu has been very good

Doesn't Recommend

ssong02

Joined 7 years ago

This is the second time I've been disappointed.... So...I've been going to Darya 's for a few years now and the service and food were excellent each time. I've taken friends there and they love it too. However, recently my experience has been bad. I took a friend who loves Persian food to Darya and we had the worst service. Basically the SERVICE was HORRIBLE. The "bread" that they gave us was hard and we couldn't eat it. I had to ask for another basket. The server never checked up on us and the portions were small. I usualy order chicken with bone and I've ordered this at many different Persian restaurants and the portions are great. I was greatly disapointed. A couple of months later, I decided to give Darya another try. It turns out that the same server was serving us. BAD SERVICE and small portions AGAIN. I DO NOT recommend this place. There is a location in Irvine right off Culver off the 5 N that is excellent; not sure of the name though.

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playingaloan

Joined 7 years ago

Lovely restaurant, good Persian cuisine. Food is flavorful and well prepared. I particularly enjoy the rice mixed with cherries (additional price-but worth it). I did not like the beef shish kebab because when I ordered the meat rare-the vegetables came raw. I asked if they couldn't cook the vegetables first and longer, but they said no.