r/ChandlerAZ 5d ago

Saw this on TikTok feel like it deserves some more attention :)

This is the owner of the Tikka Drive Indian Cuisine in Chandler that has a drive thru! Can’t wait to try it, we love supporting a local business that cares about what they’re feeding their customers. 😇

835 Upvotes

146 comments sorted by

81

u/RickS50 5d ago

Alright, this place is right by where I work. This building, as far as I can tell, was at one point a Long John Silvers, then it was a burrito place and when I went in there it smelled of sewer gas. I never went back until a few weeks ago to try this place. They put some serious money into renovating the building, and guess what? No more sewer smell!

I should admit I'm not a huge Indian food person. I tried the chicken tikka marsala. The meal comes with rice and they offer regular and garlic naan bread as an additional item. They have India drinks like mango lassi, but also a typical Coca Cola soda fountain. The employee interaction is kind of interesting here. You see the whole kitchen and the orders are called out and the term "yes chef" is heard a lot. I do have to say everyone appears happy there while working hard. Everything is cooked fresh and takes a bit. I watched my still puffy garlic naan bread come out of the oven.

They offer spice on a 1 to 5 scale. I ordered a 2 and could have handled a 3 easily even though I'm generally delicate in this regard. It was tasty and well packaged for taking with me. The portions were large enough I was able to make a second meal out of it. That said, it was about $25 for my meal with a soda. I know real food costs more, but it's a bit steep. If I loved this kind of food I'd probably put it in occasional rotation.

13

u/embercleaved 5d ago

Honestly $25 for a meal is steep but not if you can enjoy a meal the next day with the left overs

7

u/RickS50 5d ago

Agreed. Again, as mentioned, Indian food isn't my favorite thing.

5

u/NervousInflation2461 4d ago

My husband just got some today for lunch and I had the same thought! When he first told me it was $25 my jaw dropped, but then I saw that there’s a ton of leftovers, so it’s really more like $12.50/ portion, so it’s not too unreasonable price wise. He really enjoyed the food!!

1

u/SubjectCrazy2184 2d ago

What spice level does your husband recommend? Thank you !

1

u/xpietoe42 1d ago

plus the cost of indian food both in ingredients and prep time is generally higher than almost any other cuisine. Especially if everything is made from scratch.

19

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

Hell yea thanks for sharing dude! I’m usually only over here for Cali Tacos, Hi-5 sushi or ATL

7

u/RickS50 5d ago

Calitacos special rolled tacos are the bomb!

4

u/Is_It_Soup_Season 5d ago

The sewer smell is a dry p-trap. To fix it, they just need to pour a bucket of water down the drains.

5

u/RickS50 5d ago

Or a broken pipe somewhere. Either way, it's not something you want your restaurant smelling like. 

They moved walls during the renovation.

2

u/askmewhyihateyou 4d ago

Ohh if used to be a long John silvers they probably paid some serious money to dredge all the grease from underground grease traps.

A lot of fast food places will have multiple storages that often get neglected as the place loses money

1

u/RickS50 4d ago

I base my statement entirely on a memory from looking at Google maps several years ago. 😏

1

u/RickS50 4d ago

Through the magic of looking at Google Street view history, it was a Long John Silver up until about 2013, 2015 and 2016 it looks to be empty, 2017 it's a Yoliburtos and they paint the roof red from the long John's blue. The end of 2018 it's empty again 2019 it gets exterior painted to dark grey. March of 2020 it becomes a coffee shop, which was probably a terrible time to open something like that. Somewhere between then and March of 2022 it became a sodalicous and it's that until at least February of last year. 

So yeah, nothing had survived long term in this building. I hope they can turn that around.

47

u/JaCrispyWR 5d ago

Dude missed the opportunity to talk about his food, rather than seed oils, raising money and contractors. And more seed oils.

8

u/SoupOfThe90z 5d ago

That’s what I was thinking as well. What are your main plates? What’s something out of the ordinary or special? I’ll still be trying it though

113

u/curiouskat557 5d ago

As far as I know, there is no empirical evidence to support the assertion that seed oils are bad for you. Regardless, love that there is a new local business to support.

26

u/couldvehadasadbitch 5d ago

They definitely have found a way to cash in

-15

u/dookie224 5d ago

Nah. There's truth it. Seed oils have excess Omega-6 fats which causes inflammation.

Anecdotally, I have felt better when I switched from sunflower oil to Avocado oil at home. Dr. Hyman is a health guru I somewhat trust.

https://drhyman.com/blogs/content/are-seed-oils-bad-for-you-here-s-what-you-need-to-know

23

u/SlipperySparky 5d ago

This is a myth that came from social media. Almost all doctors and dieticians agree that seed oils are fine in limited quantities.

The only caveat is they can oxidize more frequently when deep frying at really high heats.

6

u/DravesHD 5d ago

“Seed oils are bad for you!”

“You’re not supposed to drink a half gallon of it per meal, Linda”

2

u/Salty_Raspberry656 3d ago

thats kind of the point, the level we cook in them isn't great for limited qualities

not to mention their smoke and cooking point are usually not something the fryers are mindful of

they are not individually bad, but overall at least in an american diet there are all sort of issues in our bodies from having this omega 6:3 ratio that we end up with, too much of a lot of things can be bad for you and in this case thats what they are talking about

so the question isn't is if that individual oil is bad for you, but consistently cooking and what that leads to in that ratio is problematic and this is one helpful aspect

1

u/SlipperySparky 3d ago

they are not individually bad, but overall at least in an american diet there are all sort of issues in our bodies from having this omega 6:3 ratio that we end up with, too much of a lot of things can be bad for you and in this case thats what they are talking about

From what I've seen, there's no high quality evidence indicating that a high Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio causes bad health outcomes. Please let me know if I'm wrong by providing a meta analysis or systematic review showing causality

1

u/Salty_Raspberry656 2d ago

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8504498/

Its fair but you can wait as so much thigns have evolved with the ability to gather data, the technology, and things doctors were prescribing each decade changes with that. so upto you to say unless the authorities evolve and confirm this data that shows a trend that maybe concerning and has reasonable logic behind it, thats fair. a lot of people are trying to do things faster than that rate so they are trying, some maybe more experimental and wrong, and some may prove to be right. to each their own

1

u/SlipperySparky 2d ago

This is a narrative review. There's are dozens of similar low quality evidence sources saying seed oils are cause inflammation due to omega 6, linoleic acid & arachidonic acid.

Again, do you have any meta analyses or systematic reviews? These are the highest quality of evidence which are most effective at removing any bias and conjecture that narrative reviews have

4

u/dannydaddydevito 4d ago

They literally sited a wellness influencer’s blog that tells me enough they can’t think for themselves

13

u/Naskin 5d ago

Seems studies show this is only the case if you get an excess omega 6 to omega 3 ratio (this is all the studies show in your link too). Which probably isn't happening if you get a bit of seed oil. If you're replacing it with some saturated fats instead, it's likely less healthy overall.

I'm not denying there's a potential link, but it's a weak enough link that there isn't strong evidence for it. Virtually all major medical bodies say there is not clear evidence on omega 6 being inflammatory (I couldn't find any that suggested otherwise in a brief search).

15

u/Significant_Factor37 5d ago

1

u/Salty_Raspberry656 3d ago

a little nuance helps

the issue at hand is the ratio of Omega 6:3 in a typical american diet is leading to health issues. Seed oils by themselves, aren't problematic. but restaurants of which americans eat more and more and industrial grade cooking ware doesnt have much account for the heat the oils are meant to be cooked in. So yes if they use a heat appropraite and different ratio oil ,that is considered an upgrade and more beneficial for our inflammatory markers

i dont get the strawman argument

1

u/Forimmediateresults 2d ago

What is the claim being made by the straw man in the Harvard study?

7

u/FreeBristle 5d ago

Man people will believe anything 

1

u/SlipperySparky 2d ago

Also fyi, I just found out Dr. Hyman makes 28M a year from selling supplements. Do you really think this guy is trustworthy?

-59

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

Yeah I agree I’m unaware of any studies that show that seed oils are bad, but then again we live in a country where the food is quite literally DNA altering poison so the emphasis on the food here NOT being that is reassuring.

35

u/Zyloof 5d ago

Oh boy. There's a lot to unpack here.

18

u/ObiJuanKenobi3 5d ago

Yeah that’s completely untrue in basically every way?

22

u/Obvious_Ambition4865 5d ago

I ate a chicken nugget a month ago and my DNA simply hasn't stopped mutating since. Slowly turning into mass of writhing flesh sludge atm

5

u/MageCorporation 5d ago

I had a GMO apple a couple weeks ago and my DNA got altered and now I'm gay

1

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

If you eat another GMO apple it will cancel like pemdas

0

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

You were supposed to eat TWO nuggets so the mutation cancels out cmon now

3

u/ImNoNelly 5d ago

Wtf are you on about?

-12

u/StrawberryMilky5 5d ago edited 5d ago

It is not inherently bad. Its just that the American diet is excessively composed of seed products, especially from the way chicken and cows are fed.

The main critique is that this excessive seed based products can cause a disbalance of omega 6 and omega 3 balance, and O3 being the healthier one. Which can be attributed to inflammation and chronic diseases.

There are definitely better oils to use like avocado oil. But seed oil is cheap. So you commonly get that at restaurants.

Edit: While it is good effort to not use seed oils, the food he will be sourcing, like the meat, will 90% most likely still have the high O6 components due to what i said of how livestock are fed. So "using no seed oils" is more of a marketing play but wont really do much to address the main health concerns unless he sources meat from local farmers who dont feed livestock seed, which does not work at a restaurant scale with affordability

12

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 5d ago

Seed oils are much better than ghee. Seed oils contain much more unsaturated fatty acids while ghee and butter fats are more saturated which is worse. It even shows that in the chart in the video

-4

u/d0rathexplorer 5d ago

You could not be more wrong. Ghee is one of the best fats you can use to make food, besides beef tallow and any animal-based fat. As Indians, we've used ghee for a very long time and it objectively tastes better than oil. Not sure where you get your information from, but definitely try to read more sources.

7

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 5d ago

Just because it tastes good doesn’t mean it’s good for you? Both omega 3 and 6 are unsaturated fats while butter fat is saturated which is considerably worse for your health health as it increases LDL greatly

3

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 5d ago

An unbalance of unsaturated fats (omega 3and 6) is still much better than overconsumption of saturated fats

1

u/StrawberryMilky5 5d ago

I replied to another comment regarding this.

You are sort of right but not really my argument.

Monounsaturated > polyunsaturated > saturated fats.

Seed oils are much better than butter/ghee in a vacuum for sure. But you can go a step further and use avocado, canola, or olive oil which have a more concentration of monosaturated fats and lower ratio of saturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Additionally, saturated fats like butter are not entirety bad for you either (in moderation). If you look at my other reply in the other thread, I explained how polyunsaturated fats (seed oils) are volatile and can become oxidated and become OxLDL. A similar transformation of saturated fats that when it interacts with seed oil (that contains phytosterol) it produces more increased cholesterol (a modified LDL).

The main fear of saturated fats came from a researcher who made an inference that saturated fats lead to high cholesterol, which became highly critiqued but already blew up during the fat fear era of America. And even a follow up research from himself disproved his own conclusion.

Your body though already regulates saturated and unsaturated fats, which both are needed for the body cells. The key is to reduce LDL levels which seed oils can contribute to when it interacts with other substances. But seed oil itself also does not cause harm and itself can also reduce cardiovascular disease. Its a bit confusing. But tldr I wouldnt worry too much about about saturated, unsaturated, o3 and o6, and really be conscious is what is consumed in imbalance through processed foods and sugars.

3

u/SlipperySparky 5d ago edited 5d ago

The main critique is that this excessive seed based products can cause a disbalance of omega 6 and omega 3 balance, and O3 being the healthier one. Which can be attributed to inflammation and chronic diseases.

Can you provide a systematic review or a meta analysis that show this?

3

u/StrawberryMilky5 5d ago

Yup. Sorry even I confused myself over this and misremembered some key points. Sorry about that.

It isnt inflammation or chronic disease. I was wrong about that. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900721002057?via=ihub#bib0008

Seed oils like soybean do not have an association with inflammation and replacing saturated fats with seed oils do decrease risks of heart disease.

However, it is still not the best kind of oil to consume because seed oil is high on polyunsaturated fats, which are volitile to becoming oxidated and forming OxLDL, which is unhealthy and what can lead to heart disease or inflammation. From what I understand, polyunsaturated fats are more likely to oxidize the more processed the oil or foods are. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9199460/

So in essence, monosaturated > polyunsaturated > saturated fats.

It is not inherently bad. Its just that the American diet is excessively composed of seed products

This is what really drives the main critique of seed oil. There is an imbalance of these fats because seed oils like soybean are excessively used in many products. Even if healthy, an imbalance does not contribute to homeostasis.

There are definitely better oils to use like avocado oil.

You arent going to get sick just because you used seed oil. They are still fine and better than the saturated alternatives. But if you really want to be more health conscious, avocado, olive, and canola oil have a higher ratio of monosaturated fats than saturated and polyunsaturated.

It is also why I made that edit shortly after posting my original comment. Switching to better oil is a good small step, but the issue is much larger than that and health issues are mainly driven by the sugars and starches in many processed foods that when you combine it with stuff like OxLDL can accelerate detrimental health effects. As I mentioned, while it is a marketing stunt to advertise a different oil used by the restaurant, it is not using seed oil is not the silver bullet to the heart health caused by our industrial food consumption. But still a good small step.

Also correct me if I get any of this wrong. Nutrition science is super complicated and convoluted.

2

u/SlipperySparky 4d ago edited 4d ago

I appreciate your honesty, openness and willingness to do extra research here. I need to be more like you!

I just wish there wasn't so much antagonism against seed oils. They're super cheap, and relatively harmless in limited quantities. Olive oils and avocado oils, which may offer some extra health benefits, are way more expensive. So instead of seed oils, people will use butter and tallow, which are much worse for them than seed oils.

11

u/SomewhereHot7956 5d ago

That “tiktoker” is a huge Pokemon glitcher and scalper trying to be an influencer now

2

u/Emotional_Formal2049 4d ago

I understand a scalper is buying all the cards in a store to resell but….what is a glitcher in regards to pokemon?

3

u/Bud-Chickentender 4d ago

He was able to glitch out the pokemon center vending machines that had purchase limits and fully clear them out of all stock

6

u/Calm_Apartment1968 5d ago

Nice. Gotta find that and get me some Tika Masala! We have a little place in Sahuarita, but always open to new places.

17

u/Wash_zoe_mal 5d ago

Support local businesses!!!

8

u/grabGPT 5d ago

This building where business is is up for sale for what it's worth, and it's obvious why they're selling.

3

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

Are you saying the building where the restaurant is, is up for sale?

9

u/grabGPT 5d ago edited 5d ago

Yes sir. At least it was for sale a couple weeks back, not sure if it was already sold.

There you go, for 3.1 mil

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/80-W-Warner-Rd-Chandler-AZ/40133557/

9

u/grabGPT 5d ago

With rental income of $200,000 for the first year with yearly increase, this business is going to dry out just in rents.

4

u/FremdShaman23 5d ago

I thought it was a great healthier drive thru option. I'm vegetarian and I love Indian food so I will definitely be back.

It was a bit pricey, but on the other hand the portion that I got was enough for two meals for me. So I was very pleased.

4

u/arturoayasan 5d ago

Same here, I understand we will be paying for quality though

13

u/Emotional_Formal2049 5d ago

A friend of mine tried it and said it was amazing! I plan to go soon!

4

u/NullnVoid669 5d ago

It’s not cheap. After visiting decided I’d just keep getting Indian buffet at a local spot.

10

u/RhombicZombie 5d ago

The anti seed oil situation is a bunch of MAHA baloney. Please do some real peer-reviewed research before shilling unsubstantiated health claims. The mods should care more about this 🤷🏻‍♂️

7

u/Easy-Seesaw285 5d ago

And when businesses over emphasize this, I assume the ownership is probably deep into far right Maha anti-VAX and i’ve got other places I can support. Same with beef tallow. Maybe its great, but when you make it your restaurants identity, I’ll pass.

2

u/TriGurl 5d ago

I'm thinking about people that have allergies! This is their kind of heaven!

1

u/RhombicZombie 4d ago

People with allergies go to regular restaurants all the time and are just fine. I wouldn’t trust this restaurant to take anyone’s allergies seriously if they are so easily swayed by health misinformation.

5

u/According_Engine9885 5d ago

Such an inspirational young man! Wishing his business nothing but prosperity and longevity!!

3

u/Highspdfailure 5d ago

I will be making the drive there. Love Indian food.

3

u/Mental-Wolf-2560 5d ago

Wtf is with every word being captioned and a zoom in/out every 4 seconds? Unwatchable. I will check out the restaurant though. 

3

u/Minimum_Mix2465 5d ago

Wait this is actually huge. Indian food drive thru in Chandler is like god tier convenience, definitely pulling up this week.

1

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

Everyone in this sub is arguing about seed oils and their marketing, I just dropped the video so people know there’s a drive thru Indian spot. Thx for being normal 😂

2

u/assgoblin87 4d ago

It’s because it’s the first thing mentioned and the main focus of the video. It’s more of a seed oil video than a promotion for the Indian food.

1

u/Bud-Chickentender 4d ago

Yeah tbh I didn’t even listen to the rest of the video after I heard that

3

u/Flimsy_Writing_8870 5d ago

Several of the recipes are based on the ones at Namaste in north Scottsdale, which is my personal favorite.

3

u/ct_dooku 4d ago

Ate there last week. Food was good. Hope they’re really successful!

10

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 5d ago

Indian food mostly uses ghee anyways, they’re trying to appeal to trend followers

2

u/mainjaintrain 5d ago

Are you Indian? This is definitely not true

4

u/sofredj 5d ago

Personally I thought the food was delicious and the portions were big so we had leftovers! 

5

u/Azolliegator 5d ago

I’m in the west valley but bet your ass I’ll drive over to support local and I love some good Indian food…I’ll just be sure to bring my own seed oil or whatever 😂

7

u/Dragonoflime 5d ago

I have been hearing such good things about this place. I love how much diverse good eats we have here!!

2

u/shrekerecker97 5d ago

I want to try this, where is it at?

2

u/beaglemilf23 5d ago

Please come out to the West Valley

2

u/BreakfastFluid9419 5d ago

So it’s not authentic? If the oil ain’t black I ain’t coming back 😤😤

2

u/A_90s_Reference 5d ago

Companies that claim they don't use seed oils don't give a shit about the food they serve.

They care about taking advantage of dumbass internet takes that have no factual basis and charging extra for it

2

u/Ok-Market-6272 4d ago

A short walk from Jolie's after a few drinks!

1

u/Born-Standard2001 4d ago

Sounds like a good time to me!

2

u/Mental-Wolf-2560 3d ago

I went today and there were like 7 people working and mostly standing around doing nothing. The owner wasnt in sight. Food was great and service was good. Entrees were $17 and was a good portion.  

2

u/Death_by_Samson 3d ago

I've been and think it's worth checking out. I like Tikka Shack as well, but their butter chicken doesn't sit too well with me. Drive has the convenience of a drive thru, maybe $1-2 more expensive than Shack, and tastes great without any stomach troubles.

I would suggest their butter chicken or tikka masala and a mango lassi/smoothie.

6

u/1121222 5d ago

Well they found their market of lost young men who go to joe Rogan for advice

2

u/Easy-Seesaw285 5d ago

And I’m sure there’s a huge pool of Joe Rogan fans who are also into ethnic food /s 😂

4

u/foxiwyld 5d ago

Roadtrip time

3

u/Responsible-Check916 5d ago

I really enjoyed their butter chicken and mango lassi! The fresh bread was great to see being made.

3

u/FunPriority8358 5d ago

This is cool. Thanks for sharing! 😎

3

u/Seedoilsaleswoman 5d ago

This is awesome. The first 'seed oil free' restaurant I ever ate at was owned by a very wonderful Indian woman. Spoke with her for 10+ minutes about the topic.

3

u/Bud-Chickentender 4d ago

Fuck Tyler, the ticktocker is an asshole that went all around Chandler and cleared every Pokemon vending machine using glitches, resold them only to other scalpers for insane prices, and rubbed it in the faces of and was extremely rude, homophobic and racist to people in the local Arizona Facebook Pokemon groups

2

u/DaBootyScooty 5d ago

I’d be more interested in the produce than the dude try his best podcast voice on.

2

u/CommunicationClassic 5d ago

Say less, can I wait to try this place

2

u/DarthBragg 5d ago

I would LOVE drive through Indian. Hell yeah.

2

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 5d ago

Seed oils are much better than ghee

2

u/ObiJuanKenobi3 5d ago

So it’s Indian food but they get to charge a premium for using ingredients that are, in practice, identical to the ones everyone else uses? Stupid.

1

u/d0rathexplorer 5d ago

Ghee and seed oils couldn't be further from each other. And most Indian restaurants do use food dyes.

1

u/DistinguishedAnus 4d ago

So no mustard oil? Stupid

1

u/Nochhits 4d ago

Seed oils are fine

1

u/kprevenew93 4d ago

Just because your business panders to RFK doesn't mean anyone wants to hear your bullshit. Blah blah blah seed oils shut the fuck up

1

u/Elegant_Brick_622 4d ago

We have an embarrassment of riches type amount of Indian restaurants where I live. But Idgaf please come here.

1

u/LetsGeauxSaints 3d ago

This individual MAY not be a fan of seed oils. I don’t know, something tipped me off

1

u/xddoesit13 2d ago

The naan is good and the tikka masala taste very authentic. That being the case I still think it’s a tad bit under what I get from somewhere like Avasa or even Tikka Shack. (I know Tikka Shack is super commercial but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy their food more). Be careful getting the lemonade as it’s not as sweet as you’d expect from lemonade. All in all, decent food and really good naan so I’d recommend if you’re in the area.

1

u/DMalt 2d ago

Oh no, seed oils. That thing that's still being debated upon, and based on research in 2025 might actually be good. 

1

u/mi55key 2d ago

Well, they're capitalizing on the nonsense that seed oils are bad. Capitalizing on a trend of influencer stupidity. Hope it works out.

1

u/Select_Position_3966 2d ago

Wait this is sick, Indian food in a drive thru is dangerously convenient 😂

Do you know if they have any good veggie options or combo plates, or is it more like quick bites only?

1

u/4loYeyo 2d ago

They also don’t have bathrooms. Gotta go out in the street

1

u/phelodough 1d ago

This post got me so fired up!

1

u/arenasfan00 1d ago

Here we go with the seed oil shit again

0

u/Lycwyd 5d ago

Can’t blame them for cashing in on the Trumper ignorance.

1

u/Sea_Curve8772 5d ago

I would avoid this place just for perpetuating this broscience nonsense

1

u/710HQ 4d ago

The anti seed oil gimmick is so silly.

1

u/thoriumsnowflake 4d ago

God i love Indian food.

1

u/Born-Standard2001 4d ago

A lot of people were complaining about the prices too but I know that I personally can’t recreate this with the level of authenticity at home so I don’t mind!

1

u/Responsible_Joke4229 4d ago edited 4d ago

Congrats to this young man. His parents restaurant is very good, I look forward to trying his food. Haha I was thinking the same thing- I only ever eat the white guy special, if you just keep that hot in a pot I’m sure you can streamline the kitchen.

0

u/Belialxyn 5d ago

Man, if that was near Suprise....

0

u/Acrobatic-Manner1621 5d ago

Hell ya! Will miss you up north!!!!!

-2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Bud-Chickentender 4d ago

Girl this is a Chandler az sub, are you okay?

2

u/GlockAmaniacs 4d ago

Jesus christ

1

u/ChandlerAZ-ModTeam 1d ago

r/ChandlerAZ follows platform-wide Reddit Rules

-4

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

The subreddit is r/ChandlerAZ and this restaurant is in Chandler, AZ. Hope this helps!

-8

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

4

u/Born-Standard2001 5d ago

cry about it :(