Masala Jack’s Original Good Ol’ Indian Curryhouse

please do not spend your money here. They are trying to make ends meet by screwing over their customers and their staff. the food is kept literally for weeks, everything is pre-​made. your tikka masala? refrigerated sauce warmed up with pre-​cooked meat. the rice is dry because it has been sitting for up to a week before hitting your table. the back room facilities (drinks/​ice machine, multiple fridges) are and have been broken, which is why your drinks taste either metallic or just plain bad. the server will ask you for coupons before you order because they are told to tell customers they are out of higher priced items when paying with coupons/​gift certificates. the owners take 30% of servers tips at the end of the night, do not train their servers, and do not pay them on time. this leads to a waitstaff that is slow, unknowledgeable, and terrified of being tipped poorly, knowing that they will have to pay the owners their tip fee (based on sales), or be accused of stealing. Buy frozen Indian food at trader Joe’s before you buy it here

Masala Jack’s is a great place. Service is quick, and the prices are perfect for what you get.
I love the tikka masala, naans, and most curries. They have options for gluten free and vegan! How awesome…
I have been here probably 20 – 30 times, and have had exceptional service each time! :)
My only complaint is that sometimes it will smell like cleaning products or a bit smokey, but besides that, it’s perfect. They don’t serve alcohol which is awesome because who needs that brain numbing poison anyways?
I recommend this place and will continue to go there always. It’s the best indian in the area of north bay (in my opinion).

Small, but nice! Good Indian food and a nice atmosphere (I really like the tables). They do to-​go if you’re not in the mood to be out for long, which is nice. I think people don’t see it because the area it’s in doesn’t have a lot of businesses which sucks because this place shouldn’t be over looked! Give it a try!

Um, yikes, this was BAD. I’d never had BAD Indian food before — plenty of meh or ok Indian food, and I didn’t think it could be this bad. Oh, yeah, it can.
I had the paneer tikka masala — I bit into the first piece of paneer and it was cold. Apparently, they couldn’t be bothered to heat the paneer with the sauce. Ick. Then I noticed that the weirdly orange sauce tasted oddly processed… and tasted like there were no real tomatoes in it. Because the plate they provided came out chilled, the rice and sauce, which started out lukewarm, got cold as I ate it.
Long story short, I could have bought a jar of masala sauce for $ 4 at Trader Joe’s and had a better tasting meal — or at least I could have successfully heated it, and some paneer, up in a microwave.
Only pros? The dining room was empty (heh, I wonder why), so I was in and out in 30 minutes. I am gluten intolerant, and at least they did not make me sick from gluten…

The food at Masala Jack’s is fantastic! We dined there again tonight. And it was OTT great ! (Over The Top). I love the Chicken Tikka Masala with basmati rice, garlic nan and Behl Puri. I combine everything, add mango chutney and put it all on garlic nan… absolutely an explosion of fantastic flavors!
Prices are very reasonable and the high quality of food is also very consistent!
I HIGHLY recommend this place to everyone who likes/​LOVES Indian food.
Atmosphere is very pleasant, and great location.

My daughter and I absolutely LOVE the Chicken Tikka Masala! Every time she visits me, we make a trip to enjoy dinner here. The Chicken Tikka Masala here has one of the best sauces in the bay area. The owner, his wife and daughter Annie are always friendly and welcoming, making the rounds with all the customers. I also love the Vegetable Biryani as it is full of tasty goodies (cashews & raisins, etc.). The good news about the restaurant not serving alcohol is that you can bring you own wine or beer– this saves money!
On our last visit here, I have to say I was quite disappointed. The service was painfully slow and it wasn’t busy any any means. The quality of the food had certainly gone down and the oil used to cook the food seemed rancid. I am hoping we hit the restaurant on a very bad night.

Great Food, great service. Robbie the owner is a good business man and you can taste the pride in his food!

Down two omre stars. Brought the kids here for dinner on ⁸⁄₂₁ around 6pm — they were fairly busy (a good thing) As we were trying to order, we were first told they were out of about half of the menu… the Apps were good and food started arriving — everything so far was delish.
Then I got my tandori chicken on veggies. I started eating my veggies (fine — yum) and lastly I cut into my chicken… it was RAW — not «alittle pink» but Cold and still raw chicken raw. ewwww —
So I sent it back — I understand — they are busy — and it can happen. But the next part is unexcusable — the sent me out THE SAME CHICKEN. on THE SAME PLATE — with the SAME RAW CHICKEN JUICE and the SAME VEGGIES. So the entire plate was covered in raw chicken taint — and they sent it back out to the customer.
Ick. ew. gross — So we called the server over, gave her a brief lesson in food safety and she took it off our bill. I was ok with that, until about 1 am when I started getting sick from what I presume was the chicken.
So now, not only is there a Unilocal about it… there is a complaint to the health department. boo.

I am going to say a combination of what many other people have said. Food was okay, at least the few dishes they had. service was average.
Pros: they were slow enough to seat a party of 10 on a Saturaday night, our server was fairly nice, the naan was good.
Cons: I’ll paint you the picture… we sit down and are greeted about 5 minutes later. We ask for the beer and wine list– Nope! No alcohol. Ok, lets order some appetizers then. 3 dishes were put in and 8 minutes later our server comes back and tells us they are out of ALL appetizers. ALL? Okay, lets just order entrees. We all place our order and then 5 minutes later our server comes back and says they are out of lamb… We switch up or orders, naan comes, curry comes, rice comes then one of us ordered a combination plate and low and behold, there is LAMB on it. Our server simply says «they found some lamb somewhere, I have no idea where it came from». Wow… One thing after another kept happening leading us to just laugh. We walked out thinking this was just an «off night» but after reading many other patrons saying the same thing, I dont believe it was.
This place isnt terrible, many people liked their plates but the amount of menu items missing was strange.

I’d love to give this place a higher rating, which means I’ll need to brave going back.
I’m not sure why it’s getting so great of reviews when my experience was so sub-​par.
The things I did like: Food decent. Bring your own beer or wine. And service was okay. Low salt.
Things I didn’t like: Food tasted good, but small portions and meat was dry and drenched in sauce. They were out of almost every lamb dish we kept asking for. Finally we had to ask «Well, what DO YOU have?»
Judging by all the other reviews, I must be a little harsh but honestly, almost every other indian restaurant in Sonoma County is better.
It definitely isn’t for lack of their trying, and I know places to eat in Cotati are a bit limited. It’s just that really, for the price I expect more. And honestly, nothing pisses me off more than going to a restaurant with hundreds of items on the menu and not being able to order half of them.

Don’t get me wrong… The food is good. Never enough help and always out of at least one dish that we want to order. Went there on a Saturday at about 5:50 ordered our food and drinks and when the waitress brought out our drinks we were then told that they were out of ice for our drinks. She refused to go across the street and buy a bag for $ 2.00. Was told that she was not authorized to take money from the till… So we left and went to Shangra la and spent over $ 100.00. hmmm $ 2.00 bag of ice just cost her a min. $ 20.00 tip…
never again :(

I bought a Groupon for Masala Jack’s, never having heard of it before, although I love Indian food. I did a little research and read that the Garlic Naan at MJ was good and we were not disappointed! Chewy, soft, warm and garlicky… yum! The Tikki Masala was delicious. You don’t get a whole lot, but it was just enough. The chicken was tender and I am still dreaming about that sauce. So good! Since the dishes are small and only about $ 8 – 9 each, you can order more than one dish and and share and try new things. Their rice was also wonderful. I had previously read that they were often out of ingredients and that the service was lacking. They were indeed out of pepsi… which for my BF is a bummer, and our waitress seemed somewhat disinterested. However, she ended her shift and a new server came on who was pleasant and gave us a lot of attention.
I loved this place and I hope it continues to impress when we go back. soon!

They opened a small place in the G&G shopping center where Romeo’s used to be. I get takeout. The food is pretty good and reasonably priced. I’ve tried a number of items but keep coming back for the chicken shishkabob.
Reading other reviews here and on other «review» websites it seems that when MJ’s is busy their capability to provide timely service decreases. Maybe hire more help for part time, students.

To all the people who gave this place less than 3 or 4 stars, all I can say is: whatever! I have been to Masala Jacks several times now, some of the times for a full meal and some simply for appetizers and chai. The food has always been good. I would not say that everything I had was STELLAR, but there are few Indian restaurants in the US that have earned that description from moi. Masala Jacks is as good as any of the «better» Indian restaurants that I have tried in this part of Sonoma County.
Considering that Indian cuisine is comparatively more costly to make fresh than lots of other cuisines and more time-​consuming and considering that you would be hard-​pressed to find more than one or two options on the menu that exceed 10 dollars, I really don’t feel that there is a whole lot of room for complaint. What – the server doesn’t have 5 years of fine dining experience? Who cares?! They have always been friendly and efficient enough in my experience and I personally, would rather the owner continue to keep costs and prices down by not overstaffing his restaurant. And for those who complained about the amount of time it took to get their food: maybe they should just not go to a sit-​down Indian restaurant if they are in such a big hurry. Indian food is NOT fast food… unless it has been prepared in advance and re-​heated.
In conclusion: if you want a relaxed and casual yet tasty Indian meal accompanied by complimentary, authentically prepared chai for practically the same cost as the average drive-​through meal, don’t let the nit-​pickers dissuade you… try Masala’s…at their prices, you can’t really afford not to!

In response to Aurora Rose H…
This is so obvious that you work for Masala Jack’s or you are friends of theirs. You are laying it on a little to thick to be believable. I’m just saying, if you are trying to compensate for S.L.‘s review (which was dead on) you may want to ease up a bit. You sound like a commercial not a review.
My advice would be to listen to S.L. and apply it to your business. I stopped going there for the same reasons he/​she is speaking of. I would love to go back sometime if you make those changes.

I am so dazzled and impressed! I have (for the longest time) given some serious thought to trying some Indian Cuisine, but had no idea what I might possibly expect — will it be too spicy /​too bland /​will I be able to understand the menu?
First impression of the restaurant was favorable; very nice ambiance, easy to find off the main drag going through Cotati, and ample parking.
Our waitress was a very nice girl that was very helpful in making suitable suggestions based on what our preferences might be — and there was a lot to choose from! I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the menu was very clearly labeled with easy to understand icons; G=Gluten Free, V=Vegetarian, and 3 levels of chili peppers to indicate the degree of spiciness (I like my food kinda spicy, so I settled on a chicken dish that was recommended by our waitress). We also decided to try a chicken appetizer that came with a couple different sauces for dipping.
There was also a rice dish that had a nice little ‘kick’ to it served with a kind of yogurt sauce to calm the digestion.
Everything was delicious, and I’m a forever fan. Better still, it was mentioned that they are opening a location here in Petaluma not far from where I live! I don’t often find myself in Cotati, but am looking forward to the opening of the Petaluma location.
See ya there!

This is a great gem in Cotati. My sister introduced me to this restaurant and it quickly has become a favorite when I’m up in the area. The menu is extensive and has great choices for both vegetarians and meat eaters. Each dish I’ve tried has been flavorful, hot, and fresh. The naan is great and the prices and portion sizes are small enough that you can try a number of dishes at the same time, even with a smaller number of people.
The restaurant itself is clean and quiet and the patio is a nice place to sit on a beautiful day. The owners are friendly and all the wait staff I have encountered so far has been helpful and friendly. Definitely worth checking out.

At the urging of the people at Zone Music, S and I had lunch here. It was different than the Indian restaurants where we normally have lunch They did have a lunch menu but there wasn’t a buffet which seems to be the norm in the East Bay and beyond.
We had our choice of curries. The lunch included some tasty fried scraps of something, vegetables perhaps, it was hard to tell. The lunch also included raita, rice, naan, dessert of the day and a soft drink. Although it was not listed on the menu they did include a soup.
For our curries S had Lamb Vindaloo, and my choice was Chicken Tikka Marsala. A satisfying and reasonably priced lunch, I do prefer the buffets so I can enjoy more delightful Indian dishes.

I love Indian food, and having lived in both England and India, have often lamented the lack of affordable tasty Indian food here in the North Bay. My lament has been answered! Masala Jacks is that rare combination of delicious flavors and super low prices. I have eaten there a number of times, and always walk away full and happy, and surprised at the reasonableness of the bill.
The samosas are first rate, crispy and filled with tasty veg. and come with a nice little garbanzo choli (curry) on the side. For $ 3.95, it could be lunch! Their nan comes out hot and delicious, and its only $ 1. Good biryanis (watch out for big chunks of whole spices though), great tandoori, and their tikka masala and vindaloo are both spot on.
The people are nice, the food is good, and the prices are low. I love this place and will be going regularly. Hope to see you there!

This is Americanized versions of Indian food made especially for people who are afraid of spicy food.
3 of us hospital hooligans just had lunch here. We’re all regular Indian food eaters. We all agreed that the spiciness was too low in all the 7 different dishes that we ordered.
Food quality was a hit & miss ordeal. Tikka Masala is good, then the Nan is wet and drab. The rice was too dry. The spices on the rice were not well integrated, I actually got a raw star anise in my teeth. The cauliflower /​potato (aloo gobi) was mushy & had a yucky mouth feel. The spinach paneer was okay, but not very creamy.
We ate a lot of food for $ 38. Maybe that’s the deal here, it’s low priced.
I’ve had way better tasting Indian food in the SF bay area, notably Bombay Express in San Rafael and Raj Café in Albany (Solano Ave).