Cloud Naan Urban Desi BBQ

Though Orange County isn’t particularly well-known for Pakistani restaurants, we’re lucky enough to have a handful of noteworthy choices – especially Bundoo Khan‘s fast-casual BBQ and higher-end places such as Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen, Mint Desi Kitchen, and Urban Punjab. Cloud Naan Urban Desi BBQ is the latest small chain to join that group, having opened in Santa Ana early in December 2025, barely a year after its first location debuted in Carson, a city in Los Angeles County. Located at the edge of a strip mall less than a half-mile from the Santa Ana Zoo, Cloud Naan seats around 30 people in an all-but-serverless space with an oversized tablet for ordering and payment; guests place and pay for their orders, then sit at tables for around 30 minutes until food arrives. Brightly colored umbrellas, wall decor, and pillow-topped chairs make the dining room pleasant despite the absence of music, TV screens, or other typical (but not always beloved) elements in Pakistani restaurants.

Menu choices span categories from “food street” to BBQ, “signature Pakistani dishes,” rolls, rice, and naan, with limited drinks including two small lassis ($4 to $5) – one plain, one with pretty good mango flavor – bottles of water ($1.50), and canned sodas (~$2.50). While the “food street” section might lead one to expect locally uncommon street foods, it’s actually one of the least compelling parts of the menu, with three basic desserts (gulab jamun ($6/3), ras malai ($6/2), and kulfi ice cream popsicles ($3/1) – the latter two out of stock on our visit), similarly common samosas ($6/2), fried Lahori fish ($21), and chapli kababs ($21/3), spiced ground beef served with a squeezable lemon slice. By Pakistani and Indian restaurant standards, the sheer quantity of tasty, well-seasoned chapli kabab meat was solid for the price, and a winner at our table, even though Cloud Naan’s presentation looked more like three large hamburger patties than traditional kababs.

Cloud Naan also offers naan rolls ($12 to $13) and paratha rolls ($15 each) that effectively combine either a chicken tikka masala or a spiced beef with Pakistani flatbread. The chicken naan roll we ordered was pre-sliced into two foil-wrapped halves, and served on a quarter sheet tray with onions, cilantro, and tomatoes – a hit on flavors, light spiciness, and portion size (just right for one person’s entree or for two to share with other items). While it doesn’t reinvent the wrap/roll wheel, it’s a nice sandwich, and more compelling than Cloud Naan’s surprisingly short list of naan choices. We opted for the only unfamiliar one, sesame-topped roghni naan ($5), which was effectively just lightly scorched butter naan with plenty of seeds on top.