NaanStop Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Durham

Disappointing Experience – Poor Service and Unhygienic Practices

We dined at NaanStop tonight as a group of four, and unfortunately, our experience was far from satisfactory.

To begin with, the service was unprofessional. When I started ordering appetizers, the waiter abruptly asked, “Is that all you want?” I explained that I needed more time to order the main course, yet he raised his eyebrows and walked away. Shortly after, the owner approached our table and simply said, “Tell me what you want.” This lack of courtesy and attentiveness was disappointing.

Moreover, we waited for 10 minutes just to get water, but there was no staff available. While I understand that they may have been short-staffed, I noticed that the only waiter was busy cleaning the bathroom and mopping the dining area—right next to where we were eating. What was most concerning was that he was wringing the mop with his bare hands, without gloves, into the water bucket. This was extremely unhygienic and off-putting, making us uncomfortable with the idea of him serving our food afterward.

Additionally, while we were still eating, the waiter started mopping the floor beside us, despite the restaurant being open for another hour. The overwhelming smell of cleaning chemicals (Fabuloso) made it difficult to enjoy our meal.

As for the food, the tomato soup we ordered was excessively sour and overly spiced. After taking just one spoonful, we returned it and informed the owner. However, instead of addressing our concern or offering a resolution, he simply acknowledged it and still charged us for it.

The most unacceptable part of our experience was the billing. A 20% gratuity was automatically added to our check without informing us, even though we were only a group of four. While we fully understand and expect to pay sales tax, the undisclosed gratuity charge felt unfair and deceptive.

Overall, this restaurant needs significant improvements in hygiene, customer service, and transparency in billing. Until these issues are addressed, I would not recommend this...

A total unpleasant experience with service, food quality and charges. Our family of 5 recently visited there on my kid's birthday on a Sunday evening. The restaurant was empty with 1 gathering besides us. we chose to sit on sofa seat which is good to occupy 4 people. We requested to add another chair on the side but we were denied. We did not want to spoil our mood so we decided to adjust without any arguments. We ordered Paneer Tikka as appetizer, Baigan Bharta, Malai Kofta and Palak paneer along with Garlic Naan and Lachha Paratha. The food service was pretty quick. we got the food in around 5-7 minutes. it was nice. however appetizers and food were served together. Basically, we were expected to eat appetizers and food together without anyone asking for that. After plates, and water glasses, practically there was no space to accommodate all of the trays but the server continued to dump the food on our hands and we were scrambling to adjust the space. Now about food. Paneer Tikka was supposed to come from clay oven as per menu card. however the paneer tikka was made on a regular griddle, it was half-cooked and was sticking on the tray in which it was served. It did not have any smoky aroma as expected from a clay oven-cooked food. and because it was sticking on the plate, there was a wastage of the food. Baigan bharta was again not char cooked as this is how it is expected to cook. it was boiled and hence had no taste or aroma. It was not freshly cooked as well. Palak paneer and Malai Kofta were average taste and could save a grace a little bit. And last but not least, server levied 20% gratuity for a group of 4 adults and 1 child of 6 years. Which took the bill to $146 dollar. The most expensive dinner I have ever had in US for my family of 5. So far the highest bill I even incurred with a decent quality food has been 100-105. A total unpleasant experience with service, food quality and charges. I will never...

Genuinely confusing experience had at this place. Boyfriend and I turned up a little while before it said the place closed on its website and I wanted to get my first taste of genuine authentic indian food.

The open sign was on but we were turned away at the door by someone refusing to serve us, afterwards we sat in the parking lot searching on our phones to find a different place to eat in the nearby area and watched as multiple patrons were allowed in and out, and then said person shut their blinds down.. and the open sign was still on the whole time.

Will try indian food somewhere else, probably not that good anyways, could have been less blatantly rude and more honest.

**Editing the review to add more details since this person decided to directly lie upon replying to this review. Photos attached are screenshots of original review + review reply just in case they try to change it. Naanstop’s closing time is listed at 9PM and 10PM on Yelp, not 9:30PM. That is a lie, “every platform,” that’s clearly not true. You did not offer us a table. You did not grab menus and beckon us to a table but I saw you do so with one other patron before us. You told us sorry, and two only (as there were only two other people in the restaurant who seemed to be sitting and eating.) We did not sit down, we were a couple saying there would only be the two of us joining and were refused saying “two only, two only.” Tried gesturing to ourselves and that didn’t work. It was only two, we did not have friends joining us tonight- this was my boyfriend and I’s date night.

At this point you have been rude, especially by attempting to lie straight up and mislead future customers. We were not dishonest, but please be more honest in...