The best Indian food NYC cheap is not a $60 tasting menu, it is a samosa chaat from a 24-hour grocery on East 1st Street, a temple-basement thali in Flushing, and a lunch buffet in Curry Hill that costs less than a mediocre sandwich in Midtown. Here is where to eat well for roughly $20 or less.
New York is one of the great Indian food cities, and the best Indian food NYC cheap hunters can find is rarely the expensive part. The good news is that the best of it has never been the expensive part. Lunch specials, buffets, vegetarian canteens and street-food carts do the heavy lifting. We pulled this list from what people are actually posting and eating right now, then checked addresses and details against restaurant and listing pages. Prices drift, so treat the numbers below as ballparks and check before you go.
Here are the 8 spots serving some of the best Indian food NYC cheap, whether you want a quick snack, a vegetarian feast, or an all-you-can-eat lunch.
(We also keep a running list of cheap eats and food guides across the city if you want to keep the budget streak going.)
Punjabi Grocery & Deli – 🏆 Bowery Beat Editor Top Choice
Address: 114 E 1st St, New York, NY 10009
Style: Vegetarian Punjabi canteen inside a corner grocery
Vibe: No-frills, cab-driver canteen, cash-register-adjacent
Price: $ (a full plate can land around $10, snacks like samosa chaat a few dollars)
This is the one. A tiny East Village deli that doubles as a Punjabi canteen, long a hangout for cab drivers who know that a plate here costs less than the coffee they are drinking. The signage promises 24/7 and 100% vegetarian.
Go for the chaat and the daily curries over rice or with roti. A TikToker who ran a ’12 under $12′ challenge on the Lower East Side called the samosa out as a standout.
For the best Indian food NYC cheap budgets allow, start here. It is not a sit-down dinner. Grab a tray, find a corner, and do not expect a menu with adjectives.
Ganesh Temple Canteen
Address: 143-09 Holly Ave, Flushing, NY 11355 (Temple Community Center basement)
Phone: (718) 460-8493
Style: South Indian vegetarian
Vibe: Cafeteria-style, busy, family-heavy
Price: $ (masala dosa around $7 per a recent visitor)
Website: canteen.nyganeshtemple.org
Flushing’s famous Hindu temple has a canteen in the basement of its community center, and it has been a cult favorite for cheap South Indian food for years. Think dosas, idli, vada and sambar, all vegetarian.
A recent diner reported a masala dosa for $7, a mango lassi for $3, and a mini plate of vada, idli and sambar for $5. That is a full, excellent meal for under $15.
The canteen lists daily hours of roughly 8:30 am to 8:30 pm. Bring cash just in case, and make a trip of it with a walk around the temple.
Lassi Lounge
Address: 94-08 118th St, Richmond Hill, Queens
Style: Vegetarian Punjabi
Vibe: Casual neighborhood spot
Price: $ (veggie dishes around $12, per recent posts)
Richmond Hill has a serious Punjabi and Indo-Caribbean food scene, and Lassi Lounge is the budget-friendly one making waves online right now.
Food creators have been posting the Amritsari kulcha (a giant stuffed naan with chickpea curry and yogurt) at about $10, plus butter-drenched bullet naan for $4 and garlic naan for $2.50.
If you are already on the J or Z train, this is the stop. Check current prices, because those numbers come from social posts.
Namaste Tasi Delek
Address: 37-66 74th St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Style: Indian lunch buffet
Vibe: Bare-bones, in the middle of Jackson Heights
Price: $ (reported around $16.53 for the buffet, before tax and tip)
Jackson Heights is where New Yorkers go when they want more food for less money, and this buffet is one of the area’s quiet bargains. It has almost no online presence, which is part of the charm.
The buffet runs midday to 4 pm and reportedly offers around nine dishes, including a few meats. One diner says it comes to roughly $21 per person after tax and tip, and that it is closed on Tuesdays.
For best Indian food NYC cheap lunch buffets, this is a Queens sleeper. Go hungry and go early. Confirm hours before making the trek.
Dhaba
Address: 108 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 679-1284
Style: North Indian lunch buffet and tandoor
Vibe: Curry Hill staple, lively at lunch
Price: $$ (weekday lunch buffet reportedly about $17, a bit more on weekends)
Website: dhabanyc.com
Curry Hill (the stretch of Lexington Avenue in the high 20s) has been the Manhattan answer to cheap Indian food for decades. Dhaba is a go-to for the lunch buffet.
A recent TikTok put the weekday buffet at about $17 and the weekend price near $20, with naan and dessert included, for both meat and vegetarian options. Older write-ups list lower numbers, so prices have clearly crept up.
Still, a heaping plate of butter chicken, tikka masala and naan for under $20 in Manhattan counts as a win, and a safe pick for the best Indian food NYC cheap in Manhattan.
Saravanaa Bhavan
Address: 81 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 684-7755
Style: South Indian vegetarian
Vibe: Busy, canteen-style, built for dosa
Price: $$ (a dosa or tiffin plate typically under $20 per recent posts)
Also on Curry Hill, Saravanaa Bhavan is the pure-vegetarian South Indian chain with the dosa credentials. A recent visitor loved the crispy rava dosa and the mini tiffin, which comes with dosa, idli, upma, a sweet dish, sambar and three chutneys.
The sambar gets top billing from diners, and the filter coffee is worth finishing on.
It is a great pick if you want something lighter than butter chicken.
Jackson Diner
Address: 37-47 74th St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: (718) 672-1232
Style: North and South Indian, famous lunch buffet
Vibe: Old-school Jackson Heights institution
Price: $$ (the lunch buffet has historically been among the cheapest around, so confirm today’s price)
Jackson Diner is the elder statesman of Jackson Heights Indian food, and the lunch buffet is the draw. Dosas and naan show up at dinner.
Older sources list the buffet at under $10. That is almost certainly higher now, so call ahead for the current price before you go.
Make it a day: eat, then walk the 74th Street blocks of sari shops and sweet counters.
Manu’s Dabeli Station
Address: 42 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036 (street cart near a small park)
Style: Gujarati and Mumbai street food
Vibe: Lunch-hour street cart in Midtown
Price: $ (items reportedly under $10)
For Indian street food in the shadow of Times Square, this cart serves dabeli, vada pav, samosa and thepla, all reportedly under $10. A Mumbai-born creator gave the vada pav their stamp of approval, which is not nothing.
It is a lunch cart, so hours are limited and can change with the weather. Check the vendor’s Instagram before you go.
Eat on a bench at the little park next door and pretend you are on a Mumbai beach.
So, What Is the Best Indian Food in NYC (Cheap)?
Finding the best Indian food NYC cheap really depends on what you are in the mood for.
If you want the cheapest plate, Punjabi Grocery & Deli has it.
If you want a South Indian feast, Ganesh Temple Canteen delivers.
If you want an all-you-can-eat lunch, Dhaba and Namaste Tasi Delek are hard to beat.
If you want street food on the fly, Manu’s Dabeli Station is your cart.
There is no single answer, and that is kind of the point. Cheap Indian food in this city is a whole map, from Curry Hill to Queens.
Try a few, bring cash, and tell us your favorite. Prices change, so double-check before you go. If your budget stretches to a stop in Chinatown too, our cheap eats Chinatown guide is next.
