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OurSince 1991storyIn every grain

A corner booth with a candle lantern, narcissus and family photographs on the brick wall

From our family to yours: thirty-three years of Persian cooking, hospitality and tea poured before you ask.

I. Our journey

Parvin and Hossein Sadri opened Anar in 1991 in a narrow room on Westwood Boulevard: eleven tables, one charcoal grill and a stew pot that never left the stove. Students came for the price and stayed for the tahdig; their parents came to check, and stayed for the tea.

Thirty-three years later the second dining room in Irvine is run by their son Arash, the grill has grown to six metres, and the stew pot still never leaves the stove. Our guests now bring their grandchildren to the tables where they once studied for finals.

Pierced brass and ruby glass lanterns glowing under a mirror-mosaic ceiling

II

Where tradition
meets the table

Step into Anar and you will find the Iran our parents remember: tilework, mirror mosaics and lanterns, and the louder warmth of a family dinner. Whether you are here for a quiet supper, a first date or forty cousins on Nowruz, the room makes space.

At our table, no one
stays a guest for long.

Parvin SadriFounder of Anar Kitchen
A booth with a teapot and tea glasses seen past large fig leaves

III

Our kitchen
philosophy

1.

Rice first

We wash, soak and steam every grain the slow way. The tahdig is earned, never fried in a hurry.

2.

Herbs by the armful

Two hundred pounds of parsley, cilantro and fenugreek a week, chopped by hand for ghormeh sabzi.

3.

Fire & patience

Charcoal for kabobs, six hours for lamb shank, overnight for fesenjan. Time is an ingredient.

4.

Saffron, honestly

Real Persian saffron, bloomed over ice and measured by the gram. Never colour, never shortcuts.

Maman Parvin laughing over a copper pot of herbs while her son tastes from a wooden spoon

IV The family
behind the table

Maman Parvin still tastes every pot of ghormeh sabzi before service. Arash runs the grill, his sister Mina runs the floor, and half our servers have been with us longer than our oldest booth.

What our
guests say

4.8/5ExcellentFrom 2 914 guest-book notes
Guest book
The tahdig alone is worth the drive. We came for one birthday and have been coming every Friday since.

GuestLeila K.

Comment card
Like dinner at my grandmother's, if my grandmother had a charcoal grill and a wine list.

GuestDaniel M.

Guest book
Ghormeh sabzi exactly like home. They remembered our names on the second visit.

GuestShirin A.

Table note
A gorgeous room, generous plates, and the saffron ice cream is not optional.

GuestMarcus T.

Have you already been to Anar and left with good memories?

Leave us a note in the guest book