The Chai Spot — Restaurant in New York

Very confused about some of the reviews here. Which is why this is the only review you need. I don’t typically write reviews unless its completely necessary nd I only write the god honest truth but after overhearing conversation of a young man and his family who seemed to be upset and raving about how they want to leave a bad review over the fact they had to follow basic rules which are to remove there shoes and order before stepping into the seating area on a busy Sunday, which is standard especially if there’s already people like myself patiently waiting to place my order before these nonsensical people who may I add beelined to the back skipping all of us that were there before them and went inside with there shoes on in a carpeted establishment. The entitlement of these people shook me. I knew I had to drop my two cents here. So here it is, I am a loyal chai fanatic and I have been coming here for years on and off and this year they completely upped the menu and service even more so than before. The chai is topnotch and the most authentic I’ve ever had easily better than any other South Asian place that serves chai in New York City. I love the staff, the new owner is pretty cool too, shes young nd adds a modern vibe that this place desperately needed. As a person with South Indian roots this place feels like home away from home for me. I spend hours here talking to the employees and getting work done. It’s such a laid back atmosphere, I feel like I’m in my own living room. Not to mention how serious they take there cleanings and sanitation. It truly is the best place for group hang outs nd first dates. Very pleasing for instagram and Facebook loving folk with tons of photo ops. The customer service is amazing. They are so accommodating, this place literally reminds me of a mom and pop shop, it’s so homey and safe. If you want to charge your phone, use wifi, change the music, want new games, borrow or buy a book, make off menu alterations to a drink anything they’ll do it for you and even provide space for praying for my muslem friends. The people complaining are the same people that don’t pick up after themselves after lounging around for hours. Buying a slightly expensive chai from a business that also donates to woman and children and then to proceed to lay around and play board games for hours on end really doesn’t seem like an unfair pricing situation to me, especially since most places only let customers sit in for 30 minutes to an hour maximum. My only complaint is that I do wish they would revert back to there midnight timings, I would love to stop by more often with friends especially out of towners after spending the day enjoying the scenic views of Manhattan and Times Square. SN, incredible view of Empire State Building from the street infront of the store, definitely a tourist hotspot. Eventually, I would also really like to see them change the lights again after sunset as they did in the winter. Otherwise this place is a bucket list try if your in New York....

I genuinely was very disappointed after my latest visit to this place. I brought my family over to NYC from the UK to visit around Manhattan and decided to take them to this place for some nice chai and a place to enjoy some Pakistani tea. As a fellow Pakistani myself, it was nice to fine a piece of home away from home and to go inside and drink some chai whilst enjoying the sights of NYC. But how wrong was I. As soon as I approached the premises, the awful attitude of the Latino lady with curly hair behind the counter alongside the black guy with black nail polish who claimed to be the "manager".

What an absolute farce of service, it was like they could not be bothered at all being there and wanted to get out. I asked for 3 cups of pakistani chai as we wanted to sit in, and politely asked if it was at all possible to sit inside. My elderly mother who is 60+ also needed to use bathroom and since was not able to find the lock to the bathroom, i had gone in behind her to help. I noticed that the lady from behind the counter came in and started to look as to what was going on. I told the lady that my mother could not find the lock to the bathroom. She went back to the counter to the black guy and started moaning saying that "these people obviously have not visited a bathroom before and are making a commotion for no reason". I was genuinely shocked at this derogatory comment and went back to challenge her on this. I asked to sit inside and was asked for ID by the black manager. I told him that I do not have ID on me but I do have my vaccination record from the UK.

The cheeky lady behind the counter turns around and says "well how did you enter the USA did you just walk in?" with the black manager reiterating sarcastically stating "you don't have any ID like a passport etc". I said to her "yes I did walk in to the USA, I asked your dad if I could come in". I was really annoyed at the cheek demonstrated by this lady, i kicked off and told her off about how disgusting her attitude was and how she thinks its okay to make derogatory remarks to other people. If you cant be bothered serving customers and keeping your mouth SHUT, best you leave the place. the black manager started to say to me to leave but I refused to leave because I had no reason to. He started telling me off saying that I was the one being rude to the lady behind the counter. So i told mr cracked nail polish, that if you found my comment to be rude, better get used to listening to the truth. I challenged both of these idiots as to why they felt it was okay to make nasty remarks and they both ran behind the counter the cowards.

Used to rate this place big time but honestly just avoid it, P.S. as a pakistani myself save yourself coming here, the tea they made that day was literally just boiled water. I feel sorry for the owner in keeping such disgusting staff. Hope they...

Was so delighted to stumble past this place a few weeks ago - I grew up in the city and would have LOVED having a place like this to go to with friends and cousins over the years. The recipes are spot on, ambiance is ace. Only reason I can’t give this five stars is because of the lack of caffeine free or decaf options or sugar alternatives.

Given that you’re open til 10pm, a low caff option seems like something your older customers would deeply appreciate. While I was in the shop last Sunday at 8pm, I was sat across from the register and overheard TWO other people come in and ask for a decaf chai if possible and the Suleimani was the only option (except you were out of decaf that day so it was made with full caff black tea).

The latter - no diabetic friendly or sugar alternatives - is especially baffling given the very well known fact that South Asians acrosssss the board are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes than literally ANY other ethnic group. You even have lovely members of staff who are living with diabetes and can’t enjoy any of your products so this seems especially strange.

I noticed there are 3-4 milks incl dairy alternatives. Who are those for though, your white/western clientele? Why don’t you cater to your South Asian homies in the same way?

Love this establishment and can’t wait to see you do better by your community. Equity and Inclusion aren’t just trendy buzzwords going around these days. I really hope the owners will reflect a bit more on how to make some meaningful changes in order to make The Chai Spot an authentically welcoming space for all. This is NYC, no one cares about optics so if you’re going to talk the talk, please...