Punjabi Dhaba

Bakersfield’s Best Indian Roadside Stand Just Opened a New Restaurant | Eater LA

"A northern-Indian dhaba-style eatery run by Balvinder Singh Saini and his wife Mansi Tiwari began in 2016 as a converted taco truck parked on Union Avenue, and after a glowing 2019 review by New York Times critic Tejal Rao and additional media attention (including a visit from chef Lidia Bastianich for a segment of PBS' Lidia Celebrates America), has grown into a brick-and-mortar that opened in late January 2025. Saini — a former long-haul trucker with a background in mechanical engineering — says, "My food is not like a Subway or a Quiznos," and credits the dhaba tradition of homestyle comfort food and flexibility (popular roadside dishes such as butter chicken and dal makhani) for shaping the menu and service. The new restaurant, tucked into a large, newish medical complex on Bakersfield's west side (enter through a side door or a dentist's lobby), has a comfortable, homey interior with string lights, tables bordered by small American and Indian flags, and a whiteboard behind the counter listing snacks, entrees like malai kofta and chicken tikka masala, and sides. A daily lunch combo costs as little as $13 and comes with rice, two entrees, and two roti; the parking lot fills on weekdays with medical-office visitors but "That’s when my friends come," says Saini, referring to evenings and weekends when they have the whole plaza to themselves. Menu holdovers from the roadside operation include samosa chaat and parathas, while brick-and-mortar additions include pav bhaji, vada pav, and rajma; Saini plans to add more street-food dishes (an Indian veggie burger, sambar, and possibly South Indian items) weekly. Though vegetarian himself, Saini and Tiwari also serve meat dishes — chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, Indo-Chinese Szechuan chicken — and what the coverage calls "a fantastic goat curry that would stand up to some of the best in Los Angeles." The original roadside truck is expected to reopen eventually, but staffing is a constraint: "Me and my wife are the only cooks. I don’t know how we’ll run two spaces." Saini also voices concern about higher rent and overhead: "I don’t want to deal with it." A scout promised support, and Saini adds, "So, we’ll see where we are in six months," and, "I don’t think too much. If I think, then I have tension, so I go with the flow. Whatever happens, we have to live with it." Open daily from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; call (661) 578-9303 to order ahead." - Jim Thurman