Jyoti Indian Bistro

At jyoti you get fair prices for a good amount of food. The service has always been fine for me. It’s a to go restaurant so how bad could it possibly be? They always have a good selection of vegetarian options and their butter chicken is banging!

I recently moved to Philly from Chicago. I have been bouncing around trying different places and I came across Jyoti and decided to give it a try. It was some of the best indian food I have had in awhile. All the flavors you would expect are there and if you don’t know much about indian spices, flavors and food you are in for a treat. I highly recommend the butter chicken and the Matar paneer. The samosas and naan are flavorful as well.

I absolutely love this place. I go out of my way to come here at least once a month. The food is so filling, quickly served, and very inexpensive. After one of their $ 7 meals I have to waddle out of the restaurant because I get so full! This place is definitely worth a try — I’ll assure you that you’ll be back in no time.

Jyoti is a little unique in that they only offer a selection of dishes on each day of the week. Like the cafeteria at school, but with way, way better food. I’m into it. It means the stuff is fresh and maybe you’re forced out of ordering that one dish you always get when you order Indian. Don’t be boring. They only deliver on certain days of the week so that’s kind of a bummer, but it’s clearly a pretty small, family operation.
The samosas are some of the best I’ve ever had. Flaky and just crispy enough, yet soft and melty. With excellent flavor and that awesome green sauce. Get a few. My gf doesn’t even like samosas and she was like, «these are amazing.» The naan was way better than I’ve had at other area Indian restaurants too. Ok, I’ll come right out and say it, Tiffin’s naan sucks ass. It’s dry and disappointing and way more expensive than Jyoti. Now that I found Jyoti, I can order naan again! I know one review talks about the rice being bad, but I disagree strongly. I’ve been a few times and the rice has always been tasty and fresh. I do wish you could specify how spicy you want your meal though. The default is too mild for me, and a little extra spice would really make me need Jyoti on a more regular basis.
The other things I really liked about Jyoti are not food related. They are the customer service and the price. The food is significantly cheaper than their notable competitor, where the staff is also significantly less friendly. The woman who helped me at Jyoti was welcoming and kind, serving my food with a smile. I felt like my business was genuinely appreciated. The place is small too, so I saw the cook working in the kitchen who looked like she was working hard as hell and taking pride in that. I just feel good patronizing this kind of place, and their food definitely holds its own.

meh. There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with the food. I had chicken tikka masala with rice and an order of nan. It was just very ordinary, like if I had tried to make chicken tikka masala myself, this is what it would’ve tasted like. You know, meh, nothing special a good attempt at a usually very delicious western/​Indian fusion mainstay. The lady behind the counter was super nice though. If they could bring up their game, while maintaining their price point, and service with a smile, I would return again. Until then, I’ll probably look elsewhere when I have a hankering for some Indian takeout.

Very good selection of food. I love the summer chat salad also butter chicken and any paneer dishes. I recommend the specials of the day too! They also let you sample some of the items!

So it’s been a couple of years since my original review. I’ve been at Jyoti a few times since and have really enjoyed not only the meals and desserts but the service has been much more amiable, kind and helpful.
I *may* have originally been too hard on them, or might have just caught them at a bad time in the business cycle (just having opened, super stressful). Either way my family eats Jyoti regularly, enjoys it greatly and we view it as extremely affordable food, on par with Chinese, that is of higher quality than most other types of restaurants around the area, especially for vegetarians.
Their carry-​out is phenomenal, travels *quite* well and their meals are always not only great tasting but feel nutritious and healthy, like other culturally traditional meals that have full or nearly full nutrient profiles.
Thanks for bringing a great new option to Mt. Airy guys. Be well!

Great real Indian food!
This food is delicious and inexpensive. Similar to other Unilocalers, I find Tiffin way too expensive and the waits are often ridiculous.
Though they have only been open for a little while, the service has improved significantly. Initially, I visited to be scowled at by the fella serving my food. He was not very pleasant nor inviting. I thought maybe its just me so I returned with friends… scowl. I told myself long ago that I simply will not spend $ where I don’t feel appreciated so I was done.
But in my ongoing efforts to forgive and support local businesses (and get some awesome food!) I returned last week and found Ms Babes (sp?). She was pleasant and very welcoming making for a delightful overall culinary experience. Jyoti has my business again… as long as scowl man isn’t there!

Love! Fast, friendly, and many of the courses are nut-​free (I have food allergies so this is a huge plus for me as many other Indian places use a lot of cashews). Not to mention it’s DELICIOUS and the woman at the counter always tells me I’m pretty. :)

I absolutely love this place! I dine here at least twice a week on different days as I enjoy the daily dishes. The buttered chicken is and will always be amazing and the shrimp Malabar on Thursday has yet to disappoint. The only real issue I have is the lack of garlic gnon bread. If you like to try 2 or more dishes at a time do look at the platter options as you can get 3 for under $ 8 with rice included.

When this store first opened the lady at the front was very pleasant. Over time, since business has improved, she has become very rude! No pleasantries, does not know how she should speak with customers and very dismissive. I ignored it during a couple of my visits but not anymore. I will no longer patronizing this establishment.

We ordered take out from this restaurant. It was really cheap, but the food was okay. I ordered the butter chicken and thought it was tasty. The naan was good as well. Overall, the food was decent but nothing amazing.

I’ve tried JIB a few times since it opens and it seems to be getting better and better. There’s a new manager, delightful woman, who is a big upgrade over the old manager, who I found to be pretty surly. They’ve made some interesting new additions to the menu. I especially love the Mumbai (or is it Bombay? can’t remember) panini, which might be my new favorite sandwich, competing only with the Fu Wah tofu hoagie. Overall, the restaurant is a great value. I’d love to see some outdoor seating added in the future.
Update — I was there tonight and it was a zoo. Still, the service was outstanding. This place gets better and better. Love the cheese curry Saturday special.

Two stars.
I could not give this restaurant 1 star because the butter chicken and dal makhani are very tasty and inexpensive. However, they will sell you stale steam-​table rice that has hardened and caked up and then get offended when you return it to be exchanged. It is a complete disservice to the customer to have began eating a meal just to find the rice is inedible and needs to be returned. What makes it worse is when the server then tries to argue with you about how it is indeed «fresh» because it was made that «morning».
Completely turned me off. I’ll make my own dal makhani in a pressure cooker or go to Tiffin before I endure bad attitudes and servers who don’t seem to appreciate the customers.

Everytime that I have visited this restaurant I have been completely ignored, given a lot of attitude, and left feeling like my business was unappreciated. I went in there tonight and the usual woman who serves the food completely disregarded my presence and continued a long drawn out discussion with a friend of hers for at least 3 minutes. Not once did anyone ask me if I needed any help. She is extremely rude to me every time I have visited and I will never go back! Plus, the food is not even great.

Very friendly place mostly for takeout but a few tables.
Saag paneer was okay not great. Chana masala was mediocre. My friend said her butter chicken was good.

Best Indian food in Mt Airy.
Given the fact that this is tasty and it is inexpensive I pick Jyoti over Tiffin. Also definitely helps that the aunty at Jyoti is far more fun to talk to. Part of eating India food is being reminded of India and Jyoti manages to do that every time I visit.

The butter chicken is so delicious, it’s perfectly moist and well seasoned. I love their naan, only wish they had mango Chutney, but everything is good and the owners are so friendly and nice. A nice addition to the neighborhood.

Excellent and quick with a great price point.
For a long time when it came to Indian (or South Asia) food it was Tiffin or nothing, now there’s a second choice in Jyoti’s Bistro. The menu is smaller with some rotation but the quality is excellent and the prices are far better then Tiffin with much quicker turn around between order and delivery with little to no sacrifice when compared to Tiffin.

The best thing about Jyoti is the price! Compared to other Indian restaurants, Jyoti is considerably cheaper! I have been here twice and thought the food was good here. I have had the Butter Chicken, Aloo Mirch, Saag Paneer, Chana Masala, samosas, and Naan. The first time we ate here, my fiancé’ and I ordered platters. The second time, we ordered our food a la carte and had leftovers the next night.
I didn’t think the lady who worked here was particularly friendly, but would still return because I enjoyed the food. She was very friendly to my fiancé’- just very standoffish toward me.