Chai Pani Decatur — Restaurant in Decatur

Went here for the first time with my family, and even with all the well-deserved accolades this place has received, it exceeded all expectations. This is one of the few places around Atlanta worth traveling out of your way for.

I'll be honest, my experience with Indian restaurants has been either hit-or-miss suburban strip mall places, or city ones that are either fantastic or overpriced. Chai Pani is simply neither and in a class of its own. The food, service, and atmosphere are so unique and well-executed it's hard to describe or categorize. Sure, you could go to an Indian street food place not far from here, deeper into the Atlanta suburbs, or find another "trendy" restaurant in the city, but this is hands down the must-visit place.

On top of that, I have a unique allergy to chick peas, green peas, and certain lentils, which often makes it difficult to enjoy Indian restaurants. This may have been the best place which catered to my needs. The server patiently and cheerfully went to the kitchen to confirm not just the offending ingredients, but even if they were fried in the same oil. This saved us a ton of potential heartache.

All the food we had was amazing. We had the pani puri at the front, with just the puri and water for me, and even that simple combination was perfect. Just about all the (vegetarian) appetizers have chick peas, which the rest of my family really enjoyed, but I did split the tomato-and-cheese uttapam with my son.

We normally just get waters when eating out, but the beverages here are top notch, including the mango lassi, salty lassi, and especially the hot chai. My father-in-law who makes chai in the house, totally approved. It reminded me of the streetside dhabas and tea stalls in India.

For entrees I had a bit of two: saag paneer with basmati rice, and desi salad with grilled paneer, minus the chick pea noodles (sev).

Finally for dessert we had gulab jamun and falooda (rose syrup, vermicelli noodles, falooda "seeds", and ice cream), both well-known delicacies but done even better than normal here.

A small detail I liked was that I could keep the rice and saag paneer curry separate in the two-compartment to-go container. It was almost perfectly sized.

The atmosphere is a loving tribute to 1960s-70s Bollywood, tiger and street-scape inspired artwork, with tons of marigold garlands. You have to look hard to remember this used to be an auto repair business years ago.

Finally the service was extremely attentive despite the increasing volume of people throughout our visit. Highly efficient and ever-present but also very friendly.

We will of course...

The extension branch of the very famous chai paani in Ashville is here in the heart of Atlanta in Decatur! I visited this place about 6 months ago and I must say Chai Paani (which literally translates to tea and water in English), is not the best thing here - Its the ambiance :)

Here is my review of my visit of this famed location

a) Ambiance 5/5: Great decor with outdoor seating. The outside looks like an Indian marriage hall with all the decorations. The inside reminds you of numerous roadside small diners when on a road trip across India. So in all, full marks for creating that nostalgic road diner vibe.

b) Service 5/5: Even though the place was brimming with customers, the service was quick and we liked that everyone was helpful in explaining the food and suggesting things based on your liking and spice tolerance

c) Food 4/5: I was a little disappointed just because of how hyped this place was. Overall, the taste was great but didn't have the wow factor which I had heard so much about. Here is the summary of the food we had

SPDP: Not as good as the Indian original but very close replica and great for people who want to try it here. As they say, there is an explosion of taste with every bite of this.

Bhel Puri: I like the bhel puri but although the quantity was huge, it came a little moist which is not what am used to. Also, the combination of flavors was a little underwhelming and was on a sweeter note.

Keema Pav: Although my wife wanted Vada pav, I insisted on this on the server's suggestion but we didn't like it. It was minced meat but I didn't like the flavor.

Pani Puri: The pain puri stall at the entrance is a great addition while you wait in line.

5. Chai and lime soda: Chai was great but there was only a couple of flavor available. Also, I really like the lime soda

d) Value for Money 4.5/5: The prices are not too heavy on the pocket and you still get to experience Indian street food which is a bargain for me

Overall, this is a great place to re-live the Indian vibe but some of the food taste feels a little modified for the American taste buds. I would definitely want to try this again.

PS:

1. When I went, they did not take reservations and we had to wait about 35-40 minutes in line to get our names and get a place. So get ready to wait, especially on weekends
2. The parking is also limited so get ready to drive around for parking.

Recommendations: The SPDP and pain puri were great The chai was good

Overall,...

Chai Pani Decatur, what a wonderful place it used to be...

Before COVID, My wife & I would visit Chai Pani almost every weekend for weeks-on-end for its famous Pani Puri stand. We were so habitual, not only the server, rather the waitresses and those who would seat the guests started recognizing us. This was all thanks to our 4-5 year old son who would literally wreak havoc in the front waiting/pani puri area.

Fast forward to post-COVID, amazingly, they’ve managed a way to continue serving Pani Puri while adhering to the social distancing guidelines.

Now Chai Pani serves a family pack (see picture) with almost all the same contents as before....with a slight problem.

As you may notice in the picture, the two types of “water” that come with the Pani Puri, one is sweet and one is spicy. They give 3x the amount of spicy water compared to the sweet water. My wife loves both the sweet and spicy water, I only love the sweet water.

(👇🏼THE POINT OF THIS REVIEW👇🏼)

Multiple times since COVID, my wife and I have ordered the Pani Puri Family Pack. Each time, we’ve requested extra sweet water.

At first they would charge us $2 extra for an extra 8oz of sweet water. Very fair. The next time around, they charged us $3. Weird for changing the price, but acceptable. The last time we went (1/11/2020), the manager during the night shift (I forget her name) decided to charge us $4. Now that is absurd.

I tried pleading with her, however she said that “Ever since COVID started, we have changed the prices.” (From $2 to $3 to $4)

I then agreed to pay the extra $4, however I asked for an equal amount of sweet and spicy water (since the sweet water comes in an 8oz tub vs. 24oz tub of spicy water) She said she wasn’t allowed to do that.

By looking at the items that come in a $20 Family Pack, how can we justify that an 8oz container of sweet water costs $4?

If she didn’t know how to charge a simple $2 extra, why did she have to charge me for a whole plate of pani puri? Yes! Pre-Covid, one entire plate of Pani Puri would be $4.

You can imagine that after this frustration, when she asked if I want the receipt, I said yes. Somehow (smh) she forgot to give me the receipt.

P.S. If this review somehow “vanishes”......something to...