Dandanah Cafe & Grill
| Address: | 2707 Fountain View Dr, Houston, TX 77057, USA |
| Phone: | +1 713-783-2020 |
| Site: | dandanahcafe.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 9AM–1AM 9AM–1AM 9AM–1AM 9AM–1AM 9AM–2AM 9AM–2AM 10AM–1AM |
Location
Photos 1
Reviews 6
AM
Amal Abdallah
As an Arab, its completely normal that Ive tried almost all of the hookah (shisha) places in Houston, but no matter where I go, and how often I may try to change it up, I always end up back at Dandanah. Dont ask me why, but its honestly where I feel at home. Its hard to find a place where you can say that you are friends with the owner. If you go enough times, you expect that people will know your order without you even asking. Thats exactly what happened to me at Dandanah. Change is good, and Im all for trying new places and supporting local businesses. But facts are facts - if you want the best shisha in town, you have to make the however-long-it-is-from-where-you-live drive to Dandanah. My shisha of choice is orange head with orange mint, and Ive converted many of my friends to the same flavor. Of course, if youre more traditional and prefer the boring double apple, you can of course find that too, along with a dozen other flavors. When it comes to the food - Ill say this, everyone has their own preferences and tastes, but if you want the best off the menu, order anything that comes from the oven. The pizzas are great (Ive tried the margarita and seafood alfredo pizzas- YUM!) Not just pizzas, they have authentic feteer, which is basically bread stuffed with whatever your heart desires. Lots of my friends go for the basterma (pastrami) and gebna (cheese) feteer, and other carnivores go for the meat feteer. You can create your own concoction if you choose to do so, but why fix something if it isnt broken? Even better, at least for this writer is the sweet feteers: mixed nuts, coconut, powdered sugar, and get this...they even have a NUTELLA feteer. Trust me, you have to try it to understand how good it is. Nutella fanatics rejoice, it doesnt get better than this. Come on any given Friday and you will find a live oud (lute) player who sings the best of the famous Arabic tarab and it really sets the mood completely - especially when the night is calm and a cool breeze hits your face, with the shisha on point and your cup of shai (tea) in hand. Saturdays at 10:30 the belly dancer shows up and the entire restaurant is packed. Honestly I think people go on Saturdays just to see her dance. Its a lot of fun - my friends and I enjoy each others company, and whats even funnier is seeing the older generation enjoying the show. Fridays and Saturdays are packed and valet parking is the way to go. (Its complementary, so you just have to tip them if you want to). Everyone has their criticisms of Dandanah, but regardless we always end up there because we know that our experience wont be half as good anywhere else. Trust me, weve tried. We ordered tea at another shisha place and the sugar was mixed with salt...yuck. Speaking of tea, Dandanahs tea is on point - almost every table that is in the restaurant has a pot (or two) of tea and they keep ordering more. The staff is friendly and will cater to whatever you need, so if the service appears to be slow for whatever reason, trust me its much worse at other places. Speaking from experience, there are more important things to appreciate than criticize. The prices are reasonable, the outdoor patio is awesome (especially in the summer), and the fun times Ive had at Dandanah make it more special. I hope the readers have a good experience at Dandanah. Tell Hasem Amal sent you and enjoy.
CH
Chris Comer
The worst restaurant experience Ive ever had. I started a new job in the area and decided to try Cafe Dandanah since Mediterranean is one of my favorite types of food. Atmosphere: Dark and depressing. Personally, atmosphere is something I dont pay much attention too, mostly service and taste. They have a large TV centrally located near the tables. Service: Wasnt too bad, but took a long time to take my order, deliver the food. I did notice another guy who was servicing the hookah to be playing and joking around most the time, and not even with customers. Food: For the appetizer, hummus. Out came a soup bowl size of hummus. Not incredibly tasteful but was passable as hummus. No pita with the exception of the one piece I received when I sat down. For the main course, beef shish kabob. This would have to be the worst Ive ever had. Tasteless, nearly bland. It had spices on the outside but not on the inside. Had a good charred/grilled flavor though. The fries I had ordered were barely cooked. A few more minutes in the fryer would have done wonders. The rice I received tasted like it was the parboiled kind. Tasteless and bland. Tasted like it had been sitting for a long time. The WORST part of the whole experience was the mandatory 15% tip on the bill. Ive never been to a restaurant where they automatically added gratuity to the bill. I refuse to step foot in this dump again.
JA
Jay Francis
Their second and also excellent location. Be sure to read my review at the original Hillcroft location listing. If you order the chelo kebab, you will get a big smile on your face. It is just terrific. But also, be sure to try the home made soup. Ash-e Reshteh gets my vote for being the healthiest soup in the world. Chickpeas, navy beans, red kidney beans, green lentils, beets, spinach, parsley and dill make up the vegetables and greens in this soup, to which are added the Persian noodles called reshteh and a thick and salty liquid whey called kashk. Noodles have a special significance during the Iranian New Year, symbolizing the unraveling of difficulties in the year to come.
MO
Moi _Venus
2.5 ☆s just because my kids loved the desserts! Service was ok, the only problem we had with our waitress was the language barrier, she couldnt really understand what I was saying or asking for. We ordered the family platter and food was just not good EXCEPT for the hummus, that one was ok.. I love the charred and grilled flavor on my meats but mine just tasted burnt, over cooked and DRYYYYY!!! The tabouli looked and tasted old, it DIDNT even have that vibrant green color anymore. Water, they dont even serve tap water, ONLY $1.50 water bottles, who does that!? And yes, they automatically include the tip on your check!
EA
Eashrak Zubair
The server who served us, Luchi, was very assertive. We were looking for some light food and since it was a cafe, we figured it would be a nice place to grab some light food. But our server was very intimidating which is why we both had to get a lot of food we didnt like. The chicken with vegetables soup was downright disgusting, I think it was old. The smoothie was alright, could not finish it. The kabab was very hard, although seasoned well. The rice with the kabab was awful. We sat inside and it was kinda dark and not that fun. Maybe our experience would have been different if we had a server who wasnt rude.
AH
Ahmed Farag
As an Egyptian, this is the place to go to, tons of plates that no one else does, and you can have it only back home in Egypt. Shisha is the best in town. Saturday night is a blast that will keep you going there every Saturday, hands down. This is an authentic place with every thing made freshly from scratch. this cost money and takes time. There.is something for every taste and every budget on this place menu. Also not to forget the belly dancer show on Saturday night, unbelievable. Best time guaranteed. I am at Dandanah at least twice a week. See you all there.
