Al-Markaz

I have been eating at Al Markaz for the past 20+ years. Recently I moved back after 6 years, and went to my all-time favorite spot. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with their food quality, and their customer service. In two separate occasions the front desk were rude only because they were out of bun kabob. The third time I finally got bun kabob, it was dry, had no chutney, barely any onions, and was burned. Once I ordered biryani and bihari kabob to go, which tasted like they were a day old. After multiple disappointment I dont want to give my business to this place when there are other places with good service and food.

The best in the area. Good: Special Chicken karahi, Beef Seekh kabab, Chicken patties. SoSo: Behari kabab (forgiven: as its very rare to find the true taste in US) Walk in the same plaza to get dessert at agha\'s.

Awesome spicy alu and good chats. Nehari is mediocre. Karahi is exceptional

Went there with family, all I can say this place was busy, inside was smelly and no adequate cooling during hot summer days. Food is good but needs to improve dinning big time for families.

Restaurant was busy. They ran out of a few items such as chicken biryani. Goat Karachi was available but in limited quantity. Mutton biryani and chicken Karachi were very spicy. They usually maintain the quality of food on a consistent basis but is too spicy for our liking. Wish they had a less spicy version too.

For the full review, please <a href='http://zainshalalreviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/al-markaz-best-pakistani-restaurant-in.html'>click here</a>.

Simple, ok decor, some dishes are good, some ok. Friendly atmosphere.

Not sure why there are so many negative reviews here. We came here and absolutely loved it. It\'s almost like you\'re in a small khoka in local Pakistan. Not very much attention to detail in the decor, but the food is great. The nihari was just spicy enough, and the chicken tikka was so good that my normally finicky son and daughter ate it voraciously. The haleem was also quite tasty. We were not very thrilled with the chicken karahi and achari chicken. We also came over the weekend and had the chole w halwa puri, and it was awesome. Great mango milkshake and their samosa chaat was amazing. Add to that the paan that is available, and the local desi grocery within the same building. There is plenty of dessert nearby as well. The only negative is that my wife said that there was no soap in the women\'s bathroom. Overall we loved this place, and feel that no trip to Dallas is complete without a visit.

Pretty Average Affair . Keeps working because no other restaurant survives. But a very average dining experience with a very cheap feel to it. Some times you feel why do you even pay for it. Food though is good quality and with no competition can easily be rated as best pakistani food choice in metroplex.

Was not impressed with the food at all... You can\'t even tell the difference b/w bihari kabab and boti kabab.... the chicken bbq was very very dry.... small portions and expensive... the customer service was really good as the saving grace and the place was packed on the weekend!

Food is good. Comes in small portions thou. The chaat was amazing! You will be waiting for a table-as in once you see a family finishing up, you basically hafta hover over in order to secure the table.

Totally recommended if you are looking for Desi Food!

This is confirmed by many sources this resturant does not served Halal meat, all BBQ Item served made in the morning and served to customers all by heating in Microwave. It has been mention to owners and they igonred the complain.

Pricey, small portions and service is 'Meh'... Go here if you can't find anywhere else to go. No halal sign, no halal certificate, when asked about halal status the staff said their chicken is halal and that "no beef in DFW is halal"! lol. Should have asked this before eating there!

good food with great price. lunch special is awesome.

atmosphere is not that great, I agree that it has a cheap feel to it. But the food that we ordered was good with good portions.

Good food but, be careful, they like to add extra items you have not been served to the bill. I have seen this happen several times when I have gone their in large groups.

We moved to Dallas area from LA and got food to go. very good food :)

Best authentic desi restaurant in Dallas hands down. Affordable and good food. Casual - plastic forks/plates, but if you want authentic food look no further. Stick to the meat/BBQ items and away from veggies and curries. You'll be 1000% satisfied. Fishstickeater knows best!

behari kabab is excellent, biryani is great as well.

I found hair in my water... I think that's say enough.

The naan was really good. I also enjoyed the frontier chicken and haleem. The biryani was also not bad. You have to order your food up at the front and go sit down and it will be brought to you with paper plates and utensils. Then you go back to the front to pay.

i love their sunday brunch special...value for money. Nihari with Naan and 2 Puree with halwa and chanay. Totally love it.

I have been to a number of restaurants in the area. It is certainly a popular destination but I am not sure if the quality of food completely justifies it. Overall food is decent to ok quality for the price. For instance, last time I had nihari, which was probably at the bottom of the list compared to a number of different restaurants in the area. However; dal and shish kabab were good. It is one of the cheaper options.

Its pretty good, it was one of the only halal restaraunt atleast around the 1995s.Typical desi place, plus it has a halal grocery section too. The tables and cloth though are sometimes dirty, and the problem I have here is that many of the murghi(chicken) dishes taste the same because they use the same masala(marinade/spice) for all of them.

The best Bihari Kabab (Sagaar in NYC had the honors before) I've ever had anywhere in Canada or US. The Chicken Tikka was also excellent. There are plenty of seats available and the prices were good as well.

This is the rough and tough kind of place. You order on the counter, get ur # and sit down in a pleasant environment. Your food is then brought out by one of the servers before u forget u r in Dallas but enjoying food at one of the truck stops on GT road traveling between Lahore and Islamabad. :) For those who are looking for a very up-scale or server-please-push-chair-for-me, this ain't for u.

Always good food.Good taste. Must try when visit Dallas

Stale food. The no longer make the barbeque items fresh but mirowave batch produced food. Very bad.

Uneven quality of food.

best restraunt in the world try their nihari will love to eat there every day, but ill become tubby chubby.

Without any doubt it is the best Pakistani restraunt in DFW. Pretty much everything they have is really good. Other memebers have already described enough for this place.

Its your basic desi restaurant serving indo/pak dishes. Consistently good food, with decent service. You order and sit down, they bring water jugs, than comes the food, you pay later. It is big and family friendly, but avoid weekends as it gets busy. Good place to go if you are in a pinch or late night meal.

Consistently good food - specialties are nihari, bihari kabab, chicken tikka. Fast service. Weekends are extremely busy and the place is packed and you have to find your own table. They don't always do a good job keeping the place clean, specially when they are busy and the turn over is overwhelming.

Great service, price and quality of food. They serve the best Bhunna Gosht and Nihari. Their Chicken Boti is very dry and is made up of breast pieces so skip that and order chicken tikka instead. I rate them 5 star because they are so far best in dallas. If compared to houston restaurants I would rate them 3.5.

Al Markaz has been a consistent presence in Dallas, but these days the quality of food and service has dipped a little bit. I would have given them 4 stars but recently I went to Markaz and the place was extremely filthy. so it kinda ticked me off, but they have been on and off as far as quality of food is concerned, some days it will be the best food you will ever have, some days it will be nasty.. but overall its a good place, just need some help from the owners..

Excellent Kababs. Good food and the price is right. I would recommend it. Waitresses provide much better customer service than the owners themselves.

this place reminds me of savoy (in houston). nice variety and consistently good food (i have been here about 6-7 times). Very nice management and great food. On weekends it's always full.

It's hard to imagine that of all places, I've yet to submit a review for Al-Markaaz. The one great thing about Al-Markaaz is consistency, and that in my opinion makes it the best in the metroplex. All other pakistani/indian places seem to change management, chefs, menus a little too often. However, Markaz is a staple source of taste. Their chicken tikka tastes the same today as it did the first time I went there, over a decade ago. As does their daal, their kabobs, and pretty much anything else on their menu. It's not fancy, you get served in styrafoam plates. But it's not expensive either. Two people can eat for 20 dollars or less easily. When I'm really hungry, and craving some basic desi food, don't want to spend a lot, and don't want any surprise - markaz is the safest bet in town.

Good food, horrible service. I go here because it is close to Masjid. Typically the food is good. On one occasion they gave bad biryani, when I complained they said I should eat somewhere else. Noone will come to table once food is served to check on you.

I have been going there for a while and there food taste great. I would say best in Dallas. Reasonable price, great taste. Good deals for lunch combo on weekdays. I rate it excellent and would suggest everyone to go there and try, I am sure you'll love the food.

Food was above average. I went there on 12/29/2007. Food tastes delicious and is low in price. The chana chaat was very delicious.It is not a very good sit down restaurant. Food is served with disposable plates, cups and spoons. The grocery section is a little expensive.

I am absolutely disappointed with the reviews here, sometimes I feel they aren't being truthful. I have eaten Pakistani food in quiet a few states in America including NY, FL, NJ, VA etc. I can honestly describe AL-Markaz's food as absolutely authentic Pakistani taste. Waitresses are very nice. I think they can cut down on price a little bit because this not a great sit down restaurant but very tasty nevertheless. I have eaton at this place almost twice to thrice each month for the past 1 and half year and never found any bandages, hair so please people Be honest! One of the best Desi foods in DFW area!

It was a busy place when I visited there, the food was ok but there tea was great.

i was visited this place, and iam from miami florida, food is ok i would give C-plus.. sunday breakfast is bakwas.. nishari isnt good on sunday morning.. service is GREAT ! they gave free milk bottle for my kid as her is one year old.. waiter came ten times asking is everything ok..and want something else !crwod was great as well..i ate there about five times.. once again FOOD = C plus, SEVICE= A, PRICE = B minus

This is one of the restaurant I have frequently visited and will continue to go there. I like the taste of the foods (even though they are a bit oily) but once in a while, consuming a little extra oil does not hurt. ;-) I recommend this restaurant - if you want to eat decent Pakistani cuisine.

(On a scale of 1-10) Taste: 8 Oil content: Medium Quality of ingredients: 8 Menu Variety: 7 Overall Quality of Food: 7 Service: 6 Cleanliness: 5 Decor: 4 Recommended by HealthyEater: Yes Remarks: No Halal certificate is displayed in this restauant. I have eaten here at least thirty times in the past six years and find the quality of the food is consistently above average - not great, not unacceptable, just consistently alright. Sevice on the other hand is extremely inconsistent. Some waitresses are attentive some of the time while others won't let an encumbrance like a customer get in the way of their nap or gossip sessions. Food is ordered at the counter and brought to your table by the waitresses mentioned above. HealthyEater recommends that you order the Chicken Tikka Breast or Chicken Tikka Boti with raw tomato's seasoned with salt, pepper and chat masala (the tomato's are not a menu item but if you ask for them your request will be accomodated at no additional charge). If you decide on the Chicken Karhai, they will accomodate you request to cook it with less oil. Also, the oil content of their food is a little lower than that of some other area restaurants. Like most Pakistani resturants you are out of luck if you want a healthy vegetable dish (other than aw tomato's, onions and lettuce!). Other things you need to know are that the decor is rather depressing and the toilets are consistently dirty.

I have been familiar with Al-Markaz since 2002, having both bought meat there and having eaten at the restaurant. The staff in both sections is rude. They really have the belief that they are doing you a BIG favour, and not opperating a business or providing a service for a cost. The food is average, and the price is average as well, perhaps a little high. The chaat is about $1 per item more expensive than a sweet store that sells chaat which is about a block away in the Indo-Pak plaza (the sweet store's chaat is better, and the staff is nicer). I am not surprised by reviewers who claim to have been ill after eating at Al-Markaz. It is not uncommon to find a hair, nail, nor even bandage in your food. I personally have found 3 bandages, and countless hairs, all on separate trips. The state of the place is in constant decline, but no one cares as long as business is steady. Why do I keep going? Mostly because some people like that fact that the environment at Al-Markaz reminds them of home, and don't mind the occasional oversight in cleaning. I personally do not go alone, and always suggest other places when going with someone else. Don't get me wrong, when I go to Pakistan I eat from thelahs (street vendors), and actually think the thelahs are more sanitary than Al-Markaz. Overall, I don't know why you would go there unless you are getting groceries anyway, and would advise grocery shoppers to shop around. There are plenty of halal restaurants and grocers in Dallas/Ft. Worth, and at least other 1 grocer and 3 other halal restaurants within a 3 mile radius of Al-Markaz.

food is tasty but prices a little higher.The grocery store has a huge variety.Try the brain masala if u like it coz it is seen in very few restaurants in US.

I like there bun kabab which taste similar to that of pk,other food was ok too but there junk food is gr8!and the grocery items are good too!

I like to dine out (alot). And Al-markaz is not going to get my money agin for their food. Below average food. For our mutton biryani order they put mutton qorma on top of white rice and served like that. The chef had a loud arguement with the owner and then was okay a minute later but did not leave a good impression on us. I don't know why people like it so much. Not a good place to eat good food.

This restaurant is run by dishonest people. A few weeks ago, items were missing from a takeout order and I assumed it was an error. We brought some ffo for a a party home this weekend and, again, the order was incomplete. We will not be going here again. They seem to have made a hbit of cheating people.

I live in Austin and I have eated at this place three times and all three times, Mashallah the service and Food were excellent. I don't recommend the Chicken Tikka leg/breast because it didn't seem it was grilled. But I highly recommmend the Karahi Gosht and the seekh kebabs. Please keep up the good work. Afterwards, please try a paan from the store :)

The food is good but their business practices are suspect. One needs to review the bill carefully because they routinely overcharge. During a recent visit with a large group of friends, they added many extra items to the bill and when I complained, they claimed to have made multiple mistakes and took the items off. Several of my friends have experienced similar problems with their bills.

Food is average . staff is kinda rude . they give small portions . staff is very rude .

Typical desi fast food place, food is OK, chaat is fairly good, service is mediocre to rude. Seating area could use a makeover. Dont know what paan the other reviewers are having but the ones we had were average.

This is our fall back safe place to go. Food is predictable, not great, but above average. Prices are fair. And we also come for the pani puri stall!

Fast food type environment but ample amount of space to eat...they do have the best paan and the food is pretty good but nothing amazing...i like to eat their nihari and naan

Only thing good about this one is their paan, rest of all is passable.

awesome food guys, this is one place u wanna hang out with ur friends on a friday evening, gr8 crowd , nice atmosphere, after dinner u can have a wonderful paan

This place has awesome beef patties. I only eat beef patties from here. The decor is ok. But the food is great

Great atmosphere plus real good food at bargain price.

A excellent place to eat if you're looking for real Pakistani and Indian food. Wonderful food at an excellent price. Lunch buffet is a bargain. They have opened a chaat area. They also have a breakfast combo on Sundays.

A good place to eat if you're looking for real local Pakistani/Indian taste dishes. They also have a breakfast combo on Sundays.

Absolutely awful service! It's like they think they're doing you a favor by selling anything to you! The food was no good and a waste of money. They really need to improve the quality of their dishes, and the way they treat their customers.

The food is irrestible, wonderful prices, nice environment to add to the food, a preferable resturant for families to go to.

Good Pakistani Resturant in North Texas. Very decent plates and buffet. Crowded during weekends....one of the best place in Dallas.