Little Spice Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Brookside

My first time, first impression(s) of Little Spice Indian Cuisine, Sunday evening for dinner. From the outside, this place looks like a dive. When I see plenty of cars parked outside a dive, my expectations go up. What follows is my truthful opinion -- truth is an affirmative defense.

Upon opening the door, the aroma was very pleasant... and that is the only positive thing about my experience.

Immediately, I was accosted by the sound of screaming children -- an immediate turn-off. And apparently, the parents at multiple tables were content to shout over the cacophony of whining, crying and piercing screams. It was an unholy disenchantment, to say the least, that would persist until I left.

I was greeted and pointed to a table. This booth was the best of bad choices. Both the bench seat and chairs were in a condition unfit for purpose. It looked as if there were food particles ground into the cracks where attempts to "tape" or "hide" had long since failed. Just gross.

After carefully seating myself, I waited for a menu that would never come. I was approached and directed to the QR code for the menu and to order.

Now let me take a moment of personal privilege...

Digital menus in a sit-down restaurant where there are order takers and servers is a dining ABOMINATION. No "green," "tree-saving" COVID argument can defend such a stupid business decision; or are you too lazy to clean properly?

Returning to the review --

While I explored the digital menu and adding things to my "cart," I was delivered a cheap, tepid, no-name-brand bottle of water. The menu clearly identified "bottled water" as a menu item costing $0.99. I think it is terribly rude to deliver something that a customer will be charged for without the customer asking. And if you are going to charge for water, you better have posh water worth selling, not something from a bargain, big-box store. And I should be asked if I want it still or sparkling and if it should be chilled. For a restaurant that apparently has a reputation for serving very spicy food, this is a business decision absurdity. So I sent the bottle of water back, entirely untouched and certainly unopened. And the "waiter" seemed both confused and irritated when I asked for tap water in a glass with ice.

There are tap water quality and cleanliness regulations, for a reason. If the tap water is not good enough to drink, then it also should not be used in cooking or cleaning. A clean glass of water (with or without ice) is the minimum one should expect from any sit-down restaurant.

Up to this point, I had maintained a tolerant and hopeful attitude, pushing past all the stupid restaurant management failures. Then came the digital ordering frustrations that together with everything else crossed my "red line in the sand." Repeated cart failures. Checkout failures. AND FINALLY, before I could checkout, they demanded all my contact information -- no, No, NO! There is no reason to require my contact information to order or pay for a meal in a sit-down restaurant. That is a privilege that must be earned.

I had had enough. I stood to leave. As a courtesy, I briefly let the people at the cashier stand know I was leaving and why. I was told they could fix it... that I could order directly, but my dining experience had already been so thoroughly trashed; there was nothing they could do to "fix it."

There is no amount of excellence (food or service) that can "fix" the combination of problems I encountered before I was even able to successfully order food or drink.

First impressions are powerful. They may have good food. I'll never know because they have made such horrifying business management decisions that I'm unwilling to eat there even if they offered to feed me for free.

I've read your reviews, don't bother with the trite "we don't have your contact information" bit.. exactly.

I am unwilling to give this restaurant a second try. Someday, someone I know may invite me to dine there with them. If/when that day comes, I'll reconsider my review presuming the fact...

Me and my husband have been coming to this place over the last couple of months. We really liked the food here but we felt their service could be improved (my husband even commented about this on his review, hoping they would improve). Anyway, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and I even brought my family visiting from jersey here. Sorry to say their service got worse. And the food now is mediocre as well. I’ll write about my experience with them yesterday. We ordered chicken manchurian, egg fried rice and Mysore masala dosa. The chicken manchurian came first on its own (no fried rice). It took them quite some time to bring out the rice. My husband politely told the server (the guy who’s usually there) that the chicken was getting cold and we were waiting to eat it with the rice, he mentioned that he brought that out on its own first bc it was an appetizer and the rice was not. I’m sorry but aren’t rice and curry/gravy supposed to be eaten together? Anyway, we let that go. After we had finished eating we asked for takeout boxes and the male server took forever to come and ask how many boxes we needed. Other DE Indian places that we go to can tell how many we need just by looking at what’s left but that’s fine I wasn’t expecting this level of expertise from the Little Spice team. We told him how many we needed and what kind. He still didn’t give us one for one of the gravy sauces of the dosa. We decided to let that go and not say anything about that bc it would take them another 30 mins to understand and bring it. Lastly my husband asked for the check and a bag to carry the boxes (of course they didn’t have the sense to bring a bag along with the boxes). The server just brings over the check after a very long time. My husband had already gotten out by then and I was waiting to pay and take out the leftover food. When I saw no one coming with a bag I went over to the lady at the counter and asked for one myself. It was by then I had become quite impatient bc they kept making mistakes after mistakes. I told them that they really needed to step up their service. The male server instead of apologizing started deflecting by saying he had brought out a bag and I asked him to show me where it was. Then when he couldn’t show me, he said he didn’t bring one bc he thought my husband had taken the boxes (really? In what? And the boxes were sitting on the table) and then he was like I was about to bring it. This act of deflection was the last straw. We will never come back to this place. I don’t think I’ve ever given a restaurant this many benefits of the doubt but clearly I thought they could improve. They haven’t at all. I don’t really fault the servers here bc I can see clearly they have not been trained. It’s the owners’ who are fault here and they’re the ones who are trying to profit off of low pay workers without giving them proper training. I sure hope they read this and finally bring about some improvement. But as of now you’ve lost mine and my friends and...

Deeply Disappointing Experience for Vegetarians – Little Spice, Newark, DE

As a lifelong vegetarian who has never eaten non-vegetarian food, I was deeply disappointed with my recent experience at Little Spice, one of the more well-known restaurants in the Wilmington, Delaware area.

We visited as part of an office group, which included both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. We clearly ordered only vegetarian dishes for those of us who are strict vegetarians. Shockingly, one of the dishes served to our vegetarian group contained chicken—and we were told it was vegetarian.

This is not a minor mistake. For someone who has never consumed meat, this is a serious violation of dietary and personal principles. When we questioned the server, instead of taking responsibility, he repeatedly asked us whether we were “temporary vegetarians,” “fasting,” or “always vegetarian”—as if that somehow made it okay. Frankly, that line of questioning was inappropriate and insensitive.

Eventually, the server apologized and blamed a “system error,” saying that even though a vegetarian dish was entered, the system somehow made it chicken. Whether it was a technical issue or human error, the restaurant failed at a very basic level: serving the correct food, especially when dietary restrictions are clearly stated.

This experience was not just disappointing—it was upsetting. As a vegetarian, I felt completely disregarded. There was no real accountability, and the situation was handled poorly from start to finish.

My group and I will never be returning to Little Spice. Would you? If you’re vegetarian or have dietary restrictions, I strongly recommend choosing a place that takes your food preferences seriously and...