Usha Foods Inc

Great Samosa Chaat
$ 1 Masala Chai is delicious
Various Indian snacks and sweets
Recommended: Masala Chai, Samosa Chaat, regular samosa, ladoo

My family and I come here often especially for their Bombay sandwich and dhokla. This place is always packed! The wait can sometimes be a bit lengthy but it’s always worth it.

I used to not like Indian food until my coworker introduced me to this place. I still don’t normally crave Indian food because I find it to be super spicy, but when I do, I come here. The food here is tasty and fresh. To top it off, it’s vegetarian! They have an open display of the food selection of the day. It’s always crowded, but the line moves quickly. I’m not Indian, so ordering can be intimidating, but they are always so patient. They even help me order when I can’t decide. My go to dish is the papri chaat. It’s chick peas and yogurt with spices and topped with delicious crunchy «chips». I usually ask for it less spicy because I can’t handle too much heat. Pair it with a mango lassi and it’s a refreshing meal during the warmer months. Even my kids like it! Parking can be difficult during busy hours, though.

There’s a little bundle of food joy that comes in a triangular dough wrapping and is filled with a delicately spiced potato and peas filling and it’s called an Usha’s Samosa.
Samosa’s are ubiquitous around the NY region with it’s ample South Asian population but not all are created equal. Punjabi’s on Houston in the city does the best ones in Manhattan and Usha does the best ones in Queens.
There are 2 Usha’s (cousins or some family connection) and just like a Bollywood movie there was a difference of opinion (on recipe i hope) and now you have Usha and Real Usha. My family prefer the Usha Foods one and so thats where we go.
The samosa isn’t really pan Indian — I mean it’s available just about everywhere but it’s actually street food and specifically Bombay street food.
Being the big city melting pot that Bombay is it needs dishes which can satisfy the hungers of the millions of office dwellers who descend everyday at lunch time to grab a quick snack which is tasty enough for it to be something to look forward to and enough of a treat that you can eat it 3 – 4 times a week, 52 weeks a year for god alone how many years till retirement.
Thats where Bombay street foods come into their own. There is the world famous samosa and it’s cousin the Batata Vada (a chick pea flour covered potato and spices filled dumpling that is fried). The samosa is usually served from a cart guy (no preparation as per order) and everyone has their own opinion of who has the best samosa.
Usha does a good rendition of this Bombay favorite along with the sweet savory and tangy chaats that are an after office favorite.
They also serve other kinds of Indian office lunch favorites like the stars of Udipi/​Tamil cuisine — Dosa’s, Idli’s etc.
If you work in the area or are just driving by — drop in for a Bombay style working mans lunch.

Usha Foods is great for a quick snack, dosa, and it’s heaven for vegetarians. They have a nice assortment of chaats and their chole batura is superb. We usually go for the chole batura and a chaat but we tried the vegetable hakka noodles and the Bombay sandwich. The noodles were good but I wouldn’t recommend it over most other menu items. There were plenty of veggies and it wasn’t very oily so it was a good experience. I think it isn’t good enough for the price. The Bombay sandwich was delicious. I had serious doubts about picking that but the grilled aloo, a layer of cucumber, a thin layer of cottage cheese, really made for a superb sandwich.
Usha foods is my favorite stop if I’m in that area. If you’re there definitely check out the sweets section as well (go for the Mavajam!). I took a star off from their review because we went there when they were closing and one of the staff members decided to sweep the floor while we were eating. That’s a huge NO. I understand that they had a long day and all but it really takes away from the whole experience. Nonetheless, head over to Usha’s early in the day and have some quality Indian food for a decent price!

Love this place for Indian street food… Samosas n papdi chaat are super delicious… Definitely recommended

Honestly I don’t like to be so negative towards any restaurant but this place doesn’t deserve even 3 stars! Every time I come here the people that work here just make me regret even coming!!! When we Walked in there were no tables so we waited like 5 – 10 mins and finally got a table by our self cause there’s really no waiter to help… Than when we told the person at the front how we got a table and it was dirty he told us they will get to it… So waited and Which didn’t happen so me and my sister ended up having to clean the tables… Than went to get our drinks which we paid for and get napkins, where this nice and sweet (I’m being sarcastic) lady stared me and my sister in law down and when I asked for the napkins she told me there was some in the front and not to waste it. um what what u mean waste we were 5 adults and 2 kids and we order like 70 $ of food. What do u mean don’t waste it? Than on top we waited about 30 mins for the food which we were ok with cause the food is delicious I have been to another place couple of blocks down called Surya… There food is equally good just not as many variety but the customer service is amazing which is why I keep going back!

Food is good
Try the chaats
The samosa and alu tiki chaats are the best they come with 2 pcs. Of either topped with chickpeas and gravy and an assortment of other nice ingredients that all go well with it
What I normally do is tell them to put 1 samosa and 1 aloo tiki inside the chaat so I have a little variety.
The dosa is also very good
I do not however like that they use a microwave to warm up some of the foods should instead have another way to keep the food warm
I like it come with family
I avoid Sundays as is always too packed

The best dosas around. The family that works here and owns the place are really nice and genuine people. They are always so welcoming and take great care to make sure everyone is taken care of quickly. I see many ethnicities coming to order off the all vegetarian menu. The food is made fresh and they also have sweets. Worth on Hillside Ave.

5 stars for taste and service! I’m new to Indian sweets and food. So when I walked into Usha foods I felt a little lost — thankfully the employees were very kind and gracious! They taught all about their sweets, dosas, chaats and more! My order was custom made by a very friendly young man and the best part is that dinner for two was just 14 dollars! Can’t beat the price! Their samosas, chaats and dosas are extremely fresh and savory! I’m addicted to Usha foods now!

Usha Foods is a delicious eatery for Samosas, Samosa Chaat, Papdi Chaat, Vada pav, lunch platters, different delectable Mithais and so much more!
I always order my favorite Papdi chaat which is a fried flour crispy, mixed with a flavorful mixture of chickpeas, potatoes, dahi (yogurt), dhaniya (corriander), and masala (spice). A flavorful, delicious and magnificent explosion in your mouth! You will be licking your fingers till the end! (Chaat=finger lickin!) :-) *Sometimes they mix the coriander Imli chutney in the chaat, but you can request for more according to your taste buds!

The old guy sitting in the cashier was very friendly, and ladies working behind the counter work very hard and quick. Great atomosphere.
I had dosa, puri, and samosa. All were very tasty. I will definitely come back again!

The food is standard Indian fare but is pretty good however the service is horrendous.

We have been customers at Usha Foods for over 10 years now. We know most of the employees by face, some by name, and have loved this place for all of these years.
That said — it is unfortunate that this still belongs to the realm of Indian restaurants where you have to be in the «inner circle» to get the best quality.
Case in point — a morning (11am) pickup on a Saturday. We ordered some sweets and some bhaturas. After a reasonable wait time, the bhaturas came in 2 bags. One was fresh made. One was from last night. The sweets we picked were also pretty stale.
Had we been in the «inner circle», the stale bhaturas would have made it to someone else, and we would have been recommended to go for other, freshly made sweets.
This, unfortunately, is common business practice back in India. Which is why people are cautious when shopping in less known stores, and always are on the alert for tomfoolery.
However, this is the US, and Usha Foods is one of the hallmark Indian fast food establishments — if not at the very top — in the Long Island area. I expected better of them.
This experience aside, Usha Foods, and in particular their gulab jamuns, milk cake, and jalebis — will remain close to our hearts.
*Edit* Forgot to mention, the Kadhi I picked up on the same bad Saturday morning run — had an expiration date of the Friday before. Thanks, Usha Foods! Now I know I should double check everything I get from here.

Very nice place for a quick bite if you are craving vegetarian indian snack. The service is excellent. The cashier was so friendly and nice and helped us with our choices since we didn’t know much about this type of food. We ended up ordering the spicy masala dosas. While we were waiting (didnt even pass 10 – 15 min) another worker came to us apologizing for the food coming out late. That wasn’t even an issue and we never complained but he gave us complimentary chaat just for waiting. It was my first time trying this. Didn’t care too much for it but it was a nice gesture and was appreciated. The dosas were very good. To me it tasted like Indian breakfast food because of the soft potatoes inside and the sauce was very good too.

I only tried the samosa chaat and pani puri here and I must say I’m impressed. The pani puri was OK but the samosa chaat was pretty damn good. It had the right amount of sauces and samosas. Will come back here to get my samosa chaat fix. I’ll try the dahi puri next time.

This 1 star is for their awful service. I usually come here to get a quick a bite to eat and its sometimes crowded, but I have always been patient and never complained about waiting. However, I placed an order last night by phone and went to pick it up about an hour later and they told me I never ordered it. Instead of owning up to their mistake, they accused me of not placing an order or calling the other Usha sweets a few blocks away. I showed them my phone log and the guy in the front admitted that it was the correct number, but still did not own up to the mistake. Even worse, they told me that I could not have placed the order because they ran out of the item long before I called, yet I saw a woman order the last ½ pound while I was standing in line!
It would have been fine, if they had just apologized and stated it won’t happen again, but to not admit the mistake is not good customer service. I’m only hoping that this review will help others from not having to go through the same and maybe that they will learn from this. From now on, my family and I will be going to the ORIGINAL Real Usha sweets near 260^th.
As far as the food goes, it’s pretty much standard taste at most indian fast food places. Chaats are good, but I’ve had much better dosa.

Their jalebi is pretty amazing. Their bhel chat portion is pretty big, like a full meal. The taste was perfect, sweet and tangy with a lot of crunchiness. Their pani puri is nice, though not the best Ive ever had. It misses some flavoring, you mostly get just the heat from it. The service is decent, be prepared to wait as they make all the chats to order.

In general, I am not a huge fan of Indian food but I love Usha’s! It’s a quick, simple spot and their food, snacks, and sweets are always fresh and delicious. The staff is friendly, quick, and overall good to their patrons.
I’m almost always in the mood for their samosas. Sooo good, every single time. I usually only come to pick up samosa and/​or spicy channa but I’ve also been here for lunch/​dinner and the food is great. Also, every thing is reasonably priced unlike the other 99.99% of Indian restaurants in New York.
The establishment itself is vegetarian but that doesn’t compromise variety in their menu. If you aren’t familiar with Indian food, you may have trouble figuring out what to order but the workers will happily help you with that.
It can get a bit crowded and seating is limited but I’ve never had a real issue with that. I’ve been coming to Usha’s pretty much my entire life and highly recommend it.

I give this fine establishment 5 full stars not only because of the food but the excellent customer service. It’s very rare to see a desi restaurant actually care about their patrons. We are always greeting by the youthful, friendly, energetic and attentive staff manning their front desk. They are prompt with their service. The portions are satisfying. They make it (chaat) the way you ask for it, spicy, extra chutney, extra yogurt etc. They are amazing at making their samosa chaat, papdi chaat and bhel mix. Seating can run tight if you go on peak weekend hours. They haven’t compromised the quality of their food or service in the two years that I have been going there and I sincerely appreciate that and they will always have my business when a chaat craving strikes!

I had masala dosa. The dosa was good. Reminded me of a dosa I once ate in London. I also had lassi which was good. Service is friendly place is nice. Sweets are also available.