Madras Saravana Bhavan

05/19/08

Authentic food. Amicable service. Affordable prices.

by mili2008 at Citysearch

Great variety of North Indian and South Indian food all under one roof. The wait staff is polite and un-hurried. The prices are great too! Very wallet friendly ;-)

Their "Kaima idlys" are to die for. If you're on an empty stomach, go for their special thali. This restaurant is a "must visit" on the list of Things-to-do-in-ATL.

07/04/09

Great place to eat

by Ruchi at Citysearch

we live closer to the North DeKalb area and Atlanta has many excellent Indian restaurants, but Madras is the best. How many things can you do with vegetables?? The preparations and spices, are out of this world. One of my favorite dishes is the Masala Dosai, a crepe filled with potatoes, spices, and other veggies but this time we tried alu jirra,paner tikka was awsum...it's really hard to find indian test in USA but now i think no worries...

05/12/09

Worst service

by srijana98 at Citysearch

We took our friend yesterday and drove 30 miles because this used to our best vegetarian place. First of all we are told that they do not have ice (water was warm) we were like that is fine...

We ordered our food and stuff. Kids ordered dessert and my daughter who likes vanilla ice-cream wanted that. I asked if we can get one scoop because they serve 3 scoops which is 5 bucks. That waiter was like sorry we can not do this it is against our rule... I was like darn it you have warm water for us which is compromised and you can not give me one scoop... my other child ate chocolate ice-cream and I have no intention to feed my daughter with 3 scoop of junk...anyways now I will never go there and will never tell my co workers at CDC and EMORY to go there... I wish we had old Punjabi owner who used to smile us when we come in.

• Cons: rude owner....

02/21/09

Horrid service unless you are Indian

by hungryATL at Citysearch

I hate to write this, but I drove out of my way some distance to eat here as it was highly rated in Zagat's and elsewhere. Frankly, I have no idea if the food is any good or not as I left in disgust after being completely ignored for some time. It was obvious to me that the restaurant staff is concerned about serving Indian families only, as I observed as several Indian families being seated and their orders taken while I was still waiting and waiting. If you are Indian, I would expect that you would get great service, but if you are not Indian - head elsewhere. To top off my visit, I called to express my feelings. The response from the staff member who answered the phone? Just "OK". I will not be going back!

12/07/08

The very best South Indian place around...

by AtlantaFoodie1 at Citysearch

Me and my husband just love this place and make it a point to visit it every weekend. I am very surprised that people talk about poor service. We couldnt ask for anything more - you are greeted with a smiling face at the counter, seated almost instantly because it has a huge seating capacity (once we saw a group of ~50 people being accommodated with no hassles), the waiter takes the order on his hand-held device and within minutes you get your food piping hot! We have tried mostly the South Indian food and at probably not so busy hours (i.e. around 11:30 am or later in the afternoon around 3:00 pm). They even bring you extra chutney, sambhar etc. without blinking an eyelid. Prices are very reasonable too. People who are criticizing the food are probably ordering North Indian food which is not their core competence. We have tried quite a few other places in Atlanta and dont know what we would have done about South Indian food if it wasnt for Sarvana Bhavan! :-)

(I am not even remotely associated with the restaurant management!!)

• Pros: Service, food
• Cons: North Indian food

07/08/08

be careful all indian restaurants are rated 4 or more on 5

by Padru at Citysearch

There is no Indian restaurant that does not have a 4 / 4.5 star review. Pl be careful. We are an unethical breed of people and inflate our ratings. Least realising that all indian restaurants end up being 4.5 on 5. Pl use word of mouth and personal discretion to visit all of these restaurants.

I wish health and happiness in yr experimentation with food.

05/11/08

Absolutely Lousy Customer Service

by eshwarkb at Citysearch

I just cannot understand how this restaurant continues to operate. For the last 3 times we have been there, the service has been lousy, food has been mediocre and the customer service absolutely pitiful. At our last visit, we were seated late, despite the visible fact that there were empty tables. We didn't get our food in a reasonable time - which I would expect to be around 10-15 minutes. My daughter's order was delayed by over 30 minutes - well after all the other orders were served and got cold. We finally had to walk up to the manager to get the order expedited. We did not get the drinks we ordered and pretty soon we just gave up on it. To add insult to injury, they tacked on a service fee (read gratuity) for the lousy service!!! This was and will be our last visit to this lousy restaurant.

05/04/08

no longer what it was

by lmm667 at Citysearch

I only come to Atlanta a few times a year and up until this trip, I ALWAYS ate here at least once during my visit. I thought it was the best Indian food I'd ever had. Unfortunately when I came on my last visit a few months ago the management had changed and so had the menu and the food. It was certainly not a change for the better, in my opinion. The rice tasted like boil in the bag and the tea was weak. I am so disappointed to have lost my favorite Indian place to eat. I am now on a quest to find a new place to go.

03/11/08

BEST VEGETARIAN

by Aparna2 at Citysearch

Okay people- Look no more for the best indian vegetarian food.

First off- the old "madras saravana bhavan" has closed and has opened under new management.

This is the original saravana bhavan that is in 54 countries. Check out their website.

We are lucky to even access to this restaurant in Atlanta.

The food taste just like the Sarvana Bhavan in Chennai-India. Very authentic and a solid dining experience.

I highly recommend the Rava Dosa, Palak Paneer and the Parota.

Enjoy!

• Pros: Parking, Food, Customer service

12/24/07

Food below par!

by akvya at Citysearch

I have to agree with the previous two reviewers. We ate here last week and the food was well below par. The 'masala' in the masala dosas was very bland. Nothing tasted like authentic South Indian food. This restaurant may have been good in the past but it certainly isn't now. We don't plan on going there again.

• Pros: wide selection of items on menu
• Cons: bad food