Pista House Alpharetta — Restaurant in Alpharetta

I went here on a Wednesday evening craving Indian food in the evening. Although it was a weekday, the place looked bustling and our order took about 30 minutes. Here is the review for the takeout order that I ordered:

1. Ambiance - 4/5: The exterior of the place looks bright and inviting but the interior is comparatively a letdown. From inside it looks like a small hole-in-the-wall place for quick snacks. The only reason I say so is because the outside looks much more bright and inviting.

2. Service 3.5/5: Since I was getting takeout, I cannot comment about the actual service but I was surprised to hear that it took them over 30 minutes for takeout as well. Also, I was a little disappointed to see an offer on the far end about 3 biryani for $33. I wish the front desk displayed it at the front as well and suggested us as we struggled to decide on biryani in front of him.

3. Food 3.5/5: We ordered the following:

a) Gobhi Manchurian: Although we asked them to make it crispy, it was not. But this minor hiccup aside, I really liked the gobhi manchurian and would try it again

b) Chicken Cashew masala: My perception of a kaju masala is a less spicy gravy like butter chicken (cashew gravy ) or shahi chicken. We asked for the mild version but was very spicy and looked darker in color as well.

c) Goat Fry biryani: I liked the goat fry biryani but I would request the restaurant to give a little more raita as it was too small. This is spicy and they mentioned that this will be spicy and they do not have a mild version.

4. Value for Money 4/5: This is not the cheapest place as the above 3 things cost us $50 but Indian food here is around the same price. I am looking forward to trying their Wednesday offer someday and I think that is good on the pocket.

Overall, highlights: Great:

1. Definitely try gobhi Manchurian if you love indo-Chinese
2. Looking forward to Wednesday's biryani offer

Not so Great:

1. Their mild version is spicy too.
2. Chicken lollipop is like chicken pakora and not the Indo-Chinese preparation 3)...

To start, I wish I could give Pista House 100 stars it was so good.

Wifey & I were hungry for Indian cuisine tonight and being familiar with some of the restaurants on Windward Pkwy, we decided to cruise it to see what we could find…and did we find a GEM!!!

PISTA HOUSE is where the locals go for a taste of home. The service was exceptional with the owner’s son being our server. He was very attentive and genuinely excited that he had first time customers. He even got his Dad to come over to greet us. He was just as kind and lovely as his son.

Our order consisted of Chicken Tandoori Kebab, Eggs Masala, Chicken 65 Briyani and a shrimp dish appetizer whose name I cannot recall…maybe Gogoli Shrimp?

WOW! What a sumptuous meal! We ordered everything medium spicey and it was on point! Our orders were delivered PIPING hot and we couldn’t wait to dig in.

Our appetizer was new to us but instantly made it to our next-time-we-come-we-order-this list. Again, perfectly prepared…the shrimp was tender and not over cooked…a culinary delight!

The Tandoori was served fajita-style on a bed of various julienned and shredded veggies. It perfectly cooked, tender, juicy with NO raw spots and the flavor was out of this world!

The Chicken 65 Briyani was a cute little surprise…the Chicken 65 had been buried under perfectly cooked Briyani rice so that we had to dig a little for the dilectable goodies underneath. Again, the flavor was AMAZING!

My Egg Masala was OUTSTANDING! A good double-hand helping of halved hard boiled eggs smothered in copius amount of Masala sauce. I normally prefer Curried Eggs, but this was as good if not better.

My only EXTREMELY MINOR complaint is that Pista House does not have a beer & wine license, so no Kingfisher beer to go with this FABULOUS meal.

So, if you are jonesing for REAL, AUTHENTIC and EXQUISITE Indian cusine, PISTA HOUSE is THE...

I ordered Tea and along with other food at this restaurant, I’ve had some bad tea in my life, the tea was absolutely horrible, the tea was tasteless and they are labeling it as Irani Chai which is absolutely fake, and tasted just like a raw milk with sugar in it and as if the tea served was not a fresh tea.

The flavor was almost nonexistent, and its aftertaste of 2 sips lingered like something bad in my stomach. But as bad as the tea was, the response from the restaurant worker was even worse. When I mentioned to the worker/employee that my tea wasn't tasty, I’m not exaggerating. He sighed loudly and muttered, “Well, that’s how it’s supposed to taste and we charge no matter what. what a unethical, uneducated, dumb, and unprofessional response to the customer's feedback Maybe you don’t know good tea.” I was shocked – I’ve never been treated so rudely by a restaurant worker. These kind of unprofessional and uneducated people working in restaurants, what a shame ?

I tried to remain calm and asked if I could speak with the manager, and even the manager response was aligned with his worker's response and the response was “This tea is amazing so many people coming to drink my tea only and tea is not my main business”

At that point, I felt completely embarrassed. Not only was I stuck with undrinkable tea, but I was being made to feel like I was the problem for having a legitimate complaint.

Just for $1.50 tea they wasted my time and their time by triggering argument with irresponsible behavior towards the customer

This place clearly has no respect for its customers. The tea was horrible, and the customer service was outright insulting.

I will never be coming back here, and I highly recommend you stay far, far away unless you enjoy bad tea and being...