Punjabi Dhaba

I love it here. It’s sooo clean, and the service is fast and friendly. Best Indian food ever. I always go to have the tandoor chicken, chicken tikka, and chicken65. Any problems, jus ask or see the manager, or whoever is there, very apologetic and will fix immediately to your liking.

I’ve been transported to India. The restaurant reminded me of restaurants I visited in India. The décor is plain, there is a big tank with barley any fish and it’s attached to a hotel that is a popular truck stop location. The server was polite and funny. We had a paneer and lamb dish that were both great both ordered medium spicy. Both were flavorful with an array of Indian spices. The naan was soft and lightly buttered. We also had the Vegetable Pakora as a starter. It was crunchy and was truly like a potato fritter, the sauce that came with it was good. I recommend you give them a try.

Two of my Indian friends told me to meet them here for lunch. I figured that was a good endorsement for the quality of the food. The food was decent. The ambience is SO WEIRD. It was extremely dark, and it feels like you are in a giant classroom with tables around the edges. There was a small counter with neon lights where a young guy was taking orders. I didn’t order anything, but I shared some with my friends. I thought it was ok. My friend was disappointed; he felt that the taste had changed a lot and perhaps the chef had been replaced. Anyway… I don’t know… perhaps the food is awesome, but it’s definitely the weirdest restaurant place I’ve ever visited.

Another excellent meal at this restaurant on Dec. 17, 2015. The Butter Chicken was absolutely divine — I look forward to having it again soon.
Would be a bit happier if food was prepared somewhat more quickly — if you are in a hurry, it’s quite possibly not the place to dine. That said, however, the quality of the food made the wait worthwhile.

No wait on a Friday night. Great service and delicious food. Only giving 4 stars because they were out of mango pulp for mango lassi, shrimp, and lamb. But what they did have was great. Since there was no mango we were offered a sweet lassi. We had Chicken 65 appetizer which is the best Indian appetizer I’ve ever had. For dinner I had the chicken saag, coconut rice, and butter naan. Leaving very satisfied.

Not fancy, not well known but SUPER YUMMY AND AUTHENTIC INDIAN FOOD!!! Loved it very much. A wonderful duo of father and son providing delicious Indian food at a great price. Very lovely family, very delicious food. Not for people who like cardboard on a bun. You must appreciate home cooked food to like it. Loved the Tikka Masala, the Alu mutter and the naan bread. Very delicious! The Taj Mahal Indian beer went great with the food. Will be back when I’m in this neck of the woods.

Odd place, OK food. As others have noted, this place is inside a budget motel (what???) in a… questionable area but has the ambiance of a fast casual restaurant, complete with Indian music videos on the mounted TVs. We went there right at opening time (noon) and were the only people there. Ordering was done at the counter and our food was brought out quickly.
The food was actually pretty good. I had Dum Aloo and it was pleasantly spiced and reasonably filling. Not anything I would go out of my way for (and probably not to this area especially), but good enough. As mentioned, the actual ordering and checkout was a little awkward, I think they are still trying to figure things out. The price was definitely right, though.
If you’re in the area (maybe going to work at Cheetah’s next door) then it may not be a bad place to grab a quick meal.

THE PLACE
Came here with two (male and female) co-​workers for lunch. The restaurant is in a very questionable area and it is situated inside a Budgetel. You enter in the Budgetel lobby, which we didn’t know. Our female co-​worker says to the guy behind the counter, it will be for 3 of us. He looked a little shocked. (I don’t know why, I assume threesomes often come to get a room at the Budgetel.) Then, he realized we were there for the restaurant and pointed us to the left of the lobby.
It appears they are trying to revamp the whole area and make things nicer. Buildings seem newly renovated and they are taking time to plant some actual landscaping.
The look of the place is odd. The table and chairs look more like a office lunchroom than a restaurant. There is PLENTY of space between tables. They could easily add 50% more tables and you would not feel crowded.
There are a couple of TVs hung up high, playing Indian music videos. Interesting.
THE SERVICE
The way it works is that you go up to the counter (in the restaurant, not the hotel lobby LOL), and order your food from the guy behind the cash register. Just like you would if you were getting fast food. Except, he doesn’t collect any money from you when you order. Don’t know why not.
After taking our orders, he brought us to our table. I am not sure if it is a seat yourself place or not. Maybe we looked confused, so he sat us.
He was very polite and seemed to go out of his way to be helpful to us.
It could be 1 of 3 reasons. 1) My male co-​worker is Indian 2) My female co-​worker is very attractive 3) We looked clueless on how it all worked.
Maybe it was all 3 reasons.
THE FOOD
They have about 10 things on the menu for lunch. Five vegetarian and five for us meat eaters. Each of the meals comes with Rice and Naan.
My female coworker and I both order Tikka Masala and my male Indian coworker ordered Chicken Vindaloo. The Tikka Masala had a deep rich flavor that was complex but not heavy. The accompanying naan was hot and properly cooked. All three of us like spicy food. Although we thought the Tikka Masala was very good, it was not spicy. The Vindaloo on the other hand was spicy (as you would hope). We watched our coworker sweat through his meal. Totally need to get back to try the Vindaloo.
Oh. The soda machine was broken, so we just ordered water with our meals. They don’t have a pitcher for water refills, so the poor guy runs back and forth to the kitchen with the glasses to refill.
SUMMARY
I drive by here every day to and from work. Because of it being in a not-​so-​good area, I never considered stopping before last week. I am glad I did. This was the first time there for all three of us and we all want to come back and try some other items on the menu.

Don’t understand why this place was empty. The food was really good. Had the chicken kadai and lamb sag. It was a little on the salty side so you may want to let them know if that would not work for you. The people working here were awesome. Very polite and accommodating. Ignore the shady exterior. You will not be disappointed.

Well I’m just gonna say it, this place is weird, but the food is pretty good, especially their lunch specials. We decided to venture to Punjabi Dhaba for lunch, and it was a good thing it was a Friday (we sometimes allow ourselves a little extra lunch time on Fridays) as despite the website stating they opened earlier, we were not actually able to enter the restaurant until about noon (we had arrived maybe 15 minutes prior). You enter the restaurant through the Budgetel lobby, so at least we were able to take a seat in the lobby and enjoy the parking lot view to wait for them to open up.
We were seated, but the lunch specials are not printed on the menu, so we approached the board and each chose a lunch entrée. It seemed to be pretty much a one man operation, and I’m not sure the man was entirely comfortable with human interaction, but we made the best of it and received our meals. I had ordered the punjabi koda pakora which was onion fritters in a creamy yogurt curry sauce served with a side of basmati rice. We were also given naan for the table. For $ 7.99 is was a great deal, and I found the flavors to be quite good.
I really didn’t hold back on 4 stars because of the food, as while our table had mixed opinions of their dishes, I felt mine was quite good, no one seemed to have a problem finishing, and the prices are certainly reasonable. I held back because of my first line in the review. The vibe here is very weird, and although the atmosphere is new and clean the modern somewhat industrial furniture with the fish tank and cloud ceiling is just strange. I can forgive atmosphere also, but the service was just so strange and uncomfortable I’m not sure I would dine in here again… I think I would prefer to keep future interactions to phone and pickup orders. I do hope Punjabi Dhaba is successful though. If the service weirdness were corrected it would be fun for this to become a regular spot, how often can you say you had a good dinner and drinks at the Budgetel?

Can I go 3.5 on this one? The food is really solid, and a steal at $ 7.99 for their lunch specials, but I think I’ll round down as the service is a bit lacking (I need my water refills when eating spicy) and I think the overall star rating here is a bit too high.
We arrived for lunch around 11:45am only to find the door locked. After closer inspection of the sign we noted that 11:30am opening had been crossed out and 12:30pm written instead. We were about to walk out when one of the staff (and perhaps the only staff member) popped his head out and told us to give him 10 mins. So we opted to wait.
Now, as others have mentioned, this restaurant is inside a seedy, budget motel, that seems to cater to the trucker crowd who are looking to get a few hours sleep. No biggie, but maybe not the best waiting environment, and certainly don’t bring a first date here lol. Check out the pictures of the restaurant, my best guess is that an Americanized food place was getting ready to open here (hence the plastic modern seating, fish tank and blue sky ceiling), pulled out, and the Indians snatched up a finished restaurant and opened up. Again, not complaining, but it’s a little odd. The Bollywood music videos on the tv though did keep us very entertained — much like watching a telenovela and trying to understand what’s going on without speaking a word of Spanish.
So, after sitting, we were encouraged to come up to the register and take a look at the 10 options as part of the $ 7.99 lunch special (includes rice and naan). There were 5 vegetarian options and 5 chicken options. I went with the black daal, and interestingly enough all my dining partners also went with veggie options.
The food was pretty solid, and at $ 7.99 it’s a good deal! My black daal was good, not outstanding, but decent, but I did taste Steve D’s potato dish and his was a solid 5 stars — I’ll be getting that next time! Portion size was just right, and if you’re trying to be good and save calories I think you could definitely make it into two meals. The helping of naan served to us was also a good portion, though slightly more burnt that I like, it was tasty.
And the end of the meal we headed back up to the register, unsure if we should wait for a check or signal our departure that way. Again, service is pretty lacking, and I do think it was just one guy running everything, but we were the only table in there, and getting a water refill would have really upped my impression of the place.

This little gem is hidden away inside the lobby building of a Budget motel. Most days you’ll see plenty of semi trucks parked in the lot but don’t let that scare you away. The service is quite nice even if the restaurant itself is lacking a bit. If I could I would rate this a 3.5.
Between 11 and 3pm they have a lunch special that is $ 7.99. You can pick from several entrées, including vegetarian options all of which include rice and naan. Of the few times I’ve been here I’ve always ordered the chicken korma which is full of flavor had comes with a good portion of meat to rice. The amount of food you receive is a good size and enough for me to make into two meals. If you’re like me and can’t take too much heat, have no worries as they have always asked what spice level I’d like.
The restaurant it self is very clean, spacious and well kept although it is on the dim side lighting wise. The ordering counter has a cool tropical fish tank built into it that is rather neat. The staff is always polite and courteous and the food comes out in good time.

WTF. Why this place is not bursting to the seems with people makes no sense. The food is very well prepared and the flavors are great and authentic.. All food is made fresh and it shows. If you understand Indian food you must eat here. Don’t be put off by the location.
This relieved my 2^nd only 5 star I don’t give these out easily
In addition I found out they kept the kitchen open for us

Do not let yourself be fooled by the location. It’s a scatchy area, I know, but once you go in you will be glad you did.
The restaurant is located inside/​at the front of the Days Inn Hotel. Lots of parking space, and lots of trucks around.
The staff is very friendly and fast. The environment looks very clean and well kept.
Food is delicious. Very well prepared, authentic Indian food at its best. They also carry typical Indian beer and sodas.
I tried vegetarian samosas, and the Lemon Rice. Both delicious choices.
I will be back for sure, many many times!

Not what you would expect for the location. Years ago this was a run down Days Inn hotel, but no more.
You enter the restaurant from the hotel lobby, both the lobby & restaurant are modern, bright & clean.
The food & service were very good, we ordered the Chicken65, Garlic Naan & Butter Chicken
We will be back

I believe this place should only be considered if you have no options left… I agree with others the price value point but rest all is were I would differ… If you really wanna have your proper lunch nd enjoy Indian food will suggest this is not the place whatever we ordered was very average in fact my husband ordered tandoori chicken which he could not eat rather they add color in the food which certainly was seen everywhere in the plate… I wish they could be more careful and make dishes better…

If you know Indian from England you will love the Phaal option. That’s hotter then vindaloo! Excellent garlic naan. Chicken korma was superb with lovely pieces of cashew and ginger lacing the curry. If you are hungry order chicken 65 as an appetizer. Prices are what you expect for Indian. The hole in a wall feel is accentuated with trucks surrounding the Budgetel entrance. Don’t be scared. Get a bite of authentic fare!

Really good place to eat lunch special for 7.99. It’s good for spicy lovers. Be careful it’s super spicy. Great customer service. Nice place. :)

When you walk in the place looks very strange very modern. The service was great and the food was also very good. Authentic and fresh Northern Indian cuisine. Will come again.

This is a strange place. Let me be upfront that the food is terrific and I expect to be a return customer. The setting, however, is not at all what you’d expect. The restaurant is connected to a truckers motel just south of the Florida Turnpike exit ramp. The area is a bit deserted and not at all where you’d think to find a wonderful Indian restaurant. It gets a bit weirder when you go inside. The room is completely done in plastic. Plastic tables, plastic chairs and a linoleum floor make up the décor. There’s one table made up for 8 and about 10 tables for 4 that go around the perimeter. Our first reaction on entering the place was that we should leave and go to the Madras Café where I’d eaten before, but we were quickly greeted by one of the owners family and decided, with hesitation, to stay. I’m very glad we did.
We started with Chicken64, a fried chicken nugget appetizer, that was spicy and delicious. For dinner we ordered Chicken Saag, Lamb Vindaloo and Shrimp Bayani along with an order of garlic Naan. Everything was delicious, and very spicy, just the way I like it. I’d advise you if you want something prepared to be milder, you’d best tell your server as the food here is genuine Indian.
Don’t let the location or décor turn you off to this place. It’s off the beaten path and the décor would make you think you’re eating in a diner in a small town in the midwest, but the food is really wonderful. You won’t regret your trip to Punjabi Dhaba.