Bollywood Bites

CLOSED!!! Invalid number! No longer open! Website still up with no contact info. Google map links you to a strip mall and an Indian grocery. BS

CLOSED I’m sad to report that this little slice of heaven has closed. I’m crying in my mango lassi.

Don’t eat here! I had the pav bhaji and on the last bite I discovered a dead cockroach. I went back n gave the cockroach back. They nicely returned my money but damage is done– permanently.

Made the trip here on 12÷29÷12 and unfortunately this placed is closed down. Not a sign of life nor morsel of Indian food. Only a FOR LEASE sign in the window.

Bollywood Bites is both so wonderful, and so ghastly messed up that it’s hard to write a proper review that reflects how wildly it swings to both sides of the spectrum.
I happened to be driving right past the location today so I stopped in to pick up some chaat, just a quick little snack. It is indeed nearly impossible to find the restaurant. Just when you’re about to give up, drive 100 feet farther and it’s on your left.
The woman in the front was nice and smiled a lot, but understood very little I asked, so I just went with an order of Samosas and an order of Aloo Tiki. She told me, «No credit card.» I said fine, that I’d brought cash. She said she would go drop off my order in the kitchen and come ring me up. I stood at the counter for five minutes before I decided to sit in one of the plastic chairs. I realized she wasn’t coming back for awhile.
She brought out my food about ten minutes later and told me it would be $ 7. I handed her a $ 20. She went in the back, then came back and asked me if I didn’t have $ 7 exactly. I said I didn’t, and asked if she’d take a check or something. (Lots of miming with my checkbook here.) She shook her head and made a phone call. I spent another 5 – 10 minutes waiting while she was in the back with my $ 20 trying to figure out what to do with it.
Finally she came back to the front and went over to the cash register, that had been ignored throughout this whole time. While still on the phone she tentatively pressed a button twice and *woosh!* the cash register drawer flew open and her eyes lit up. Yes, she had to make a phone call to figure out how to get change for a $ 20.
I left, amused at how screwy this place was and expecting never to return. Then I got home, and I tried the food.
Here’s the deal, the Aloo Tikki was the most flavorful Aloo Tikki I’ve ever had in my life. The Samosas were incredible. It is quite clear that there is a master in the kitchen at Bollywood Bites.
But it is equally clear that the management of this little hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant is horribly inept. Both from the reviews here, and from my own personal experience trying to simply order $ 7 worth of food from them.
Whoever is running the show has made a series of bad decisions and wrong turns. The location is terrible. The lack of tables is ridiculous. Leaving a woman to manage the orders who can’t communicate and doesn’t know how to open a cash register is laughable.
I don’t know whether to love Bollywood Bites or hate it. I am absolutely sure I will be back to try more of the delicious food, but I won’t get too attached to the restaurant. It just doesn’t feel like a place that’s going to be there more than a couple of years at the rate it’s being managed.

This is small Vegetarian takeout Indian food place. Though the menu is limited, food is made freshly. I tired Bombay sandwich, samosa, samosa chat, Chole, Gulab Jamun, mango lassi and Chai. I have been to this place around 6 – 7 times and I have seen people coming for Tea and Samosa (5pm snack in India). Very limited curry menu

This place is super DELISH! Every time I go and get something I feel like I am eating my mom’s food. All vegetarian & vegan food. Its a hole in the wall but once you try their food you’ll keep coming back for more. This isn’t a place where you can sit and eat so you’ll have to do take out and enjoy it elsewhere. Can’t get enough!!!

I prefer Rabhjog which is North of Charlotte, that being said, if i’m in the area and feeling some samosa chaat I’ll still stop by.
It’s a little hard to find but I think that’s half the fun.

Some fairly good street food that isn’t easy to find in North Carolina. The service is less than cordial, and while the food is good, it’s not always worth the hassle. I personally enjoy their chole bhature and kathi roll. Most of their food won’t disappoint. It’s just too bad there’s no place to sit. Worth the visit and it is one of the better Indian restaurants in the area.
The hours are horrendous. They close at 8:00pm except on weekends, which is 9:00pm. I recently went there on a Thursday, called at 7:30pm, no one picked up (this has happened before, so I figured I’d just order in person). When I arrived at 7:50pm, I was refused service with a hideously smug smile in which a single person declined my business and said they were closed.
Another time I went, they got my order wrong (intentionally). I specifically ordered batata vada and even spelled it out because my pronunciation is terrible. They gave me the overpriced vada pau (which I can pronounce, and also, don’t get that item because you’re really only buying the bun. In India and some other restaurants they give you much larger vada pau worth your money).
The food is good, I won’t deny that, but the service is utterly horrible. Almost every single person’s attitude is terrible.

Bollywood is what you’d call an Indian snack spot, small servings, take out only and cheap prices. I truly love Indian food which has to be the only reason I would drive cross country to visit this place from my side of town. It was certainly worth the drive. The young lady working the register was so patient with me being such an indecisive patron… I do believe I need medical assistance for that issue:-) I finally decided on the Pani Puri, paneer tikka masala and samosa’s and everything was great. I think I will return to try the Mah ki Daal as they were out.

The very first thing you would need to know, this place is Take Out Only!
I thought of checking this place out for lunch since I found out this is one of the very few (or the only one I know) places in Charlotte that serves Indian Maharashtrian street food, one of the biggest things I miss about India.
When we walked in, the place was empty, but then the owner heard the door open and came out to take our order. I was having a little tough time explaining all the dishes to my boyfriend, but then the owner gave me a menu that explained most dishes for someone not familiar with Indian terms.
Just like someone else said in their reviews, I was disappointed when I wasn’t greeted or did not even get a smile. I tried to ease whatever tension was in the air by discussing some of the food items on the menu but it seemed like it was such a big task to get the lady to even talk to me.
That being said, the food still gets this place 5 stars and since it’s a take out place, the lack of smiles doesn’t bother me that much. Definitely a place to check out if you want to try something more than the usual South Indian or North Indian food.
The «bataka vada» (which should be ‘batata’ vada) was delicious! Even writing about it here is making me drool. My boyfriend had the paneer kathi rool and I had the Bombay grill sandwich, both of which were great. My masala chai was good too!
Something about the sev puri amused me though. They gave us whole puris, potatoes, noodles and sauces/​chutneys separately and I had to make the puris (or mix it into the end product) myself when I got home. I see the reason why they did it, it is to keep the puris from going soggy with the sauces filled in them too long, but I doubt someone who is not familiar with Indian street food would understand what to do with a bunch of puffed up puris and sauces or how to make the sev puri.
FYI, you need to tap one side of a puri to make a hole through which you put in just a bit of potatoes, mint chutney, tamarind sauce, yogurt and then top it with the sev (noodles) and eat the whole thing in one go! I hope this helps some confused soul out there in tasting this mouth-​watering off-​beat cuisine
Update: Make sure the yogurt and chutneys are fresh before you take food home. I once got a bad batch where the yogurt had gone sour and the chutney container was puffed up with mold growing on the surface. Since it was too late to go back, I mentioned that to the owner the next time I went there, but they did not even so much as apologize for it. That did seem a little rude to me and so I had to knock off one star for service.

Wow! I really like the food here.
The place is a dive and really can be difficult to find. But I think for the taste and price it really is worth the trip to South Blvd. It is just a walk-​up counter where you order the food and then wait in a dingy seating area. To-​Go food only. Service is very lacking. I don’t think they have ever heard of the phrase «service with a smile.» But the food is the only reason I come here. My favorites to order are the: Bhel, Paneer Tika Masala and Chhole-​Bhature. Sooo Good!
If you like Indian food then this is a must try for a quick to-​go Indian meal.

Take out only! Glad someone told me it was Take out — I was going to take a date out, though date out and take out are not a pairing I would normally choose by choice, unless it were you! Getting kicked out (nor kicked in) is never what I have in mind. They do have two Picnic tables out back… This whole place is out back and if the weather is decent you will probably get eaten by mosquitoes if eating outdoors here!
Hidden!!! This place is well hidden! Thinking I would just ride up and down Polk Road (for two weeks though not continuously) until I saw it, and did four times Saturday Night (date night in case you don’t know) and finally walked in to India Grocer and they politely pointed me in the right direction.
Vegetarian ONLY!!! The guy working there was great! He explained everything and made some suggestions.
Rated: Baigan Bhartha 5 Unilocal stars
Undhiyu Curry 4 Unilocal stars
Rice 3 Unilocal stars
Service 5 Unilocal stars
Bread 3 Unilocal stars
Masala Tea 5 Unilocal stars
Masala Tea (Chai) when it is good I’m crazy about it and when it is not it I will not use that language! This Masala Tea (as they call it at Bollywood Bites) was the best or a close tie for best! He said we make it Spicy (that got my attention) I said «can you make it sweet and creamy» he said «yes» and they did, it was — Whoa Dessert, Caffeine and Whoa again! Wish I would have ordered three!
Videos! While you wait you can see some of the Richly Colorful Bollywood Music Videos!
Worth the Drive… YES! it is worth the drive! Yes the Service is SuperBoy on Indian Fantastic! One time a girl waited on me and she was very kind and helpful!

Holy god, this place is delish. But if you’re stuffing your face with deep fried, hot toddy S. Indian goodness, tables in full 95 degree sunlight don’t work as seating — an umbrella, perhaps, would make this an easier lunchtime sell.
Fav? Lilva Katchori — tiny nuggets of buckwheat groats and mustard seeds, turmeric, curry leaves, covered in pastry and fried. Crunchy, textural, rad. Comes with their house hot tamarind sauce — a sweet, gradually crescendoing spice experience, thin, and everything tastes better dipped in it.
Got some sort of sandwich, let’s go with curry and lime pickle and chickpea spread — and damn, it was awesome. A slider by way of Punjab. Killer.
Prices are low to mid — and there are things being made here that you can’t get anywhere else, plus the classics are fab — samosas, two huuuuge pastry-​covered piles of fennel seed, potato, unidentifiable delish, for 3 bucks. A garlicy, smoky dal, multiple legumes, a cup or so of Paneer Masala, a perfect amount of rice, papadum, and thin, pancake-​like Naan, for 7. Sweet.

This place is fantastic. It’s very authentic and the customer service we experienced was great. The lady at the register took the time to explain all of the dishes to us. It is carryout only and our food took about 20 minutes as they said it would. I would call ahead next time and order.
I had Chhole Tikki, which was a chick pea dish with something like potato pancakes in it. It was fantastic and tasted like authentic Indian food that friends have made for us. We also has Samosas and I think they were easily the best in the area.
My husband had a combo with a dal and a curry. I think it was the Tikka Masala and Five Daal. It was also very good.
I highly recommend this carryout. It’s much better than any of the Indian restaurants in Charlotte and is also much cheaper. It’s vegetarian, but I didn’t really miss meat. We spent $ 15 total on an appetizer and two entrees.
It is hidden away and is in the very back of the 3 rows of buildings on the same street as the Arby’s.

Last weeks creative loafing had an article about Bollywood Bites that inspired me to give it a
co-​worker is married to an Indian man and is quite familiar with the cuisine (I am not) — so she offered to take a group of us in and help us decide what to get.
Be warned: This place is difficult to find –CL didn’t refer to it as a hidden gem for nothing. If you look on their website they give great directions with a map, making it much easier.
Also be warned that if your meal is under $ 10 it is cash only. We came with a group of 7 and waited for about a half hour for our meals… it is take-​out only, so this may not be ideal for a workday lunch unless you work in the vicinity. They also do not have everything listed on their menu on a given day– so unless you are extremely familiar with Indian fare — I recommend going in and talking to the lady rather than calling the order in. She was friendly and helpful.
Despite the above warnings, the food itself is really beyond delicious and earns the four stars solidly. My co-​worker said it reminded her of meals cooked in her in-​laws kitchen.
I ordered the paneer tikka masala (Which was killer) make sure you get the roti that goes with it. I also had the Pani Puri (which isnt on their menu online). If you have never tried Pani Puri — get it now! So delicious. make sure you ask how to eat it though or you’ll be lost. I had quite a bit of food for $ 9– the menu is super affordable.
Keep in mind everything is vegan and/​or vegetarian.
This gem was certainly worth the effort of finding!

LOVE THIS PLACE!!! It is completely awesome to have another Indian option in this particular part of town. Service was awesome. Went straight in, place my order after talking to the staff about the vegan options (THIS IS A MUST) and immediately got my food.
BEST thing about this place is price value. You can get an appropriately sized serving and the price is outstanding. I look forward to returning!

This place is unprofessional in every way possible.
It’s really a shame that for a place that serves up very decent, authentic indian cuisine, that the customer service is so deplorable. My parents and I went in today to pick up an order of undhia and bhajia at 6pm. They had pre-​ordered it and arranged the pick up time. We were told to wait for 5 minutes, which we did with no problem. 5 minutes turned into 10, 15, and almost 20. When it finally came out my father rightly expressed concern about the timing since we were ordering a very large amount for a special event. The owner snidely replied, well, if you are so concerned, then why are you even ordering from us?
Ummm, say what?
First rule of customer service, the customer is always right. And even if they are obnoxious, which we were not, you APOLOGIZE for being late. And you don’t make snide comments.
And here’s the kicker, we let it slide because there were other people in the store, and when we got home we realized we had gotten the WRONG order, we had 2 orders of bhajias. So we called the owner, Hetal, to note this error. Instead of an apology (at this point we were owed two) we got her adamant denial that she was in the wrong. No, it was us who had placed a wrong order. My father expressed his disapproval of her behavior and you know what she said? I don’t have to listen to you, I’ve opened restaurants before, I don’t need to be told how to run it.
UM, actually, you do. Because you are RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL, and cocky enough to think that just because your food is good, you can get by with the worst service I have ever encountered. This is America, you can’t treat your customers like this and get away with it.
And it’s such a shame, because in this small indian community of Charlotte, one wants to spread the word about their fellow indian’s business and help them out. But this place is not worth all the undhia in the world. It left a really bad taste in my mouth and we will never step foot in there again.