Taste of Persia: Boiseans from refugee background open Afghan restaurant

The Taste of Persia is a new Afghan restaurant in Boise opened by husband and wife Hafiz & Bahija Karim. 

The family fled Afghanistan in the mid 1990s after the Taliban targeted them because of the education they received outside the country. They lived in Pakistan and Turkmenistan before resettling in Boise in 2005.  

Hafiz is a skilled engineer. He currently drives Uber and taxi to provide for his family. Bahija is a skilled seamstress and owns her own custom drapery business, The Golden Needle. 

The couple has four children and supports other family members, including relatives who were refugees in Ukraine when the war hit last year and were again displaced from their home.

Their oldest daughter is in medical school, their older son manages Taste of Persia, their third child is working as a pharmacy technician and earning a degree in computer science, and their youngest is in high school and teaches Taekwondo. The couple also adopted a nephew who was beaten by the Taliban and paralyzed several years ago.  

The family opened Taste of Persia as a way to provide for their extended family and share their Afghan culture with other Americans, and to provide a place for fellow Afghan-Americans to enjoy a taste of home and have parties and celebrations.

Check out Taste of Persia at 10386 West Ustick Road in Boise, open 12-9 p.m. every day except Monday.

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