I tried out the Chicken Tikka marsala and was average. They had all the spices but lacked flavor since it was too much cream. Overall, it was very oily and barely had any chicken. It felt more like a spicy creamy chicken over rice than the curry. The naan was good, but not much garlic flavor, it seems like they just sprinkle garlic over the naan after it's cooked. On top of all, we had this order as delivery and each food item was either not labelled or it was labelled in a code that we couldn't decipher. read more

I walk-in and placed order for "Vijayawada chicken briyani" one of my favorite food from this place. I was totally disappointed with the food i received. They gave me dry briyani (feels like old one) and includes dry chicken(without that vijayawada sauce) . When are we are over charged for this kind of food, I totally upset. I request management to have chef who know to make the listed food with the same taste that mentioned in the menu. read more

Annapurna Grill - Disappointed with this Special Vijayawada Boneless Chicken Biryani - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Love this place. Their vindaloo haunts me. The only reason I'm knocking off a star is because the service is famously terrible. It doesn't matter if it's packed or empty - they're gonna ignore you. I've just resorted to refilling my own water (they don't have a water station, just a pitcher) since they come around so infrequently and the glasses are so small. Aside from that though, the folks who own it are really nice and one time i chatted with one of the cooks who was happy and enthusiastic to tell me about some of the particulars of the cooking, which was nice. My favorite place in Pasadena. read more

Long time fan of Indian cuisine. I always thought my father in law, who is Guggarati, made the best curry, but sadly I now have a secret new favorite. This place rocks. The dosa family style is huge and amazing. The okra curry is one of the best I have ever had. Spice levels are on point. Enough to make you sweat and drink a little more Taj Mahal than you expected. Service is good and on par with what you would expect in a smaller restaurant. We have been about 20 times over the last few years and love this place. read more

The best butter chicken in Pasadena and probably even farther. Also had the shrimp coconut curry for the first time and I could not put it down. Their food is on the spicy side but works for me. I like that their curries come with rice. Always get the samosas too. read more

Quality food and great service. Reminded me of the food I grew up eating. Great selection of items.

Great place for Indian food and it's amazing the changes they've made over the years. The decor and signage is much improved while still keeping a really nice authentic vibe. My group got the Lamb Vindaloo, the Spinach Masala Dosas, and set Dosa with Goat Curry. All 3 were a big hit with the group. The fluffiness of the set Dosa was great and the spiciness of the lamb vindaloo was perfect. Only thing I'd say would be better is it was hot out and I wish the water had some ice in it. The wait staff was excellent and super helpful but the water was room temperature. read more

I ordered medu vada to go ..medu vada was not at all crispy .. it was soo uncooked and was full Of raw batter... I had to trash it.. worst medu vada I ever had.. read more

Annapurna Grill - A2. Medu Vada.. - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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10% OFF IF YOU PAY IN CASH! I wouldn't say it's the best Indian restaurant I've been to, but I wasn't too impressed, to be honest. Service was really friendly though! The female employee was very cheerful, and genuinely caring. Their covid social distancing setup was clean and thoughtfully procured. Left ample space to maneuver around, but kept the section small enough to minimize the amount of people inside. D18. Family Dosa - Annapurna Grill Special - $13.95 * Four foot long dosa serves with vegetable korma, chana curry, and spiced cooked potatoes. Dosas also include sambar and chutney. R4. Goat Dum Biryani - $13.95 * Marinated goat and basmati rice cooked to perfection with the blend of Indian spices. Includes salan and raita. C8. Saag Paneer - $10.95 * Indian cottage cheese cooked with creamy spinach gravy. Came here specifically for their dosas. I've had better. My favorite place is Podi Dosa in Artesia, even though their service is horrendous. And I find the one from Bhanu better, overall. But for takeout, the dosa itself still remained crispy when we snacked in the car, and during the drive home. Their batter has this slight sour taste I wasn't expecting, and I wished they made the crepe itself a bit thinner. Some parts were thin, which were fantastic.. other parts were thick... literally like the width and texture of injera. The chana curry and spiced potatoes were great! Perfectly cooked, and flavorful. The vegetable korma didn't have enough texture, and felt gritty. The sambar was nice, but we weren't crazy about the chutney. The Goat Dum Biryani was fluffy, but I did find the portion for the price disappointing. The flavor was good, not great. Fragrance perfumed the rice very well. But the goat was super dry. I understand that goat usually includes bones, but we had more bones than actual meat. The raita was good, and refreshing. Tasted very fresh, with crisp red onions and cucumber. The Saag Paneer also was more like a creamy curry, vs the chunky saag we were hoping for. There wasn't enough spinach flavor since the cream was heavy and was overshadowing. They did give us a generous amount of paneer which was awesome, especially for the price! The order also included a side of basmati rice, which was cooked perfectly. I'll give this place another chance, but I wasn't impressed. The service alone is enough to convince me to come back though. read more

I came here on a Sunday around 8pm. I was told to wait about 10 minutes before placing my order because they were very busy. I had to ask for my silverware and I had to repeatedly ask to get my water refilled. Mango lassi was good. It was thick and creamy, poured in a to-go cup. All the main entrees come with rice which is a plus considering other restaurants I've been to does not. Portions are very small, but they make up with the quality of food. I ordered the rice kheer and for some reason they put it in a to go container and there were barely any rice in it! I had to ask for more rice. Always double check your orders. Parking was difficult. Limited parking on the streets. It took me about 10 minutes to find parking a few blocks away. read more

Annapurna Grill - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Delicious food that is spicy for low-tolerant spicy people but can the bathrooms have toilet paper?

Had an amazing experience. Ordered an Andhra Masala Dosa, which came with Sambhar and coconut + tomato chutnies. I'm not sure about the North Indian food and non-veg options, since this is a South Indian place, but I would definitely recommend the dosas! read more

Annapurna Grill - 2 Andhra Masala Dosas - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

We ordered roti, naan and paneer. In like 2 bites you can finished them and very very thin. They are not worth to spend $5 on roti and $7 on naan. Same with naan. They are just making money. We ordered masala dosa and this place is popular for south indian food. Sambhar was not good. Chutney was like just watery. I won't recommend to spend money on this type of food. read more

Tried this place because my father Inlaw enjoys it. The food was ok, but not my best. My favorite dishes were the goat dishes. Everything else was sub par read more

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Disappointed ex-loyal customer here. Unfair practices followed - increase in price by $3 ( fair coz of inflation) AND decrease in quantity by more than half ( not fair when you have already increased the pirce). Simply not worth the price anymore and prefer other options. The quantity over the last two months for the vijaywada biryani has decreased by more than half and u get like 3 tiny cubes of boneless chicken and the rice is not even enough for one person ( south indian standards for biriyani). The price increase is justified with inflation but the decrease in quantity too when the price also increased is simply not justified. Used to love their biriyani and would order it at least twice a week, but it is no longer worth it. These business practices seem unethical and unfair and you have lost a very loyal customer. read more

Quality of the food unbelievable so good and delicious. I've been to Annapurna several times almost every week. Mr. Sarath is cook and around , he is great and welcoming to customers. read more

They are nice people. Nice Nepalease owners serving Indian food. You get the drift. Don't expect authentic but expect a good dining experience perhaps. North Indian food is better to order here than south India. I'll give them 4 for experience- not necessarily food. read more

This review regards to second order in this month September 30 2022. I have ordered Fishpulusu. It's so good,delicious and tasty.

The quality of the food now is a bummer. Years ago the curry was flavorful and spicy and really great. Now the same dishes are too creamy, thinner curries, less meat. $13 curries now $17. I understand, as everything is more expensive now. But it is not worth it and I'm sad to say that, because it used to be a favorite. read more

Tasty and very friendly staff. The portion is very decent. Lots of parking lot on the side street. The ambiance is very much for a family, I wouldn't recommend for dating. read more

Annapurna Grill - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

If you're craving some good South Indian food in Pasadena, this one is a good bet. They have a four foot Dosa, which is super fun to share. My favorite idli sambar, was good but they idlis were on the dry side. Last time I went, we tried the set Dosa, which came with a vegetable korma dipping sauce. The korma was good but a little spiced for my taste. We also had the egg biryani and I was underwhelmed by it. The eggs were over cooked and clearly not mixed in with the biryani, just placed on top. The biryani had food flavor but no veggies at all (besides a few onions also placed on top). I added veggies to the left overs and it was better. The service could also be a bit more improved. Overall, nice spot with good food. I'll be back. read more

Annapurna Grill - SP2. Set Dosa with Vegetable Korma - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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This place is a disaster. They have delicious food but they are under-staffed. Under-staffed becomes a larger problem when the already working staff gets frustrated and starts to get furious on the customers. The staff is super rude and does not know how to handle customers. Whenever we have placed an order over the phone, we had to wait at least 15 mins at the restaurant to pick up. Well, this totally diminishes our purpose of ordering over a phone is to NOT WAIT. Well, next time I tried to be clever. I ordered 20 mins earlier than before, well to my astonishment, I was again made wait for 15 mins. I guess, the chef starts preparing the order for pick ups when the customer arrives at the restaurant. Hope this review helps. read more

Authentic South Indian Cuisine. Have been to this restaurant only a few times spread across 5 years. The service and quality of the restaurant has been amazing(ly) consistent to say the least. read more

The food here was amazing! There was 7 of us and the staff were excellent. Would recommend this place for lovely Indian food. read more

If nothing else, come to Annapurna Grill for a single dish: the veg kothu paratha with korma ($10.45). It's a spicy, savory marvel that's hard to find and wonderfully prepared. It's a South Indian and Sri Lankan dish that's basically like a noodle stir-fry with an array of spices, and then served with a delicious, umami nut-based gravy on the side (to make it fully vegan, I tell them no raita, which is a yogurt sauce that comes on the side). The vegetable samosas ($5) are vegan by default and also pretty good. I was less impressed with their masala dosas ($8), which were fine, but nothing spectacular. While this Annapurna serves meat, the one in Culver City doesn't and has a similarly well-prepared veg kothu paratha. Swagatham in West Hills is an all-vegetarian South Indian spot that also has kothu paratha and is on a whole better than either Annapurna (but is also far removed from LA proper). read more

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I was craving Indian food after a long day of car shopping in Pasadena and was surprised to see Annapurna in the area. I HAD to check it out. Right from the ambience to service to food, everything was excellent. A lot of restaurants serve veg pakore, but here it was like home made pakore. Absolutely crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with wonderful flavors all hodge-podged together in perfect union. You neeed to enjoy it with a cup of madras coffee or masala chai to get the true experience of how we eat it in India on rainy days. It was a cold night and the pakore and chai took me back to my childhood days in South India where I hail from. Onion Rava dosa was absolutely crispy with sweetness from the onion and a little kick from the black pepper. Chutneys and sambar that came with it were also divine. Goat Biriyani there took me by surprise. Honestly, I'm not a fan of biriyanis served in most South Indian restaurants unless its an Andra restaurant. But Annapurna just nailed it. I could tell the amount of attention and care that went into the "dum process".... meat was falling off the bones with the slightest touch. Rice was perfectly flavored with not-so-overpowering aromas of spices and the masala and rice married perfectly. For dessert we got rasmalai and carrot halwa which is a match made in heaven. I'm a rasmalai snob and these are definitely not from frozen boxes. I'm definitely a loyal customer of Annapurna now and you must check this place out. read more

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All right, I've been here twice for the buffet now and I can say for sure that annapurnas strength lies in it's buffet. I love that you get a bit of the familiar (butter chicken, saag paneer, etc) but they also surprise you with South Indian dishes that you don't usually hear about. I love trying all the variety and everything is very well flavored. I could also way their lentil chips all day. Definitely come here to check out authentic S Indian cuisine! read more

Annapurna Grill - Paneer dosa - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I've been here a number of times and the food has always been great (dosas especially) and the prices are really reasonable. Highly recommend! read more

Staff was quite unhelpful and the some of the food was flavorless. They didn't have half of the menu available the time I went. Do not get the paneer dosa. I recommend the chili paneer and paper dosa. read more

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What a delight this place is! Very modest but overall efficient environment, paired with absolutely fantastic Indian food of all flavors. And what seems to speak most for this place is the fact that there are numerous Indian customers as well. Even if some tell me that they could do much better themselves, they didn't and rather came here: that is good enough testimony for me! I have tried many item from the menu, some hot, some mild, all great. Even on several return visits, the food impression remained extremely positive. Since the first time though, the restaurant appeared to suffer a bit from its success. They expanded to the next door address where previously a Japanese restaurant was located. The expansion as such is obviously positive, but the interior is extremely unattractive and unwelcoming. Resembles more a YMCA breakfast room than a culinary temple. But again: the food remains the main purpose ... and justifies the suffering in the decor. read more

We ordered Egg Dum Biryani, but I didn't know their biryani is just "steamed white rice" and "3 eggs". The thing is this place has been running by poor managment and chefs team. I usually like their food. But it depends of their mood, business and material what's your food will taste like. There is no standards follow in any food item they make. I don't know if managment care about their restaurant's service at this point because it's almost crowded all the time. But if someone is reading this review from managment then I would like to request please be consistent with your food quality and taste. read more

Annapurna Grill - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

If you're looking for mouthwatering Indian food in Pasadena, you've found your spot. We love Annapurna and we've been coming here for years to get our Indian fix. It was introduced to us by a good friend who told us that this is the most authentic, most similar to her hometown's South Indian food that she could find nearby. No need to settle for butter chicken and tikka masala - you can find much more interesting dishes here. We always get the Chicken Dum Biryani. We ask for it boneless. It's filled with big chunks of tasty marinated chicken with a nice kick, and comes with a rich brown sauce for pouring over. They have a lot of good curries. The Guthi Vankaya Curry has a earthy, nutty sauce and big chunks of eggplant. The Gongura Chicken Curry is tangy and warming, with juicy chicken thigh pieces. We've also enjoyed the Annapurna Lamb Curry, which is covered in a strongly spiced red sauce. We always get their dosas too. The first ones that we would recommend are the Mysore Masala, Andhra Spicy, and the Rava Masala Dosa. The dosas are consistently moist and chewy, so you can tear off pieces of them to smother in the spiced chutneys and potatoes that come with them. We also really like the Spinach Dosa, which comes stuffed to the brim with spiced potatoes. We've never gotten the 4 foot long family dosa, but we've seen many other guests get it and it takes over the entire table. If this sounds like a paid review, it's not - we just love Annapurna and want everyone to enjoy it too. Annapurna is truly a hidden gem of Pasadena. read more

The positive: We've had some delicious food from this restaurant. That's the only reason they get 2 stars. The negative: They seem unable to fulfill orders, even those placed several days in advance. We ordered dinner on Door Dash, and when the driver showed up at the restaurant to pick up our order, the staff had no food ready and no idea when or whether they would have any food ready. We waited anyway. Some 45 minutes later, we were notified that they canceled our order with no explanation. I don't know what's been happening there lately, but we apparently aren't the only ones who had this experience. Not sure how a restaurant can stay in business with this sort of customer service. Order at your peril. read more

Their Vijayawada Chicken Biryani and Vijayawada Paneer Biryani is something you have to try before you die. Literally!! Better than heaven. We order that once a month for sure. Simply love it. read more

Updated review - I have had a bad case of food poisoning, hardly an hour after dinner. My family complained about the same. I felt the chicken appetizer or chicken curry, may have caused it. In short, all the great tasting food is worthless if it's a safety risk. I have had Indian food at numerous places and never faced this situation. I am updating to one star. ---------------- Awesome place to try some spicy South Indian Andhra curry. The food is amazing here, I tried the Chicken 65 appetizer and paneer chilly. Both were very good. Food is on the spicy side so be prepared to get a solid kick in your mouth. I would recommend Andhra spicy curry, naan and Dosa. They also offer a wide variety of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks like Lassi. I would say, if you are coming for dinner, drive there early and find a good parking spot as the place can get crowded on weekends. They also offer lunch buffet. read more

Annapurna Grill - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

Have tried this place in restaurant and for delivery around 8 times now which is how much time I take to make sure a restaurant is consistent and they have been! Their dosas, the awesome chilly chicken (just the flavors you get in Delhi! This is my favoriteappetizer), Andhra curry, Gongura curry, Eggplant curry are all fabulous! This weekend tried their chicken biryani which is the litmus test for me and they delivered brilliantly! Totally different southern India flavors in the very succulent chicken (very hard to do as most places make it too tough!). Most places really mess up the biryani but I enjoyed theirs a lot. So far never been disappointed with the food and love that they also serve beer! Good portions too! The in restaurant ambience could be HIGHLY improved (can be said about almost every "Indian" restaurant in LA!) as can the service which is pretty slow and unenthused, but with such a dearth of authentic-enough-for-the-west Indian restaurants, Annapurna Is certainly doing it right with the food! Definitely recommend! read more

Poor Service Very poor service, the serving staff specially one with green hair doesn read more

So glad I found this place...just moved here and was so disappointed in all the mediocre Indian restaurants around here until I tried this place. I go there at least once a week...would go more often if they didn't close between lunch and dinner. Amazingly good food. And good service. Prices are a little high especially for simple dishes like dosa...and hours could be more convenient. read more

Lots of vegetarian options, which is great. Lots of interesting dosa options, which is also great. We were there for lunch around 1 pm on a Thursday. The place was nearly empty, but it has a lot of tables, divided into two adjoining rooms. The place is plain with no real flair in terms of ambience. It's a functional space, but it doesn't speak to a place or a personality. There's a small flatscreen at the back of the adjoining room where we were seated; the tiny tv really had no impact being at the back of the room and it was the only real decoration in the room. We ordered one appetizer ONION AND SPINACH PAKORA...it came in shreds and in bits, not formed, and gave a 'I am table scraps' kinda impression. I liked them, but I like fried stuff. Think potato strings, well these were onion strings...they weren't greasy, they were crunchy...it came with a spicy green sauce, possibly mint or cilantro, or well mostly cilantro, methinks. My friend shared her PAPER MASALA DOSA...an imposingly large crispy crepe, thin, and stuffed with potatoes and spices, served with a side of three sauces. The sauces were interesting, and I enjoyed this dish. My friend said, meh. I ordered the VEGETARIAN PLATTER, which consisted of white basmati rice, two quarter slices of plain naan, and comes with paneer spinach, a spicy cauliflower, and a mild dal; also included dessert -- a small fried spongy ball with rose-scented syrup called Gulag Jamun. The platter was fine...didn't blow my mind, but it was all ok. Not A-OK, but OK. SERVICE: Seated quickly in near-empty restaurant. Waiter was nice and answered our questions about the dosa. Surprised me there was no check-in from the nice waiter, and we served ourselves cold water refills when we couldn't find a waiter, but we did find a wait station with chilled water preset there. We couldn't find the waiter to get our check. So we just got up to the maitre d' station, and our waiter joined us quickly, and was nice to split the bill for us, no problem. Basically, a nice long lunch undisturbed by staff. (Maybe they were short staffed or something was amiss. Service after food delivered was surprisingly inattentive to neglectful. Surprising because our initial encounter was very lovely.) HINT: The restroom is tricky, it's a sad door close to the back of the room, open door, walk down a zigzag corridor...kinda scary, with no artwork to brighten or lighten the trek. Except on the back of the door upon return, there's a hand-painted forest scene. The Ladies room itself had no personality, and two of the stalls had no seat covers available. Like the rest of the place, it was almost like they had just moved into the space and hadn't yet time to decorate. OVERALL: The menu is interesting, and the food is average. We heard a lot about this place having amazing food, and my friend said she had longed wanted to try it, so now was our chance...perhaps our expectations were a bit too high. Still, it was ok... and filling, and we got our Indian food fix. Not likely to return tho, sorry to say. read more

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I had been a loyal customer for 2 years but since late 2022 the food quality has deteriorated. The curry is watery and prices have increased for no reason. From picking up twice a week, I've gone to maybe once every 2-3 months. Sad they decided to mess up a good spot. Greed kills boys! read more