Tikka Express Gainesville — Restaurant in Gainesville

I have dine at more than 30 restaurant at Gainesville and I can tell you that the server/cashier here have the worst attitude possible. I went here today to grab some butter chicken and lamb masala. After ordering the cashier proceed to ask me whether I would dine in or check out, I replied dine in and then he  started to proceed to check me for the food. While paying for the food the cashier ask me if I would tip and I replied no. I decided not to tip because I wasn't provided with any service such as serve to table or tap water, the server/cashier only scoop up the food and plated it in the Styrofoam box, and lastly the food container and utensils were all disposable. From the reason I stated I believe my decision not to tip is justified. After I replied back to the cashier that I would not tip, the cashier pulled back the food container and further asked me where I came from and how long I had been in Gainesville. I answered his question then he continued to lecture me about tipping with a furious tone and voice. After that he shouted at me multiple times asking " DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I JUST SAID". To make matters worse he also stated during his lecture that he understands that in Asia we do not tip but it is all about gratitude and preference HERE. I do not know why he have to be shouting at me like a lunatic over a dollar or so, especially when I'm an international student, who needs to be cautious about my spending. I could not be tipping you the minimum hourly wage in my country for this mediocre service. Lastly, if the owner or the Manager of the restaurant see this comment please educate your cashier regarding his attitude, empathy, and communication, especially how to talk politely not to bark at customers.

Ps. if the cashier sees this comment, I just wanted to let you know  the reason I did not respond when you were screaming, if I understand, is because I was taught not to hold any grudge or respond to any uneducated or uncivilized actions. Also talking back to you won't be fixing your attitude and would be a waste of energy as people with your mindset doesn't seem to be capable of self improvement. Lastly, you are much older than me and I believe that difference in age and experience must be enough for you to know how to treat other people or behave. Please contemplate your actions and try to be a better...

I'd give it five stars on everything but it really is an express, so it doesn't have a fancy setting. I think they probably get a lot more to goes than they get people that eat there, but I don't know that for sure. When I was there, everybody was getting their food to go. Not sure where they parked. I know it was quite a chore for me. I think that would be the only thing that I'm not crazy about. That being it's so hard to find a parking space just to go in for 10 minutes to get something to take away. It's the busy part of town and they're doing work on the roads which doesn't help, in the end it was worth it. I got curry chicken and I believe they were called samosas. It was really good. Just because it's a takeout place that doesn't mean it's not well prepared and delicious. It is. Apparently they have a buffet during the week and I went there on a Saturday so I had to just order one thing. I would love to come back and try some of their other options. If I can get to Gainesville again I will definitely hit this place again. I definitely recommend this place. Even though it looks like a little hole in the wall, it's really good food. And the guy that worked there was very nice. He didn't rush anybody when they were trying to make a decision and he was very helpful explaining what each of the dishes were. He was also good about making sure that he followed what you wanted. Specifically I did not want my curry chicken too hot. He did it perfectly. I think there's just a couple of people working there. I saw someone else that was bringing food out and probably cooking behind the scenes. Give it a try if you like Indian food. I think this Indian food is very good. Everyone else seemed to like theirs too. The portions are quite large also. You'll probably have enough for two...

Love Indian food, yet want the authentic American experience of loafing around your apartment in cute bunny slippers going back and forth between the freezer and your microwave or air fryer?

If so, Tikka Express may be for you!

Made a big $100+ order, and I'm effectively one-and-done with this place. Tandoori chicken was delicious, but unlike that baked in an actual tandoor, this lacked the distinctive deeply-ingrained slight reddish tinge of the traditional variety. The spice palate was there, but so were the shortcuts.

Butter chicken sauce was decent, but the relatively meager amount of chicken chunks were dry and flavorless, as if they spent a week or few too long in the freezer. It really could've used more sauce to spice things up as with other things I ordered, but alas, unlike some local restaurants, just two little one-ounce containers of chutney-esque "sauce" were included.

This place seems to have an obsession with crinkle-cut French fries. Not clear if Ore Ida or some other American fry purveyor's founder rescued their management on the shores of Ellis Island (backwards, right, it'd more likely be on the Cali coast), but I got that impression. There was a definite lack of onion and cabbage and an absolute wealth of fries, thus the freezer food.

Gobi Manchurian was okay but absolutely laden with fries, as was the Samosa Chaat. Spices, yes, but delicious, no. Disappointing.

I will definitely patronize a far better-reviewed place in town than this one, but hey, for those with lower standards for Indian cuisine, or who want to change up their otherwise upper caste top-tier palate with something more untouchable, this may...