Sterling Kabob

Lamb, beef and chicken kabobs are excellent! The chickpeas are great and the bread fresh is fantastic. I must try their biryanis next! Great food and service for a good price. I like supporting local business and they are great.

Not to be confused with other kabob restaurants in the area, this is STERLING KABOB. This was the first time visit and we were not disappointed. We ordered Sterling Kabob Combo #1 and it was excellent. The meat had the right amount of spices and flavor. The long grain rice pilaf was cooked to perfection. Reasonable price, friendly staff. Highly recommended.

Another day, another restaurant boasting an impressive 5-star rating that ended up being a huge disappointment. As a kabob enthusiast, I always search for kabob places on Yelp, and this one kept appearing in my searches. After reading all the glowing reviews, I was excited to give it a try. We ordered the chicken kobeda kabob, the kabob murgh, and the mantu. Unfortunately, from the very first bite, I knew it wasn't going to be a good experience. The kobeda seemed to contain onions that were past their prime, and the ratio of chicken to filler was off—I'm not a fan of fillers in the first place. The kabob murgh tasted surprisingly amateurish, reminiscent of something I might have cooked during my college days using the oven. It was hard to believe that something grilled could lack flavor entirely. I considered mentioning the portion sizes as well, but in retrospect, it's probably for the best that we didn't get more food—no one wanted to eat it! For those who care about portions, just a heads-up: their servings are quite small compared to other kabob spots. I had hoped to enjoy this place and add another kabob option to my list, but we won't be coming back. While it seems the majority have had great experiences here, if you find yourself feeling let down like I did, I suggest trying Ashburn Kabob or Kabob Corner in Fairfax. Both are excellent choices, with Kabob Corner being slightly better and offering bone-in chicken kabobs that Ashburn Kabob doesn’t have. Either way, you won’t be disappointed with those options.

To their credit, they quickly refunded my order when I brought up my concerns. As a first responder, my priority is to protect my family and others from illness, and it's disheartening to see a lack of basic precautions to help prevent the spread of the virus, especially as we continue to risk our own health on the job. Initially, I thought I might return to the restaurant once the pandemic is over. However, I realized that if they're careless about such a significant aspect of food safety, I can't trust them with the smaller details typically regulated by health authorities. This realization was quite disheartening. So, unfortunately, I will not be returning.

The chicken kebab was decent, but the chicken karahi was not that great.