Zafron Restaurant
★★★★☆ 4 (289) • $$
"Our group of four enjoyed Zafron Restaurant. This is a good, more casual and slightly more affordable alternative to popular Rumi's Kitchen, which is just a few blocks south on Roswell Road. Zafron serves Persian food. We heard good things about it, so we decided to check it out and left pleased.Zafron is located in a freestanding building across the street from Sandy Springs City Hall. It was previously known as Flavor Restaurant and years before that, Flavor Cafe Bakery. Flavor completed its rebrand as Zafron in March 2015. The restaurant has its own free dedicated parking lot. There are a couple other small businesses on-site, but the lot is mainly for Zafron customers.We visited for lunch on a Monday. The restaurant was busy, but not slammed. I got the feeling that a lot of locals like this place. I booked our group's reservations using OpenTable, which I like because of the dining points I can accumulate to redeem for restaurant discounts and Amazon gift cards. Resy and other booking platforms don't offer rewards for dining out.Inside, the dining room had nice, but not lavish, decor from floor to ceiling. We sat at one of several curved booths that ran down the center of the space. There were multiple seating areas including a fully-enclosed patio in the front and a semi-private large group table, next to some wine racks, in the back. This place appears equipped to handle big parties. There was also a bar, pastry display, and a small outdoor patio.The lunch menu, which is available weekdays only, had a good selection of dishes to choose from. They included several of the dinner and weekend staples like Lamb Kabob ($25 lunch, $32 dinner) and Zafron (Barg) Chicken ($14 lunch, $26 dinner). Exclusive to the lunch menu are the wraps ($12 each), where you can order a small variety of Zafron's meats in a wrap with veggies.That said, I think you can order off the dinner menu during a weekday lunch if you want. That's what I did because I wanted to try both the Tenderloin (Barg) Kabob ($20 lunch) and the Koobideh Kabob ($15 lunch). Our server told me I could get both if I ordered "Soltan's Feast," which is only available on the dinner menu. I actually got a lunch price for Soltan's Feast, $25 vs $35. I presume Zafron's portions are smaller at weekday lunch.Here's what we got:Starters* Mirza Ghasemi ($8) - smoky eggplant, tomato, onion, garlic, extra virgin olive oil* Muhammara (Hummus) ($6) - red bell pepper, garlic, cumin, walnut, extra virgin olive oilEntrees* Khoreshe Badenjoon ($12) - eggplant and tomato beef stew, subbed a veggie kabob for basmati rice (+$5)Feast* Chenjeh ($20) - prime sirloin kabob served with braised green beans in a tomato sauce mixed with basmati rice* Fire Roasted Salmon ($15) - marinated fresh salmon served on a bed of "zafron," fava beans, and dill rice* Soltan's Feast ($25) - combination of one Koobideh kabob (ground brisket) and one Tenderloin (Barg) charbroiled filet mignon kabob with smoked tomato and "zafron" basmati riceEverything that I tried was good. Our meal came with complimentary pita bread, fresh raw vegetables, feta cheese, and walnuts. The veggies included slices of radish, cucumber, and tomato, plus herbs like basil, mint, and tarragon. These were nice to munch on with our meal. All of the dishes were presented beautifully.Both of the starters were tasty. The Mirza Ghasemi was served in a cast-iron pan. The garlic was fried crisp. Both the Mirza Ghasemi and the Muhammara had nice texture and flavor. The Muhammara wasn't the best I've had, but it was still good.The Chenjeh and Soltan's Feast were yummy. The sirloin (Chenjeh) was a little too salty, but otherwise fine. My favorite was the Koobideh (ground brisket) Kabob. The meat was tender, moist, and flavorful. Really savory. In contrast, the Tenderloin (Barg) Kabob was somewhat dry. It tasted much better with a sauce. The Chenjeh came with a white sauce. I think it was a yogurt sauce, like tzatziki, but my wife doesn't think so (she's better at identifying foods/ingredients than me). Our table was also given a side of tangy sumac powder/spice.The various rice dishes that accompanied the meat and fish were appetizing and satisfying. I liked them a lot. The veggie kabob that we had subbed in for one of the rice sides was big, hearty, and impressive. It came stacked tall with charbroiled eggplant, squash, zucchini, mushroom, red bell pepper, and white onion. Unlike the meat kabobs, the veggie kabob was actually served on a thick metal skewer. The meat kabobs were served off-skewer (normal).Service was on point. Jannifer was our server and she was great. She was very nice and attentive. The other staff we interacted with (hostess, other server) were polite. Despite a busy weekday lunch service, our entire order came out in a reasonable amount of time.I would return.The business name "Zafron" is a play on saffron, the spice widely used in Persian cuisine."
"I came here with my cousin on my second night in town. This place was really cool. We went on a Tuesday and it seemed like a normal night, I definitely can see the place getting packed. They had a DJ playing music and this was on a random Tuesday and people were catching a vibe dancing and having a good time so I can just imagine how it is on the weekend. Speak up, because it does get loud in there. You can enjoy some hookah with your food or drinks, they have an outdoor patio as well as the inside and bar area. The drinks were pretty good, they weren't watered down for a late night bar so that was a huge plus. But we grabbed some quick appetizers and ordered the rib tibs, beef and lamb burrito and the slider burgers which were all really delicious. So far so good. I'm curious to try more on the menu the next time I visit. Their menu has a lot on there with the Turkish influenced cuisine.For parking they don't validate, they don't have control of the lot so you're going to have to pay to park. We paid $20 to park. There's no way around this and definitely make sure you pay to park because if you don't your car will likely be booted by the time you walk out. The restaurant told me that and they weren't kidding, the parking lot guy was regularly checking the lot."
"We had picked up takeout through the drive-through one time, but this was our first time eating inside the restaurant. They do not offer table service, but you can order at the counter and they'll bring the food to your table . There are also multiple people checking on you throughout the meal.The food was clearly the highlight of our experience. Everything tasted fresh, hot, and very flavorful. I enjoyed a bowl of the Greek lemon soup, and I would definitely go back for more. We tried the beef Souvlaki Sticks, and the steak was super tender and very flavorful.We also tried a few of the appetizers, including the Greek wings, and the Saganaki. When they bring it to your table, they use brandy to literally light it on fire, so it's smoking hot when it's served. This is definitely a favorite of mine.Being that we live not too far from this restaurant, we would definitely consider returning and highly recommend trying Yeero Village in Roswell. Cheers"
