Cafe India — Restaurant in Visalia

Stayed in Visalia last week for a trip to Sequoia national park and after a long drive was looking for Indian food and given it was closest to my place of stay, despite the average ratings, ordered food for take-out. There was some rush that day so after placing the order, was told to wait for 45 minutes. Came back after 45 minutes and collected the food but after reaching my place, found naans were missing. Went back and attendant promptly apologized, and we got the naans within few minutes. So full marks to the staff there for their lovely gesture.

However, the good experience is limited to that. Naan turned out to be too hard to chew, chicken was tasteless and too oily, rice was stale. Not sure if restaurant follows any quality control. What is even more shocking is, I see a lot of rude responses from the owner to many a customers reviews. So a note to the owner.. Sir, if you sell Indian food, please learn some etiquettes and civility. No one has time to signal you out without reason and there aren’t any other restaurants in Visalia with similar name so no, no one is getting the address wrong. It’s just you who is just choosing to not take any negative feedback which eventually will make sure that you won’t improve. After that you can very well choose to get some paid reviews and increase the rating and increase the footfalls in your restaurant, but eventually people will walk out disappointed because you didn’t choose to listen. If you are okay to live in a cocoon where you feel your food is great whereas your customers feel other way, then my best wishes to you. You can again very well choose to trash my review with your chosen words and you have all right in the world to do that but may not help you in long run.

P.S: You can take a cue from your own staff on how to fix an...

This has been our 'go to' place for Indian food for a long time. (The previous occupant also served Indian food, but the food and the service was lacking) When we heard recently that it was up for sale, we were sad:( Now that it HAS sold, we will cross our fingers and give the new owners a try) We are happy to have had the best Indian food in the entire area for several years. The atmosphere, the food, and the prompt, friendly service has always been excellent. In addition to the great food, the impressive wine list and nice selection of Imported Indian beer was a plus. We have enjoyed all they have to offer: daily lunch buffet at an affordable price, a great alacarte' dinner menu, and a nice Sunday champagne brunch with even more items on the buffet, as well as several non-alcohol choices in lieu of champagne. As far as service goes, they always remember to offer my husband their 🔥'hot sauce' on the side. (I can only do mild to medium) They don't mind my weird quirks like; "no butter on my naan", 😯 ? When I was not feeling well we did A LOT of take-out, (especially since several Indian spices are a natural anti-inflammatory:) Again, they were so nice, recalling a few items I had ordered before; 😵?? They always put in some of their 🔥'hot sauce' even if I forgot to mention it! We realize raising two little ones is very hard when operating a restaurant 7 days a week. (We couldn't help but notice the kids at a small table up front doing homework on weekdays) They were always well behaved..never crying or whining to go home. We wish them the best..and plan to try out the father-in-law's place in Bakersfield when in...

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!! I've travelled across west and central US and my choice was always been biriyani in Indian restaurant and it was our mistake we got carried away with reviews and pictures posted here, I wonder if those reviews were legitimate and not paid or some sort of bot. We ordered lamb biriyani, chicken biryani, SORRY, SORRY I must say chat/khichdi masala biriyani, all they did was added powder to water and eventually mixed it water. Here are the pics of the Biriyani, and on top they don't serve raita on side for the biriyani, I had pay extra 2.50$ to get small pack, if you claim to be authentic Indian restaurant, try to live up to the expectation how it's served back in India. Above all WORST and HORRIBLE was the mango lassi, it was bitter and had strong pungent smell, probably it was refrigerated for long. Since we got the food for our dinner we ended up eating half of what we ordered and had to throw the food (I don't like wasting food, but at the same time I can't risk upsetting my stomach), sad part our two and half year old son refused to eat and ended giving him cupcakes. I wish their restaurant is regularly inspected for the quality of food and how it's prepared. If you would like to know how Indian food really tastes, please stay away from...