Delicious authentic South Indian cuisine. The best Chicken 65 I ever had wasn't in Chennai it, it was in Trichy (Tiruchirappalli), and the second best was here at Annachikadai. I also had iddyappum with fish curry and it heaven. That's not appropriate. It was like a boon from Vishnu. It's crowded and loud because it's crowded and busy, run down and really that makes it more authentic to me. Outside of one Gora the place was not just all Indian, I could make out Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu ... NO HINDI! It's like being in Tamil Nadu only less flies and the heat wasn't as oppressive. If you ask for it spicy, it will come pretty hot. There's a cramped little parking lot, this is a strip mall location. read more

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The restaurant is a small South Indian place, located near the Mountain view downtown. I visited the place to have one of the dish that I was looking forward for a long time.. Non-veg thali meals! The thali is served in banana leaf, and the reason is why I selected this restaurant from the others. The Non-veg thali in just one word.. Perfect! Served in a banana leaf was rice, chapati, pappad, non-veg curries, starter, curd, pickle, rasam, veg curry and sweet. All the dishes superb. The non-veg options were mutton curry, chicken curry and fish curry. Loved all the three curries, and the meat was well cooked and soft.The chicken 65 was my favorite. The chicken was soft and the dish was hot.The dessert was Semiya payasam, which was too good and not overly sweet tasted like homely food. Overall a very good deal for a reasonable price. Also the thali is Unlimited. You can get more servings if you have the capacity to eat more. read more

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Best authentic Indian non veg thali. Visited this place 6 times in last couple of months, always order non veg thali which has variety of currys and each curry has its own different taste. Fish curry has spicy tangy flavour, my favourite. I persoanlly love their rice, so white in colour and well cooked. Place is always busy and parking is crunch so plan ahead accodingly but must visit. read more

Annachikadai - Non Veg thali - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Authentic Tamil Nadu(South Indian) cuisine. The moment you enter the restaurant, the aroma of the spices itself should reassure you that it would be a good meal. Again a no frills place with unpretentious ambiance. Have heard a lot about the thali but we wanted to try the parotta. Cause who wants to think about calories Parotta was super yum and filling. Mutton curry was the star of the night. Idicha chicken curry reminded me of the garlic heavy curry that we used to get back in Tamil Nadu. Also ordered idiyappam which was soft. What can I add more to this review than to admit that me and my wife took an Uber ride from Palo Alto to eat at this place. We would take more rides cause the food was delicious. read more

Annachikadai - Annachikadai idicha chicken kuzhambu - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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The guy who is working in the front doesn't have any manners on how to treat the customers.. this is the worst service I have been seen till now. And ordered a biryani.. I got which was cold and not tasty.! Recommend not to go this place .! Worst place never ever come back .! read more

Great food and friendly service! Everything we tried was delicious and perfectly cooked. We tried the creamy veg khurma with parotta, sour and flavorful yannai kathrikai with chapathi, ultra-crispy cauliflower 65, and a mango lassi. Our preschooler really liked the cauliflower 65 and parotta. Although the signs say to order through a QR code, the proprietor actually welcomed us to order from him and gave recommendations. The restaurant is small and simple but a great dining experience. read more

I got the combo order of mutton curry with 2 parathas and found it quite quite filling and delicious. The parathas were wonderfully flaky and well layered and not too dry. It paired really well with the mutton curry which was super flavorful and had a good spicy kick to it. The staff were super friendly and helpful. Lastly the food was pretty well priced given its portion sizes. Overall a great hole in the wall and yummy food that I would visit again. read more

If you are craving some meat and want to check out South Indian food from the state of Tamil Nadu, there is no better place than AnnachiKadai in the Bay Area. Everytime we go here, we always go for the mutton chops (only available on weekends sadly). It is tender and extremely flavorful. So, I'd recommend getting a Dosa or a paratha or maybe even some of their rice dishes to help wash our the flavor and saltiness. My other top things on the menu are the meat Dosa, the paratha and their mutton curry. This is a pretty consistent place. The restaurant can improve on two things though. 1) They always take pretty long before your dish is served. This is maybe fine because maybe they are making it all fresh! 2) But one time, a Dosa I ordered came out cold, which was sad. And finally, we always wash down the spiciness that we just had there with some masala tea! They make it super good here. Oh, and their name literally means "Older brother's shop'... or something close to that. read more

Annachikadai - Masala tea - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Absolutely fantastic taste that takes you back to Madurai and Chettinadu cuisine. This is more of a takeaway place. I wish the management would clear up the decor, get some good tables and cutlery and offer in-house dining read more

Annachikadai is probably the closest you can get to a South Indian restaurant experience as if you're in a small town in South India. For the uninitiated, the name literally means brother's spot. The menu is filled with very typical South Indian preparations that most restaurants tend to overlook. The dining area is small and the tables are laid out very close to one another. There's probably going to be a wait depending on when you decide to visit. Thankfully the service was fairly quick. All these external inconveniences may be overlooked once the food arrives. The idicha chicken looked particularly great. We didn't get it but all the tables around us had it and we should've got it too, considering how it smelled. We wanted to get the idiyapam but they were all out for the night. We had to settle with the parotta salna, which took me back to trichy. I can't wait to go back to this spot when they're hopefully a little less busy and have a few other things in their menu. read more

Annachikadai - Parotta & veg kurma - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

This was my first time trying South Indian cuisine. I'm not sure if this was authentic or not but everything tasted really delicious. I got the veg thali and my friend got the non-veg thali. We both really enjoyed the experience here and we will definitely be coming back again. Restaurant is small and so is the parking lot but the service was good. read more

Annachikadai - Non-veg thali - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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My brother found this place on Yelp and so we decided to give it a shot for dinner. It's a cute little corner shop of a small shopping center right off the main street....very visible with the big sign at the top....but don't try to pronounce it till you're safely out of traffic! What I liked about this place is that it's like a hole-in-the-wall sit down restaurant with an ambiance which reminds me of my younger days growing up in Asia....kind of that basic pre-war building type finish.....and I don't mean this in a condescending way.....it just reminded me of the little shops I used eat at with my parents and friends when I grew up. We showed up a bt early ....just before 6pm and the place was not busy at all. Staff seemed friendly enough.....kind of shy.....but polite. We were immediately seated and looked forward to our dinner. The menu had lots of our favorite dishes...and some other items I had never heard of. So, I went ahead and ordered the Madurai Curry Dosa with Chicken (choice of minced chicken or mutton topping), my father ordered a Cone Dosa and the Mutton Peratal (recommended by the server), and my brother ordered the Vegetarian Thali.....a traditional South Indian "UNLIMITED" meal served on a banana leaf. Ok, lets start off with the good. My chicken dosa actually tasted quite good....nice thickness of soft dosa with a yummy minced chicken topping, went well with the curries that came with it. My father said his mutton was only ok....that he'd had better, and my brother commented that the curries served with his thali dinner were actually very tasty. BUT, that's where the good ends. Firstly, according to the menu, my minced chicken dosa was supposed to be "layered with egg on top"......there was definitely no egg on top, but I only realized this much later and didn't bother complaining about it. Secondly, my brother's thali dinner was supposed to come with chappati (flat bread)......he waited and waited and waited, and after 20 minutes, we asked the server what happened to the chappati? He told my brother "it was coming"......10 more minutes had passed, and my brother had pretty much finished his dinner, then the chappati came.....about 30 minutes in all. Then, since the thali is "unlimited," my brother asked the server for a refill of the veggie and curry items. 5 minutes.....10 minutes.....15 minutes.....20 minutes had passed and nothing came out. I had long finished my dinner, but was still hungry....so I ordered a Plain Dosa I to share with everyone while waiting for my brother's food.....I then called the server over to ask what happened to the thali refill we had asked for, but my brother had gotten so frustrated waiting that he just said to forget it....he was no longer hungry and we all just wanted to leave. Look guys, I know you've only been open for a year or so.....as told to us by your server.....but you really need to get your act together if you want to stay open much longer! This type of service is simply unacceptable, especially when the total cost of our dinner came to about $60 (before tip) for just the three of us! That's very expensive for such small portioned dishes and such sloooooooooooooooow or non-existent service. The only reason I gave you guys a 2-star rating is that some of the food was actually not too bad, and you definitely have potential, but you'd better get your act together pretty quickly! read more

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Food tasted like they made it 1 or 2 days ago. The restaurant could use some cleaning.

We went for a late lunch not even super hungry around 3, and waited for about 20 mins to be seated. By the time our wait was over, the strong food aroma was so convincing we decided to order the semi all you can eat non veg Thalis for both of us. The non veg thalis came with three different meat curries-chicken, fish and mutton. The meat pieces itself were scant but for the price and unlimited helpings were fair. The standout for me was the fish curry. There also was a small side of yogurt and dessert and one vegetarian dish which was also really good. The banana leaf serving tray was unique and cherry on top! Definitely recommend the thalis for first timers. Will be back read more

First the good: The onion and chile dosa was top notch. The chutneys were great and the Sambar, although somewhat heavy on the tomato, was very good. Their Rasam is very interesting. It is quite sour with a lot of black pepper (yum!) and light or no tomato. I would have it again, although it is not the typical rasam that I've experienced at other places. Room for improvement: The Vada that I had was low on flavor, and did not have that crispy outside to contrast with the mushy inside. It was basically all mushy. read more

Definitely a different experience. The flavors will kick you in the face. - Really enjoyed the chicken 65, potato poriyal, and chappati. Got many more servings of these. - The flavors of the curries were very strong. A bit too sour for my taste. - The pickle was super pungent and sour. - Mango lassi was good. read more

Annachikadai - Ilai Virunthu Non-Veg! - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

This is a family favorite! The unpretentious meals are truly superb. We still need to visit during the weekends because we want to try the bone-in lamb. My kids enjoy the spices and crave coming to this restaurant. The wait staff are the most humble people I've met. I hope they stay that way. read more

We went at lunch time on a Sunday and it was packed and there was a line. The inside of the restaurant was not big but there were patio seating for those who don't mind eating outside. We were the only non-Indian party there. Service was good and friendly. The food was also good. Would love to come back and sample more items from the menu. What we ordered: Kuzhi Panyzaram: good Chicken 65: very good, on the spicy side Mandurai Cury Dosa: very good Fish Curry: more of a stew than a curry but still good Parotta: good read more

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Please update yelp! Called to place order at 9:35 and said they are closed. Yelp says open till 11:30 pm

Friday lunch was busy. The parking lot is small as is the interior seating, so plan properly. Staff is very friendly, but there's a bit of a language barrier that caused some confusion in the order. Despite that, the food is very, very good. Curries are deep and intricate in flavor. Every dish made with its own unique flavor. Much love put into everything coming out of the kitchen. Price point is great value for this quality offering. read more

Annachikadai - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

What a disappointing meal on the last day of this memorable year. I ordered lunch via the Yelp app. It was easy to place the order and the estimated pick-up time is shown in the app which is very helpful. I gave one star for the ease of ordering. 1. Paniyaram - it was fresh and warm. The coconut and tomato chutneys were a flavorful and good accompaniment to the Paniyaram. 2. Idiyappam - was delicate and it cost $2.49 for two idiyappam. 3. They killed my tastebuds with an overdose of salt so this is the end of the flavor review. There are multiple reviews regarding the saltiness of the food from this restaurant. The owner doesn't give a rat's ass about the level of salt in the food from his/her restaurant. If you have hypertension or kidney disease, then do your organs a favor and stay away from this wretched place. No comments about the mutton peratal and idicha chicken because we couldn't taste anything besides salt. Any chef worth his/her salt knows that seasoning is an important part of cooking. However, this important culinary lesson is lost on the kitchen staff and owner here. I have a sincere plea for the owner and kitchen staff - please end the salt assault. Needless to say I will never return here or recommend it to anyone I know. Save your hard-earned dollars and go elsewhere for good food. read more

Annachikadai - Paniyaram - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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I've gotten takeout here a number of times and each time the food was easily over 15 minutes late. That being said, this is good South Indian food. If you can't handle spice you probably shouldn't eat here though. They make their food authentically spicy. Get some idly with whatever dishes you choose. I recommend the lamb and fish curries. read more

i usually like to go to sankranti to get thalis when i need my indian lunch fix. well, i tried to go a few weeks ago, and completely forgot that sankranti was closed that day! so i've been meaning to try annachikadai for a while and always drive by it, so why not. came here, and ordered the non-veg thali. it's definitely very solid, and i would say slightly above average. to me it doesn't hit quite like the sankranti thali. read more

I was debating giving them 1 star but I don't want to dissuade people who may find the the food palatable. Personally though, I'm not a fan. I had to get a late dinner and Annachikadai was the only open spot, so I ordered the following items to go. Overall I didn't really like any of it, my dining partner not only didn't like it but thought it was too spicy. They never asked how spicy they should make it, which I find annoying. Vegetable Pakora - spicier than normal, which is fine for me, but also greasy and did not come with the typical dipping sauces. Yennai Kathrikai - 2 pieces of eggplant swimming in a weirdly sour soup. The eggplant pieces were ok, but $9 for two small pieces was a rip off. Vegetable Khurma - Gloppy soup with unidentifiable vegetables swimming in a diarrhea-colored liquid. This was really unappetizing. They claim there is coconut milk in it, but it wasn't creamy at all. Mutton Kuzhambu - Small chunks of meat with small bones throughout. Difficult to eat, again weirdly sour as if they added a bunch of vinegar. The sour flavor is so strong and off-putting, combined with the poorly chopped bone-in meat that has you spitting small bones everywhere and chewing carefully to avoid breaking a tooth, I was not a fan. Chappati - What is this stuff? It's like a gummy tortilla that was soaked in oil. Once you chew it it turns into a rubbery paste. I could barely stomach these. Rice - This had clearly been sitting out for a while as it was clumped up. It didn't even look like typical basmati rice, it was like Uncle Ben's. How do you mess up rice? I'll charitably give them a star for cleanliness and taking credit cards, but I won't be back here. Maybe this food is some specific style and it's just too unfamiliar for me, but I find the soupy curries, unidentifiable ingredients, strong vinegar taste, and oily bread to be really unpleasant. As much as I love Indian food, I can't imagine ordering this again when there are many better options. Also they were out of Parottas, which I find annoying. read more

They didnt get our order ready till after 80 mins after I ordered on grubhub. But he seemed get the order of 3 other ppl who came after me. Fish & chicken 65 was ok, Biryani was bitter for some reason. My wife didnt like the mysore pak. Not comong back here read more

Having ordered from here a few times towards the end of last year and the beginning of this one, I can say with confidence that the food here is consistently great. Annachikadai has all the four things I look for when it comes to top-notch food delivery: flavor, freshness, consistency, & speed. Some of our favorites: 1. Idicha Chicken 2. Madurai Kari Dosa 3. Fish curry Great portion size, super yummy, and truly a class apart from other Indian restaurants in the area. read more

4 years since my last review for this restaurant and am gutted really after my visit today. This used to be one of my favorite places for Indian food (for the quality, service, taste) and it seems like the pandemic has found itself another victim. One of the main attractions of this place used to be their unlimited Thali. I heard they had started serving the Thali after a gap of 3 years and was so excited to savor it once again. Here is where the disappointment started . . . 1. Price has gone up from $13.99 to $17.99 which is a 29% increase. While that is understandable due to after effects of COVID, what did not make sense is, they do not serve Chicken65 and Fish Curry with the Thali anymore. Which means the increase is not limited to 29% but is much higher. Next, the Thali is not un-limited anymore but is limited which means we are talking about the price going up by close to 50-60%, which for self service is way too much. 2. I ordered the fish curry on the side, it was disappointing, the pieces of fish were not fresh and seemed stale and I had difficulty in even chewing some of the pieces, not to mention, we left half of it after we could not take it anymore. The tartness that used to be in the fish was not there, the sauce was not saucy but quite thick which told me it was not made fresh but was reheated. Did not have the inclination to try anything else and I do not believe I will ever be back. I was told the management has changed and so has some of the staff in the kitchen and its evident based on what we experienced. This was a restaurant I frequented atleast 40 to 50 times before the pandemic, but just like all good things must come to an end, so must my love affair with Annachikadai. read more

This is one of the finest South Indian restaurants I have ever visited. One of my friend suggested this retaurant. So I tried... O My God, the food here is mind blowing. The moment you enter the restaurant you get the smell so nice that you will start feeling hungry. I ordered . Idicha Chicken 5* .Tawa fried fish 5* . Kozli varuval 5* .Spl.mitton biryani 5* .Spl. chkn biryani 5* They have self service kinda out door seating. Thats also quiet nice. Eat your food and pack the rest for later which is more comvenient. If heaters are working in the night it helps late evening visitors. read more

Annachikadai - Spl mutton biryani - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

5 star for annachikadai special chicken biriyani. Same for Mutton perattal. 4 star for parotta. A bit too thick and rigid for our taste. 1 star fir Chicken kozhambu. It was too watery and less spicy. I am sure some folks would like it. Just not for me. It was a pickup so feedback is fully about food. read more

Good place for South Indian Thali, which is on banana leaf. I like their mutton curry. The veggies and desserts changes based on what they serve that day. The only problem is that they don't have a big space, so you need to wait in line for a bit. (Parking can also be a bit difficult. ) read more

Annachikadai - Non veg thali - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

We came here once before for their veg & non-veg thalis. While the food was good and we also liked Chicken 65 & Fish Curry, I didn't think it necessarily stood out amongst other south indian restaurants in the area. It was even a little plainer than I would have liked. Tonight we stopped by again to order a la carte due to COVID. Wow but wow, the meal turned out to be one of the best south indian meals I've had in a very long time. Idicha Chicken -5/5 The flavor just explodes in your mouth with so many layers of spice. The chicken actually became merely a delivery vessel. It's curiously not too spicy despite the large pieces of pepper you see in the dish. Kuska (plain) -5/5 The biryani game is on. The southern style kuska is very different from the dum biryani that most others are used to and I find them equally appealing. It's also a tad spicier than most biryanis in the bay area. Yennai Kathrikai - 5/5 The eggplant was quickly fried to give the skin a crispier texture in the tangy sauce. The flavor profile is complex, rich, and amazing for a veg dish. Poondu Kuzhambu -5/5 This was again a very well done veg dish especially for people who love garlic. The sourness of tamarind contrasts well with the pungency from the garlic. It's a dish that doesn't overwhelm you with spices in the face immediately, but the subtle layers become more apparent as you mix it with rice. Madurai Kari Dosa -3/5 This is the only dish that was sort of disappointing but it may not be the restaurant's fault. Dosas's texture quickly deteriorates in to-go boxes due to the steam etc. I would only get dosas next time if I can eat them right away in the car. Overall, I find the flavors in almost all the a la carte dishes bold, complex, and very authentic. It may be just a tiny bit saltier than what a healthy diet calls for. This will be my definitive Tamil place to go in the south bay. I'm also looking forward to trying their veg kothu paratha, muttai kalaki, mutton chops & kesari. read more

Probably the best South Indian food in the Silicon Valley. I always make a stop there just to enjoy some good savory South Indian food. Thank you guys for your great food and service. And thank you silvesta for your great service. 5 star read more

We took our granddaughter Margaret for her first South Indian food. Margaret: "Crispy, tasty, yummy!! My first dosai!! Addictive!!" Chef Vivek from Trichy really nailed it. Excellent authentic South Indian food!! We are South Indian foodies from Madurai, lived there five years and very fussy about our dosai!! We will be back!! read more

Went here one of the saturdays for lunch - just before noon and were lucky to get seated quickly in this literally hole in the wall place. The staff was friendly and he food was just freshly made. Even the yogurt drink (lassi) was nice and spicy and freshly made. Loved their veg thali served on plantain leaf, the spices tasted uniquely fresh Chettinad style flavors. Reminded of the unlimited rice and food back in India, where they serve hot rice as you request. Appeared conscious about wastage of food unless you really asked for additional servings. Other food tasted included Prawn masala (which I heard was mind blowing). Will come back again for trying out other dishes. read more

Annachikadai - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

This was my first time here and the goat curry is divine. I also tried some of my friend's samosas and biryani and they were good. The only thing I wish they had was if they could turn on the outdoor heaters. They have heaters but they were unable to turn them on read more

Everything we ordered off the menu was DELICIOUS We had the masala dosa and mutton for appetizer We especially enjoyed the mutton My main was ANNACHI IDICHA CHICKEN KUZHAMBU + 2 pieces of Paratha DELICIOUS- the chicken was so tender and the flavor was amazing I had a bite of my brothers mutton Briyani and it was so flavorful This is definitely a restaurant where you can order multiple things off the menu and it'll always be good Not only was the food delicious but the everybody working there was so nice read more

Annachikadai - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

When did you last have finger licking food on plantain leaf, may be years back in india in some occasion or marriage !!!!' Come to Annachikadai you're taste bud will thank you !!! We had veg n non-veg thali which is unlimited for just $13 !!!! Seriously !!! Food is better than any michilien star restaurant, each dish color, aroma, texture and taste was rich !! Do visit early as seat capacity n parking is limited, am sure you will recommend this to anyone asking for indian restaurant !!! Even service is very good. Happy tummy , happy nap time !!!! read more

Annachikadai - Non- veg unlimited thali for $13.99 !! Visit earl due to limited parking slots n seating!! - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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I went here during COVID-19 times. Santa Clara county is open for outside dining. They have put tables and chairs outside. We went in to order. The guy came almost 5 mins after I rang the bell to take order. Then he asked us to wait for 20-25 mins for food to make. Then after all that, when we thought we could sit at those tables and eat, we were told we cannot eat there, because they don't have labor to clean the tables . What a crap? Seriously why put tables and chairs outside , if you are not allowing us to eat outside. Horrible experience.. will never go back to this place. Even the person was not very courteous. He could have told that it's take out only upfront. We would have not wasted our time . Please think twice or more before u go there . Food is not that good as others have mentioned. There are places around which serve more tasting food and also are courteous.. read more

A casual hole in the wall restaurant with very limited parking options. Small food portions but it was tasty. Service is a bit slow specially getting the cutlery & extra plates took longer than expected. But overall good first experience. Tried mutton biryani, Idicha chicken appetiser (very spicy but yummy). Mutton Kuzhambu (tasty) Would love to go again and try the other dishes. read more

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Went for lunch here today based on a friend suggestion. The place opened for lunch at 11:30am. We got there at 12:20pm and guess what the place was packed and we waited patently for 40 mins. Once you get seated the service was relatively fast. There was about 3 front staff attending all the customer needs so service is adequate but not perfect. However if request they tend to it. They are polite and professional. The key component which is food and it was great. Ordered a non-veg thali, veg thali, chicken biriyani, parotta, idicha chicken, kalakki ( egg omelette), and kuska (plain biriyani). All the dishes was fresh, ample quantity, tasty, and flavorful. The spice was perfect that you can taste the rest of the flavors in the dish. The food is served in banana leaf similar to hotels in south India. Bottom line will visit this place!! read more