Chai Qahwah Lounge (Authentic cafe) — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

I've been here 2x and do plan to give it a third shot. I write this review fully aware that the owner has not responded well to other reviews aren't 100% positive- but let me tell you about my experiences here.

The good: Atmosphere: warm & welcoming; very unique seating arrangements; decor is top-notch; removing shoes to keep the area clean is a great idea. The server who I think may be the owner as well is very kind and courteous in person.

The bad: The first time we came here after tarawih one night; ordered a pot of persian chai and french fries. The chai was like watered down creamer with a hint of cinnamon. When the fries were brought to us, the server told us "they're slightly warm, do you want them warmer?" We tried one and it was half frozen, and asked him to please heat them up. He came back ten minutes later with room temperature soggy fries. We left disappointed and confused how one can mess up fries so badly. Barely touched our drinks and food.

The second time I came back we ordered the thai tea, karak chai, kunefe, tres leches cake, and tiramisu. The thai tea was overly sweet and tasted like it came from a mix. The karak chai was watered down, lacking in flavor. The kunefe was half frozen and soggy with icy bits of cheese in the center. The tres leches and tiramisu were okay but were the classic trays you would get from a food service supplier that you can get at many other places. I don't think I would try any of their drinks or desserts again, but he did mention that the food is freshly made in house so I do want to try something savory next time.

The ugly: The owner responds confrontationally to every negative review, and mentioned that only pakistanis leave bad reviews (tinge of racism?). He questions why people left unsatisfied instead of addressing their concerns during their visit. For me, the reason is how defensive and confrontational he gets when someone leaves a constructive review. We were not comfortable addressing these concerns in person knowing how he tends to respond.

They're conveniently located and I love the atmosphere so I'm trying really hard to like this place; hopefully I'll have better luck next time.

Addendum: The owner responded and assumed I visited yesterday and asked about hookah - I did neither of those things. He is assuming who reviewers are and is trying to justify low quality food/drinks by deflecting. Well you got it wrong this time, buddy. If you made the kunefe yourself, then you need a new recipe or need to stop serving it once it goes stale. He also typed twice "thanks for taking your precious time to write a review" - I was trying to be genuine but thanks for responding with your sarcasm. He wrote that bad reviews are by those that "envy" his business and doesn't seem to be able to accept that maybe not everything that is served is good. Sometimes you just need to admit that there are flaws in your business & acknowledge it to try to improve. You seem to think that everything here is perfect and have difficulty keeping an open mind to the fact that people are reviewing to try to help you make it better.

A major issue that I noted with the menu is that it is very extensive and most often when establishments start with such a varied menu, quality suffers, clearly. If you make your drinks yourself, it would be wise to offer a sweetened or unsweetened option - that should be easy since you’re making your drinks yourself and not using mixes right? Also, just checked your socials and there are no videos of any chai being made, just stolen videos of coffee being brewed.

I did mention that the hospitality was great, although since my visit was back in Ramadan as I mentioned, there’s no way you could remember that.

Thanks for responding and proving my point about your uncalled-for...

On social media, this place was very hyped and looked very appealing to try. I drove from 45 mins away to come here and to be frank, the experience was a huge let down. It just kept getting worse and worse. Me and my friend came around 8:30pm to this place. It wasn't busy or packed. There was only one other group there. When we went to order, we asked for samosas.. the employee (with the black hat and black outfit) said they didn't have any. Okay, one thing not there-- it happens. Then we asked for 2 seekh kebabs. The employee said they'd make it for us. We also ordered the kashmiri chai and hookah. The service was very slow. For the hookah, we waited like 25 minutes and the chai took half an hour or so to be served to us. With high hopes, we thought it'd be good. The chai was very watered down, didn't have much flavor. My friend was telling me the hookah wasn't good either. While we were seated, much later on the waiter comes to me and tells us they don't have the spices to make the seekh kebab. Literally like 45 mins later.. he decided to tell us that. We asked if they can give us bun kebab or sharwarma.. they had nothing. They didn't even have fries. At this point, I felt it was getting ridiculous. Being out of stock of many things from the menu isn't a good look. The waiter said they sold out and don't have the ingredients, could only offer a paratha omelette. Starving, me and my friend had no choice but to eat that. And honestly.. it wasn't even a tasty omelette. No salt, flavor.. it was bland. I did ask the employee if we can get refunded for the seekh kebabs which he said he did already.. Another thing that I founded odd and annoying is the other group next to us had seekh kebabs served.. and they ordered after us. When I went to address that to the employee, he said "oh that kebab is from the morning and you guys wanted 2, they were okay with 1." So you're okay with serving not fresh food to the customer. Plus I found it shocking he thought it'd be okay to neglect our order when we ordered before the other group. I just felt the employee was showing some absurd and unfair behavior. Another thing that stuck to me is when we asked what time they closed, they said they close at 9:30. Meanwhile on Google it says they close at 11pm and after 9:30 hit, they still let people in. What really was our last straw is as we were leaving.. the guy yells across the room to charge us for the paratha omelette. Of course we would pay.. I just feel these staff members weren't the most professional or understanding. In some instances, I found them to be embarrassing. When we were trying to give our feedback, it felt we weren't being taken seriously and they were getting defensive at times. I felt they were also more money hungry rather than actually caring to show proper service & professionalism. Hugely disappointed, don't recommend and don't think I'll come back here. If you don't believe me, even the group that was seated at the other table besides me and my friend, agreed that the food and service wasn't good.

Edit, replying to owner's response: I'm actually so shocked and not impressed with your reply to the feedback. Instead of apologizing and being humble-- you are calling me a liar and doubting my review? Why would I lie about my experience? I'm not lying or exaggerating my negative time here. You can check the surveillance, no problem. As I have said before, I am not returning here. You are not giving decent reasons for a return. What I am saying is what happened. I have witnesses that will back me up on it. You as a owner can't handle negative feedback and it shows (not just with my review but with other one star reviews you also show unprofessional behavior)....

We were served food with an expiration date on it that said 12/17/2024. Also, the tiramisu tasted sour. We went as a group of 10, and six of us tried the tiramisu to be 100% sure that it had gone bad (it had). When we politely brought up these concerns to the owner, instead of taking responsibility, his response was “you are trying to bash small businesses. We don’t do this intentionally.” We know you don’t do it intentionally, but it is your responsibility as a business to check to make sure you aren’t serving food that is EXPIRED, INEDIBLE, and has the potential to make customers sick. The owner was 0% capable of taking responsibility for his mistakes, which made it that much harder for me to forgive them. I never write negative reviews, but the complete and total lack of professionalism and integrity led me to write this. We all ordered hot drinks. Some came out hot (perfect), but some came out cold? As if they had been sitting behind the counter for an hour. We ordered three parathas and they charged us for three, but when only two came out, they said that was all they had left. The only saving grace is that yes, we were refunded for the one we never got, but we had to go inquire at the front for a refund. To me, this showed that the top concern of this business was money, and not customer satisfaction or even fairness. I myself am a waitress at a small business, and I have been for seven years. Therefore, I completely empathize with the fact that mistakes do happen here and there. But, when mistakes do happen, it is the expectation of the establishment to accept responsibility, and offer a solution to make things right. But here, WE were made to feel like we were wrong for complaining about being served food with clearly written expiration dates past the date of which we were served it. No staff once said “I’m sorry” or “my mistake.” It was all turned back onto us with comments like “you must hate small businesses,” and sarcastic “thanks for coming buddy” as if to shoo us out of the building. The owner has an inability to see that something needs to change in his quality of service. It is clear in his responses to all of his negative reviews that he cannot accept fault or responsibility, which deeply concerns me, and is why I felt the need to write this review to warn others. We asked for ketchup four times over the course of the hour we were there before we had it brought to us. When it was finally brought, the owner brought it himself, and he said “Really? Ketchup for your paratha?” like he was judging the customer preference. The prices are out of control for the portions that are given. If the food was really, really delicious, I would be able to get by this fact. But, the tiramisu ($6.50) was expired, and the baklava and pistachio cake were mid. The baklava could literally be eaten in one bite and is $3.50. Again, if the food was outstanding, I wouldn’t mind paying this price. But, after trying the expired tiramisu and eating a paratha that tasted like it had just been defrosted in the freezer, the high prices bothered me and I felt like I had wasted my money. The vibe of this place is actually really cool! If the food was fresher, I could totally see myself hanging out there and going back again and again. It’s a real shame that the owner has an inability to accept fault or conduct quality control. I hope that one day he can learn to check food expiration dates before serving it and learn how to give a shit about customer health and happiness, because his small business...