I typically don't give bad reviews, but this restaurant deserves it. First, I'll say that the food is in fact authentic Indian cuisine, and fairly decent. The problem is everything else...
A few months ago, I tried to call in an order for take out. Twice I was hung up. So I wasted time driving there just so I could place my order. When I asked the host why they had hung up on me, his reply was ""sorry we were busy"". I look around and there were only 3 tables filled in the whole restaurant! They call this ""busy""?? As I'm waiting 45 minutes for my food take out order, I cringe at the aweful decor: every wall is painted red with barely any decorations, and (of course) a television blaring cheesy Bollywood music videos.
Then last Sunday, my girlfriend wanted to eat there a hour and a half before our movie started. The [one] hostess/waitress working the dining room told us that some items on the menu weren't available because ""the person who normally makes those isn't here right now"". (??) She was mostly absent from the dining room after that because, as we found out later, she spent the majority of her time in the kitchen helping to cook the food. Well, the food took SO long to come out that four people at an adjacent table got up and left. Later, a lady seated by herself also left complaining. What set me over the edge was how both restrooms looked and smelled as if they literally had not been cleaned in 3 weeks. I mean, they smelled like the outdoor public restrooms at the beach or the local park! It was disgusting!! Needless to say, we did not make the movie on time, and for all of our troubles, we were actually charged a little over $60.
For this place to even stay in business:
1. The restrooms need to be cleaned EVERY SINGLE DAY (no exceptions!!) If you're so cheap that you refuse to hire someone to come in and clean your restrooms on a regular basis, then women especially will not want to visit your restaurant. It's just that simple. Putting jasmine beads in a bowl on the counter will NOT make the smell go away; it requires bleach, a good mop and bucket, a toilet bowl scrubber, and making sure all necessary restroom supplies are refilled.
2. The dining room needs to be decorated (by a professional). Customers do NOT want to sit in a big empty red box with nothing to do but watch cheesy Indian music videos. They need to paint some of the walls a different color, put up some interesting Indian decorations, put a couch in the corner, etc. Make the place look less like a brothel and more like a comfortable home so that it looks inviting.
3. There needs to be AT LEAST TWO servers taking care of customers at all times, and doing host/hostess duties as soon as potential guests walk in the door. If people have to stand around waiting for more than 5 minutes just to be seated (especially when they can see that the restaurant is fairly empty anyway) then they will leave! If customers are sitting around for 45 minutes waiting for their food to arrive, then they will leave! You cannot get away with having just 1 cook and 1 server to take care of a restaurant, tend to 5 full tables, plus host, answer the phone, process payments, etc.
4. There needs to be more people cooking. More cooks not only means faster service, it also means being able to take orders over the phone and sell more food.
Good food is just one facet of running a successful restaurant, and if the current owners of Curriez continue running the place as they have done, they will soon find themselves out of business.
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