Desi Tavern — Restaurant in Clayton

Review: 3 out of 5 — Room to Grow, but Worth a Return Visit

Like many others, I have to say the food was delicious—a refreshing and much-needed alternative to what’s typically available in our area. Solid 5 out of 5 for flavor and quality.

I also really appreciate that the owner reads and responds to feedback. That’s the kind of engagement that helps local spots thrive, and I genuinely want to see this place succeed.

That said, my one major criticism is the front-of-house experience during our visit. The glass wall lets in a lot of sunlight, and it got noticeably warm inside. My first glass of water was gone before our order was even taken. The waiter acknowledged he’d bring more, but it took 31 minutes to get a refill. I could’ve spoken up, but as first-time guests, we chose to observe and wait.

My daughter mentioned that in Indian culture, drinking a lot of water during meals isn’t typical—but regardless of cultural norms, local expectations matter. I'm fine with room-temp water, but timely service is key. Unfortunately, service was a 1 out of 5 for us that day. I couldn’t help but envy the steady stream of DoorDash orders flying out the door.

Final thoughts: 3 out of 5 overall. I’ll definitely give it another try in a month or two and hope to make it a regular go-to if the dine-in service improves.

My edit after 4 more return visits. If I want great service I sit at the bar. And I give this place a 5 out of 5. I have returned and sat in the dining room 1 time the service is oh so slightly better. Water, what the hell is the problem? Something so trivial as keeping your customers well hydrated is such a monumental task for them. I'm sitting there watching other tables and they too are wondering where is the water?! Dining room service 2 out of 5 still. Absolutely ridiculous how good the food and how bad the wait staff is.

I will report back when Google reminds me, because yes I will keep eating here. I'm trying to keep this place in business but damn...send the wait...

Ok to keep this in perspective we heard about this restaurant opening for months and we were excited to finally have an Indian option on this side of town.

Food: We ordered the onion samosa, butter chicken, chicken curry with 2 naans. The onion samosa was very good, but I wish we got some type of chutney or other sauce instead of regular ketchup. When asked about our spice levels we both told them to go 7/10 heat. I understand certain chefs are hesitant about giving spice until they know a persons palette but there’s 0 spice detected. It was just sweet creamy butter chicken and chicken curry. Additionally all I really wanted was a mango lassi and there was none left by 8pm.

Service: When we walked in we waited for about 5 minutes just standing around because no one was around the front or felt the need to come up to us. The waiters and staff were all wearing nitrile gloves and just delivering plates and cleaning up tables (not sure if they washed hands or changed gloves). There seemed to be only 2 waiters around and there were no checks on how the food tasted, drinks refills, to go containers or any other service unless you waived someone down. The management was always in the kitchen, behind the screen or on the phone (even though we never saw any to go orders coming out).

Atmosphere: First walking in, it was extremely bright. There was no real ambiance to the restaurant although it was clean. Additionally it was so quiet because the music in the background was much to loud for people to talk.

DONT COME HERE FOR A FEW MONTHS!

Overall: I may come back to this restaurant in a year after some things are ironed out. They need a lot of repetition and to actually pay attention to costumers. I saw numerous other tables getting frustrated with the service and had one gentleman near me tell the server that “I am Indian and I waited an hour after my wife finished her food to get this...

I was excited to see an Indian place open up in Garner and I had to try it. I don't usually leave negative reviews but after seeing some of the reviews and responses I wanted to give feedback on the food to help adjust.

I got idli sambar combo and the sambar was very saucy and had no spice at all. The cilantro chutney tasted more like coconut rather than cilantro which I did not like but other might. The idli was fine, my friends really liked it. Similarly I had the kerela fish curry medium spice and had a experience of feeling no spice and while the fish tasted good and was tender the curry generally lacked flavor. I came with some friends who don't have as high spice tolerance as me and they had the same opinion of their curries (Malambar Chicken curry medium spice, chettinar chicken spicy, DT special chicken curry spicy)of liking the meat they had but also not feeling much flavor or spice. With this being in Garner with not as many Indian people as Cary/Morrisville I can see that affecting how the restaurant makes their spice levels. I think it might be helpful to have a wider scale (1-10 instead of mild medium spicy) to accommodate better for people who come and like spice.

Overall I do like the restaurant ambiance and the decorations look really nice. Growing up in Garner and finally seeing an Indian restaurant here I would love to see this place succeed and I do want to come back and try the unlimited dosas on Thursdays. The service was average but I don't care about this as much since restaurants are usually understaffed. I also did not try the desserts but the mango rasmalai sounds very good. I think I might just wait to come back after the spice levels have been...