Negeen Persian Grill

This place advertises that there open 11:00 to 10:00. When you get there and look for parking for 30 minutes and feed the meter then they tell you they open at 5:00
I will never try this place again!

We purchased a Groupon and visited the restaurant the Sat before Mother’s Day. My wife mentioned the Groupon when we entered and the hostess said no problem. When we tried to use it, the owner came out and said it was Mother’s Day weekend and we couldn’t use it and we should have mentioned the coupon in advance. When I told him we had, he berated the hostess, his daughter, and they went away. She came back and took the coupon. When I checked my credit card bill today, I noticed he had overcharged us. Really dumb as I have my copy of my receipt and filed a dispute with the cc company. Food is so-​so. We had the combo and asked for medium rare but got well done.

The food was smelly and the restaurant was really dark and unhappy place. Not the best persian restaurant.

I was going them one more chance but given the reviews here I am not risking it. Shame it was a great restaurant

Delicious and authentic food. The Shirin pollo was amazing. Glad I ignored other reviews. It’s s neighborhood gem.

One star is too good. The place was empty. After getting a watered down soda they made no attempt to replace it, basic attitude was we don’t care. 20 minutes after eating I had to go back and use their bathroom. When I made it home I was violently sick, all night. I wrote to them advising I was sick, without asking for any compensation, just to notify them that their food was not fresh. I never received a response. They are clearly going out of business and are using up old food, and don’t care.

This has to be the worst Middle Eastern restaurant that I’ve ever had the displeasure of eating at. Appeared to be some kind of strange husband and wife team who took an eternity to serve us at our table. The fat husband approached the table with spots on his shirt shirt on top hanging out, was very unfriendly and answering questions about the menu in didn’t seem to care whether or not we were in the restaurant. The food was severely under seasoned and the worst part is that I used to one of those online services that provides discounts at restaurants. It wasn’t a discount at all they really just jacked up the bill and then applied the so-​called discount to our meals.
If you’re ever in the mood for Middle Eastern food and live in the area of this restaurant I urge you to choose elsewhere

In getting ready to visit with family in NJ, and checking out Groupons available, I came across a Groupon for Negeen Persian Grill. I was excited to have Persian food which I have always enjoyed and even keep a spice at home that a Persian friend brought back from a trip back home to Iran. And upon reviewing the website, including the menu and the story about the husband and wife team, I was looking forward to my meal.
The restaurant wasn’t very busy at all (a cold night) and we were the only ones in the restaurant initially. The service regarding filling up our small water glasses wasn’t great and we had to keep asking the wife of the owner who was our server. I even said to her that maybe she should bring us an extra larger glass each so she didn’t have to keep coming over to fill our small glasses, and she didn’t. Until another two diners came in, she seemed to be busy reading a book.
I will say, the hummus was delicious and my co-​diner enjoyed his meal (a chicken & filet mignon kabob combination). As one who eats a lot of salmon, my salmon kabob didn’t taste very fresh and was extremely fishy in taste that I had to eat each bite with rice/​veggies to mask the bad taste. Since my co-​diner is local and would possibly frequent again with his family, I didn’t make a big deal about my dish since he seemed to like his and I didn’t want to discourage him from coming back, since I don’t live there. This restaurant seemed to be the only Persian restaurant nearby and my co-​diner and his family like to eat out a different types of restaurants.
When I asked for the bill so I could pay the difference over and above the Groupon amount, my bill included an 18% tip based upon the pre-​Groupon amount plus tax. I personally never tip on tax and I should have been able to determine what tip I wanted to give vs. being told too unless I was advised this up front. And if/​when I use a Groupon, I do tip on the pre-​Groupon amount too. And if service is great at a restaurant, I may even tip more along the lines of 20% and at times even more. To me, the 18% tip on the pre-​Groupon/​pre-​tax amount was too much.
When I raised this as a question to the wife about the tip, she seemed to complain and tell stories that when people use Groupons, they don’t tend to leave much of a tip, may tip on the Groupon amount not the total amount, and even seemed to complain about how one gent keeps coming in with a Groupon each week. I said something along the lines that maybe she should say something to that patron rather than keep accepting/​allowing the person to keep using a new Groupon each time. She didn’t seem to like that response. And she also didn’t seem to understand what I was pointing out to her about the tip including the tax amount either.
And when I raised the 18% tip as a question to the husband/​owner who finally came over after the wife telling me what she did, his answer was along the lines of that this practice of charging 18% was suggested to him to do it this way, and something about not being an accountant (appearing as if he was blaming someone else and appearing to not understand how this was set up). The husband/​owner seemed to make a comment about what kind of amount are we referring to that I had to pay extra (on the tax). As a principle based person, it is the principle here, not the amount. Based upon the conversations regarding the tip amount, and their attitudes, it was at this point that I told them how my fish didn’t even seem to taste that fresh. I did take the leftovers home thinking maybe they would taste better cold the next day and if not, I would throw out. And there was some rice and veggies leftover too which I enjoyed.
I do not recall seeing on the Groupon, nor the menu, nor their website, nor being told about this policy until they brought the bill and I had given her the Groupon at the time of ordering. I used my Visa to pay the amount on the bill including the 18% on the pre-​Groupon amount plus tax. However I am thinking of calling my Visa company to dispute this since I felt forced to give an 18% tip and on top of the tax too.
I recognize that businesses sign up with Groupon to get their name out there, generate more business, etc. So they should be taking into consideration that allowing Groupons may make them a little less money in the short run and hopefully help attract loyal customers, assuming the food/​services are great. If a business feels that they are losing money by accepting a Groupon, then they shouldn’t be doing business with Groupon vs. what seems to be taking it out on the customer. BTW, regarding the leftovers, of pieces of salmon served in total, only one that I ate the next day didn’t taste very fishy the other two did.
As a principle based person, this just didn’t seem right which is why I decided to write this review. The look and feel of the restaurant seemed great however what a disappointment in how they seemed to manage their business and my salmon.

What a kind, family-​run restaurant in an otherwise Formica table downtown!
Traveling over the Thanksgiving weekend we were looking for a change from diner fare (usually great in New Jersey, but another piece of pie? No.) Negeen Grill was our find.
An Iranian family, Mike and Azar, decided to serve homemade Iranian cuisine in this Manhattan commuter suburb of New Jersey. Negeen’s dining room is both quirky and inviting. Mismatched tables, pillows on benches, and steam radiators hissing and wheezing in time to Mike and Azar’s cooking in the open kitchen. A student (or their nephew?) is their wait staff.
Negeen’s menu has a good mix of traditional Iranian dishes, in addition to the expected hummus and kabobs. We could recommend the charcoal grilled eggplant (Mirsa Ghasemi), mashed with tomatoes, spices, and grated egg. Their home-​pickled vegetables (Torshi) served with pita were a bright contrast that further raised our appetite. We split dishes of fesenjan stew, chicken slowly cooked in pomegranate molasses and roast walnuts, and a saffron vegetarian stew with peas and eggplant. Both were served on fragrant rice.
This is BYOB restaurant. However, Mike and Azar serve their own doogh, a minted cool milk drink made with their homemade yogurt. Azar makes a strong Turkish coffee which kept us driving until we reached home.

I love this place. It is soo good. The food is made fresh, you can tell. I am actually surprised how dead it is in there the few times I have been there. The food is great. I totally recommend this place.

The fake reviews giving this place 5 stars will not help remedy the issues.
Yes service is weak, especially the young male student who is there evenings and weekends, he is not helping the cause.
Since my original review I dined at Negeen 3 separate occasions, each time hoping that with some of the feedback provided would improve the problem areas, I finally gave up. I have no interest in driving from Paramus to Summit in hopes that they will eventually get it right.
From what I recall, appetizers were great, so were the stewed dishes, the lamb chops and Barg from the kabob selections were consistently tough, and that is being kind.

Negeen is a hidden gem in Summit. Their meze and kebab selection is great and every item I tried was delicious. I definitely recommend the mixed grill!
The only downside of dining at Negeen is that they are usually short on staff and the service is a bit slow.

This restaurant is authentic middle eastern cuisine. Be forewarned that there is no air conditioning, and the aroma of the environment has all of the fragrances one would expect from such an establishment. It has outdoor dining available, should you desire.
I started with an olive appetizer, zeaton parvardeh, which was tasty and tangy. The main course I ordered was a vegetarian stew comprised of eggplant and peas, served with basmati rice. I found it quite enjoyable. The waiter was reasonably attentive and diffident.
So why only three stars? I thought that the portion size was unreasonably small, given that my dishes were vegetarian. It was supplemented by an overabundance of naan style bread and rice, which could have easily been halved in size, whereas the entrée should have been larger.
I tried this restaurant using a group-​on coupon. I think that if I would have paid full price for my dinner, I would have been miffed, and therefore shan’t return. Nonetheless, it is worth a try, as the food is prepared and served nicely.

After being a loyal customer for sometimes, I gave up. The Quality has gone down so much, it is not funny.
So sorry

On a Thursday evening, my boyfriend and I were the only customers there. While the food was ok, the ambiance along with the service were a complete turnoff. Not to mention we could hear the microwave being used the entire time. Not a good sign! It’s safe to say we will not be back to this joint.

This place has the potential to be good. It’s a cozy little place with authentic décor. I don’t think there is another Persian grill in the area.
Some of the food we ordered was very good, while others fell a bit flat. The hummus is good and so is the eggplant appetizer. The vegetarian stew, however, was bland. It was quite small — more like an appetizer — and I think it only had three pieces of vegetables in it. Overpriced for the quality and presentation.
One thing I found off-​putting was the sound of the microwave every few minutes. Beeping, doors slamming. I understand that things get reheated but perhaps they could be more quiet and discreet about it. The service also was a bit odd. Not rude exactly, but indifferent. You felt awkward asking for a glass of water.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to revisit.

Negeen is a nice little place in downtown Summit that gives you a really good bang for your buck in a great taste. It was both mine and my wife’s first venture into Persian food, and we left with a solid first time experience.
*BYOB*
It’s a tighter restaurant, seating isn’t too spaced out, but it’s also not crazy busy, so you don’t notice. Really good smell inside; fresh food.
My wife and I were starving, so we went right to the meals — no app reviews on this one, crew. Cracked the bottle of Pinot Gris and began…
I got the chicken with rice, and it was done very well. Spiced well with a really nice flavor, and a really good portion size. The staff had excellent service (refilling waters, asking if everything was good, etc…) The price was also right for a meal like this — it’s a good bargain! Granted, if you get appetizers, it will be a bit more, but not much.

Food is ok. Service is terrible. Watch out on groupons, they add all types of fees there and tip is automatic by them. Very small portions. Try another place for persian food.

At seven o’clock on a Friday night, we were only the third table. The young waiter and the owner immediately greeted us. We tried Kashke Bademjan for app. Something we never had before and something we really enjoyed. It reminded me of eggplant caponata. You can taste the caramelized onion, savoury sweet. The Kabob Barg and Boneless Chicken Kabob were both tender and tasty and the rice was buttery good! I love butter and I tasted it well in their baklava, too. Persian vanilla ice cream has a hint of rose water that cleans your palate and I like biting their sugar cubes before dropping them into my Persian tea. The service is ok. The owners seemed a bit overwhelmed when a party of 11 walked in but, we didn’t feel neglected. When we go back, I will try their lamb.

The restaurant is very nicely decorated, and conveniently located, so it’s got that going for it. Which is nice.
My entrée was the boneless chicken kebab with rice. It was very tender and juicy, nicely spiced, but a little on the small side for a portion. There was a single piece each of grilled tomato, onion, and green pepper, which I found disappointing.
My dining companion chose the lamb chops with side salad in place of rice. It was flavorful, but chewy. And I mean take a bite and five minutes later you’re still masticating away furiously. With smaller bites, that improved, but the meat was very dry.
Neither of us were provided with or offered any type of pita bread, as is the norm at this type of restaurant.
So there we are breadless and chewing, and left alone. No «how is everything?» or offer for a refill on beverages — important because my water was nearing empty.
Here’s an approximation of what the server performed while I sat with a nearly empty water glass:
— Cleared a table
— Set the table, one plate at a time, with a trip to the kitchen area between each
— Visited other tables
— Cleared an outside table
— Also set that table, one plate at a time, with the same trips to the kitchen
My wager at this point was that the server would return once we were finished and offer us the dessert menu. But she arrived just before we finished, and my lonely water glass was no longer neglected.
The price was higher than the food or service warrants, and we won’t be returning. There are many far superior options in the area.