Nawab’s Indian Cuisine OSB — Restaurant in Osage Beach

I love Indian food, as do other members of my family (though not my son). When we travel to other towns or cities, we often seek out Indian food first, if it is available. So I was actually very pleasantly surprised when I saw Nawab's was going to be opening up in the place that used to be Kate's diner. We were anxious to check it out, and it was grand opening week. My son was visiting from Springfield, so we dragged him there. He does like tandoori chicken and good basmati rice, so he was fine. He also likes mango lassis. It was lunch time, so we went for the buffet, but it looks like we could have ordered from the menu instead. While it wasn't the most extensive Indian buffet I have ever seen, there was a good selection. I do have to say that most of the meat dishes were chicken, which is fine, although I do like goat curries. I might say they also had a few fewer vegetable dishes, but I don't want to say that they didn't have more than enough food. You could see that it was all fresh, and hadn't been sitting out for a long time. There were actually quite a few people in the restaurant, which surprised me because I didn't think many folks in Osage Beach would be fans of Indian food. I'm a little worried, frankly, that if a diner like Kay's, serving good American diner food, went out of business, what are the chances for survival for an Indian restaurant. I will need to eat there a lot, just to keep the place in business single-handedly. It's worth a try. The food that we had was all excellent. Excellent pecora. Good chutney's. Good naan, including garlic naan. They also offered to make and bring us whatever specialty naan we might want. The naan at the buffet was quite good enough. Even though it was a buffet, the staff checked on us frequently. Eventually we did order chai tea and mango lassies. I have eaten quite a lot of Indian food, and this place is very good. Much better than I might have expected for Osage Beach. Prices were reasonable. The place is very clean, including the restrooms. I think everyone would find something they like at Nawab's. I can't wait to return to...

As a Hyderabadi guy who loves good Indian food, especially biryani, I’ve been to Nawabi’s Osage Beach many times — 6 times for their buffet and 3 times just for the biryanis. Taste-wise, I won’t lie — the food is genuinely good. The buffet has decent variety, and the biryanis are close to what we crave. But if there’s one thing they can really work on, it’s the quantity for the biryanis. For the price, it feels like it could be a bit more generous.

Now coming to the real reason I felt like I had to write this review — the service. Every single time our gang goes there, we genuinely feel there’s bias in how desi customers are treated. The server behaves totally differently with non-Indians — the way they’re greeted, spoken to, served — and it’s hard to ignore when you see it every time. We’ve never felt like this at Nawabi’s Springfield, which we've been visiting for the last 1.5 years. The staff there is friendly and welcoming, so the difference here really stands out.

Honestly, sometimes we even regret coming to the Osage location just because of how we’re treated. The only reason we still visit is because of the Hyderabadi uncle working there — such a humble and sweet man. He understands our taste, always makes sure to tell the chef how we like the food, and treats us like his own. But it’s honestly heartbreaking to see him getting scolded publicly by another staff member (a Punjabi guy). And yes, we understand Hindi, so it’s even more upsetting hearing the way he speaks to the uncle.

I’m not writing this to put anyone down — I’ve never written a review before — but this time, I really hope the management sees this and takes it seriously. Food is only one part of the experience — service and respect matter just as much.

So to sum it up — the food is tasty, no doubt. But service needs serious improvement, and quantity can be better for the biryanis. We still go for the food and that one uncle who treats us well — otherwise, this place could lose a lot of loyal...

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Not Recommended

We had a truly frustrating experience at this restaurant. We called ahead and confirmed we’d be 3 minutes past their last order time, and were told it was okay—we could dine in, so we ordered online and said we will be dining in. When we arrived at 8:35 PM, we again confirmed we were dining in and were told it was fine.

But after waiting for 30 minutes, someone came over and said we actually couldn’t dine in and had to take our food to go. We stayed calm and said “no problem.” What followed was a 1 hour and 20 minute wait—we finally got our food at 9:50 PM. The staff apologized for the delay, but refused to acknowledge the fact that they had confirmed our dine-in request twice.

When we reached our Airbnb and opened the food, it was shocking: • The gravy was literally watery • The Gobi Manchurian was inedible • Naan was half-cooked, and although we ordered six, they gave only five (which turned out to be a blessing because we had to throw them all away).

He claimed to have added complimentary items to make up for the delay, but there was nothing extra at all—just another empty promise on top of poor service and bad food.

We spent $123 and ended up with a terrible meal and a bad memory. This place showed poor communication, extremely slow service, and food that was far below standard.

Avoid this place. Not worth your time, money,...