Desi District - McKinney, TX — Restaurant in McKinney

To be unable to give a good review when Desi District is so close to home breaks my heart and is like a punch to the gut. Really, I've been excited to try the restaurant portion of this store since it opened but simply hadn't found the time until last night. After a stressful week in which my sons plead incessantly for Indian food, we decided to give Desi District a go. Roughly AN HOUR and about HALF A DOZEN INQUIRIES after ordering, a kind gentleman finally looked at the computer, told me my order would be ready in five minutes and ran back into the kitchen. Now, during the hour that had elapsed, I'd estimate I'd seen at least 50 people come into the restaurant, order their food and leave (or sit down) with it. This having been the case, with my husband and the kids--two of whom delighted over their delicious mango lassis--having already retired to the car thirty or so minutes earlier, I was still very hopeful that what we'd ordered would delight all of our taste buds.

However, upon arriving back home, to start things off, our appetizer--Mixed Vegetable Pokada--was so cold and gummy that I had to throw it in our air fryer to perk it up. (Otherwise, I probably would've tossed it in the trash.) Now, the presentation wasn't poor but it was far from noteworthy; if anything, I'd say most of it was a fair emulation of a Western sandwich shop with a big bun and chips in a box; however, that's probably on us for letting the kids pick Butter Chicken Tikka Burgers for themselves. On that note though, each and every one of the kids were disappointed with the big buns and small portion of what they each said was "too spicy" for them. Having had butter chicken many times, I know they know what they like. (Kids, y'know?) As for me, I had Masala Dosa and Dal Tadka, both of which were underwhelming despite their presentation being more along the lines of what was expected for Indian fast food. Sadly, the dosa, though not bad, was unremarkable, as were the contents. To bring it all home, my husband had Chicken Takki Kati Rolls--something I'd never recalled encountering before Desi District--and they were probably the best of anything we ordered last night.

Just to be clear, with the pandemic and the lack of close proximity I've had with my Indian friends, it's been a while since I've had such a vast menu in front of me from which I've had to choose. As such, I'd first inquired about whether a sample platter or anything similar was available. Having been told no such thing was available, I asked for a recommendation from the young lady who was taking our order. She recommended the Kati Rolls--which my husband ordered--but I don't think they are enough to bring us back to the restaurant. As such, I imagine that I might head over to Desi District in a pinch to snag seasonings to whip up a big batch of quick home cooked Indian. Most of the spices I might need are already in my kitchen though so I'm not even...

Desi District in McKinney bills itself as an ‘upscale South Asian marketplace.’ In reality, it’s a crowded hybrid of grocery store, snack counter, and chaos, dressed up in LED lights.

Before you even step inside, the problems announce themselves—abandoned shopping carts in the parking lot, trash drifting across the asphalt, and weeds growing between the cracked pavement like they own the place. The ‘landscaping’ is a lonely row of dying shrubs that look as though they’ve been surviving on spilled Thums Up. It’s the sort of exterior that says, ‘We clean on Diwali and forget about it for the rest of the year.’

Inside, the store tries to be all things to all people—and fails at all of them. The grocery aisles are cramped and disorganized, with dusty spice jars sitting beside battered bags of rice, half of which are torn open. The produce is a study in resignation: wilted methi, okra with the texture of dry rope, and mangoes that smell faintly fermented.

The attached café is no better—greasy counters, sticky tables, and laminated menus curling at the edges. The chai tastes like boiled milk with a dash of Lipton, and the snacks are heavy enough to qualify as blunt instruments. In my upbringing, food was an act of refinement; here, it is simply fried until submission.

The clientele treats the place like a village square—loud cross-aisle conversations, children running through the store with sticky hands, and groups loitering in the café without buying much. The noise level alone could drown out a temple bell.

Desi District’s problem isn’t that it lacks potential—it’s that it has no discipline. An establishment that wants to be the pride of the diaspora should maintain its grounds, present its wares with dignity, and run its café like a place of hospitality, not a bus stand snack stall. Until then, it remains a grocery store overrun with low standards—and even lower...

Unusual obsession with cabbage. First time ordering here, ordered two Kati Rolls (lamb and paneer) as well as samosa chat taco and gobi manchurian. First and foremost the gobi manchurian was delicious, this came out exactly as it should have and you could tell the oil it was fried in was fresh. The kati rolls were an absolute dissapointment. Both the lamb as well as the paneer rolls had a MASSIVE amount of cabbage in them, as if to act as a filler instead of putting more meat. The picture of them online was also a bit of false advertising, it is shown as three seperate rolls, but in reality it was almost like one roll cut into three and packaged. Besides the usage of the cabbage, there was an unnecessary yellow sauce, that I could only describe as mayo based. I've owned and operated Indian restaurants in the past and this is the first time I've ever seen a kati roll like this. The lamb meat was delicious but the random filling ruined it. Normally it should be a roll with paratha, egg cooked on the inside, filled with the meat and served with a green/mint chutney. The samosa chat taco was honestly a joke. There was once again an unreal amount of cabage shredded on top of a deconstructed samosa with channa masala served in a flour tortilla. Cabbage isn't a good choice for this idea. If they had taken the samosa covering, fried it into a shape of a taco, placed spiced potatoe mix in that, with channa masala, and topped with tomato/onion/chili, I would have been over the moon for this dish. But once again I was let down. It seems the food isn't bad, but there needs to be restructuring with the dishes themselves. I may give it another shot in the future, but this just...