About Shahrzad
Shahrzad Restaurant has operated from this Abbas Abad Street address since the 1960s and is the most-cited single dining destination in Isfahan. The restaurant was founded by Abdolrahim Ferdowstan and is now run by his sons; the dining hall has been the city's reference Persian-restaurant set-piece for sixty-plus years, with stained-glass windows, mirror-work walls, hand-painted ceiling murals, and original 1960s wooden furnishings preserved throughout.
The signature dishes are the Isfahani Persian classics. Beryani ($35) — the Isfahan-only minced-mutton dish, here served on a piece of Sangak bread (the Persian sesame-and-flour flatbread baked on hot pebbles) topped with chopped almonds, barberries, and a drizzle of saffron-and-rose-water syrup. Fesenjan ($28) — the slow-cooked walnut-and-pomegranate-molasses stew with tender chicken or duck, served over saffron-tinted basmati rice with the famous Persian tahdig (the crispy-rice-bottom that's the country's most-prized rice texture). Chelo Kabab Soltani ($45) — two large grilled-meat skewers (one koobideh ground-beef, one barg fillet steak) over saffron rice. A multi-course meal for two with three mains, tahdig sides, and dessert runs $80-130.
The room is the architectural set-piece. The main dining hall seats one hundred across two levels with high ceilings, the original chandelier-and-mirror-work decoration, and bay windows facing the Abbas Abad street. Ten private booths in the side galleries seat two-to-six each and are heavily booked for proposals, anniversary dinners, and milestone family entertaining. Capacity scales to formal banquets in the third-floor private hall.
Reservations are taken by phone two weeks ahead and matter for weekend evenings. The restaurant accepts cards (international Visa or Mastercard work despite Iran's banking sanctions, though prices are typically quoted in cash equivalents). The staff speak strong English; the menu is in Persian and English and explains regional dish backgrounds for visiting diners.
Best Occasion Fit
For a marriage proposal in Isfahan, Shahrzad is the city's clearest answer — request one of the side-gallery private booths, tell the staff in advance, and they'll handle every operational detail. For impressing visiting international clients with a serious cultural set-piece dinner, the 1960s mirror-and-stained-glass dining hall and the formal Persian-cuisine structure are unusually evocative. Birthdays — particularly milestone anniversary dinners — fit the format perfectly.
Explore More in Isfahan
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