Moby Dick (restaurant)

Moby Dick: House of Kabob (Persian: موبی دیک: خانه کباب) is a Persian kabob restaurant chain in the Washington metropolitan area. It is named after a restaurant in Tehran which was right near the American Embassy during the Pahlavi's time; that restaurant was permanently closed after the Iranian revolution in 1979. The first Moby Dick restaurant opened in Bethesda, Maryland in 1989.

Founder Mike Daryoush emigrated to the United States from Iran in 1975. He opened a small sandwich shop in 1987 in Bethesda, Maryland, serving a few Middle Eastern dishes. He changed to a Persian menu and added a clay oven in 1989. The name references one of the biggest kabob joints in Tehran, which was right near the American Embassy during the Shah's time. It was called Moby Dick, apparently because the owner really liked the book. The newest location opened in City of Fairfax, VA in 2016.

On June 7, 2000, two jewelry salesmen were shot by a robber that had followed them into the Georgetown restaurant location. The shooting victims survived and the perpetrator, Zachary J. Wages Sr., was arrested and convicted of assault and robbery.