Zahir’s Bistro

Actually 3 ½ stars. The Zahir steak is decent, the prime rib is nice and the chicken was well prepared. Service was prompt and attentive. I enjoyed the patio area but please lose the carpet flooring. I will go back.

We stopped here for dinner to pass the time while traffic cleared. I am Delighted we did! Wow what a Fabulous dining experience. The food was stellar — so yummy and we appreciated the diversity on the menu. The setting was clean and elegant, and the owner came out to personally welcome us. We were very well taken care of with excellent wait staff and, again, the food was SO good. I had the sea bass, and the preparation can only be described as perfect. It was the best I have ever had. We live about 30 minutes away, but we will make the trip to come back. Highly Highly recommended.

Surprisingly delicious! The service here is outstanding, Hector, our waiter, made our dinner experience wonderful… Not to mentioned how tasty and fresh our food was! If you are in Santa Clara, this place is a must!

We were expecting a pleasant date but they started blasting club music and ran bright flickering lights part way through the meal. It was the least classiest $ 30/​plate restaurant I’ve ever been to. The steak was OK. The pasta, I’ve made better at home. Really not worth the price given the club atmosphere.

Due the seriousness of this problem I really thought I was going to get at least a courtesy call from the owner. Well he does not seem to care much about the restaurant’s guests and their health even when problems arise due to his own negligence.

Danny’s Unilocal 2016.
Stopped by here a few weeks ago to celebrate my friends 27^th birthday. All of us ordered the prime rib with a bottle of wine and prices came out to be very fair. Service was on point and Zahir has alot of space for big parties.

Just no. Absolutely no. Came here hoping to celebrate our annual Christmas dinner with the homies. We called for a reservation for Saturday December 12^th for 8 of us and the included a bloody Christmas party with karaōke and an obnoxious DJ who kept the mic screeching when we sat down. It was AWFUL. As they were setting up I waved over the waiter to ask him if it would be this loud all night. His response «if you think it’s loud now, wait until 6:30» I assume because that’s when the official event starts. Our reservations were for 6pm. If I could barely hear the waiter imagine how loud our dinner event would be. You literally could not hear yourself think. For a restaurant that boasts fine dining, why would you not warn your guests that a loud party that filled up half the venue would be interrupting a nice intimate Christmas dinner you planned for your friend. Worst customer service ever. I do not recommend, nor is this in my rotation for local fine dining in Milpitas. Be forewarned if you are hoping for a nice quiet evening out check to see what they have on my their schedule. You might have to call your friends and send them to meet you somewhere else. Epic fail Zahir’s Bistro. I will not be back!

My girlfriend wanted to take me somewhere slightly more upscale than most of the other restaurants in this area. This was a good find! The calamari was a perfect way to start the night. We ended up getting the New Orleans Chicken and the Zahir Steak. They had a sea bass on special that I regret not getting. The chicken was pretty good, not great. The steak was amazing and I had to steal a few bites from my girlfriend. The veggies and rice pilaf were lacking in flavor. They were quite plain. The steak came with this delicious fry battered potato… soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Wish I had that as my side!
Their mojitos were decent. When they didn’t have what we wanted to drink the bartender came out and asked for my likes and dislikes to get a better idea of what kind of birthday drink to make me.
Mr. Zahir came out and greated us which always adds a nice touch to any dining experience.
The place was kind of empty and could use some more pizzazz. That also means it can accommodate a large group if necessary! Recommend as a place to check out on a special occasion.

Truly 5 stars place. Hidden inside a small road in Milpitas. Like the creation and ambiance of this place. Like their hospitality and yummmm food — Salmon, Pasta — Great…

Food and service were excellent! It’s one of my favorite restaurants in the area. Everything we had was perfect, especially the prime rib! Highly recommend!

Came in on a Saturday night. Called ahead to reserve just in case. We ended up going at the time they open, which meant it was only us in the entire restaurant. Service from the host and waiter was at its best from paying attention to detail to wrapping our food for us. We started off with the appetizer platter which consisted of stuffed mushrooms, shrimp and calamari which was good. For our main dishes we ordered their special rib eye with prawns, the zahir steak (filet mignon), and the chicken and shrimp Alfredo without the shrimp (d/​t allergy). The food was good, nothing that surprised me but it’s good enough. The meat was soft and tender how I like it. Would come back to try other dishes or for their happy hour.

This is my new favorite restaurant in the San Jose area.
I’ve been there twice now, over the past few weeks, and both times was very impressed. The atmosphere is nice and quiet. The food is fantastic, and the staff is great. Steak Zahir is a very tasty filet mignon with a dark gravy sauce over it. When I ordered, Mr. Zahir came out and said if I’d found a better steak in the area, this would be on the house. It was so tasty and tender there was no way I could criticize it in any way. I didn’t even need a knife to cut it. A fork was all I needed. For the price, it’s the best steak I’ve found.
I’ll be coming back many times.

It is a hidden restaurant in the area: I’m really pleased to have some good decent Italian restart in Milpitas.
One plus, they have happy hour from 5−10pm if I recall correctly — with a drink menu and some bar food. There is a bar area and TV is avail. I came for a dinner before movie so didn’t have time to check it out .
We order some drink to start: Cosmo and the sauvignon white wine are just fine. Nothing too special but it does the job.
Appetizer: there are not that many options but the portion is huge. We went for the fried calamari — decent quality, just like how you expect what it tastes like from a dine in.
Entrée: Chicken Marsala — really good sauce over one good big piece of juicy chicken breast. I am really happy about it. The side of vegetable & pilaf are alright — not too impressive to my taste.
Prim rib — per my boyfriend, it is 8 out of 10 as it is his dish. I took couple bites and it is definitely juicy and well season. Side dishes are alright: with the vegetable and croquette — the croquette is pear shape with a bunch of rosemary as garnish — cute !
Environment: they offer a dining area, a bar and super cute outdoor dining. Pretty nice and hidden spot in Milpitas .
One more note: the bread is so fresh and great. Per the owner, it is house special and made on a daily base.

Came around 6:30 today trying to have a dinner with my son and we were taken back by a big crowd standing outside the entrance. We walked in and were greeted by a pleasant waitress. So I asked for a table for 2 and were instructed it could only be on the patio because of some ongoing event. Reluctantly, I said yes to the offer and tried to follow the waitress outside. She pushed on the door to open it and found it was locked. So she told us to go to our table by going back to the entrance and walk around. We got to the table and were stopped by the owner himself that we could not seat there. A bit annoyed, I told him that I am tired of being led around and his immediate response was: «you don’t need to get led around if you noticed of the event today. You could walk back to where you came from».
That was something new I didn’t expect. I don’t know how good his restaurant is but with this attitude, I make sure I won’t come to his establishment again. This owner obviously doesn’t have the aptitude to be in a service business; nor does he welcome small parties.

My friends and I finally tried Zhair’s last night.
— The service was pretty good, we went there around 8pm. The restaurant was pretty empty then, and we were promptly seated upon our arrival.
— the bread was really good, came out hot and it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside
— The daily special New Zealand rack of lamb with peanut butter sauce was cooked perfectly
— The temperature of prime ribs that we ordered seemed to be off… Medium was more like medium-​well
— although here comes the worst, my friends and I, who had the prime ribs ended up getting upset stomach and… you wouldn’t want to know the details.

I used to live in a condo and Zahir’s Bistro was on the street behind us. I have never seen any cars or customers when I drove by — Thursday, Friday, Saturday…
I have nothing against Zahir’s personally but I can’t believe how many shill reviews it has. It is unreal. Please trust me when I say… don’t come here unless you want crap food or unless you really like eating in a huge restaurant where you will likely be the only patron. Place sucks.

The ambiance was romantic with dim lighting and a live pianist playing. The staff were very attentive. You weren’t only waited on by the first waiter but any waiter walking by would ask if you needed anything else or just ask how everything is. The owner who was on the phone for quit sometime prior too our meal being served was not acknowledging any customers coming in. But after he got off the phone he was very attentive to each table .
The food was to delishes and I would highly recommend this place.

I would like to give this place 4 stars but I can not and let me tell you why. The wait time to get our wine, dinners bread and entrée was a bit long but that was most likely because of the large party in the backroom. I can let that go. The sourdough bread being the highlight of my meal was not expected but I did ask for the second basket :). For my entrée, I ordered the special rib-​eye steak which was cooked really well but why so salty? My wife likes salt but her telling me that my steak is salty tells you something. The sides were good which came with a fancy looking hash brown and some steam vegetables. I can not speak for my wife’s entrée but she did mentioned it was on the dry side. She order the special fish on that day. On the positive front, the chocolate cake desert was superb!
Would I come back here? Yes I would and I hope next time my next visit won’t be so salty.

The good
Nice atmosphere. A little more upscale than the shabby chic to downright shabby restaurants in Milpitas.
The bad
There were 2 servers on the tuesday we were there. Admittedly we were the most shabbily dressed out of the parties but we had to keep asking a different server for bread, more water, the check etc. Our server showed up after the fact.
I was a little peeved that we were charged $ 2 for bacon that we asked to be put on the side from the carbonara because I do not eat bacon. We had clearly told the server that I do not eat bacon and would like it on the side. He put the bacon from the carbonara in a bowl and plunked in on the prime rib plate and charged us $ 2 for it. The other waitress apologized and took it off for us.
Breakdown
10oz prime rib — too much salt on the outside of the meat. the breaded mash potato was good. could have done without the rosemary sprig on the side. the smell of rosemary just didnt seem to go well with prime rib.
shrimp and chicken carbonara — it was so-​so

Zahir’s has a certain… traditional charm that isn’t seen often in the murky outskirts of Milpitas. This bistro is probably the closest thing you can get to fine dining in a pinch in Milpitas, so if you’re local and looking to impress someone with your wallet, this might be the place to swing by to.
I made a reservation for a Friday evening at 7 pm, and to my surprise, there was only one other couple dining in. And even when other people came trickling in within the hour, the customers were… to be quite frank, in the elderly range, haha! The guy and I were probably the youngest patrons that night.
The restaurant is a lot larger then it appears to be. It’s interior design is simple but romantic and quaint. We were quickly greeted and seated, and the service here was very, very nice.
The menu here is rather dated. Their selection of entrees and appetizers aren’t particularly innovative, which isn’t particularly a bad thing if you’re a little older and prefer more of a traditional selection of Italian-​American cuisine. We shared:
The Portofino Fresco: A selection of mussels, clams, and shrimp over a bed of pasta in a saffron butter sauce. The mussels and clams were slightly overcooked, but the shrimp was spot on! The pasta was decent, and the saffron sauce was dare I say, pretty delightful. Still, pricey for what this was, this came in at $ 32.
Grilled Salmon: Came with a blood orange beurre blanc, some veggies and rice. The salmon was cooked very well. The beurre blanc was unfortunately bland however and I could not grasp onto any scent of blood oranges. $ 20
Veal Marsala: Came with veggies and risotto. The veal had a good texture, but was just a tad too salty. The risotto was unfortunately slightly under cooked. $ 24
Exotic Bomba: The dessert. Meh. All this is sorbet in a white chocolate shell. The sorbet was icy, and the white chocolate wasn’t particularly high in quality. I’d try something else. $ 9
Overall, not bad. Just not… amazing. The menu would probably be great if you’re hoping to treat out your parents or grandparents to some old fashion, dressed up food. But for actual foodies, I don’t think you’ll find anything too inspiring here.
TLDR; Pricey. Traditional.