India's Clay Pit NoHo Indian Restaurant-North Hollywood — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My spouse and I had a very unpleasant experience at India's Clay Pit, North Hollywood on Friday May 10th, 2019. We arrived at the restaurant at around 12 noon, and were the only patrons in the restaurant at the time. We ordered two lunch specials within a minute or two of being seated. We were told by the server that our food would arrive within 20 minutes.

About 20 minutes passed with no sign of our food or our server. A lady arrived and went straight to the counter to place an order for Take-away. The busboy who had poured us water earlier came out of the kitchen and took her order. We heard her placing her order. Another couple arrived and was seated at the table beside us. Again, the same busboy came out and took her order. We heard them placing their order. Another ten minutes passed. There was no sign of our server.

Around 12.30, a person who appeared to be one of the chefs, wearing a dirty full-length apron, came out of the kitchen with two soup bowls, went directly to the couple beside us and served them. About five minutes later, he brought them their lunch specials. Still no sign of our food. The lady at the counter received her take away order and left.

Finally, at around 12.45, our orders arrived. They were brought by the same chef in the apron. When we inquired about the delay, he said the other patrons had to be served first. We were taken aback at his answer. He was very brusque and bordering on rudeness. He said quite clearly that since they were different customers, they had to be served first. We pointed out that we had arrived before them and waited a full 20 minutes without receiving our order and there were no other customers at the time. He said it was because of the way we looked.

At this point, I should mention that we are both brown, South Asian people. The lady who came for take-out and the other couple at the next table all appeared to be white, Caucasian, and spoke in American accents. So you can imagine our shock when we were given these reasons and treated quite rudely by the server/chef. When the bill was presented and we paid - I tipped out of habit, since it is my practice to be considerate - he again began talking to us unprovoked, saying that the other people were more important because they were different and the restaurant would always give them preferential treatment over people like us. I asked him what he meant by people like us. After all, he too was brown, and South Asian appearing like us. He said it was obvious and turned away.

He refused to give his name when asked. The descriptions above and his behavior are the only things I have to report. We are still quite shocked and horrified that we could be discriminated against so openly and boldly in a place of business in California, United States. Is this legal? Can non-white people be served later or denied service only because of their race or skin color? Is this permissible business practice in America? We've lived here four years and are permanent residents (Green Card holders) but this is the first time we've experienced such blatant racism (I have no other word to describe it).

I am deeply disappointed in the management and ownership of India's Clay Pit, especially since we have been regulars here at this restaurant for over a year. The usual server is extremely polite, well-mannered and treats us the same as any other customer, white or otherwise. But this particular experience was deeply unpleasant and clearly displayed the bias of the kitchen staff and other supporting staff. Is it ignorance or deliberate bigotry? I have no way of knowing for sure.

I hope someone will read this will reconsider patronising India's Clay Pit, North Hollywood, until they dismiss the persons responsible for such misbehavior and ensure it never happens again. Nobody should be discriminated against, whether white or brown or any other race, nationality or color. There is no excuse for...

On October 1, 2021 I had the worst dining experience that I have ever had. Took a friend for some Chicken Tiki Masala. We were asked to seat ourselves. There were only 5 seated tables in the entire restaurant. The table beside ours was being catered to by 2 male and 1 female employees. The remaining 4 tables were being ignored. After waiting for over 10 minutes without anyone coming to our table we decided to leave. The younger male employee told the much older employee to come and wait on our table. We should have just left but decided to stay. The service was horrible. The only person waiting on the tables was the older waiter. He was also the only one taking phone orders and ringing up to go orders. Our samosas were quickly brought out. The were mostly pastry and were not heated. I tried to get someone's attention but the waiter didn't leave the bar area and the other 2 employees were too focused on serving the table beside us to notice. Also our drink order was never brought. I had to ask for our drink order when the Tiki Masala was brought. At no point in the meal did anyone come to see how we were doing or ask if we needed anything. The Chicken Tiki Masala was quite bland and mediocre. When we decided to cut our loses and leave, the waiter was no where to be found. After quite a while the younger man came to the table and asked if we needed anything. I told him the we have been waiting for quite a while to pay the check. He said the waiter was on his break. I asked him if he was the owner or manager because of the horrible experience we had. He told me that he worked in the kitchen and there was no manager working. Also instead of an apology or acknowledgement he got very defensive. He said the table getting all the attention were his parents and somehow he took my complaint as an insult to his parents. He actually began yelling at me in the dining room so I yelled back at him. I guess only family members deserve good service and respect at this restaurant. If you want horrible, horrible service, mediocre food, and delusional incompetent employees yelling at you this...

I loved it 👌👌👌👍👍👍

Ordered Shrimp Biryani - $16 and Mango Lassi $4+.... Take out.

Mango Lassi was creamy with the right balance of mango sweetness and creamy curd... Tasty 👌👌👌👌

Talking about Shrimp Biryani.... when I opened the package I was little disappointed as it had only the Box of Biryani with no additions... every restaurant till date that serves Biryani give an addition curd Raita mixed with onions , carrots etc or green curd chutney or a typical south Indian restaurant will give a spicy salan/curry as a side taste enhancer But this package did not had any of these...

When I opened the Shrimp Biryani box, I noticed it is not that box that has all meat and spicy masala at the bottom and the top is overloaded with yellow white rice and caramalised onions...

This one was different it looked like a Pilav.... garnished with coriander , green peas... nuts, dried grapes..

The Taste was really nice, subtle, balanced with spice, masala, sweetness, nuttyness.. Overall the taste was Fantastic .. Indian taste fusioned with persion flavors..

No Doubt everyone will love it... Delicious,,, generous quantity.. I counted and took pics of exact 9 big fat Shrimps well cooked...

OVERALL TASTY.. VALUE FOR MONEY REASONABLE PRICE COMPARATIVE TO ANY OTHER RESTAURANTS FOR SHRIMP BIRYANI FOR THAT PRICE AND TASTE...

HIGHLY RECCOMENDED... THEY ALSO GIVE YOU MENU CARD WITH SOME 15% off on next order... Will surely re visit...

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORKS...