HONEST-West Village Eatery Offers Delicious Indian Vegetarian Food

Authentic, fresh and delicious! Honest, situated on Bleecker Street in the West Village, brings an entirely new fast casual meal experience to the neighborhood. The restaurant serves Indian vegetarian food in an attractive, comfortable setting with efficient counter service. They also have take-out and delivery options. Since its opening, the eatery has been a destination for professionals working in the area, students, locals and tourists.

Honest began as a humble street cart owned by Ramesh Gupta in Law Garden, a popular open air food market in Ahmedabad, India in the late 1960's. In the beginning, they sold chaat, or Indian street food, but as their popularity grew, they began serving made-to-order hot vegetarian meals. A customer favorite was Ramesh's recipe for Bhaji Pav, spiced vegetable curry served with buttered rolls. His wife, Vimla's spice blend recipe completed the tasty, signature dish. The Guptas named their street cart Honest because of the purity of the product and the customer transparency they provided.

It is not surprising that Honest has successfully expanded to include 60 locations in Gujarat, India, two in Canada, two in Australia, and two in Thailand, and 31 in the United States. To ensure the US locations maintain the standard of high quality, the Gupta family hired CIA alumnus, Vasisht Ramasubramanian, as their Corporate Executive Chef, who trains the kitchen at each location.

Honest's menu puts a great emphasis on the freshest ingredients, with all dishes cooked to order from scratch. No frozen ingredients are ever used. We had the pleasure of visiting early on a Saturday evening to sample a few items that have already become some of their customers' top choices. The Bhaji Pav lives up to its great reputation as a signature dish. This vegetable curry has a potato base and is perfectly spiced. And the buttered dinner rolls known as pav are baked fresh in Honest's bakery in New Jersey. A South Indian special, Dabang (The Beast) Dosa is a dosa packed with flavor and versatile fillings, beautifully presented.

The menu also features a variety of creative items like their Indian Style Pizza, Honest Pizza, Veg Masala Sandwich, and Bahubali Sandwich. Indo-Chinese dishes include Veg Hakka Noodle, Schezwan Fried Rice, Veg Manchurian dumpling, and Chinese Bhel. Bombay Chaat selections that are nice for sharing include Pani Puri, Samosa Chaat, and Chaana Puri.

Beverages include soft drinks, juices, coffee, tea and their special Mango Lassi. This location will soon be the first US-based Honest to offer beer and wine. Indian desserts are a nice finish for any meal such as the Meetha Paan or the Gulab Jamun.

Honest is a one-of-a-kind restaurant that is elevating fast casual Indian fare. New York City is fortunate to have a location for guests to enjoy.

Honest is located at 176 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012. Currently there is indoor dining and they will be opening an outdoor dining patio soon. For menus, hours of operation, and ordering, please visit https://nychonest.com/ or call 917.261.2610.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Honest

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