Afghan Palace - Rancho Cucamonga

The restaurant, formerly known as Rancho Kebab and Grill, is located in the Sunrise shopping centre in Alta Loma. I have eaten three times here, and I am afriad I may not find the time to try this place again because of its slow service. I feel bad to give only 3 stars, but if I wait for an hour between courses I won't just want good food, it better blow me away. The owner is energetic and seems proud of his restaurant. The food is delicious and the best Persian cuisine I had in the domestic empire, but the truth is said in comparison, I have better in the LA area and have much faster service. I was really happy that this place could fulfill my desire for Persian cuisine when I didn't want to go all the way to LA. This place has some really beautiful decor, rich tapisseries and a custom mural that makes a scene of old riding warriors and the iconic image of a woman famous on the cover of National Geographic. The lighting is gently dimmed, and there are some great middle eastern music and wonderful armoas from the kitchen that helps to adjust the mood. Great place for a romantic date when I ever saw one, especially if you are more about it in no time. On the back there were some couches and hook pipes, btu for me the couches were great when my son was small and I needed a place to care for him shamefully. The owner Emil is a friendly guy who likes to chat and about the history of the region and the foods that it inspires. But unfortunately you can't live alone by decor and chatter when you show hunger, be ready to wait for a bit. None of the times I went were particularly crowded, maybe 3 other tables had customers, and if you see how big the restaurant room is that not like many people. Every time it took 2-3 hours to eat there, and that was because waiting for food itself was very long. We know quite what we like in Persian cuisine and always order kebabs, rice and roasted eggplants. The menu is not extensive but has great kebabs. The food is well seasoned and has good taste. The price is also decent. $50 for an appetizer, 2 kebab cellar, soda. I was told there was a lunch buffet on Saturday, but never tried. Every time there was a huge gap between water to finally get an appetizer/drink order, always there, then wait again on the server to take the meal order, and then an hour for the, and finally after completion of the meal and after checking 2 or 3 times, finally able to pay and get from there. We came once with some friends on a Saturday night when they have a belly dancer as entertainment, which was great and relaxing to hang on the music for 3 hours and Emil watch the owner dance with some of the mosquitoes. Great energy. I just wish we got our food faster, it was 2 hours to get our dinners. We only tortured it up to a Saturday night and held customers there to enjoy the dancer at this time. My last straw was one day where it took 4 hours for a meal, and 1 hour of it waited in the car for food after we went out and asked to go our food. It is as if your 1 server completely disappears and somehow leaves you stranded there to chat and keep yourself eating with nothing. I don't like rushed meals, but if I sit first, it should really take an hour to get water and a salad. The last time was Mother's Day, besides my family of 4 there were 2 other tables with people, a party of 2, then a party of 8 that had already received their meals and time passed to chat. We sat and got our menus immediately, but it took almost 30 minutes to get a glass of water. Every time the server or Emil would offer water, we would say that the server would disappear and then we would just sit there for a long time. Emil would walk around and chat with every table, come back and ask how we did, we would say we waited for water, he would promise to get it, and disappear. Finally, the server would appear. Next we order an appetizer, some Dolmas filled grape leaves and again, some 30-45 minutes would happen before we even have the free basket of bread together with salads and our appetizer. I looked at my watch and it was almost an hour before we had something to eat on our table. Again we would ask if everything is okay, try to be patient, we said we were ready to order, the server would be called, and wait another 30 minutes before he would come out again, maybe he was in the kitchen? and take our order. We ordered lentils, chicken kebabs and cattle bargain kebabs and raspberry rice. Server would disappear again. The other 2 tables had their food already, and after a one and a half hour waiting period after the order of the meal, nothing was finally out. We waved the server, we asked for Emil, every time we said it would be in a few minutes. At last it was 2 hours and I just said enough. The children were tired, cranky and hungry, and I was only in unbelief that on Mother's Day, if most restaurants would expect, maybe a few more customers then usual, was so slow. I have no idea how many cooks were in the kitchen or what the story was, but I was done and wanted to go. I didn't want to go out and just leave the food we had waited for two hours and didn't want to wait in another restaurant. We told the owner that we were too late when a family came together and the food would be for us. I waited with the kids in the car while my husband was waiting. I waited 56 minutes in the car, yes I took it because my toddler screamed and I was ready to cry in frustration. I saw the other two parties going out and another two coming in the meantime. We arrived at 11:00 for lunch and it was almost 3:00. Finally, my husband came with the food and was irritated because he had asked for the appetizer/drink after the check, so that he could pay and just from there aleady, and was then immediately ignored until she had the meals, now boxes and ready to go sometime later. $60 for that, the owner hasn't even wait a discount or a policy for so long, then got cold and rude to boot? I'm sorry, but no thanks. I love Persian food, but his not worth 4 hours, $60 and 2 crank kids for it. So all in all I give it 3 stars because the food was delicious, beautiful decor and because others then that 1 time the owner was very friendly. I think this is a good restaurant that only seems to have a few bad days and I guess I went there those days. I have read so many good reviews from this place that it has blown me away that my experience was so different. I have hopes to eat there again and pray that they have more servers/cooks to reduce the waiting time.