One of my families favorite places to go in south end. We have yet to have a bad appetizer or meal…read more Their menu is compact, and brimming with flavor. We have had items from vegetarian to lamb and chicken and we have not been disappointed. The naan is phenomenal and supports the dishes wonderfully. To top it off there is plenty of rice to go around! The servers are very pleasant and attentive. It can get busy some evenings, but lunch typically is a slower time.

Modern Indian food in Charlotte, NC 3.75/5…read moreI haven't been here in years, but I used to come here a lot growing up, so I was excited to try it again. The food was good, but nothing out of this world. I ordered the Keema Bhatura Chaat ($14), Murgh Tikka Masala ($21), and garlic naan ($5). The chaat was definitely my favorite--it was delicious and really stood out. The curry, on the other hand, was just okay. I wish it had a bit more flavor. Overall, it was decent, but not as good as I remembered.

I stumbled upon this place last summer with a friend and we sat at the bar and just to head there…read morespicy cauliflower and the bartenders selection. Everything was fantastic. The last couple of times I've been was with my work group. We ordered several items for our table and then we also ordered entrées. Each time I visited this location everything is very nice and clean and the food as spicy as it is is very well seasoned and tasty. All of the sauces and curry creams were cooked to perfection hot in temperature not too hot to enjoy. Our servers were very kind and patient and courteous to us as we made our decisions. They also made perfect combination for our selections. And the best selections for drinks and desserts. Since then, I've even ordered on Uber eats and my food came just as perfect. This is a great go to place for good Indian food. If you're in the uptown area it's located below the Green parking lot, which is across from the Knight theater. It's just a good place even if you want a good drink at the bar. Enjoy!

Excellent ambience with a fine dining experience…read more The food is flavorful with a good variety of dishes, and the presentation is impressive. Service is courteous and attentive. Overall, it's a nice place to enjaoy quality food along with a great view.

So far best Indian food I've had in Charlotte. I would…read moreorder ahead and it'll be hot and ready when you get there. This place is always so busy, but food is always spot on. The naan is Devine. Butter chicken or chicken tikka masala are my current favorites. Five spot but they are beautifying the inside and it seems they are creating room to dive in.

3 out of 5 stars is generous. The best part may have been the service but the food we had was not…read moregood. We bought the aloo gobi and 2 sides. The naan and samosas were typical but the aloo gobi had more of a watery tomato taste than the thicker sauce I was expecting. I could also tell the vegetables didn't marinate long enough as they were almost seasonless and undercooked. Also, the restaurant was simply dirty. Wouldn't recommend this place. I did like how they offer mouth refreshers at the front desk, though (cardamom pods, fennel seeds, cloves, etc)

Got the chicken korma and the garlic naan. And you should too! Excellent food, Very friendly…read moreservice.

Trash Staff was rude very un knowledgeable, tacky and not…read moreattentive to their guest. Can you please just do a better job at servicing your company and your guest it wasn't even busy and she act like she could not wait on us. She said they had the cheapest drinks in the alley, but still kept moving around and not checking to see what we wanted. She also said they didn't have specials, but they also had a special menu outside.

This place is a hidden gem. I always spend the night near…read moreairport when flying home looking for a good meal. I found on Yelp and it did not disappoint. I ordered a hot and asked for the hottest since non Asian they asked me twice. I did get a very spicy meal with soup and loved it. I'll be back. Rick

Palak(Saag) was pretty good. High standard stuff for Indian cuisine from what I've tasted. The…read morechicken in the saag was dreadful, absolutely horrible. I was served fast and got a plentiful portion. Naan was good and rice was fine. The 4$ soup I had was also pleasant 4/5.

I had an amazing experience here. I read about the owner of this restaurant. He's a James Beard…read morefinalist in his Asheville restaurant, so I had to try this here in Charlotte inside Optimus Hall. And it was an experience I will not forget, and I have to come back here. You have to order off the street food menu if you really want something different that you would normally not see at other Indian restaurants. I got the SPDP which were savory puffed flour crisps filled with sweet yogurt chutney, potatoes, onion, and cilantro, and it was loke nothing I've ever had before. Total flavor bomb. Then I got the chicken tikka roll. So delicious and huge and filling, with that perfect savory and acid going at the same time. I'll definitely be back since I can't stop thinking about it. Lol

Botiwalla at Optimist Hall is such a fun, colorful, energetic little spot, and honestly one of the…read moremore charming fast-casual concepts I've tried lately. If you're heading there, it's closest to the Duke Energy side off 16th Street, and parking is actually pretty easy. Just make sure you scan one of the QR codes for the Metropolis parking system so you don't accidentally get ticketed. There are signs everywhere, so it's pretty straightforward. The setup at Botiwalla is super organized. You queue from outside the storefront, but the menu boards and specials are large, bright, and easy to read while you wait. The vibe inside is playful and campy in the best way -- Bollywood-inspired touches, fun signage, colorful details, Indian hip-hop playing in the background, and lots to look at while you wait for your food. The staff member taking orders was friendly, professional, repeated the order back correctly, asked smart questions, and they take Apple Pay, which is always appreciated. I ordered the Butter Chicken Thali and it was beautifully presented in a compostable divided tray. The complete breakdown of the meal included: * Grilled chicken tikka in a rich, velvety tomato-cream-butter sauce enriched with sweet jaggery and roasted garam masala * Fragrant jeera (cumin) rice * Warm naan * Cool raita * Tangy, crisp desi slaw * A sweet, syrupy gulab jamun for dessert The butter chicken sauce was fragrant, creamy, and comforting, and the naan was perfect for scooping up every last bit of it. The chicken portions were generous with large chunks of white meat, and overall the meal felt satisfying and thoughtfully prepared. One small heads-up: because the takeout containers are fully compostable and not wax-lined, the sauce does start soaking into the packaging fairly quickly. If you're taking leftovers home, definitely transfer everything into another container sooner rather than later. My only real disappointment was the chai. I ordered it hot so I could ice it later at home, but unfortunately it was extremely weak and lacked that bold masala spice flavor I personally expect from chai. If you love strong, robust chai like David Rio's Tiger Spice or a traditional masala chai, this one may leave you wanting more. At around $4, it just didn't deliver the flavor punch I was hoping for. That said, the food, atmosphere, service, organization, and overall experience were absolutely worth the visit. Optimist Hall can feel hectic, but Botiwalla manages to feel upbeat, efficient, and welcoming all at once. Life's too short to not eat well.

Went here for weekend late lunch. There were not many customers dining in; not sure if it was…read morebecause it is a new restaurant or because the parking in South End is inconvenient. The menu offers a variety of options. We started with fried broccoli as appetizers- the sweetness driven by honey was good. Butter chicken was recommended and we also had a chef's lamb. Both were pretty tasty but I would go with butter chicken if I had to choose. Mango lassi has cream and cherry - can tell it's fusion, nice for photos but really unnecessary. Spicy level is very mild. Range 1-5, I cannot taste any spicy when we ordered a 3. Recommend to go with higher levels if you want a real spicy dish. Also, T-mobile has barely any signal in the restaurant. AT&T and Verizon work fine.

Good addition in the mix of restaurants at Southend…read more We started off with some papad and Indian beer (they don't have hard liquor license yet). Chutneys with the papad were tasty. We asked for off the menu item for our kids - that was fried rice, and chef accommodated our request. That's nice of them. Fried rice was actually tasty and our kids enjoyed picking all the veggies and eating them first! Chicken 65 was tasty. Chicken chettinadu wasn't the best we had. I feel they have customized the menu to suit American pallet more, which is fair for the location it sits in. Service was fast and server was polite too. Wasn't really busy when we went - we were the first table to be occupied and by the time we left there were 2 more tables occupied. So plenty of space if you are looking to try a new restaurant without the wait in south end!

Awesome service and the food was amazing! I tried the Biryani Rice Vegetable Bowl, with the Shack…read moreNaan and the Lemonade with Mandarin Cardoman!! wow!!!!

My wife was craving Indian tonight and I thought to try somewhere new to order from (first and last…read moretime here). My wife is severely allergic to treenuts and about a year ago we had a scary visit to the ER because we encountered an Indian restaurant that used cashews in their butter chicken recipe (not always done but sometimes restaurants use it). SO, prior to ordering on DoorDash, I called the restaurant and asked if they use treenuts, specifically cashews in their recipe. The person over the phone said "No, we don't do that." We placed the order and after arriving my wife felt suspicious about it due to the creaminess/color. The restaurant, even though they were still open, did not answer the phone (3 calls from me and 2 from my wife). It was then we found out that this is a corporate chain so my wife called multiple locations even outside of the state. Guess what all of them said after we asked the same question? Yup, the butter chicken does contain cashews. If we didn't take these extra steps ourselves, instead of wasting my time here writing this review I'd be sitting next to my wife at the hospital risking terrible things happening to her. Poor training can be found anywhere, but for a corporate establishment to fail on this with such a simple task of knowing your own menu? And again, with a serious matter such as food allergies that are potentially lethal? I'm beyond furious. For the sake of a "review" that isn't personal, just about allergies and staff being negligent, I tried the butter chicken and original curry chicken. The butter chicken is made with breast instead of thighs (Americanized "Indian" cuisine I get it) so the sauce was merely a coating and didn't absorb much flavor into the meat. Some pieces were okay, others very dry. As for the original curry, somehow worse. Very dry throughout the meat and just tasted of a chili stew. Not very aromatic besides a slight touch of ginger. For Indian fast food I guess it's decent but the price does not match; if you're looking for something authentic or close and not worried about your wife going to the hospital and being severely hurt or dying, 3.5/10.

I used to pass this restaurant often when there was a Clothes Mentor next door. I decided to try…read morethem for lunch via DoorDash. I ordered samosa (2 in one order) and Shahi paneer lunch with naan. There was plenty of sauce and more rice than I needed. I love cheese anyway but the paneer was good. I don't frequent the area but may consider dine in to experience the service for a full review.

Visited with a friend after we came across a social media post sharing that Maharani is the oldest…read moreoperating Indian restaurant in Charlotte! The lunchtime atmosphere was calm and service was quick. All of the food was delicious and the portions were great. Will definitely visit again for more paneer!

Was in the mood for Indian food. Since I've seen quite a few reviews on social media, my husband…read moreand I decided to try this place out. We started with an order on samosas which were really good and they had a nice kick. We did chicken biryani and the nalan special curry and naan bread. Everything was really good and packed with flavor. Will definitely return! Tara was our waitress a d was really nice!

Loved this restaurant!…read more First off, location is great - I feel like Indian food was missing on the map in this area and Nalan is a great addition. We tried a couple of their appetizers (chicken was recommended by the staff), and we loved it. Flavorful and well cooked. They custom made fried rice for my kids (if you've been following my reviews you'd know my kids love their rice at the restaurants), and fried rice was so tasty - my husband and I couldn't help ourselves from eating their rice. Chicken curry was delicious too - well balanced spices. My husband asked for high spice level on Dal and they delivered, it was yummy! My toddler loved the garlic naan and downed a good portion of it - yay! Their tamarind whisky sour was yum yum! My only complain is the service of appetizers. We requested papad for a quick bite and they didn't deliver until the brought rest of the appetizers. On our second order of papad again, they came so late we had to turn it down. But manager at duty took note of it and acknowledged the delay (that's a sign of a great service, hence a 5 star). Overall a good find for us - we will be back.