CRITIC REVIEWS

Bandar prepares the finest Persian food in the city.
Eleanor Widmer – Reader’s

Recognized as one of the area’s Top Restaurants rated excellent.
Zagat Survey

Paradise found! Bandar offers Persian cuisine in historic downtown site.
Jack White – SD Business Journal

Bandar a taste of Persian perfection.
Robin Kleven – Union Tribune

Like any good Persian restaurant. Bandar has it all.
Stephen Silverman

Bandar is a tasty adventure in the Gaslamp.
Andy & Tina Rathbone – SD Daily Transcript

Dining in elegance, indoctrinate yourselves to the culinary joy of Persian cuisine.
Sue Garson – La Jolla Light

Bandar is a winner no doubt about it.
W. Douglas Verkaaik – SD Union Tribune

Bandar has been voted a favorite restaurant by readers of San Diego Home & Garden.
Wayne Carlson

ARTICLES

USA TODAY

10 Best Places to Eat in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter

USA Today – 10 Best
San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter, a 16.5-block neighborhood, is the heartbeat of the city’s nightlife and home to a number of festivals. Urban renewal over the last few decades resulted in an energetic vibe and reinforced the Gaslamp’s place as a trendy hub in the middle of a seaside city.
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SAN DIEGAN

The Gaslamp Quarter, Historic San Diego

Barry Berndes’ San Diegan
A landmark Persian restaurant that gets rave reviews from notable reviewers including Zagat Survey is Bandar Restaurant at 845 4th Ave. (619-238-0101). Their international cuisine and attentive service make this an easy ­recommendation.
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COMIC-CON FAMILY

Kid-Friendly Restaurants in San Diego Gaslamp Quarter #sdcc

ComicConFamily.com
Looking for kid-friendly restaurants in San Diego Gaslamp Quarter? We’ve put together a list of some of our favorites and encourage you to share yours too.
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ZAGAT

Zagat: Bandar Restaurant

Zagat.com
“If you’ve never had Persian food, this is the place to start” proclaim fans of this “upscale” Gaslamp restaurant, where a “polite” staff proffers “tasty” cuisine and the “shareable” plates make it especially “fun for a big group”; it’s a little “pricey” for the genre, but the “generous portions”…
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ZAGAT

Zagat’s Restaurant Week Recommendations

Zagat.com
Plant-based restaurants are slim pickings during restaurant week but if you delve further into the menu, you’ll find vegan-friendly options alongside omnivore dishes. At Bandar, the meal starts off with classic hummus, followed by a simply dressed seasonal salad and finish off with eggplant vegetarian stew…
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MERCHANT CIRCLE

Top Middle Eastern Restaurant in San Diego, CA

MerchantCircle.com
Bandar has the wonderful ability to make everyone feel welcomed and comfortable and fill you with delicious Persian cuisine at a very reasonable price. Each dish is enough to share, but order one for everyone and sample each other’s.
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SPATIAL WAVE

Annual Client Appreciation Dinner

Spatialwave.com
Yesterday, Spatial Wave enjoyed their annual Client Appreciation Dinner at Bandar. This authentic Persian restaurant, in downtown San Diego, was the perfect setting for the dinner.
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CITY BEAT

Which of San Diego’s world famous’ dishes are really of global renown?

San Diego City Beat
Bandar’s top-selling item for the last 12 years is their Persian-style, char-boiled and boneless tenderloin kebab, marinated in a saffron-onion-lemon-juice sauce. It’s been hailed as being among the best chicken dinners ever invented by virtually every restaurant reviewer in the city.
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SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE

Where To Eat – Downtown Area

San Diego Magazine
Bandar: An exotic dining adventure in the Gaslamp Quarter: Persian cuisine with elegantly contemporary décor. Lunch & dinner daily 825 Fourth Ave., 619-238-0101.

SAN DIEGO DOWNTOWN NEWS

Persian Perfection

San Diego Downtown News
Just as Bourdain spotlighted while eating his way through Tehran, the gently spiced meals at Bandar are served in generous portions and feature everything from gorgeous lamb dishes and mouthwatering shish kabobs to exotic stews and saffron-kissed basmati rice…
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CELIATHLETE

Restaurant Review: Bandar, San Diego, California

TheCeliathlete.com
The restaurant, Bandar, is best known for its use of healthy ingredients and bold, complex flavors, bringing the flavors of saffron, limes, and other Persian spices to the forefront of each dish, highlighting the amazing flavor that comes in such a healthy and exotic cuisine.
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SAN DIEGO METRO MAGAZINE

A Persian / American Dream

San Diego Metro Magazine
Bandar Restaurant has won numerous awards and has been named “Best Persian Restaurant” more than 12 times. It is one of my personal favorite places to dine. It is an ideal example of how Behrooz Faharani and his family are living the American dream…
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YOUR BUDDHI

Bandar Restaurant

YourBuddhi.com
This is by far our favorite restaurant in San Diego and we love the girls who own it. Tiba and Golsa Farahani are the cutest, sweetest and most thoughtful girls we have ever met. Their passion for their family owned restaurant shows and their creations are beyond delicious.
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SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

Up Front: Persian Fare

San Diego Union Tribune
Striking as the setting is, Bandar’s dishes – like Fesenjan (a sweet pomegranate-and-walnut stew), Baghali Polo (baby spring lamp shank calmly steeping in a bowl of tomato sauce and herbs) and Kabob Barg (charbroiled filet mignon) – are priced not far…

SANDIEGO.COM

Bandar

SanDiego.com
Bandar is small allowing for a quaint group of lucky patrons to enjoy their meals without a large crowd around them. It creates a truly nice intimacy that is hard to find. But while small, the venue was never intrusive.
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SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

Dining Around: Gaslamp’s Bandar is ‘Port’ of Persian perfection

San Diego Union Tribune
One of the most popular and traditional dishes here are the kebabs. In fact, most meat dishes consist of chunks of charbroiled, marinated chicken tenderloin, filet mignon or lamb tenderloin

SAN DIEGO DAILY TRANSCRIPT

Bandar Restaurant Is a Tasty Adventure In The Gaslamp

San Diego Daily Transcript
Fortunately for Bandar Restaurant, Persian (or Iranian) food can please the most down-to-earth, meat-and-potatoes palates. The Gaslamp eatery, kitty-corner to Horton Plaza, does a great job of presenting one of the Middle East’s most delicate and complex cuisines…

SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL

Iranian architect draws up new career in the Gaslamp

San Diego Business Journal
When Behrooz Farahani, a downtown restauranteur, decided to leave Tehran, Iran, in 19821 with his wife and two daughters after the revolution ended, he regretted parting with family, friendsand a successful architectural practice. But he was determined…

SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL

Executive Profile: Behrooz Farahani

San Diego Business Journal
“I fell in love with San Diego and we stayed,” he said. The friend, who owns Jeff’s Burgers in La Jolla, facilitated Farahani’s introduction into the culinary trae, which eventually led to the opening of Bandar Restaurant in Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter in 1996.

SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL

What’s on the Menu: Paradise Found

San Diego Business Journal
The menu at Bandar offers bold flavors such as garlic, onion, dill, and mint, giving diners new treats for their taste buds. If you are on a diet or watching calories, you will be happy to know that Persian food is primarily fat free.

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

Persian Pride

San Diego Union Tribune
The food at Bandar represents a cuisine that dates back to the 5th century B.C. Persian dishes tend to be subtly spiced and to feature ingredients such as saffron, yogurt, rice, pomegranates, dates, and fresh herbs.

Gaslamp Quarter Connection

Tasting Gaslamp: Bandar Restaurant

Gaslamp Quarter Connection – Vol. 1 No. 3
It is not limited however to quiet two person dinners, and provides not only an upstairs area for banquets and parties, but can accommodate catering as well. All in all it is quite a place – seemingly able to meet a variety of your particular needs, whatever they may be.

HARBOR LIGHTS

Restaurant of the Month: BANDAR

Harbor Lights: The Newsletter for Harbor Club Homeowners – Vol. 1 No. 5
Exotic flavors are derived from combinations of ingredients such as lentils, raisins, fresh dates, parsley, cilantro, chives, pomegranate juice, and of course, saffron just to name a few.

SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE

Dining Out with David Nelson: BANDAR

San Diego Magazine
The opening of a new Iranian-style restaurant, Bandar, on Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego, has expanded the already cosmopolitan dining choices in the Gaslamp Quarter.

SAN DIEGO READER

Iran in American Time

San Diego Reader
But the ambiance alone does not make diners return. Bandar prepares the finest Persian food in the city (36 dishes), and the owners operate in American time.

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

Bandar prepares the finest Persian food in the city

San Diego Union Tribune
When I phoned Saturday night to ask about the hours, the restaurant was full and ten people were waiting outside – proof that the product is first rate.