JACKSON DINER - INDIAN CUISINE — Restaurant in New York

My friend and I visited Jackson Diner for lunch on a Sunday around 2:30pm. It was almost at capacity when we arrived, but started to slow down around 3:30pm, and was at half capacity when we left around 4:45pm. This rating is mostly for the service, which is sad because the food was delicious. If you are the type of person who can put up with mediocre service, then it is definitely worth stopping by for the food.

I ordered the chicken sag ($16), and my friend ordered samosas ($4), garlic naan ($5), mango lassi ($6), and chicken curry ($16). My friend mentioned that all the food was also delicious, but I did not try it myself, so I cannot speak to those items. One thing worth noting is that the food here is SPICY. Fortunately, I am okay with spice, but if you are sensitive, you should steer clear because there is quite a bit of heat. What I also appreciated was that they allowed me to substitute naan for rice. The naan was DELICIOUS! None of their naan was charred, and it was fluffy and paired well with the curry. The chicken was also moist (very rare find) and there was a generous portion of it. Again, if service was better, I would definitely come back to Jackson Diner because the sag is one of the best I have had in the city in terms of flavor.

The main issue I had with service was the wait. We waited about 45 minutes for our food, and I was starving. My stomach began to ache because of the wait, and I could not consume the food when it finally came due to the pain. They also do not seem to have a coordinated way to seat people, get drinks, and take orders. If you decide to dine here, bring your proactive cap because you will need to flag down people to get water, refill water, get your order taken, etc. A good customer service move if your kitchen is backed up would be to apologize to your patrons and maybe provide them with a roti refill because 45 minutes is REALLY long. However, based on how busy they were, they obviously can get by with this type of service, so change will...

I am extremely disappointed with this place. My husband and I arrived at 4:10 pm as stated on our check as pointed out by their rude manager. When we arrived we were given menus by the waiter who basically just handed it to us and walked away. When he came back 5 minutes later we said we would like to take part in the buffet special, he said no problem took the menus and walked away. From the moment my husband and I arrived and sat our table, not once did they every replenish the buffet, with the exception of naan. All that was left was basically the scraps from earlier that day. To be more specific, literately 7 pieces of chicken, rice and just plain sauce from dishes where the main ingredient was already gone. I didn't think much of it because I imagined they would replenish it so we waited around, however that was not the case. When the waiter finally brought us the check I expressed my dissatisfaction with the service and he simply just walked away from me. I then approached the manager and express my dissatisfaction once again and he basically told me that was my problem, that the waiter asked if we wanted anything else, which is true, but again there was nothing left but rice pudding. I tried to explain to him, that I was not upset with that fact that we just paid $12 to eat rice and sauce, but instead because they should be more clear when their buffet service ends. If I would have known that they do not replenish the food after 4pm or so then I would have made a better informed decision on my food choice. The manager basically mocked me and said I had no right to complain because I was their since 4:10 and I had 20 minutes to eat from the buffet. Although, this is true, "eat from the buffet" is not what I would call eating left over scraps, not to mention we had no water at our table for 90% of the time we were at this place. Its a shame that they have such terrible service and their manager lacks the skills to handle...

BUGS IN THE FOOD!

Forgive the length of this post.

I have been going to the hillside location since it opened. Today ordered food and i got three rice containers with them. When I came home I was frustrated to see that two out of the three containers had dead bugs on them. I promptly called the restaurant thinking they should be aware of this and not expecting anything in return. I usually went there every few weeks and had spoken to the manager before, so I thought it would be fine.

In return what I got was a 10 minute call in which I spoke to three different people. The first person kept repeating that there was nothing wrong with my order. The second person also kept saying the order was correct. I don't speak perfect Hindi so I tried to explaining to him that in the boxes was a dead bug, i mistakenly used the word for mosquito instead of bug. That stared another ordeal in which they accused me of lying saying that it is not the season for mosquito. He even said that I confused a spice (cumin seed) with a bug. I am Indian and know what cumin looks like. Last time I checked a cumin seed does not have legs.

I was then put on hold while several people argued back and forth. They did not close the phone, just put it on the counter and kept saying that I was talking about mosquitoes when they are not in season and someone kept saying tell her to come show us!!!

The third guy (sounded like the first guy) apologized and said that I can come pick up more rice and that I had less than 8 minutes to come get it before they close. Not only was this impossible as i live further away, but he did not even offer a refund, which any respecting establishment should do. He then said that if I can't make it then come tomorrow with the dead bugs and he will give me rice?? I cannot believe that customer service is still non existent in some places. I'm sure you don't care that you lost several customers, but you better believe Karma does. Pictures...