Pure Indian Cuisine Inc — Restaurant in Paradise

I really hate places that can not post accurate information about their business especially a new business trying to come up. I am the type of person where if I find something good, I will be a regular customer and I will promote the neck out if it. We order a LOT of food daily for my employees, family, clients, you name it so I came to give this place a chance as I am Indian and I love our Indian food. It says it is open until 3am which is why I paid money for an Uber and came all this way for late night eats after coming from the gym and was really looking forward to it. I arrive and it is very shady where you should probably carry a strap of you are here late and alone. You think it is closed when you pull up because there is a big Kabob sign out front on the ground level. You then look around and see the small open signs on the side of the buildiing with a doorway leading to some stairs that take you upstairs. There must be a few different businesses going on upstairs . Dark and VERY quiet. I was not sure if I was walking into something I probably should not be. No one in sight. Looked like a hookah place down one hallway with sofas and such. There is a narrow hallway in the center that leads you to this "restaurant" and before I got to the end a guy that works there comes out looking so startled to where he had his hand on his chest and said sorry I will be right with you. Not one other person in the place. Bar with no bar tender . No employees . Nothing ... just the started guy who will be right with me . He says sit anywhere you like. I get there a little past 130am and the listing says closes at 3am but he says you will have to hurry and order as the kitchen is about to close. Even after all this I was ready to order something quickly, try it out and call it a day until I saw the menu. I am not scared of a big ticket menu if the place deserves a big ticket menu. Imagine going to a burger joint and paying 20 bucks for a simple cheeseburger. For an item I would, at most ,see on any other Indian restaurant for $12.95 was $22 Or so. With everything I normally order, I was not about to have a $100 late night snack. I always order a little more or try a few things and bring the left overs home. I never do this in my life bit as he was pouring the water I said I will come back and check you guys out in the day since the kitchen is closing. He quickly said it is all good we have at least 15 more minutes or so and it is not a problem. I just said to be honest I don't want the end of the night stuff as well no offense. He understood and was polite but what a waste of my time. Really disappointed. Anyone with a few dollars can open a business but it takes a little bit of common sense and paying attention to detail to make it work. This is why 90% of small businesses are set to quickly fail and those that don't fail right away are just fed by someone with deep pockets but sooner or later the doors will close when you do business this way. I am a small business owner and it is so disappointing to see a potentially large regular customer for personal and professional referrals to walk out and never come back. Think about the residual losses. It is also sad that the reviews are clearly left by friends and family and artificially the high raring that it shows. This is why you should never believe the ratings until you see more than 150 or so reviews. They level out to being an accurate review after it gets to that point. Any new business is going to have 5 star or close to it because They will leave their own review and they post fb for their friends to hook them up. Next stop when my Uber arrives...White castle to...

Pure Indian Cuisine is true to its name as they have a great lineup of items from appetizers thru deserts. They offer traditional vegetarian cuisine, creative vegan fare and also extend it to multiple meat entrees. We had a food tasting scheduled for my nieces wedding to be held in their banquet hall in the fall. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was and its presentation.

AJ the owner is very nice and attended to our group. He checked in after each course to get our critique and insure the flavors were what we wanted. They paid particular attention to detail in everything we requested. Starters: Poppers with 2 different chutneys of herby Cilantro and sweet spicy tamarind. Appetizers: Vegan Samosas made with crushed lentils and potato. It tasted meaty and the crust held together nicely. A colorful vegan tandoori like dish of cauliflower florets sautéed and served on a bed of onions was a nice surprise. Vegan Entrees: Chenna (chickpea) masala and Potato pea curry were very lightly seasoned over Zeera (cumin seed) basmati rice.

Meat Entrees: Tandoori boneless chicken and a saucy creamy Butter Chicken.

Desert: Gulab jamun (fried donut balls) in a light flavored cardamom sugar syrup Kheer (creamy rice pudding)

The whole food ensemble was deliciously flavored and every entree had its own uniquely different taste from the other. Presentation of each dish was enticing. Service was professional, food served hot and surroundings in their private room were a special touch!

I did get a look at their buffet which was plentiful with a vast array of items both vegan and meat to satisfy everyone’s...

I am more appalled at their business practices which is why I've given this low rating.

1. The server said the adult price was $14.99 but when I corrected him that there's a huge sign outside, he pretends to ask the price and then said that it indeed was $11.99.

2. I was automatically charged an 18% gratuity for the 2 of us on my card. When I brought that up, the Mgr claimed he had a large party but that day was completely dead. And he scrolled through bills on his POS and I noticed that all had the gratuity automatically added. I think they hope you don't notice or just pay it and not question the charge.

Having been in the restaurant industry, the only LEGAL manner a restaurant can charge an automatic SERVICE CHARGE (not gratuity) is if they have a BEO/REO Banquet Event Order or Restaurant Event Order. Even though many restaurants claim they will charge for parties of 8 or more, it can be contested FYI especially if the service is shoddy. In this instance, it was absolutely unacceptable and at this point just left a bad experience. I'd never return.

3. The food was mediocre and the Idli actually was hard and dry. The place was void of customers. They do offer freshly made Garlic Naan however and that is really good. This is why my review wasn't 1*. But...