Chai Pani Decatur

I went to this restaurant as per a friend’s recommendation. The atmosphere is very spacious and hip for a Indian restaurant. I ordered the thali for lunch which consists of rice, roti, entrée with side, and purple pickled cabbage. The meal was very delicious though a bit lacking in the spices. So for those with a desire for a real spicy kick, it may not be the best dish for you. Overall it was a great meal and would go back again!

Completely in love with this place! I love the atmosphere, the drinks, the food, the servers, everything. You must try the kale pakoras, the Tiger Style drink, and whatever thali they have on the special menu. I would give them six stars if it was possible.

Cool place. But. It’s closer to a hipster themed, Indian inspired restaurant than actual Indian food. This place is an overpriced Americanized eatery that when compared to authentic Indian food lacks the major components that makes Indian food… Well, Indian (Indian people, Indian décor.)
It’s still quite tasty minus the lack of «kick» authentic Indian food has.
I did enjoy the snacks at the front of the restaurant (5 for 2.50).

I really enjoyed my dinner at Chai Pani. We ordered two appetizer and ooh my they were sent down straight from heaven. We had okra fries and kale pakora. If you don’t don’t those you playing yourself. We also had a Thali and coconut chicken curry (forgot the name). The iced chai was ehhhhh. The environment is good for families, dates, or just a dinner outing.

Ambiance was awesome be a great place to come in the summer. Little ways to travel from perimeter due to traffic between 5 – 6 so took 40 minutes but worth the wait. Main dish menu changes everyday and they have one veggie and one meat dish. Plenty of food and totally full when left.

Best Indian restaurant I have been to in Atlanta and I’ve been to several. The menu is simple, but the food is bursting with flavor. The kale chips are tasty and fun to start with. I absolutely love the CHATPATTA PANEER SANDWICH. Mindblowing. And drink wise, you have to try the Lime Ricky. Nothing like you expect. Great pricing and hella good food.

I seriously do not know what the fuss is all about. True that they have great ambiance, place is bright and colorful. If it was only about décor I will surly give this place 5 star. But it’s more about food. None of the dishes are very very authentic on their menu. This is more like a Indian food fused with western cooking to make it more palatable to the American crowd. I have visited this place couple of times with my friends. Only one thing on their menu I used to really like, that is their Kabab and Paneer roll, they do not serve it every day. Food wise this place is just average. Not more than 2 star.

Cool spot to enjoy Indian «street food» in Decatur!
After hearing many positive reviews of those place I had to see what the rave was about.
I went during lunch time and ordered three appetizers and an entrée. The appetizers I ordered were SPDP, okra fries, and the lamb chili cheese fries. My ranking for the three would be 1. SPDP 2. lamb fries 3. Okra fries, with the SPDP being super good and the okra fries not appealing to me at all.
For the entrée I ordered a chicken thali special which came with several piles of food on a silver tray. The food was decent but not great, if anything it allowed you to try several things which was cool.
In closing, if you want real Indian food I would suggest going somewhere else BUT if you want «trendied up» Indian food this restaurant does a good job at it!

Back again. What can i say, i love this place! This time i had the Thali and it was so damn good. I also had the «Jaljeera Taquila» and loved it. I infact had to go slow on the Pani puri (the best in ATL) to try this. Was worth it.

We had the Thali specials. One came with butter chicken & one was saag paneer (spicy spinach and Indian farmers cheese). DELICIOUS! Our waiter was also kind enough to give us an additional paneer appetiser on the house!
Our drinks were hot chai tea and mango lassi. Both were exactly what you would want them to be, and more!
Only thing is this place gets super busy, so the wait staff can miss you sometimes, but forgive them they’re all pretty friendly so I’m sure it’s not their intention!
I would definitely come back!
Plus the atmosphere is great, stylish and sort of industrial looking, but somehow warm — which is a bonus!

I would have given 5 stars, but I feel like the prices are a little high; I guess that’s to be expected though since it’s in a trendier location.
We went here for a friend’s birthday and I ordered the lamb chili cheese fries as appetizer and the lamb vindaloo thali. The food was pretty good, and we had a good time looking at and trying the street food as well.
There was a wait, but it was expected since we had a group of 6 and didn’t make reservations in advance.

My mom lives in MN, and each time she comes to ATL, we stop at Chai Pani because the food is incredible. Between the two of us, we share one of their thalis, the kale pakoras, the samosa with chaat, and SPDP. In reality, we should each start getting our own order of the SPDP because they are out of this world, but deciding what to give up is too difficult. Everything I’ve tried has been awesome.
My friend also brought me here for my birthday and they brought me a wonderful homemade pineapple soda. It was delicious!
Also, shout out to the really helpful staff. They’ve always been great!

I’ve eaten at Chai Pani numerous times for dinner. No clue why I have never reviewed. Basically Kale Pakora is an always get snack. Thalis are tasty. I don’t love the okra fries near as much as I love okra. Service at the bar is good. They generally have a few good local beers.
This review is about lunch though. New job, new location, new dining spots.
Walking in you will see a line of people waiting to order behind the front counter. It’s slow. People seem to need to ask questions about every effing thing on the menu. If you want to sit at a table you have to stand in this line to order. If you are only the lonely, pass the line, and go sit at the bar. Much quicker service. Bonus… you don’t have to stand there, getting annoyed by the people in front of you.
Once you sit at the bar ordering will be quick. A lunchtime thali is the way to go for me. It’s fairly cheap at $ 10. There is normally a meat version and a veg version. Thali is a platter with the dish of the day, rice, small soup thingamajig, cool yogurt cucumber sauce, large cracker, soft tortilla. Sorry for the nonIndian ’splaining. Just thought you might need the help in case you’ve never eaten Indian food before. Anyhoo, it’s a lot food, but not so much you will walk out feeling gross.
To sum up this long, confusing, positive review… Chai Pani is on the lunchtime rotation.

After a visit to Atlanta, I came to Decatur to check out Chai Pani. I planned to try the Maharaja lamb burger however my server recommended the Sloppy Jai; it was good! The lamb was seasoned with a good balance of spices, complemented by green chutney and sweet yogurt. I finished the pickled onions with the lamb that fell out of the buns while eating them.
Okra is one of my favourite vegetables. I ordered a half-​order of the matchstick okra fries; they were excellent! As the menu reads, «Okra like you’ve never had it…»
I ordered an East Indian G&T; since a G&T is one of my favourite drinks. In particular, I like that Chai Pani uses Fever Tree tonic water (I use Fever Tree products when I mix my own drinks, particularly their ginger ale or ginger beer).
As this was not my only stop in Decatur, I parked at the multistorey car park on Church St. and walked; instead of trying to find a place in the car park near the restaurant. Besides, it was busy with people driving through and picking up their dry cleaning from the adjacent cleaners, but I digress.
I had a good first visit and would visit again.

I’d been wanting to try this place since I sampled their chicken tikka and pakoras at Taste of Atlanta, and I’m so glad I finally made it! My friend (Amy W.) and I came here for a friend date and ate as much of the menu as we could. Started out with Bombay chili cheese fries, a Samosa each and chicken pakoras. Yes, we did order three appetizers. Yes, we also ordered two entrees… more on that later.
I can’t say no to chili cheese fries, especially if a restaurant claims they’re fancy in some way. These obviously had an indian flair, and the fries themselves were super thin and potato-​sticky. Yummy and a good portion size for $ 9.
Samosas were very flavorful, but I’ve never had a bad samosa. $ 4 is ~ $ 1 more than I want to pay for one samosa, but I’ll probably order another one next time I go.
I’ve never had pakoras with meat in them, but the chicken pakoras were basically super awesome chicken nuggets. So basic, but so yummy. Brought a lot of these home and ate them immediately.
My friend and I both got Thalis. She got the butter chicken, which was tasty as always and I got the lamb. At first they brought me paneer on accident, but they immediately brought me the lamb when I notified the server. It was pretty awesome because then I got to try both, and I do love paneer. All thali entrees were yummy and they are such a good value! Something like $ 16 and they come with the entrée, a good portion of basmati rice, a side dish (chola that night), roti (tortilla-​ish), raita, pickles, a curried soup (lentils?), papadum (the flat bread cracker thing) and a small dessert.
Cocktails were good too! I had a Rickshaw Romeo on recommendation of the bartender at the front of the restaurant, and my friend had a Gin Rickey. They bottle their own cocktails there apparently — definitely want to check that out next time.
All in all our meal was ~$ 70 but we walked away with 3 – 4 meals’ worth of leftovers. And everything was just as good in leftover form. Can’t wait to go back!

Chai Pani was a random lunch choice. I had the Bombay chili cheese fries and they were the bomb (bay). Chai Pani is a place best for several plates and sharing, but the fries made for a good lunch. Ample portions of lamb and paneer made for a hefty meal. I enjoyed the fries as they were cut into thin shoestrings, and very crispy. They were able to handle the many toppings. Who knows what was in the spicy sauce, but it was a good bridge between the savory lamb and the creamy paneer. I’ll be visiting Chai Pani in the future, but probably with friends so that we can share a few plates.
Only downside, I had originally ordered a Dale’s Pale Ale. After finding out the can of beer was $ 5, I politely declined. For draught, maybe. A not uncommon beer in a can? Not so much. The dining room is nice with plenty of windows to let in sunlight during the day.

Boasting classical Bombay small plates, they recommend ordering a few «appetizers» and sharing them as a meal. My friend and I did order an entrée to share though which was pretty good in and of itself. Parking is pretty limited, but that’s for most places in downtown Decatur. We were lucky enough to get a spot right in front of the restaurant, but I think my other friends had to park a few spots down the road. Total things eaten that night include:
–saag paneer: goat cheese cubes in a spinach cream sauce (entrée)
–kale fries
–okra fries
–sev potato dahi puri: a puff cracker that is filled with vegetables and sauces, typically tamarind
— — —
Saag Paneer
PROS
–definitely worthy of an entrée in terms of quantity: naan and a large chip, as well as rice make up the carb portion
–good flavors for the saag: plenty of cheese cubes, not overwhelmingly salty, not overwhelmingly creamy
–side of yoghurt is great to go with the cubes of cheese
–vegetables come in the form of garbanzo beans: not undercooked which is great because these can be somewhat mushy
–even comes with a small dessert, very buttery but not overly sweet
CONS
–can be too filling for just one person if other appetizers are on the table but nothing really other than that
— — –
Kale Fries
PROS
–a lot of kale! and fried!
–best way to get a kid to eat kale: we had a 5-​yr-​old who did not eat anything green. He ate those kale chips.
–not bitter (which is typical of kale)
–served with mint chutney and yoghurt, very complementary
CONS
–too much batter, especially for those who like kale. Some pieces were almost all batter.
— — —
Okra Fries
PROS
–super great texture, definitely fry-​like: not soggy from being soaked in oil
crispy and not overly salty
–no sliminess that normally comes out from okra that is boiled.
–5-​year-​old ate this too.
–taste more of the okra compared to fried okra which is dipped in batter.
CONS
–can’t say that there are any.
— — -
Sev Potato Dahi Puri: chickpea noodles and cilantro top a yoghurt slathered puff filled with potatoes, vegetables, and chutneys.
PROS
–fantastic flavors: it’s like an Indian taco exploded in my mouth. Apparently we are supposed to eat this in one bite. First of all, you need a really big mouth to even fit in one piece. Second, when you can bite down, everything just comes together really well.
–very filling: they really pack each puff to the brim as pictures show
–shareable, especially for two to three diners
CONS
–none
…
I also had one of their drinks, the nimbu pani — consisting of lime juice, soda water, simple syrup, and a dash of salt, this was the closest thing that I could find in Atlanta resembling the lime juice over shaved ice that I love to get back in SE Asia. I only wish that I had more room to try a few more of their other small plates. My indian friend said that the flavors weren’t to her liking, but I found it pretty good! It isn’t typical of the Indian food that I’ve eaten before, but then again, I’ve never had Indian street food much less Bombay Indian food. Hopefully one day I can go to India and verify it myself!

I don’t normally like Indian food, but I really like chai pani. I had the Arangaon chicken thali, which was really good. Came with a bunch of sides and even a dessert! Their chai tea is good too. I recommend!

Our group of 11 came in for a late, weekday lunch at around 1:30 PM. The restaurant had a couple of occupied tables, but was thankfully on the emptier side when we arrived. Chai Pani used to be a sit-​down to order restaurant, but now, you order and pay up at the counter where you’ll receive a number to place on your table. A food-​runner brings out your order, but water, iced tea, and silverware are self-​serve.
When we first informed the cashier of our party size, his response had been, «Oh. My. Goodness… Leeeet me go set up some tables for you guys.» I’m not sure why he had been so freaked out, since they had a table together for us in no time at all. When he came back for our orders, the cashier was friendly and helpful in answering our questions.
Our food came out impressively quickly, within 5 – 10 minutes after we sat down. Although I wasn’t fast enough to snap pictures of everyone’s dishes, I got a chance to taste a couple.
Fried Kale Pakoras: Hot and crispy, these balls of fried batter and kale have no chance in pretending to be even remotely healthy. They were really tasty, but they would have tasted even better with slightly more kale.
Green Mango Chaat: This salad of green mangos, peanuts, golden raisins, and cornflakes was super refreshing and had a nice punch of acidity. Onions and cilantro gave it a nice, bright fragrance. I probably wouldn’t order it for a meal, but it’d be a great starter to share.
Thali with Malabar Chicken: The thali came with raita, daal, rice, and roti along with your entrée choice. I chose the Malabar chicken, which was pretty good. It had nice, large chunks of chicken in a creamy sauce, but I wished that the sauce had more flavor and robustness. It just tasted rather…“meh.” I really liked the daal, which had some mild spices and flavors.
I found the flavors at too Chai Pani to be too tame and restrained for my taste. However, it offers beer and cocktails, a variety of shareable plates, and a large seating area, making it a great place to go with a larger group of people.

Came here for lunch today and was disappointed on a couple of things:
They didn’t have a vegan thali special, however they had a garbanzo bean stew they said they could sub for the saag paneer. Great. However, the other side dishes had dairy so had to be nixed from the thali order. When I get my order they only served me the items that were vegan which didn’t leave much food on my dish. I guess they didn’t feel the need to compensate extra vegan items to sub for the dairy items that I didn’t want. Very disappointing. The garbanzo bean stew was OK, not great, not terrible, but definitely not special. I guess that’s why it wasn’t even on the menu. Im not upset about the fact that they are not very vegan friendly (although they claim to be). The point is that when I requested no dairy, they simply removed all the dairy from my plate and left me with very little food. No compensation.

Kathi Kabob. Enough said !! Think Indian taco and you have it. The flavors were amazingly paired, vegetables had a variety of textures, the «shell» was perfect, and the chicken was cooked to perfection.
Absolutely amazing street food inspired Indian restaurant. The service is great, the hostesses were super sweet, and the food is to die for. We ordered a lot of things to share and everything was wonderful.
Put this on your list of places to go when in Atlanta/​Decatur. It is great for large groups, couples, people with children, etc.

Green mango chaat, kale pakoras, sloppy jai!~ Everything on their menu probably. all so good! I’d been curious of Chai Pani forever and after trying their pani puris & share of a sloppy Jai at the Unilocal Live event months— fast forward to finding them nestled in Decatur. Plus… street style food? Yes, please! All the wins.
Atlanta has quite a few Indian restaurants and Chai Pani is very much a fav. for me, but it’s a bit different than the majority. It serves a lot street food, but also thali too and is a lot more relaxed in comparison to the many seat down style places that seem much more formal.
We tried a few items and were soon overwhelmed by the amount of food. It’s definitely a share friendly place where you can grab a few items and try out a lot. The atmosphere also lends itself a bit more to that. It’s up beat and colorful. Food highlights were the kale pakoras and green mango chaat. The chaat was really refreshing, and maybe a tiny bit sour. The kale pakoras were a tiny bit too oily for me, though no complaints other than that. All of it had that snack food, sit back, and chill vibe to it.
Price wise– not bad at all, either, as long as you’re sharing, and the place seems to be generally full. You’re also taking a drive through Decatur so keep in mind for street parking if there isn’t anything open. Sundays are free street parking though.

Loved the concept of Indian Street Food so that we can get a taste here in the states. I’ve never seen a place like this, even having gone to plenty of Indian restaurants, so I think it is definitely an ATL staple. The guy at the front was super helpful in guiding us to decide what to order because we wanted to try so many things! Was very knowledgable about the menu, pointing out when things were similar (such as the corn salad and green mango chaat).
We ended up with:
Corn Behl — seasonal item and since it is summer we had to get it. Basically a refreshing corn salad with tomatos, cukes, onions, but elevated by their dressing and cornflake-​like crisps.
Bombay Chili Cheese Fries — delicious, but the fry to toppings ratio was off. The fries were the matchstick kind, so I was mostly eating the toppings. The chutney that it was served with was sweet and yummy and I wished I had more fries so I could also do some dipping. Also — this is spicy after awhile so it is not for faint of tongue. My mouth was on fire.
Chatpatta Paneer Sandwich — love paneer so this was a nice switchup from the spinach paneer that I usually see on Indian menus. Don’t know if I was still recovering from the fries, but this had some bite to it too.
Warning: food is heavier than you think. I couldn’t fathom eating dinner that night. Shared between 2 people, those 3 items were the perfect amount of food for lunch, but slowly settled in throughout the day (granted, we did get ice cream right after as well).

Decatur is competition heavy when it comes to Indian food. There are tons in the area. Chai Pani, sticks out as it focuses more on Indian street food instead of traditional home cooking that most Indian restaurants are known for.
Parking can be tough here as the lot is small and is shared with other businesses. The restaurant itself though, has ample seating a lots of people. It can get really crowded during the lunch hours, so keep that in mind if you’re planning on coming here for lunch. You don’t have to worry as much for dinner though.
The food like I mentioned is more like street food and snacks. Stuff you food find if you were roaming the streets of Mumbai that is being sold by food cart vendors. The menu has a lot of options I have yet to get, but the ones I did try were pretty good. I included the link to the menu below so you can fully explore it.
Overall, Chai Pani is a very hip place in Dacatur that is very welcoming to all sorts of crowds. Indian food lovers and those who are just curious. If you want to try something different from your average Indian cuisine, definitely give this place a try.
My Recommendations:
–Thalis (non-​veg/​veg)
–Mang Lassi
–Bombay Chili Cheese Fries
Menu:

It’s been a while since I visited Chai Pani, and I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while! When I think a restaurant deserves five stars, that means it has great atmosphere, great food, great service, I want to visit again soon, and I’d hands down recommend it to friends. Chai Pani passed with flying colors! And while the food WAS awesome, I’d have to say the highlight of our visit was our server Jared. He gave us a truly excellent customer experience. Jared was so genuinely friendly and had that perfect balance of professionalism and casual. He explained what our foods were without making us feel foolish, but as if he really wanted us to get the most out of our visit to Chai Pani. He shared his excitement over certain dishes and made us feel like we were part of the family. Jared was a top notch waiter, and we’ll ask for him again when we visit next.
Besides the masala fries, I actually can’t remember the names of the other dishes we tried, but I know I got one of the thali combos for the day, and I know it was delicious. I loved getting to try so many authentic Indian flavors! I’ll definitely be getting a thali combo again next time. The masala fries were spicier than I liked most of my food, but it was all very tasty. My husband and I kind of split the cool flavored cheese and the hot flavored meat on the fries, so we were both happy.
I have no reservations about encouraging friends to go to Chai Pani. If their other waiters are like Jared, the wait staff will make them feel comfortable and welcome. The food will be exciting and delicious. Everything from my first visit makes me want a second visit tonight! Thanks for a great evening, Chai Pani! I’ve been wanting to try your food for a long time, and you did not disappoint!