Seven Great Places In SoCal To Break Your Fast For Iftar During Ramadan

Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan, which begins on the evening of March 10 this year. Restaurants that serve halal food — food prepared according to Islamic guidelines — pivot to buffets for the evening meal, known as iftar.

“Ramadan is a month for all of us to come together and fast as a community. And it's also a time for a big feast every day,” says Abrar Hashemee, co-owner of Masala Bae, an Indian-halal restaurant in Tustin.

From Little Arabia in Garden Grove to Artesia and the San Fernando Valley, there are plenty of spots to try popular iftar dishes like haleem (barley stew with meat and lentils), kabsa (Yemeni mixed rice dish with meat and vegetables) and qatayef (a sweet folded pancake dessert). We've rounded up a few of our favorite destinations — and if we missed your favorite spot, please let us know and we might include it.

The OG: Al Watan Halal Tandoori Restaurant

Don’t be fooled by the lack of fanfare in the decor and table setting. Al Watan in Hawthorne is the OG and the food is a warm, tender hug to any fasting person. Their buffet offerings usually include haleem, a slow-cooked thick lentil porridge with tender slivers of beef, containing an unctuous richness cut by shards of ginger and a splash of lime juice.

Popular South Asian offerings like pakoras (onion fritter), biryani, and naan round out your buffet plate.

Best for groups: Desert Moon Mediterranean Grill

An hour before the sun sets, at the corner of a strip mall at the corner of Brookhurst Street and Brookmore Avenue, large groups patiently wait in line outside of Desert Moon in Anaheim as a waiter checks their name off a reservation list.

As soon as the buffet opens (even before iftar time), the crowd will then snake across the already packed restaurant to pile pillowy pockets of pita, creamy spoonfuls of moutabal (charred eggplant dip), deep-fried golden cauliflower pieces with a helping of fattoush salad speckled with deep maroon flecks of sumac. 

And that is just a small section of the appetizers. Lamb mansaf with the tangy jameed yogurt sauce takes pride of place for mains — allocate time for a post-mansaf nap. You have been warned.

The best part is that they have qatayef — stuffed, deep-fried pancakes soaked in sugar syrup — for dessert.

Feed a crowd: El Mahroosa

Be sure to check out El Mahroosa’s Facebook page before heading for their iftar buffet as they post the day’s menu beforehand. Controversial opinion here but molokhia, the jute mallow soup that you either love or hate, is one of our favorite dishes to break the fast and El Mahroosa’s version is top-notch. Take your Arab friends to this spot in Anaheim so you can debate who makes mahshi (meaning stuffed) best, whether it is mahshi warak inab (grape leaves), mahshi malfouf (cabbage) and mahshi kousa (zucchini).

Worth the hike: Red Chili

Every time I drive to the Valley from my home base in the South Bay for Red Chili’s buffet in Northridge, I briefly wonder if it's worth it. Then, when I dig into the tandoori chicken, the dark meat is still moist on the inside while the outside is perfectly charred, and then all is right in the world, and I forget the minutes spent on the road.

Red Chili’s buffet also features naan with curry options like lamb saag, where the delicate creaminess of spinach balances tender chunks of lamb. Pakoras or onion fritters, as well as biriyani, are also offered.

Book the whole place out: Shahnawaz

This place is the spot for dawats, meaning feast in Urdu or Hindi. And if you are lucky enough to be invited to partake in the iftar meal, chances are most likely the invite is to Shahnawaz in Artesia. Their iftar buffet features a live barbecue station with different tandoori kebabs and a rich biryani, where each mouthful contains fluffy grains of rice and pocketfuls of spicy masala.

Reservations needed: Masala Bae

The Indian halal buffet at Masala Bae in Tustin offers an all-you-can-eat for $25. The buffet begins at 5 p.m. and goes until 9:30 p.m. It features a rotating daily menu of fan favorites and specialty items, including chicken biryani, lamb kebabs, goat curry, and shrimp malai curry. The mastermind behind the menu is chef Ali Ansari, who previously worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant and knows a thing or two when developing a menu for a wide range of tastes. Reservations are limited, so make sure to call ahead.

Always A Buffet: Dimassi’s

Now, unlike the other options on the list, Dimassi’s is always a buffet, but because the spread is extensive and the food top-notch, we had to include it. Start warm with one of their soup options and then make way to the salad section. The tabbouleh, a parsley and tomato salad, is always fresh and pairs well with the kofta kebabs and fresh pita bread. Also don’t skip out on the lamb shank, one is allocated per person, you just have to ring for it by the za’atar manakish. My heart sings when I see bamia, okra, and meat stew offered, and I am sure yours will too. I don’t know if this is the right way to eat, but I LOVE it with mujadara, the lentil and rice dish. Don’t come at me. Pro tip: use the Yelp waitlist option because this place gets busy.