Wow- this place transports you back to India! Be it the number of people waiting to be seated or the simple ambience just like a small cafe back home! This is one of my favorite indian restaurants which have cracked the code of crowd management. You first order your good, make payment and then for table assignment. Once seated, they are so efficient, never had i have to wait for more than 5 minutes. Additionally, all servers are very polite, will ensure to promptly give any extra chutneys or sambar. Now onto the food- taste is superb for everything we have tried to date- masala dosa, vadas, idlis, mysore masala dosa, rava dosa- you name it. Another plus is that, while waiting to be seated, you can also combine this with a quick grocery run at the neighboring madras groceries where you always find great indian vegetable. Yes, the ambience could have been better but food and efficient service makes it a 5 star experience!
Deepali Sharma
Long waiting time ~25 minutes. I ordered Mysore Masala dosa, it was massive in size but just not crispy, and the masala inside the dosa was tasteless. Coconut chutney was bland, missing tadka. Sambar was not flavorful.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Mysore Masala Dosa
Dia E.
South Indian Brunch Excellence! Having frequented Madras Cafe for over 15 years, my recent Sunday brunch reaffirmed why it's a cherished tradition. The Mysore Masala Dosa never fails to impress - crispy, flavorful, and utterly delicious. Each bite brought back memories of past visits while delighting my taste buds anew. If you crave authentic South Indian vegetarian cuisine served with consistency and excellence, Madras Cafe is the place to be. Five stars for their enduring culinary brilliance!
Pranathi B.
Visited a handful of times over the past decade or so and nothing much has changed. Place is always packed and hasn't lost its sheen over the years. Food is at best average though. Got the idli vada combo and rava dosa on our recent visit. Two of the three chutnies had desiccated coconut. Chutney is normally made with fresh coconut and use of desiccated coconut leads to a rancid smell in addition to a bad consistency. The rava dosa was bad as well, the consistency and texture was completely off. I think the picture itself speaks a 1000 words.
Theo von Zweigbergk
You get your food very fast, great paratha and dosa.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ghee Masala Dosa, Madras Paratta
Mark Witt
It was loud! You couldn't even hear yourself think, let alone try to hold a conversation with friends. It was not an inviting atmosphere. It needs a serious deep cleaning! Spider webs along the ceiling and in corners. Just grimy feeling. The food was not even 'just ok,' which then makes you feel like you got way overcharged. We won't go here again, and I would encourage you to read other reviews and think twice about going yourself if you are thinking about trying this place.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Amandeep Singh
very high on salt
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Margaret Sonia
To start off with : Lady at the counter is very rude, next you have dirty spoons and plates, food quality is also not good , they had uncooked vadas with the batter inside completely uncooked and only cooked on the surface. Sad to see 4.3 ratings.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Rammy
Visiting from Seattle and was told this was the best dosa place in South Bay so I went there from SF especially. When I ordered the woman on the counter asked my name and then told me to take a seat. I took a seat in the far corner. I waited for 20 mins but didn’t get my dosa while everyone got it pretty quick and then a guy came by and asked me if I was still waiting for my food. I told him yes and then my food came pretty quickly. The dosa was actually not that hot which means it has been prepared for a while and not served. For the first time however I was seeing that a butter cube had been placed inside the butter dosa (usually the butter melts on these dosas). If this is the best place I’m terribly disappointed- I think the owners should visit NJ or Washington and see the other Indian restaurants and how amazing they are
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Ruhi Patel
My Mysore sada dosa was uncooked in the middle and the chutneys were all on the sweeter side. There are better dosa places in the south bay to go to.
They may have changed cooks, the dosa looks a tad different but still good
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 2
Bill H.
This restaurant is in an uninspiring strip mall located in an Anywhere USA wasteland. The interior is boring, generic and seems to have had zero effort put into making it welcoming. The food all tastes the same. Not impressive at all. Much better food elsewhere. It's so loud inside from the cold echoing of the interior that you can barely maintain a conversation. I don't know why anyone even goes here. Do better and dine elsewhere.
Prakhar Kulshreshtha
Cheap and easy access South Indian. Best items: lemon rice, curd rice, dipped idli vada in
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Idly, Kothu Paratta
Nitin Aggarwal
They have significantly reduced their quality. I'm one of the frequent customer. This time all dosas (4 we ordered) were like papad and none came as one piece (broken into 10s of pieces). Sambhar and chutneys were very spicy.I'll prefer going to Ulvacharu Tiffins in future. I hope owner will work on it. It was a great place for dosas in the bay area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
V Reddy
We ordered rava masala dosa and masala dosa along with pongal. 2 filter coffees to finish off the meal like any typical desi would. Portion sizes were enormous!Rava dosa and pongal were good and we're quite authentic but the masala dosa was just very ordinary. The coconut chutney was missing tadka and could've been made better. Coffee was cringy - too bitter regardless of the sugar we dumped into it to sweeten it up. I would go back for a late breakfast on a lazy weekend. Wouldn't promise anybody a super-duper Indian tiffin experience but is definitely a good get -away when you're not in India.
Wow- this place transports you back to India! Be it the number of people waiting to be seated or the simple ambience just like a small cafe back home! This is one of my favorite indian restaurants which have cracked the code of crowd management. You first order your good, make payment and then for table assignment. Once seated, they are so efficient, never had i have to wait for more than 5 minutes. Additionally, all servers are very polite, will ensure to promptly give any extra chutneys or sambar. Now onto the food- taste is superb for everything we have tried to date- masala dosa, vadas, idlis, mysore masala dosa, rava dosa- you name it. Another plus is that, while waiting to be seated, you can also combine this with a quick grocery run at the neighboring madras groceries where you always find great indian vegetable. Yes, the ambience could have been better but food and efficient service makes it a 5 star experience!
Long waiting time ~25 minutes. I ordered Mysore Masala dosa, it was massive in size but just not crispy, and the masala inside the dosa was tasteless. Coconut chutney was bland, missing tadka. Sambar was not flavorful.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Mysore Masala Dosa
South Indian Brunch Excellence! Having frequented Madras Cafe for over 15 years, my recent Sunday brunch reaffirmed why it's a cherished tradition. The Mysore Masala Dosa never fails to impress - crispy, flavorful, and utterly delicious. Each bite brought back memories of past visits while delighting my taste buds anew. If you crave authentic South Indian vegetarian cuisine served with consistency and excellence, Madras Cafe is the place to be. Five stars for their enduring culinary brilliance!
Visited a handful of times over the past decade or so and nothing much has changed. Place is always packed and hasn't lost its sheen over the years. Food is at best average though. Got the idli vada combo and rava dosa on our recent visit. Two of the three chutnies had desiccated coconut. Chutney is normally made with fresh coconut and use of desiccated coconut leads to a rancid smell in addition to a bad consistency. The rava dosa was bad as well, the consistency and texture was completely off. I think the picture itself speaks a 1000 words.
You get your food very fast, great paratha and dosa.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ghee Masala Dosa, Madras Paratta
It was loud! You couldn't even hear yourself think, let alone try to hold a conversation with friends. It was not an inviting atmosphere. It needs a serious deep cleaning! Spider webs along the ceiling and in corners. Just grimy feeling. The food was not even 'just ok,' which then makes you feel like you got way overcharged. We won't go here again, and I would encourage you to read other reviews and think twice about going yourself if you are thinking about trying this place.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
very high on salt
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
To start off with : Lady at the counter is very rude, next you have dirty spoons and plates, food quality is also not good , they had uncooked vadas with the batter inside completely uncooked and only cooked on the surface. Sad to see 4.3 ratings.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Visiting from Seattle and was told this was the best dosa place in South Bay so I went there from SF especially. When I ordered the woman on the counter asked my name and then told me to take a seat. I took a seat in the far corner. I waited for 20 mins but didn’t get my dosa while everyone got it pretty quick and then a guy came by and asked me if I was still waiting for my food. I told him yes and then my food came pretty quickly. The dosa was actually not that hot which means it has been prepared for a while and not served. For the first time however I was seeing that a butter cube had been placed inside the butter dosa (usually the butter melts on these dosas). If this is the best place I’m terribly disappointed- I think the owners should visit NJ or Washington and see the other Indian restaurants and how amazing they are
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
My Mysore sada dosa was uncooked in the middle and the chutneys were all on the sweeter side. There are better dosa places in the south bay to go to.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
They may have changed cooks, the dosa looks a tad different but still good
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 2
This restaurant is in an uninspiring strip mall located in an Anywhere USA wasteland. The interior is boring, generic and seems to have had zero effort put into making it welcoming. The food all tastes the same. Not impressive at all. Much better food elsewhere. It's so loud inside from the cold echoing of the interior that you can barely maintain a conversation. I don't know why anyone even goes here. Do better and dine elsewhere.
Cheap and easy access South Indian. Best items: lemon rice, curd rice, dipped idli vada in
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Idly, Kothu Paratta
They have significantly reduced their quality. I'm one of the frequent customer. This time all dosas (4 we ordered) were like papad and none came as one piece (broken into 10s of pieces). Sambhar and chutneys were very spicy.I'll prefer going to Ulvacharu Tiffins in future. I hope owner will work on it. It was a great place for dosas in the bay area.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
We ordered rava masala dosa and masala dosa along with pongal. 2 filter coffees to finish off the meal like any typical desi would. Portion sizes were enormous!Rava dosa and pongal were good and we're quite authentic but the masala dosa was just very ordinary. The coconut chutney was missing tadka and could've been made better. Coffee was cringy - too bitter regardless of the sugar we dumped into it to sweeten it up. I would go back for a late breakfast on a lazy weekend. Wouldn't promise anybody a super-duper Indian tiffin experience but is definitely a good get -away when you're not in India.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 4