Exotica Indian Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Charlotte

It was the first time we went to eat at this restaurant. The ambiance of the place was very nice. However, the people who served the food are not at all trained in the hospitality which is nothing surprising at any Indian restaurant. They don’t wish, they don’t introduce themselves. They don’t smile. They just come take the order and bring the food and just walk away. They don’t ever say enjoy the food or anything else I can do. They don’t know how to make customers’ experience special. We go to eat at a nice restaurant and are willing to pay high price but we don’t get a nice service at most Indian restaurants. People go out to eat at a nice restaurant for special occasions to have a good experience not just good food. Then we feel like going back to the same restaurant to celebrate again. This creates nice memory. I wish the hosts/hostesses are trained in basic hospitality. This will make a big difference especially with the American customers.

We tried some new items that you do not see typically on the menu. We tried Kale Sabzi with paneer made from Wisconsin cheese. I We expected something very different. It was just like saag paneer. Nothing special. We also tried eggplant dish. This was really really good. Very flavorful. You must try it. We also ordered biriyani, which was good, nothing extraordinary. We asked the dishes to be spicy and they did a good job on that. We were disappointed at the amount of raita the biriyani came with. It was literally a tablespoon. Why even give it? It is not at all an expensive thing to provide. It is not just this restaurant, all Indian restaurants do it. I feel it is very cheap. We ordered kathal patties for appetizer but it came with the main dishes and our beer was no more cold as we waited for the appetizer. The whole point of ordering an appetizer was lost. Overall, we had...

4 stars for the food - appetizers were excellent. Entrees were almost perfect. Naan was world class. That's the good news side of things. Now for reasons to stay away from here till the root cause is fixed. Service was significantly below par.

A restaurant is way more than ambience and food. Getting dishes in installments, getting the curries first and waiting for the naan to arrive (by when the curries get cold), having to wave folks down multiple times to get water, not having anyone pay attention to what's needed ... so many aspects made what was supposed to be a celebration night into a restaurant to skip the next time around.

In trying to get this addressed during the evening, was met with mixed responses. One of the gentlemen at the bar was super attentive but the owner proceeded to argue about what happened. Not cool.

One more thing that seemed fishy. Once we finished our dinner the lady asked if we wanted an itemized bill, which sounded odd. Later it became clear that perhaps they don’t want you to see the gratuity (which I would gladly pay!) added to the bill. Seemed sneaky when she was specifically asking if we wanted an itemized bill or if we would just swipe the card.

Don't waste your time and money here. These guys want premium pricing / revenue and treat guests like they are at a soup kitchen. Didn't see any signs of professional management. The poor staff are probably being let down by lack of training from the owners. The owners appear to not have a background in hospitality or fine dining, and I do feel bad for the staff who were being pushed around.

There are many other places where the owners really seem to care about the guest experience. If the owners fix the customer experience and service side of things, this could be a top spot in town. Till then, find a different...

Beautiful restaurant and initially good food until my friend ended up in the hospital. If you have ever been a patreon of this restaurant, you know their menu details different items and allergen free options, such as dairy free (DF) or gluten free (GF). My friend has a severe nut allergy and chose two nut-free (NF) items from the menu: samosa and butter chicken wings. Please note she ordered the wings and not the butter chicken wings. Her food came out prior to ours, about ten minutes prior. After finishing the meal, we headed back to my hotel room. At this point, she fell extremely ill, experiencing gastrointestinal issues and severe allergy symptoms such as wheezing and a swollen tongue. We called for paramedics, who stated that her symptoms were most likely due to consuming an allergen, which was confirmed by the hospital. I am extemely disgusted and angered by the restaurant, particularly for their poor response and reaction when I called them to inform them of this issue and all they could utter was "oh..oh.. we're sorry". So many things could have gone wrong and all we receive is a sorry? No follow up of how CROSS CONTAMINATION could have occured, or how the restaurant will ensure this will never happen again? If you have any allergens or food aversions due to health restrictions, I would NOT recommend this restaurant as they do not care to ensure your health and safety...