India Sweets & Spices

Awesome combination of Indian cafeteria and Indian grocery store. This is the best place I've found to buy a lot of spices, particularly stuff like cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. The cafeteria food is alright, but a little bland. Still an awesome place overall. more

As Indians, when we moved to Burbank some months back, it was amusing to hear such a variety of quality complaints about the nearest Indian grocery-India Sweets & Spices, Los Feliz, from our fellow Indian friends/ colleagues. We were advised to always travel to Artesia(30 miles away!)for our Indian ration! Still, from October, 2011- March, 2012, we made 3 trips to this grocery..guess we were destined to learn the hard way! Our 1st visit was near Diwali and focussed mainly on a mixture of festival sweets. While most of these turned out okay, some turned out stony hard from the middle. I didn't buy some Diwali decorations that I really liked coz I thought them unreasonably overpriced. However, the real nightmares were related to subsequent visits when we bought a large amount of Indian food supplies. The stuff that turned out right doesn't matter in this case-Our chickpeas, and black Bengal gram were worm infected (yes!), so I'd to throw away entire packs! Unshelled pistachios some of which our kid and us consumed as soon as we came home turned out to have fungus on closer inspection later that day! I actually consoled us by the fact people stayed fine on daredevil TV shows even after consuming much worse stuff! My husband and I had an exhausting time on each visit. Imagine having to scan EVERY single item you intend to buy to ensure its date is still valid! Many items here don't have any relevant dating information one wud like to know before a buying desicion,like our pistachios. Many items in the Indian namkeens and snacks section are past their expiry or best before dates;stale and soggy; and we saw some with their dating info.blackened out!! That's why we couldn't buy many items in the quantity we intended to despite so many lying around. In fact, on our 2nd visit, a lady arranging namkeen packs tried to motivate us to buy more since they'd a discount. When my husband saw that the pack he picked up was past its expiry date and pointed out the purposelessness of a discount at the cost of one's health, she seemed embarrassed and tried to point out fresher stuff. Twice we also politely expressed similar concerns about the freshness of products to the elderly gentleman, who seems to be the main owner. He too merely tried to smilingly avoid the issue by immediately offering to bring out fresher stock or pointing out alternate stuff, and trying to engage one in over familiar chatter( which wud be tolerable if the quality of their products also was!) Finally, the receipt we get for our purchases is the most absurd I've ever seen! No item names! It is a printout of different prices against a single code repeating itself(ex: 'DEPT 19' repeating 25 times if one buys 25 items!), perhaps only meant to be comprehended by the sellers,not by the poor guys emptying their pockets on whatever it stands for! Anyway, it has taken us 3 visits and over $350 to conclude we NEVER WANNA GO BACK there because we now have zero trust in their quality practices or in their concern for their customer's wellbeing. I feel so cheated and angry at having spent time & hard earned money to buy things only to throw them into the trash! I know that the owners have been made aware of such overwhelming quality concerns by people like us yet it doesn't seem like they really care, as long as they can go on(thanks perhaps to so many people who will complain bitterly but never make an effort to write down their experiences!) Perhaps the owners are happy sticking to profits with the very ordinary fare at their restaurant section, where the prices are cheap, but coming straight from India I know how much better the taste shud be.(I liked only the mango lassi).I admit I terribly wanted India Sweets & Spices to've worked out right for me. But,when a business cares so little for its responsibility towards its customers and seems so determined not to gain the goodwill of those who give it a chance, one really has no choice! more

As Indians, when we moved to Burbank some months back, it was amusing to hear such a variety of quality complaints about the nearest Indian grocery-India Sweets & Spices, Los Feliz, from our fellow Indian friends/ colleagues. We were advised to always travel to Artesia(30 miles away!)for our Indian ration! Still, from October, 2011- March, 2012, we made 3 trips to this grocery..guess we were destined to learn the hard way! Our 1st visit was near Diwali and focussed mainly on a mixture of festival sweets. While most of these turned out okay, some turned out stony hard from the middle. I didn't buy some Diwali decorations that I really liked coz I thought them unreasonably overpriced. However, the real nightmares were related to subsequent visits when we bought a large amount of Indian food supplies. The stuff that turned out right doesn't matter in this case-Our chickpeas, and black Bengal gram were worm infected (yes!), so I'd to throw away entire packs! Unshelled pistachios some of which our kid and us consumed as soon as we came home turned out to have fungus on closer inspection later that day! I actually consoled us by the fact people stayed fine on daredevil TV shows even after consuming much worse stuff! My husband and I had an exhausting time on each visit. Imagine having to scan EVERY single item you intend to buy to ensure its date is still valid! Many items here don't have any relevant dating information one wud like to know before a buying desicion,like our pistachios. Many items in the Indian namkeens and snacks section are past their expiry or best before dates;stale and soggy; and we saw some with their dating info.blackened out!! That's why we couldn't buy many items in the quantity we intended to despite so many lying around. In fact, on our 2nd visit, a lady arranging namkeen packs tried to motivate us to buy more since they'd a discount. When my husband saw that the pack he picked up was past its expiry date and pointed out the purposelessness of a discount at the cost of one's health, she seemed embarrassed and tried to point out fresher stuff. Twice we also politely expressed similar concerns about the freshness of products to the elderly gentleman, who seems to be the main owner. He too merely tried to smilingly avoid the issue by immediately offering to bring out fresher stock or pointing out alternate stuff, and trying to engage one in over familiar chatter( which wud be tolerable if the quality of their products also was!) Finally, the receipt we get for our purchases is the most absurd I've ever seen! No item names! It is a printout of different prices against a single code repeating itself(ex: 'DEPT 19' repeating 25 times if one buys 25 items!), perhaps only meant to be comprehended by the sellers,not by the poor guys emptying their pockets on whatever it stands for! Anyway, it has taken us 3 visits and over $350 to conclude we NEVER WANNA GO BACK there because we now have zero trust in their quality practices or in their concern for their customer's wellbeing. I feel so cheated and angry at having spent time & hard earned money to buy things only to throw them into the trash! I know that the owners have been made aware of such overwhelming quality concerns by people like us yet it doesn't seem like they really care, as long as they can go on(thanks perhaps to so many people who will complain bitterly but never make an effort to write down their experiences!) Perhaps the owners are happy sticking to profits with the very ordinary fare at their restaurant section, where the prices are cheap, but coming straight from India I know how much better the taste shud be.(I liked only the mango lassi).I admit I terribly wanted India Sweets & Spices to've worked out right for me. But,when a business cares so little for its responsibility towards its customers and seems so determined not to gain the goodwill of those who give it a chance, one really has no choice! more

If you are a home cook, you will love this place! Any spice that you can imagine (and many you didn't know existed) is here. It's a great place to shop! Bonus is that they have a section in the back of the store for British foods that are sometimes hard to find (teas & biscuits). more

If you are a home cook, you will love this place! Any spice that you can imagine (and many you didn't know existed) is here. It's a great place to shop! Bonus is that they have a section in the back of the store for British foods that are sometimes hard to find (teas & biscuits). more

I never would have found this place on my own. I am so glad I did though! Its kind of a....well it's a hole! I was kind of scared, and if it wasn't for my friend, I would have walked out. But the food was so good. Very flavorful. The samosa was my favorite! The prices are great too! Two of us ate and drank for $13.00\r I definately recommend this place. \r But skip the little side salad. I gagged on that one. Pros: The food was fast fresh and incredible Cons: Ambience--or lack there of. And the gross things on the salad more

I never would have found this place on my own. I am so glad I did though! Its kind of a....well it's a hole! I was kind of scared, and if it wasn't for my friend, I would have walked out. But the food was so good. Very flavorful. The samosa was my favorite! The prices are great too! Two of us ate and drank for $13.00\r I definately recommend this place. \r But skip the little side salad. I gagged on that one. Pros: The food was fast fresh and incredible Cons: Ambience--or lack there of. And the gross things on the salad more

I stumbled into this hidden treasure on my way home from Griffith Park because I had a taste for spicey food. I came in and adjacent to the deli-style restaurant is an Idian-produce grocery store which is cool, but I was hungry right away, so I ordered their lunch special (3 to choose from ... I think they're all under $9/ea.). Since I'd never even known there was such a thing as Indian vegeterian restaurant (or deli), I ordered the least expensive lunch special. I think it was $6+? Anyway; it's been a couple of months since my last trip there, but I do recall having some sort of spicy tofu, a sort of lentil bean soup and rice, and a flaky pastry stuffed with potato; and all of it was truly delicious! I've been meaning to go back for more, but I don't eat out much at all. I will go back in the near future though, because as I'm telling you about my delicious experience, I'm getting hungrier! I may just stop by this afternoon. After all their dishes are served deli style so I can just buy a couple of different things and bring them home for dinner for my family. hmmm... I'm ingenious! Pros: Tasty, vegetarian food ... ample parking Cons: can't think of one... more

I stumbled into this hidden treasure on my way home from Griffith Park because I had a taste for spicey food. I came in and adjacent to the deli-style restaurant is an Idian-produce grocery store which is cool, but I was hungry right away, so I ordered their lunch special (3 to choose from ... I think they're all under $9/ea.). Since I'd never even known there was such a thing as Indian vegeterian restaurant (or deli), I ordered the least expensive lunch special. I think it was $6+? Anyway; it's been a couple of months since my last trip there, but I do recall having some sort of spicy tofu, a sort of lentil bean soup and rice, and a flaky pastry stuffed with potato; and all of it was truly delicious! I've been meaning to go back for more, but I don't eat out much at all. I will go back in the near future though, because as I'm telling you about my delicious experience, I'm getting hungrier! I may just stop by this afternoon. After all their dishes are served deli style so I can just buy a couple of different things and bring them home for dinner for my family. hmmm... I'm ingenious! Pros: Tasty, vegetarian food ... ample parking Cons: can't think of one... more

Yummy vegetarian Indian food at excellent prices. Great chai tea (real stuff not nasty Starbucks powdered variety), tasty array of Indian sweets and a great grocery store attached. Pros: great value, great food more

Yummy vegetarian Indian food at excellent prices. Great chai tea (real stuff not nasty Starbucks powdered variety), tasty array of Indian sweets and a great grocery store attached. Pros: great value, great food more

It's been almost two years since a scathing review of the cleanliness/food of the 'restaurant' portion of this large Indian/British grocery store-cum Indian takeway/cafeteria.\r \r I thought I'd tilt the chips the other way, to be fair. Firstly, think of it as a cafeteria, not as a restaurant. It's connected to a grocery store, for God's sake! Don't expect 4-star service. I do one of two things here: buy the food to eat there, and watch great Bollywood-style music videos on the large screen and chill out, or (preferably) order a few containers of curry to go. I'm not even a vegetarian, yet their curries are totally flavorful and satisfying. Their pumpkin/squash curry, when they have it, is a must. I could eat vats of it. The small container (half-pint?) is only $3.50. Where else could you get Indian curry for $4? Their lentil vadas (like a lentil fritter) is yummy and they give you two sauces to dip it in. It's deep fried, of course it's good.\r \r I think it's a better value to select a few curries you like to go in the containers, than purchase the lunches, which is why I do it this way now. You could grill some meat or fish at home and purchase the curries for the side dishes...the best of both worlds!\r \r I agree the proprieters could focus on quality control more (in the grocery section) rather than trying to keep the shelves of their vast emporium filled. But the things I purchase here are fine (mango pickle, PG Tips tea, spices), I check the expiration date (as I would anywhere), and all is well. They are friendly (reasonably enough) and helpful, and I don't think they deserve some of the scathing posts here. \r \r I am a foodie, I am a cook, I buy from both the grocery store and eat from the restaurant regularly (once/month). Be open-minded and you will be rewarded. Save some pumpkin curry for me. :) Pros: Flavorful Indian curries at a reasonable price. Cons: It's a cafeteria with plastic utensils - not a restaurant. more

It's been almost two years since a scathing review of the cleanliness/food of the 'restaurant' portion of this large Indian/British grocery store-cum Indian takeway/cafeteria.\r \r I thought I'd tilt the chips the other way, to be fair. Firstly, think of it as a cafeteria, not as a restaurant. It's connected to a grocery store, for God's sake! Don't expect 4-star service. I do one of two things here: buy the food to eat there, and watch great Bollywood-style music videos on the large screen and chill out, or (preferably) order a few containers of curry to go. I'm not even a vegetarian, yet their curries are totally flavorful and satisfying. Their pumpkin/squash curry, when they have it, is a must. I could eat vats of it. The small container (half-pint?) is only $3.50. Where else could you get Indian curry for $4? Their lentil vadas (like a lentil fritter) is yummy and they give you two sauces to dip it in. It's deep fried, of course it's good.\r \r I think it's a better value to select a few curries you like to go in the containers, than purchase the lunches, which is why I do it this way now. You could grill some meat or fish at home and purchase the curries for the side dishes...the best of both worlds!\r \r I agree the proprieters could focus on quality control more (in the grocery section) rather than trying to keep the shelves of their vast emporium filled. But the things I purchase here are fine (mango pickle, PG Tips tea, spices), I check the expiration date (as I would anywhere), and all is well. They are friendly (reasonably enough) and helpful, and I don't think they deserve some of the scathing posts here. \r \r I am a foodie, I am a cook, I buy from both the grocery store and eat from the restaurant regularly (once/month). Be open-minded and you will be rewarded. Save some pumpkin curry for me. :) Pros: Flavorful Indian curries at a reasonable price. Cons: It's a cafeteria with plastic utensils - not a restaurant. more

Authentic family indian food in a deli setting with flat screen tv and bollywood movies! Yay!!! more

Authentic family indian food in a deli setting with flat screen tv and bollywood movies! Yay!!! more

Authentic family indian food in a deli setting with flat screen tv and bollywood movies! Yay!!! more

I just want everyone to know that I'm Indian and I know that Indian stores aren't the cleanest however, there are some serious risks here... In the store sections, most of their products on the shelves are expired. I saw something on the shelf that had been expired for 10 years! Also their freezer section was more like a refrigeration section. We told them that their freezer was broken. They were aware of this, but were still selling the food. Who knows how long it has been like that, and how long it will be. My guess is that if they get their freezer up and running that they will just allow those products to refreeze and continue to sell them. Please be warned. Cons: they sell expired food, and food with less than legal refrigeration and freezer standards more

I just want everyone to know that I'm Indian and I know that Indian stores aren't the cleanest however, there are some serious risks here... In the store sections, most of their products on the shelves are expired. I saw something on the shelf that had been expired for 10 years! Also their freezer section was more like a refrigeration section. We told them that their freezer was broken. They were aware of this, but were still selling the food. Who knows how long it has been like that, and how long it will be. My guess is that if they get their freezer up and running that they will just allow those products to refreeze and continue to sell them. Please be warned. Cons: they sell expired food, and food with less than legal refrigeration and freezer standards more

While it has a large collection of things, the refrigerated section has items that are not completely frozen. The certainly diminishes the quality and shelf-life of the frozen foods more

While it has a large collection of things, the refrigerated section has items that are not completely frozen. The certainly diminishes the quality and shelf-life of the frozen foods more