PBC Factory — Restaurant in Tampa

This is a nice little quasi-fast-food chain that has made its way to Tampa. I found the online ordering process to be fairly straight-forward and easy to use. I arrived for curbside pickup, but the man who answered the phone seemed a bit confused and spoke so softly that his words were unintelligible. No matter, I went it to get my food. I purposely showed up 10 minutes late as I had read other reviews saying their food was not ready on time. The woman behind the counter was friendly and packed all the food up and tied the bags tightly. I could not see what all she was putting in the bag, so I had to take her word for it. Unfortunately, when I got home, I saw that one item of my $60 or so order was missing. Not the biggest concern, but when they tie the bags up so you cannot check the order without tearing it apart, you hope that everything is there. I called the store to ask for a credit for the one item (did not want to drive another 20 minutes for chocolate cake), and was told the manager would contact me to discuss. I have not heard back yet as of this writing. The food was pretty good. I especially liked the Paapdi Chaat which I had never had before. Plain cheese pizza (on the small side for $9) for the kids and the Chicken Tikka Masala combo were of good quality. I had ordered mild spice Chicken Tikka, and boy was it spicy! My nose was watering and my lips were burning, and so I managed to get through about half of it. Certainly an honest mistake. In the end, I won't fret over the lost desert, although my kids were all quite distressed. There are many Indian restaurants to choose from in the Tampa area, so I have had the opportunity to taste perfection. Although Pastries N Chaat was good, I cannot say it was my favorite. Perhaps with less spice and the order fulfilled correctly, I could put it in the top 5. I would consider giving it another chance (making sure to tear the bag apart next time) if I am in the area.

Update: Manager reached out and was very kind. He has definitely inspired...

Every time we would plan on going to Tampa (we live in Ellenton) to buy Indian Groceries from Patel Brothers on Fowler I would be so excited to eat at Pastries right after. It was just like when I was a kid, go with mom to the market and eat a snack right after that. But in recent months Pastries has really starting to disappoint. Not sure what’s going on!! A new chef or cook. Don’t know what’s going on.

Don’t get me wrong, pastries was one of our favs in Tampa. It takes a lot for me to like an Indian food restaurant. But pastries really did win us over when we first ate here almost 2 years ago. We always use to recommend our non-Indian friends to go eat at PnC to get a true authentic Indian food experience.

But it’s sad to say that it’s not the same lately.

Ok. Now the food:

Try their chicken and veg puffs. They are still quite good. Use to be nice and moist inside, but lately they are coming out dry. But still not bad.

Ohh, my fav: Keema Pizza!!! Really not sure what’s going on with this one. I use to love it. But lately the keema (ground goat cooked like taco ground beef) does not taste the same. Keema needs to be with that kick, that spice that greasy taste (which it was). It’s turning more towards North Indian style which is not what it supposed to be. The pizza base was awful. I mean I get it, if you don’t want to bake your own pizza base, there are some really nice ready bases on the market. That base was awful.

Mango Lassi, the Cake Pastries and all that it’s all still fine. But they are all secondary to the actually main course items on the menu.

They have a good samosa though.

Guys you really need to get it together. This is our only favorite (still*) Indian restaurant.

I hope you guys really get it back to how it was.

Edit (After Owner Response): Try keeping a small bowl of water inside the puff warmer, that might help keep them moist. Try it out during non- business hours to see if the...

It's the same old story with PBC. Good food, great owners, and pathetic staff. Staff feels like they own the place. Especially the young kid at the counter. Doesn't have manners to talk to customers. We went there 30 minutes before closing, and he literally said we can not dine in because they close in 30 minutes. I was shocked and thought of ordering carry out, and the owner came to restaurant at the same time. Since I knew the owner from my previous visits. owner asked if we ordered already, I said no, and he asked me to go ahead and order. Then I realized it was this guys improvisation of telling me he can not take orders for dine in. I worked at a restaurant, and I know how dine in works. Restaurants allow customers to dine in 10-15 minutes before closing. And have a grace time of 30 minutes for the customers to leave and cleaning and prepping for tomorrow. This kid needs serious schooling on how to behave with customers. I am sure he might have done the same with other customers as well and did all this behind owners.

We have gone to this restaurant many times, and food is exceptional. No doubt about that, but customer service is a serious letdown by staff, especially the young person at the desk. They have a previlage of self service by customers, behaving descently with customers, and taking oders politely is the least they could do but, again and again these young people at counter without owners at the desk are irritating to handle and they give us stares like customers come there to eat for free. Owners are very customer friendly and exceptional and I am pretty sure they are unawre of this person attrocities. Hopefully, they take a look at this person and warn him on how to behave with customers.

If not for bad customer service at front desk, restaurant is a 5...