Dera Restaurant

Some of THE BEST, Tandoori Chicken I've had in the area. The decor is elegant, perfect for even a fancy date. There is even a private area for practicing Muslims who would like to say their prayers, and of course the food is Halal. Bathrooms are clean, and well maintained, the staff is polite, and friendly. There are even an assortment of handmade sweets sold by the pound. I decided to have a Pakistani/Indian style lunch buffet today, and was very impressed. There is a variety of items to choose from, including the weekend favorites like Nihari (braised beef stew, which melted in your mouth, finished with fresh lime juice), Paya (beef foot soup, tender, not over powering with spice) Haleem (mixed grains with meat, where the richness in this dish is balanced with the shredded ginger and cilantro), all these dishes pair perfectly with Naan (flat bread). The Pakistani style Biryani was prepared perfectly, with fluffy rice, and juicy tender pieces of chicken, whole chilies for and extra kick, and finished with fresh mint. I'm able to describe and know these dishes as I'm very educated with this food, however, for folks who are not, there should have been labels, and that's not a big issue, but something to add in my opinion. I will be coming back, and bringing my family here, as the food is authentic, fresh and absolutely delicious.

I’ve travelled the world and Dera makes the BEST Chicken Tika Masala I have ever had. Perfectly baked (and large) naan bread is served with each entree. The service is superb!!! Highly recommend.

I ordered 2 mix grilled to go. $39/ each .:it was terrible. Just tasteless food. They burn the meat but not properly cooked inside. Don’t waste your money! Never again.

Hands down the best and most flavorful Pakistani food I’ve had in Virginia! The buffet is reasonably priced with an impressive variety of dishes. I absolutely love their biryani, qeema, kari, and chicken jalfrezi — everything is packed with authentic flavor. The service is quick and friendly, and the place is spotless. This has definitely become our go-to spot!

I recently ordered a beef naan from Dera, and I was very disappointed to find a piece of paper inside the food. It appears that proper checks were not conducted during preparation. This raises concerns about food safety and quality control. I kindly request that you review this issue to prevent such incidents in the future. I would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

Had a lovely time at this unassuming little gem. Really enjoyed the Brain Masala, which is made with very small bits of goat brain. The texture is similar to tofu, and the taste is a slightly more mineral spicy masala. It's great. My favorite dish was probably the paneer pakora.

Has improved itself back as it used to be. They catered my daughter wedding food and delivered as promised. Not for candle light dinner but for those who love the taste of Pakistani food.

First time trying this restaurant. The buffet was wonderful! We tried everything and it was all delicious! I loved the semolina and butter chicken! My sister loved the more spicy dishes. Atmosphere is great, service was also great. Will definitely be back again! Hi

Top Tier. this food is amazing for the price. the atmosphere is amazing. the people are vibrant. this place will have you feeling right at home.

Average Pakistani food. Good value and economical. Good for normal day eating Nothing special

I came on Eid, and had a buffet. The food was phenomenal. For dessert I had falooda, which was great!! The best I've had in a long time!

This wonderfully decorated business has been there for 35 years. They must be doing something right. The service was very professional. I ordered the ground beef Kebab that came with rice and a salad and non-bread. My husband had the mixed dish plate which came with chicken, lamb and beef kebabs when I think Bob's I think of meat on a stick as per their menu. But it wasn't like that it was still delicious though. I gave the rice to my husband who said he liked it. I found the ground beef kebab, well seasoned good portion, size and very juicy. The Nanbread was very big a little dry but it was good. It's Brad. My husband said he enjoyed his meal as well. I carried part of it home, because I thought it would make a really good base for a Bolognese because of all the great seasoning and I was right.

Food and service at Dera is sporadic! Sometime it's so spice it can't be consumed. Eating there is not much of an option that's why we carry out. Had the food not been good we would not be driving total of 1 1/2 hours. It's most annoying when you return home to find out the entree packed was wrong on a day they had no diners. Calling the owner was hilarious. He said, I needs to investigate from the weekend crew, because there are two sides to this story This was weeks back! Hello! Can someone tell the owner the food packed was wrong it's as simple as that. Chicken is not beef & lamb is not chicken.

Worst overpriced food . Ordered Bhatti's , chicken kabob , beef Nehari kebab All items tasteless . Never ever recommend anyone

I had lunch here and was very satisfied! The interior is beautiful and it's very spacious and very clean and so were the restrooms! Service was was great ( servers maybe a tad nervous) but were super friendly and respectful. The order taker listened and gave their recommendations. I ordered chicken briyani which very tasty not to spicy! Seekh kabob served with naan and side order of chicken peas and white rice. Also before they served the meal we got salad and the mint chaatney was tasty! They also have sweet traditional kiosk of Pakistani sweets! My favorite Gulab Janam! A healthy and happy family oriented place! Highly recommended!!

It was our first time at Dera Restaurant in Springfield, VA, and we had their lunch buffet on an early Sunday afternoon. We had no problems finding parking. We were greeted by a very friendly staff member. The restaurant was set up with long tables in rows and we could tell other patrons were happy and enjoying their family time. One of the employees was nice enough to separate our table since we were only a party of three (3). Their buffet had a wide selection of Pakistani food, including salad and desserts. The food was tasty and they gave a very generous portion of naan bread, which they allowed us to take home that we could not consume onsite. There were several servers that stopped by our table to talk to us, answered our questions, and made sure our water pitcher and glasses were filled. Before we left, the owner greeted us and asked about the food and service. We told him we enjoyed everything and we should be back soon. He recommended other things on the menu to try. Overall, it was a great experience with very friendly employees and owner!

Went for the Sunday lunch buffet about $18. They had a good variety of food and it was seasoned/spiced well. The restaurant was very clean, staff was attentive and friendly. I also purchased food togo from the buffet ($8.99/lb) for a family member.

Last night we had food at DEERA Springfield. The service was absolutely pathetic, very un-professional staff , we told him regarding the food isn't of good quality and his reply was " essa hi milta hai yahan" ( this is what you get here). All of us are un-well and will URGE people NOT TO GO TO DEERA.... WORST EVER EXPERIENCE .... Waste of money , waste of time and rubbish food What a mistake to go there .... Rubbish

Do you love Pakistani food? Don't come here! Seriously, it was horrible. Channa tastes like savory apple spice oatmeal. Nothing was seasoned or the kebab was inedible from so much cardamom. Reading these reviews tasted better than this food. Blegh.

Dera Restaurant is a solid choice for anyone looking for authentic Pakistani cuisine. The all-day buffet and ala carte options provide ample choices for diners, and the service is fantastic. I give the restaurant 3 out of 5 stars as I felt something was lacking. The standout dish was the juicy and flavorful beef nehari, but some of the other items were not up to the same standard. While the variety of dishes is impressive, the quality and taste could use improvement. I recommend serving in smaller portions and changing the trays more frequently to maintain freshness. With a little bit of fine-tuning, Dera Restaurant has the potential to become a standout Pakistani eatery.

We were visiting from Scottsdale,AZ and were looking for desi food close to our hotel. Found this strip mall which is chock full of desi eateries so it was a difficult decision to pick one. We went to Dera. The restaurant is large with good spacing between tables. Service by Rashid was prompt and courteous Now the best part, food. We ordered a keema naan for apps. Perfectly spiced keema and a fluffy naan sprinkled with seasame seeds. Perfect start! For main course we got Chicken Curry, yes the name is generic but it was cooked korma style. Good to the last drop of salaan. They were out of beef Bihari, we got chicken Bihari. Again perfectly spiced and served on a sizzler. The entrees came with naan, rice and Chana. Clearly that was too much food for the two of us and had plenty of leftovers. Not sure why the average yelp review is 3.5. I know desi food very well, this meal was definitely 5 stars!!

Went during Eid. Food was not of quality and the goat biryani was not cooked well. The rice was crisp for some odd reason and very small. Overall, food was not healthy and not tasty. When contacted about their service, they did nothing about the condition of the food. The ambiance was alright but I would recommend staying away from the restaurant.

Visited Dera Restaurant in Brookfield Plaza this evening. Leaving some serious feedback for the owners to address. Waiters need to be retrained immediately. Literally we got no service after being seated and waiters are rude. I made several trips to get our complete food, drinks, utensils, etc. I even had to go to the waiter to place our order after waiting over 20 minutes. There was only one other family there when we got there. When paying, I noticed and wasn't surprised at the automatic gratuity charge. I don't mind paying this and even more for even average service. I pointed this out to the person taking the payment and the service guys were extremely rude - made horrible comments and just started laughing. It was clear that these waiters didn't want to be there working. This is the big difference between going to an establishment which makes things right or where you know you will get good service. In this case, the waiter was disrespectful and argumentative. As a consumer when we choose to come to your place to spend a good amount of money, a business is expected to provide a level of service. We will not be going back here or recommending this place to anyone. The place wasn't even fully packed and if staffing is an issue, the owners need to hire according to traffic.

Definitely not what they used to be... I stopped in for lunch on a weekday and even though it's August of 2021 and Covid has mostly passed (and seems to be sparking up again), they didn't have a buffet, which is fine, as I didn't expect there to be one. But I used to love their buffet! There was no one else in there and it was around 12:15PM. I ordered samosa chaat for lunch, as it's typically filling. The order came out in a reasonable amount of time and it was cool (barely warm) on the inside. I would expect the top of it to be cooler since it's got chutney on top, but the inside should have been piping hot. The samosas were flavorless, which was disappointing. The Channa on it was also flavorless and so was the mint yogurt chutney... really, the only flavors came from the sweet tamarind chutney. Additionally, the place stunk really bad, almost made me sick to smell it. It seemed like something spoiled inside. Hate to say it, as I used to love this place, but I doubt I'll be going back.

Just moved back to the DMV area and tried this restaurant based on the recommendation of some of our friends. Truly enjoyed this meal. The food was fresh and had tons of flavor. All of the people were extremely nice and the place was clean and comfortable. I will be going back and recommend it to anyone looking for an authentic Pakistani meal.

Recently I had disappointing experience at Dera as I thought it was my go-to desi food fix place!! We were a party of 5 and the lunch buffet was 14.99 per person which is no issue at all because the food is good. However, when we went to pay the bill there was gratuity charge on the receipt for about $12 additional to the bill. I had already left reasonable tip aside from the gratuity listed on the bill. After doing quick google search it turns out that restaurants can charge gratuity for party of 6 OR 8 OR MORE PEOPLE i.e large groups. Again, we were less than 6 people and sometimes even less than 5 as I visit the place often. So, my question is why am I forced to pay the gratuity? No one at the restaurant never notified us of this charge before we sat down to eat. It was only after the fact I checked the receipt because the total bill was suppose to be around $74 and in fact due to this charge turned out to be almost $92. I won't be coming back to this place anymore until the owner changes this rule as this is unfair to people who come with fewer than 6 people. Do not deserve one star

I wish yelp would let you give a 0 star! The people at this restaurants are cheaters and liars. The first time I went, I walked in and asked how much it was to get food for carryout from the buffet. They told me 7.99, so I packed up a little bit in a box and took it to the counter. Turns out the guy lied to me, and it was 7.99 a pound, so I ended up paying 20 dollars! I left so angry. I am a person of second chances, so I went back after a couple of months. The second time they gave me expired food that exploded when I opened up the packing, and it smelled. I tried to ask if they could give me a refund or remake it, on the phone, and they said no! DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!

It's was terrible day at Dera, 1. Butter chicken & Tandoori both not cooked from inside outside looking good so nasty 2. Servant are rude F up 3. Family with three kids when I try to pay I told them 3 adults & 2 kids even already count my oldest to adult still questioning the age!!!! This is not first time happened to me mother F I hate this attitude for food. 4. Girl work is dam rude when I asked water said one minute never show up, myself went to get some water all empty jar and she treat Dessi Vs. Other different attitude F blade Dessi. Keep your attitude under your AH Never ever go this way anymore and encourage the all same. I don't care anything but attitude F you

Poor service Cold food Expensive Less varieties in the buffet. I will never ever come back.

I was in the area and there was a much popular and higher rated Indian buffet but i chose to come to this one solely because it was Pakistani and so i assumed that they have the usual seekh kabab and tikka that are signature pakistani dishes, even said so on their website. However the "buffet" was really not a buffet at all. Not even biryani. White rice, haleem, nihari, and some channay. The salad stations was JUST chopped romaine im not even exaggerating. And all the food was super bland and oily. And i like oil in my food so im not just saying that to seem extra healthy or anything. Kheer was way too sweet and the gulab jamun were weird in texture, too... bready? And all for a whopping $18 and this was at LUNCH btw. Plus they only give you 2 naan, anything more is for an additional price. For $18 the least you can do is have unlimited naan like a normal buffet. To top it all off, they added a 15% gratuity. I've never heard of automatic gratuity unless its a 5+ people party. We were literally just 2 people. Extremely dissatisfying and disappointing. Desi people should not go here because i can guarantee that you will make better food in your own kitchen.

This is a great spot for a cheap lunch! The $10 lunch buffet is great, though not much vegetarian options. It's spicy be warned, but definitely authentic! This is where my Pakistani friends go for lunch and it was soo soo good when I went with them. The qema matar, a beef dish cooked with peas was a favorite of our table.

Placed an online order and 20min later Yelp sends me a message "order caned!" Reason... umm they are too busy to fulfill the order! Well damn!! Hey Dera.... I would give you zero today! Not cool

Ordered and they gave me cold meat and didn't inform me and said they just took it out the freezer.don't come to this place it's not good .

once again food is horrible. once again they messed up our order even though i repeated it twice once i got there to verify. complete incompetence along with bad food.

Dined in here recently and the food was great. We had pakoras, chickpeas, chicken karahi, lamb karahi, fried fish, and chicken biryani. The service was good.

Finally made it here. Dinnertime on a Wednesday. The restaurant is larger than what it appears from outside and caters primarily to the Pakistani diaspora. Good clean fair priced place. Most people opted for the buffet which has a decent selection. I tried the beef Bihari Kabab, which comes with a nan, chickpea curry and pilaf rice. The morsels of beef were generous, well seasoned and nicely charred. Tasted and really liked the butter chicken of my companion. Service was efficient and courteous by Zeeshan, who might be connected to the owners. Will be back to try more of their offerings. Not a date place though.

Would not go here during Ramadan . Tried to pre order samosas / pakoras at 7 pm . They said I couldn't pre order because it was already ready. When I got there at 745 they had run out. Usually go to niralla for snacks and they have much better service .

We went to Dera on Saturday night, and it was well worth the experience. The buffet includes approximately 15 dishes, including desserts, and the price was fairly reasonable. The naan bread was the best I'd had in the NOVA area. The restaurant was very clean, and the staff was nice and accommodating. The overall experience was enjoyable, and each dish item was great, with well-balanced flavors.

The absolute worst experience ever. I ordered 7 naan and they were not ready in time as they never are. When I had brought this up with the person at the front register he rudely talk to me as if it was my fault that the naan weren't ready I would not recommend going to this place if you prefer a nice customer service.

Hello yelpers this is my truly unpaid review, I happened to be in the area with my friends and looked up for good authentic Pakistani Halal Food and I decided to come to dera restaurant in Springfield, the minute I walked in I felt like I was at the right place, I knew The food is going to be really good especially that food smell made me really hungry,me and my friends we ordered bunch of Different food, we had biryani,chicken karahi variety of different kebabs as well, we tried the fresh buffet and not to forget there sweets to die for absolutely delicious which reminded me of back home, The place was well-maintained very clean and very well decorated in a unique style, good for groups and families very nice atmosphere the staff is very polite, friendly and very professional, they do catering's as well !!! Whenever you in the mood for good Pakistani, Indian food come and try at the Dera restaurant highly recommended !!!!

Best Pakistani food in Virginia! They make all type of food, come try their Ramadan menu!

Went their for weekend brunch buffet. Food was cold, puri/naan no where to be seen...had to wait 10 minutes with food already on table. So, basically we were sitting waiting for puri. No halwaa no chai had pay extra for chai?? Buffet stuff was abundant. I felt the price was high too. Not a clean place either.

I've never walked in a restaurant only to walk out sick of disgust and shock, without ever ordering food. This place advertises itself as a fine dining Pakistani restaurant. There is nothing fine about this dining establishment. The service is horrible, no customer service. The folks behind the counter seem to be lallygagging, with no regard for customer service. The hygiene is something that is not at the top of their priority list. The customer in front of me wanted to try some sweets, they offered her a sampler spoon, and she double dipped and used her bare hand to grab a third serving. She did this in front of the employees who did not seem to care. Save your money, go to the chick fil a across the street, you will at least get fresh, quality food, with good service and a smile. I wish they had a 0 stars option, 1 is way too generous.

Bread is the best flatbread in DMV, the chicken curry sauce was good but very gamey flavored chicken. Butter chicken could use a little more tomatoes or something.

Oh man this place was actually recommended by a person painting our house if you are not middle eastern you may feel out of place but dont! This is as welcoming as ALL the food is delicious. I normally dont like stale buffets and prefer to pay more for fresh made but this buffet was way way way to appetizing and fresh to pass up and it did not disappoint and all for half the price that you would expect a definite revisit and a strong recommendation for any and all nationalities Melvin C.

Great food, good service. Clean bathrooms. Decent hall for events with an interesting background. Definitely the best indo-pak buffet in the Dmv region. Competitive prices. Our family go to place for dinner or after dinner snacks. We don't mind the 40 minute drive to get here. Yeah it's that good !! The manager is very hospitable and they have an actual street cart in the restaurant selling street cart food like pan and bun kabob etc.

The food is absolutely trash and disgusting the meat was Raw and the rice were stail and old. The only edible things were there soda .

A good restaurant needs more food variety in the buffet, however, food is very good and tasty and price very affordable. plenty of parking , family-friendly and they accept major credit cards.

The hubs and I came here for lunch to partake in their weekday Pakistani lunch buffet. I was able to try some of their Vegetable Biryani, Butter Chicken, Chicken Curry, Beef Seekh Kabobs (ground beef, seasoned with spices and char-grilled), Gosht Karahi, Daal Mash, Daal Masoor, Saag Paneer, ground beef with green bell peppers, and Channa Masala. I really enjoyed the Chicken Curry, as the chicken meat were all fork tender and juicy. The sauce, while not too thick, was flavorful and dressed the chicken well! I wasn't surprised to learn that it was one of the restaurant's specialties! I also enjoyed the ground beef entree, packed with some flavorful spices and huge chunks of green bell peppers. We also received some hot thick naan bread to chow down with, as well as a bit pitcher of ice water. Besides the buffet, they offer an array of shuruaat (appetizers), salads, breads baked in the clay oven, BBQ, rice, vegetarian options, chef specials, as well as desserts (they had a bakery case). This restaurant seemed to have been recently remodeled, with the sparkling chandeliers and a larger area off to the right for larger parties/banquets. A simple buffet featuring some flavorful Pakistani fare, if you're in the neighborhood, check them out! The staff here were super friendly, and there were plenty of seatings. +Chicken Curry! +ground beef with green bell peppers! +hot naan bread +weekday lunch buffet +friendly staff +plenty of parking in shared lot

I went here for my first date. I've never had Pakistani food before so I was excited! Their naan is amazing! I haven't found a place that makes really good naan or roti. My favorite dish from Dera is butter chicken! Savory and sometimes a little spicy. One of the best places for butter chicken!

The staff was the highlight of my family buffet lunch. They were very attentive and so nice. The food was decent. It was not bad but just wasn't fabulous. The tandoori chicken was the best dish at the buffet. The complementary naan was very good (crisp on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside). I think the floor could use a good mop. If you are looking to fill your belly with some decent food and chat with family or friends then this place will satisfy.

We came here and ordered quite a few dishes, and everything was good. The chicken karahi was my favourite, and the chicken tikka masala was also very good. We also got goat karahi that was pretty good. I liked the naan as well.

Best Pakistani food in the DMV! Everyone needs to try it! The butter chicken is amazing.

This place had very affordable price and delicious food before and I went there with my family so many times. However I went there in Ramadan to buy some food for Iftar. There food costs double or even threeple of the actual food price. I bought the food and when I ate the food. All of the food was so salty and didn't have any taste. I wish I can give them less than one star. I don't recommend this place at all and don't waste your money for this junk food.

Sorry but my last experience at Dera was not so good. Iftar buffet was so ordinary and tasteless.

Been here a total of four times. The food is good when they make it good but usually it is very inconsistent. The tandoori chicken is usually burnt. The chicken tikka (only grilled item on the buffet) was not available for over an hour. Their excuse was that the grill is busy.

Best buffet I've ever been too! Food is always fresh, delicious and flavorful! Visit this restaurant at least 4x a month!!!

Sometimes food is taste good but most of the time same old menu taste less fried fish biryani Nihari etc. When you call them b4 you go what is the menu for today they say Tandoori chicken exec etc. But once you arrived there menu is something else. Compare to other Halal restaurants Dera is ok.