3.4
45 reviews
55% will return

Shahnai

5920 Hillcroft Street, Houston, TX

IndianPakistani$$

Halal summary

The owners are Muslim and have confirmed its halal status. All food at this restaurant is certified halal.

Fully halal
No alcohol allowed
Trending

About Shahnai

Shahnai Restaurant and Banquet hall started in 2001 and is located at the corner of SW 59 and Hilcroft in the heart of Houston. Now offering an all-day buffet, indoor/outdoor catering, and a banquet hall for 500 guests.

Photos

Photo of Shahnai
Zain MughalMay 19, 2025
Photo of Shahnai
Zain MughalMay 19, 2025
Photo of Shahnai
Zain MughalMay 19, 2025
Photo of Shahnai
Zain MughalMay 19, 2025
Photo of Shahnai
Zain MughalMar 6, 2025

Hours

Monday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Tuesday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Wednesday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Thursday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Friday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Saturday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sunday11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Amenities

Designated prayer area
Drive through
Parking space
Restroom
To-go
Handicap access
Transit access

Social media

Email

Location

5920 Hillcroft Street, Houston, TX

3.4
45 reviews·13% would return
5
4
3
2
1
A

Al Rashid

Aug 20, 20165 reviews
1

Junk food , no value, you will find butter & oil which is only fat. They did good job 3-4 years ago. Now, they are only money making, not caring anyone.

Would not return
M

Maaz Abbasi

Jul 30, 20166 reviews
5

Awesome brain masala!

Z

Z Mohammed

Oct 26, 2014130 reviews
1

For the full review, please <a href='http://zainshalalreviews.blogspot.com/2014/10/shahnai-restaurant-not-great-place-to.html'>click here</a>.

K

Khan Khan

Oct 6, 201418 reviews
4

Food was good for the price you pay for Buffet. Its was not bad at all.

I

Ibn Fooduta

Oct 15, 2013329 reviews
4

I never used to like shehnai food and ate here on over a hundred occasion. The food is getting better especially since they incorporated the persian food.

Would return
A

Abdullah Alibrahim

Nov 19, 201226 reviews
5

This place was my favorite but now it is awful and taste junk will not go again

Y

Yaseen M

Oct 28, 20122 reviews
1

There are other better places to eat in Hillcroft area. Food is sub standard. They charge full price even for small kids. Tables, chairs and cutleries are very old and tables are placed close to each other.

M

Muhammad Aftab

Oct 4, 20121 review
1

I was travelling and just bought some food to take home. Terrible Biryani with bones, strange taste and smell. Chicken makhani was loaded with red papper, overly spicy and not fresh at all, so we had to throw it away. Unfortunately a total disappointment. Of course the food gave me stomach upset for 2 dys.

Would not return
I

iffy iffy

Aug 27, 20121 review
1

The buffet was horrible.Many of the dishes didnt look fresh but still ate few "fresh " dishes and had been diarrhetic the next day.Even the salads,pasta tasted like rotten(Maybe they had mold or bacteria).Becareful to even feed your kids in these kind of restaurants.Thank God,i didnt let my kid eat these things.And Ill make sure that i wont ever go to that place.I dont know what i was thinking to go there.

Would not return
S

Sly sly

Mar 29, 20123 reviews
3

Would return
S

Samia Ishaq

Dec 1, 201142 reviews
3

The food is only good when catered. Otherwise, it is not fresh for buffet. My family and I had stomaches after eating here. I didn't even have to taste the food at the restaurant to know if it was fresh, I could tell just by looking at it.

K

Kashif Khan

Oct 30, 201122 reviews
1

I had fly in soup once. Food in buffet is not fresh. Today, I had catering food at a dinner which was simply a disaster. Rice was undercooked and chicken was almost non existent in biryani. The goat qorma had mostly ribs meat (cheapest) and no chops or nice meat part could be found. They charged the full price. Kheer was ok. Today's catering order supply was simply fraud.

A

Abdul Polani

Sep 13, 2011199 reviews
5

Food is very greasy...too much Shan masala dishes which give you heartburn..

Would not return
M

Muhammad Khan

Aug 18, 20119 reviews
4

Went to open fast. Buffet was very good with a good variety. Loved their "Chicken 65". Staff was very friendly. I'll be coming back.

Would return
A

Amer Mirza

Jul 26, 2011128 reviews
5

The Lassi is excellent. Definitely try that. The weekend buffet is very good. However, I recommend not eating fast there. Cuz sometimes they replace their dishes with new items. After eating and getting stuffed, they brought out Lamb Biryani which I just missed. However, their items are really good. I strongly recommend it.

Would return
T

Taimur Ali

Jun 27, 201148 reviews
3

I frequently visit this restaurant for lunch especially when I have co-workers visiting from India. They have nice vegetable variety along with plenty of meat variety.

S

Syed Ali

Mar 9, 20111 review
4

Excellent Buffet Choice. Good Selection of Salads and Dessert.

A

Azm H

Jan 28, 20113 reviews
1

Would not return
J

Javed Chaudhry

Dec 28, 201015 reviews
5

I came to Houston after a gap of almost seven years. The restaurant has kept its high standards. I would recommend it highly.

Would return
A

Ane Khan

Dec 24, 201021 reviews
1

I hate shanai now. The food is horrible. The naan is the only good thing about this restaurant. They also try to rip you off when you go with a large group thinking you won't notice the bill.

U

Umm Idrees

Oct 19, 20106 reviews
3

We attended an event at Shahnai a few months back. The buffet had an enormous variety of food. My hubby especially loved their mango lassi/milkshake. Their pista kulfi was decent too.

Would return
I

IFTIKHAR Khan

Apr 16, 20102 reviews
5

Food was ok but the lady at cash register was very rude and had no manners we had been going to RESTURANT for over 4 years. Our family will not go there again.

S

Sayem Uzair

Jul 9, 200977 reviews
5

I really loved this restaurant. Food was delicious, plenty of space inside, nice and clean ambiance and very friendly service. Would highly recommend it.

H

Humera Meghani

May 30, 200911 reviews
4

I love the food here but I don't like eating in the restaurant.

A

azim haque

Mar 27, 2009186 reviews
2

buffet is horrible. paya wasn't fresh.

S

Shafiq Rehman

Mar 9, 200934 reviews
5

One of the best in Houston. They have two kinds of platters both are 7 or 8 $, I forgot the price. But I have gone there 4 times in my first month in houston and tried both platters two times. They give sufficient quantity for two and taste of everything in the platter is very good. Two people can eat one platter, if you do not want to overeat. They also have dinner buffet, which I do not recomend as overeating in dinner is not good, so stay away from dinner buffet.

S

Sara Durrani

Jan 3, 200918 reviews
3

Excellent for catering, and having events in their hall. Recently I attended a Wedding that occured in Shahnai Hall, the food was fantastic! They do a great job for events and parties.

A

A A

Nov 22, 200820 reviews
1

public service announcement: I recently ate a to-go box full of the shahnai buffet over 2 days. If messy, violent, bloody pleas of desperation to God to please please not let you die in the bathroom are not your thing, then avoid this restaurant. Very tasty butter chicken, just probably not worth the few months of my life I lose every time I eat here.

K

K Hyder

Nov 17, 200811 reviews
3

Inconsistent. Be sure and smell the biryani before you eat it. Sometimes it's actually rancid. They have steadily gone up in price every year or so for the buffet. Nice staff...but...again, inconsistent. The only thing decent in the buffet are the tikka pieces of chicken.

Z

zulfiqar khan

Aug 18, 200819 reviews
1

Very honest staff if you ask about halal meat ? answer is we dont no we only care about our tip.

A

Athar Jee

Nov 15, 200735 reviews
3

The food was of average quality but the service was very friendly . Although we reached their so late and they were closing , they still managed to provide us wth food and not only that they also gave us 4 tikka free . wth it . A nice gesture .

I

Imran Sheikh

Jan 26, 20078 reviews
2

I'm NEW to Houston and listen to Sangeet radio FM1560 quite frequently while driving around. Apparently Shahnai has been spending a lot more money on desi radio commercials than any other Pakistani restaurant in town, they have their add played at least a few dozen times a day. This forced me to finally visit the place and see what's the hype about. I seriously believe that they are so over-rated. I'm not extremely picky about Pakistani food, but the buffet meal I had there really wasn't that impressive. My roommates back in college days used to be able to cook better than that, not exhagerating! If you must go there, consider ordering a meal as opposed to jumping on the buffet like I did on my visits and perhaps the regular meal quality may not suck as bad as the buffet. The waitresses are really sweet and sensible. The place seems clean but definitely needs a touch of interior decoration.

H

hida osman

Apr 22, 20062 reviews
5

When I first came to Houston, I tried several Indian restaurants, simply trying to find similar taste of food that I had in Singapore. The biryani they serve here are not as good as the one we have in Singapore. One evening, I was invited to Shahnai for a wedding. When I saw the Biryani, I got so excited that I was speechless by the time I left the restaurant. I force my husband to take me there almost every weekend. After 2 1/2 years being here, no restaurants can beat the delicious biryani like the one they serve at Shahnai. It does stops me from feeling homesick!

F

faiza ather

Nov 20, 20056 reviews
5

good and delicious food..

R

Rehan F

Oct 10, 200555 reviews
3

How do you say overrated in Urdu?

L

L V

Jun 17, 200518 reviews
3

Great buffet, good tasting food. Bathroom is filthy though.

S

Sameer Hussain

Jun 6, 200547 reviews
5

cheap and good lunch buffet and the best chicken rolls in town.

Z

Zohra Siddiqi

Apr 4, 2005102 reviews
2

Spicy and Greasy. Take your pepcid

C

Cynthia Hera

Mar 9, 200511 reviews
4

shahnai food is good esp. buffet are tasty eat-out.

S

shahida begum

Nov 5, 200414 reviews
5

Personally I don't mind paying more for the good food. but here, you can have an excellent food with a reasonable price. try it today..and you won't feel regret.

S

shehzad sheikh

Oct 17, 200417 reviews
5

the best restureant in town food is good owners r very freindly price is reasenable

S

sad ss

Aug 18, 20047 reviews
5

A very clean and well-kept place with excellent food at resonable prices. Highly recommended.

W

Wafa Wakas

Jul 3, 20043 reviews
5

A very clean, well-kept place with excellent food at reasonable prices...The only good Pakistani restaurant in town...I recommend all my non-desi friends to this place and they all like it.

O

owais jamal

Apr 23, 200419 reviews
4

We recently have Aqiqa party. They serve very delicious food at reasonable prices. They also keep excellent hall. I'd recommend for parties, marriages etc.

H

Haris Shahid

Mar 18, 200429 reviews
5

the very best