Cathryn Donohue

This is my go-to for a reliably delicious meal of idly, dosas and masala tea. The lassis are also very good (cold, thick, and rich in flavour, not thin and dilute like in other places). The dosas are always crispy and delicious; masala mix is very good. These are my mainstay. Idly are a staple comfort food and the accompanying chutneys and sambar are well done. Finally the masala tea is very good - lots of cardamom which is just how I like it (and not watery at all, so has a nice, creamy, full bodied flavour). We’ve also enjoyed the paratha, channa, and a few others - all very tasty. Prices are a bit higher than some restos with comparable fare, but I guess you’re paying for reliability (quick service and easy parking).

Reddy

Super fast service!!! We family tried dine in for dinner and have tried various tiffin options, our order delivered fast and we liked everything what we tried in here. Multiple menu options for Dosa lovers. excuse our partial eaten food pictures, we were starving and tired from long drive, couldn't resist by seeing delicious food Infront of us 😊

+2

Nicholas Wiley

Been to this restaurant in India when I lived there. Was happy to finally visit this one here in the States and have all my favorites again. Will be able again next time I’m in town!

Zsuzsanna Sziveri

Highly recommend this place to satisfy your dosa cravings. They have dozens of varieties, along with other delicious South Indian food. Fast service, clean place, helpful staff.

+13

Vijay J

Been here twice. Both times I wasn’t disappointed. Their sambar is pretty good. I would say the best Tamil sambar in Bay Area, close to Mylapore and idly express. Friendly staff and plenty of seating for all group sizes. Dosas are great. Chutneys are perfect. Could do better with vadas. They are definitely underrated. I hope they get more popular.

+3

Sharad Bagri

If you're looking for authentic, flavorful South Indian cuisine, this restaurant is a gem! Their commitment to freshness is what sets them apart. The manager revealed they prepare everything from scratch daily, even grinding chutneys hourly. I could taste the difference! They also use a variety of high-quality oils, enhancing the dishes' flavor. All the things we ordered were fantastic. The chocolate dosa was a huge hit with the kids!

I ordered dinner from Saravana Bhavan through Uber Eats. As a well-known South Indian chain with a long-standing legacy and multiple locations across the country, I’ve previously tried their outlets in New York and New Jersey. This was my first experience with their Bay Area location. I ordered a rava masala dosa along with kesari halwa for dessert. The rava dosa had a nice crunch, which I always appreciate, but the potato masala inside was quite bland. The chutneys tasted fresh but lacked depth, and the sambar was fairly basic as well. Overall, it felt a bit underwhelming compared to the East Coast locations, which I personally enjoyed more. That said, it’s still a decent option if you’re craving lighter, carb-heavy, vegetarian South Indian food. The highlight of the meal was definitely the dessert. The kesari halwa — a semolina-based pudding infused with saffron was moderately sweet, pleasantly sticky, and studded with raisins. It was simple but satisfying. Overall, a decent experience, though not my favorite Saravana Bhavan location.

Prince Philip

Great spot to be at if you want to get some good Indian breakfast items. The uzhunnuvada was fabulous. Warning: the kesari portion is ginormous. Make sure to order and split it across folks. Hard for one person to finish one on top of a regular meal. Service was very quick in general.

Gaurav Aggarwal

Their food is far more delicious than Mylapore. Not sure what is the attraction for Mylapore where the sambhar is meh and the chutney is blah. Here you get table service and the sambhar chutney are delicious. The thali was very good too.

+2

Chelle T

Met up with friends for veggie Indian. This is a good place for dosa. Ordered butter dosa, extra crispy, vada, channa bhatura, toor dessert, mini idly and a couple extra dishes that looked like a larger version of idly but with tomatoes and onions mixed in the batter. It took a while to place the order but within 5 munutes the first items came out. It was pretty tasty. The mango lassi needed more mango and at $7.50 each, it should have tasted better. The coffee was pretty strong.

+1

Tejashwini patil

We ordered the dosa, idly, and gobi 65, and unfortunately everything tasted very bland and lacked any real flavor or spice. I’m not sure if this is meant to be authentic Indian preparation, as I haven’t been to India myself, but it didn’t suit our taste at all. Additionally, while the service was polite overall, we noticed a clear difference in how the server interacted with American customers compared to others, which was uncomfortable and disappointing to witness.

Krishnanunny Radhakrishnan

The experience we had with this restaurant is mixed. First of all the food was good. We had veg biriyani, onion uthappam, mixed vegetables porotta, masala dosa, porotta and veg curry. Service was terrific. We waited there for more than half an hour to get the first dish and there is another 10 mins each waiting to get other items. At the last they missed one item and when we say that, a person with spects ( looks like manager) come and saying, you would have to inform the missing item upfront, then we would have served you pretty fast.. which makes no sense to me and no restaurants service person has ever said like this.. Funny thing is we waited for another 10 more minutes to get the bill :) Apart from that they charged 17% gratuity on the bill since we were of 9 ppl team.

+4

Info Source

Have been going to this place since beginning. Dined recently after renovation instead of take out. Nice to see well done interiors and efficient service however they hiked up almost doubled. Although past several times found food to be salty this time it wasn’t. They are positive comments. It’s gotten pretty expensive and sizes are cut down some menu items like sambar vada, Pongal etc. Always disappointed with their Ravva dosa. Chole Batura is served with very little chole not enough for big batura.

+3

navdeep sharma

I had their food in india and thought that they will match the same but I was disappointed as the taste was not that and did not stand as per their name. 2 star for the Thali and Gobhi 65.

Shu bha

Staff is friendly but the quality of food has gone down tremendously! I used to love their Channa Bathura but sadly they were out of it at 8pm! And so was second plate of mini idly ! The quality is Channa masala, curd vada and kothu paratha wasn’t up to Saravana bhavan’s standard anymore ! Only Filter coffee ☕️ was worth ordering ! Needless to say won’t be visiting it anymore !

Seemran Mishra

If you are coming here for the name sake of Sarvana Bhavan, rest assured that you will be DISAPPOINTED! You can have much better south indian food at a better price point at a lot of places. We ordered Poori sabzi kootu and filter coffee. When I asked about kootu - since it was my first time ordering it, they didn't provide any information. The overall service is poor and food is bad. The food lacks taste and Gobi sabzi didn't have Gobi. Only saving grace was Poori and filter coffee - and that's why the two stars.