Pista House Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Virginia

I have eaten at Pista House several times now and will try to be as constructive as possible. Firstly, we really enjoy the food, the quantity, and the prices. I like the heat of it (they have never once asked us how spicy we want it, and it usually comes out perfect for me and spicy for my husband. Welp, that's one way to crank up his spice tolerance!).

I am hugely partial to the fresh lime and mint drink-- it is amazingly refreshing on a hot day... muddled mint, fresh squeezed lime, a little sugar and YES a little salt. It hits the spot better than a lassi, IMO.

The happy hour menu is a great value, but it can be a little confusing.

The servers are usually really friendly and can answer most questions we throw at them. Yesterday, they offered me a container of extra rice to take home with my leftovers.

Now for some constructive feedback: The decor is a bit disjointed. They have lovely contemporary tables and booths, but there is this strange blue LED stripe along the bar and ambient blue LED lighting along the entire perimeter of the ceiling. The blue is not inviting. It makes me feel like I'm sitting in a club, rather than a quality restaurant. A restaurant should be inviting, comfortable, and even cozy... so warm tone lighting would be a massive improvement. Replace the blue with a soft amber color and put a votive on the table when your guests sit down and it will be a much more inviting experience.

I've been a few times where they did not seat us for dinner even though they were past their posted opening hours. Turns out they have a lunch buffet and were scrambling to clean up afterward. I'd recommend either changing your buffet hours or your dinner hours. A customer should never be left waiting after opening hours unless it's actually really busy.

The menu does not have descriptions for items. Because Indian cuisine is so regional, I usually rely on descriptions of unfamiliar items. At Pista, I find myself having to ask the waiter, or googling it on my phone. Please consider reprinting menus with descriptions for those unfamiliar with Hyderabadi specialties!

While the front of house staff is always friendly, the front of house always seems disorganized. Diners should never really get a whiff of confusion or pandemonium while they are there, yet at Pista, this has been a regular theme. Hustle is ok, but chaos is not.

I'd really love to see some improvements at this spot, because I think the food is great and they've got so...

An interesting take on buffet. There is a set menu and you are served at your table for lunch. If you are vegetarian, your white plate is replaced with a green plate. Then the service begins. Non-vegetarians have way more choices because they can have anything (or everything) from the vegetarian offerings as well. The food is served in courses. Appetizers first which normally includes a soup. Then the kabobs and bajjis/pakodas etc. There are usually at least two non-veg items and two vegetarian. Then the curries - usually three non-veg and there veg - with naan. About this point I am stuffed and I'm a big guy and I usually don't bother with the veg curries. Then the rice course that includes at least two non-veg biriyanis and two varieties of veg rice. And finally desserts - again at least 2 varieties. While the biriyanis are nothing to write home about their desserts are pretty unusual. Their kabob appetizers manage to be distinctly different from reach other (unlike your average Indian takeout where every curry tastes the same) and that goes for their curries as well. In the weekends they usually have some seafood items as well. If you like a particular dish simply ask for another serving and another and another.....

You leave stuffed and satisfied. Food is really good. I suspect this is because the food is prepared in small quantities. In most buffet places the dishes sit out and the fried ones get especially gross. But here the food served seems fresh. Dinner is ala carte to my knowledge. Pro tip: 1) Call ahead and reserve tables for Fridays and weekends. They do get busy. 2). Good place for keto dieters. I ask for seconds on the non-veg appetizers. Then avoid the naan and just have the curries. By the time it is time for the biriyanis I am so full I really can't have the carbs. 3). Give yourself some time. Because you are served courses, it goes slower than a buffet. A lunch can easily stretch into an hour to 75 mins.

Docked one star cos service was a bit slow last time. I've been there a few times and service is usually brisk. I'd give them 4.5...

Wish I could give this place less than 1 star (just giving it since they used to serve well). When this place has open some time back the food has been amazing and it was like a to go place for me.I used to drive from dc to Reston to have some good egg biryani (being a vegetarian).the quality and service has been deteriorated so badly that the biryani tastes like mixed fried rice.i thought the place got crowed so the the quality was reduced.But I used to still go for my friends who like the mutton biryani. but nowadays nothing seems to be up to the mark. Today something really crazy happened which I never expected at a Indian restaurant .i ordered an egg biryani which took more 1 n half hour to come after my friends had finished their food.Even thinking the the place was crowded thought it was fine. But while I was having biryani I found a bone (being a vegetarian my friend mentioned that it was mutton bone).This was the worst thing which has ever happened.when I explained to the manager, I wasn't well treated and he was not even understanding the situation.He was treating like a wrong order.I was astonished by his behavior and seeing his behavior I just walked out of restaurant.

This seems to be a restaurant who have got their fame previously and treating their customers like guinea pigs just to get money.I wouldn't recommend anyone to go here the food is so deteriorated and the service has been terrible.I would appreciate the management to put some time and organize their kitchen and serving.It is like you are in fish market than rather a good...