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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First impressions, first impressions, first impressions. They count ! I called ahead by 15 minutes for a takeout/pick up order of chicken curry with a side order of garlic nan. When I arrived the restaurant was busy but not jammed. My order was not ready. I had a few minutes to spare and moved my car to a better parking place expecting the additional 5-10 minutes to be sufficient for my order to be ready. When I returned it still was not ready. Initially, I tried accessing Annapurna's website for an online order. It did not work. What's up with that Annapurna Grill ? It would have made a difference. Calling ahead did not work . What a disappointment. I was so wanting to eat chicken curry and nan. I left. Buh- bye 1/28/2018 revisit : _________________________ Well it's always great to give a place another chance and today was that day. I used the convenient Yelp online order tool for : Masala Fried fish ....$9.95 Garlic Naan...$2.95 Masala Chai tea ...$2.00 Submitted my order at 7:32pm and specified I would arrive at about 7:45pm . This time the order was ready and waiting at the counter( so nice to see everything in order )...the aromas were delicious as I drove back to the office. The masala fried fish was delicious and balanced with just the right amount of spices...it comes accompanied with raw red onions The garlic naan was tender, moist and chewy( some of the best I've eaten) Definitely a 4 star performance with a great possibility of a 5 star within reach. I'll definitely have to make a dine experience soon. read more

Amazing, authentic, delicious South Indian cuisine. Service is great too. Don't miss the ghee roast dosa! Goat pepper fry is amazing but can be a bit spicy for the uninitiated. read more

They make really amazing dosas. Their chicken dum biryani is to die for!!!! Will make sure to take pictures the next time I order it, but it's so good I gobble it up before I can take any pictures. I cannot wait for them to start their weekend buffets again!! read more

I only order take out from here BUT it's soooo good! If you are a fan Dosa and Idli then I highly recommend Annapurna Grill. The Dosa is crisp and chewy. Of course I eat it right away. If you wait until you get home they may be soggy depending on the drive. The Idli comes with a decent amount of usually thick Coconut Chutney. Only one time was it a little thin. They supply ample Sambar. Their Bhindi Masala, Chicken Tikka Masala, Palak Paneer, and Veggie Biryani are also solid. It is possible to order the food spicy which is nice. If you want to feast on Indian classics from the Northern and Southern regions then I highly recommend Annapurna Grill. read more

I came here last night to try the 4foot longer "family sized" dosa. It was great! Came out very quickly on two trays. Each tray had 4 different side dishes that came with it --- coconut chutney, tomato chutney, squash curry, and a spiced potato dish. It was plenty of food for 2 people for $14. I thought the side dishes were excellent and the dosa was crispy and also had some of the chewy element that I enjoy. Being a meat - eater, I was not missing the meat here. We also had the egg biriyani, which had a grea amount of flavor and mouthfeel. The rice comes with some curry gravy and yogurt. Without those elements the rice could use a little seasoning, but with them - it was great. You can taste each individual grain of rice and it's really well done. My only complaint is the water is room temperature -- where's the ice ? (Maybe that's a really American request lol). read more

We went during the lunch hour and they only offered the buffet style dining. They were very busy with many customers inside. It was a hit and miss with the food trays because some of them were nearly empty. What I enjoyed was the flavor of the food plus all the naan you can eat which was nice and warm in one of the trays. They need to step up and get those water jugs filled and available because I had to keep asking for water. read more

Annapurna Grill - Lunch buffet - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

This is mostly South Indian food. Went with a friend of mine who was from south India who ordered everything and so I have a very hard time recalling the names of things. The gist is that their tomato sauce is delicious. Tomato is the base of most of their sauces. I only recall the dosa which was enormous and "fun" to eat. It's a fried flatten flour with various fillings. Our was diced onion. Comes with three sauces Flavored rice and goat with tomato base sauce and a sour cream like sauce. It was sooo good!! I don't even like goat Lamb curry omg this was amazing!!!!!!! The sauce was so good and the meat was super tender Curry eggplant - I wanted bartha but this wasn't bad at all!!! I also love eggplant. Fried flour dough rings- I wasn't a huge fan. The coconut sauce was not my cup of tea. read more

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It's not a great place for dine in. The food quality is not so good. The staff is not very polite and keep you waiting and non responsive towards any suggestions or concerns. The shop uses so much colors in food items to make them pretty. Wouldn't recommend to eat from this place. read more

Decided to try this place on a whim. I was craving Chicken Tikka Masala and I read all the rave reviews. First, although the set up seemed more like a "fast food" place vs a traditional restaurant it was not what I expected. The service was slow and there were not many patrons. It seemed to take awhile before we were given menus and our order taken. Even slower for food to arrive. They were nice and friendly, though. Food: Chicken Tikka Masala wasn't what I was expecting. It did not taste like the traditional flavor that I was used to. It was a creamier, thicker texture and spicy. I did not anticipate it would be spicy. It didn't bother me but it didn't satisfy me either. Garlic naan was good. You can't really go wrong with this, anything with garlic is delicious to me! It was a little different, thinner than the naan I was used to. I liked it. read more

Annapurna Grill - Chicken Tikka Masala with garlic naan bread - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

Had delivered food from Annnapurna many times - it is always excellent. Broad menu, and the dishes are appropriately spiced (The vindaloo was quite hot, but still short of a serious burn). I've been eating Southern California Indian food for many years, and I think this is one of the best read more

Absolutely delicious Lamb Vindaloo. I was little worried thinking it might be "Pasadena Spicy" but no, it was spicy spicy. Really great. Everything else we ordered was very good as well. read more

Flavor for days. Authentic and good variety. I usually get delivered and they always provided great portions.

Now I have mixed feelings about this place. I love how their food tastes but it's a bummer to see they run out food after the lunch rush and not filling it back. I was hungry when I got there and had to fill myself up with naans and scraps of curry. They accomodated us well afterwards but it was too late :/ I was already kind of full. I'm in dilemma--whether to come during the peak time or later hmmm read more

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The food is great, we always order to go, however costumer service needs a lot of improvement, I called them more than 50 times and no one answers the phone...., the phone number is correct cause I used it multiple times. read more

GET THE FAMILY FOUR FOOT DOSA. It doesn't matter who stares at you, it's worth it. PARKING: street or there's a lot you can walk from (free for 2 hours) SERVICE: The waiter here was sassy and pretty funny. He gave us a few amused looks at our order, but was pretty polite for the most part. The food was a little slow coming out (minus 1/2 star). FOOD: My friends and I got the four foot dosa and the goat curry. The family four foot dosa (~$13) is probably good for 2 hungry people or 3 not so hungry people. It comes with chana (chickpeas), tomato chutney, sambar, vegetable korma (I think cauliflower), and spiced potatoes. SOOOO delicious and so worth it. I'm used to having a dosa only come with a few sides, so I really liked trying more things to dip this gigantic thin crepe into. The dosa was a little greasy (minus 1/2 star), but very satisfying and very fun. Nobody else ordered the giant dosa, so I'm not sure how popular this item is, but I definitely recommend. The goat curry was very spicy but had tender meat. I'd come back for the dosa for sure and I'm glad to find a place not in Artesia that I can have good Indian food! read more

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The LUNCH IS ONLY BUFFET. Came with an expectation to have the usual south Indian but was very disappointed as we were forced to have the buffet. The buffet itself was mediocre. Food was cold and didn't stand out. Most of the food was over and not refilled. I have been here again, this time for dinner! If you are craving good South Indian , I suggest dinner is a great time to be here. We ordered medu vada, set dosa with veg korma, Uthappa, and their famous Family dosa. Everything was hot and we'll prepared. Only complain was the presence of whole peppercorn in medu vada. read more

Annapurna Grill - The family dosa at Annapurna Grill. - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

Delicious food! Everything we ordered for dinner (paneer dosa, chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer) was fantastic. Only ding is the portion sizes are a bit small for the price. But the service was excellent! Highly recommend Annapurna Grill! read more

Terrible service. Everytime we go, at least 1 server is rude, no communication skills. Ordered a plain dosa, took them

Came here for dinner and it was tasty! Smaller shop that was pretty busy so it was a slower pace meal but great food. We started with veggie samosa and they were delicious. Good size. Great for sharing. Nice spice! Good dipping sauce to cool them down. Then we had some pakora and they were crispy and tasty! I had rose milk with this course and it was so yummy! Loved it! Bright pink! For dinner we had lamb vindaloo and butter chicken with basmati rice and naan. I really just just drink butter chicken. Love dipping naan in the sauce! Everything was really good! read more

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Had lunch buffet here, it's pretty good. There is a large variety of both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes to choose from. They have the dishes marked with a sign in sections. For the vegetarian good there was rice, vegetable curries, fried rice chips, Samosa street food dish, salad, and maybe four other curries, there was about five non vegetarian dishes and some rice pudding, sweet beets dessert and Chai tea. The food was quite spicy and had a nice robust taste. It's around $13 for the buffet. The restaurant is quite spacious and they offer you fresh Naan and water with the meal as well. Parking wise I am not completely sure but we parked on the street for free a block away so street parking is available. read more

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Incredibly happy that Annapurna is back open!! I used to work right next door, and Vinod and Madhav took such good care of me--they're the best. And honestly one of the first things I thought of when I took a new job was that I wouldn't be 30 seconds away anymore from my favorite South Indian food. That being said, they're absolute pros at take-out/delivery. Please call them (and all restaurants, especially during this time) directly if you can, so they don't have to lose 30% to the apps. I picked up my order, and it was seamless. I've tried close to half the menu at this point, and everything is stellar, though obviously the South Indian dishes are what they specialize in. Try the dosas or my favorite, the fluffy steamed idlis (An idli is made of rice/lentil flour and gluten free, BTW, if you're into that. I'm not, I just like delicious food.) because they're better than the "sourdough" you've been making. Don't forget to add a tip. Yeah, you're just getting take-out, but don't you want your favorite restaurants to stick around? read more

Best Biryani ever Keep going back. The Dum Biryani and the Goat biryani are to die for. Everything else is also very good. read more

I have been here twice so far and I would not mind coming back. Usually I try one indian food place and move on to try others but here, I do wanna visit again and again. The dosas are excellent, both the individual ones and the family style which feeds 4. It is also kinda fun too so I highly recommend getting the family dosa. Trust me, it's really not that much! We also had (to share) the Saag Paneer, Annapurna Chicken Curry, Chicken Tikka Masala, Aloo Gobi Masala (potatoes and cauliflower) and the rice which can also be sub with naan (I don't recall extra charge, ask). Everything is truly delicious. Service is mostly good except he did not write things down and missed a couple of orders but I guess he likes to show off his amazing memory? Desserts: Gulab Jamun $4 and Rice Kheer $4 which were too pricy for the tiny sizes. I was not a fan but the rest of the party really enjoyed them. read more

Food is delicious, service is ok, just one guy serving all the tables ,no ambiance but worth going back for the food.

I can't say enough how amazing this place is. They were closed for a little bit during quarantine and my heart broke. I had to try a few other places around town that were not nearly as good. They're open for delivery right now (pickup too I assume tho I just do delivery) and OMG they are just as wonderful as I remember. Their butter chicken is by far the best I've ever had. Yes even from all the Indian wedding caterers in town. Only down side is their veggie curries are spicy as hell. Even when you say mild. But who cares the flavors are amazing!!! I had their aloo Gobi recently and it was mouth watering. Perfect chapati!!! I'm sooooo happy they're back!! read more

Best place to go with family with affordable price with very near distance than Artesia !!! We ordered almost all items starting from starters and ended up nicely with dessert - gulab jamun and rasamalai.. Chilli chicken was very good with perfect amount of sauce.. Masala dosa was very good with crispy texture and the masala was the best I bet with chutney and Sambhar !!! The Naan was very soft and my 1 year old had it nicely .. we had Annapurna Chicken curry which is the iconic item from that place and it's really good where it suits all of ages taste .. The over all service is really good and appreciable .. Since we went for lunch, we ordered few for dinner such as chicken kothu parotta, Gobi Manchuria , Panner tikka masala and the packing service was really neat and good without any leakage .. Biryani is a must try !!! Kudos to the entire team !!! read more

Fresh Dosa is BOMB! Warm crispy light for the dosa with masala flavor. I often wanted to order another one to go with me when I dine there, only that they dont sit well in the containers for a long time. (tend to get soggy) read more

I asked for mild spice on the lamb vindalu and they gave me medium spice which was way too spicy for me... Felt like I was disturbing them with my order. Wouldn't recommend. read more

This place is sooooo good!!! Everyone is so nice too. The prices are good considering everything is made to be shared. Will be going here more often. read more

The wonderful buffet was the way to go. I enjoyed the man and pita. The chicken was fantastic and the curry dishes were so tasty. The service is great. They're very helpful and make you feel welcome. The remodeled space expanded the seating capacity which is a big plus. read more

The Good - Food was very tasty even though they didn't get our order correct. The vegetable samosas were very good as was the chicken tandoori. We ordered the vegetable korma but they brought something else instead which tasted ok. The Bad - The service was very poor. The waiter didn't write down our order and that is probably why he brought the wrong dish. We waited over ten minutes before we were brought water and menus. Then another 15 to place our order and another 30 before the food came out. It's a shame that the poor service overshadowed the food. read more

Annapurna Grill - Chicken Tandoori - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

This used to be a good place, but now the service is just straight up bad. Not sure why folks are so Arrogant in this place. Management (if there is any) need to take this seriously and improve. read more

I really live the wapas in the morning specifically when they open as they are fresh prepared. If you are veg try kuthu parantha, 5 cocktail uttaran and family dosa. If you are non veg go for vijayalakshmi biryani and chicken gravy. read more

I've now been here twice and I think I am now married to the place. The food is one of the best that I have tried - and I have had Indian food in at least 4 continents. Last time we tried their Chicken Biryani, Alloo Gobi, Chicken Kebab and Spinach Dosa. This time (yesterday) we tried some Chicken Karadi type dish (I forgot the name), Fried fish, Tadka daal and Onion Kulcha.... oh and I had Biryani to go again. Everything is cooked to perfection and comes out pretty quickly. The ambiance in the restaurant is great and all the staff members have excellent attitude. I want to especially thank Zakir Sheikh (hope I didn't get his name wrong) who served us both times and all our orders were his suggestions. I am already planning my next visit ... I'll be back!!! read more

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The food here is delicious and honestly, the best Indian food I've found in Pasadena (and I've tried them all). However, their customer service is atrocious. They offer delivery ordering on their website so I placed an order. I got an angry call from a Grub Hub delivery guy 45 minutes later saying the restaurant wasn't ready with the food. I didn't even know I was ordering through Grub Hub. The guy told me he was leaving - I had to call Grub Hub, etc. The website ordering is not set up properly and it's the restaurants fault. But, what really prompted me to write this review is the fact that I order takeout the other night and I was picking it up (to avoid another disaster). Their website says they open at 5pm. I called at 5:05pm. No answer. Finally, at 5:15pm, I got an answer and was told that they weren't opening until 5:30pm because the chef wasn't there yet. (Um...okay....the chef should really be scheduled at least an hour before opening so not sure what's going on here.) I was told I could place my order now and it would be ready at 5:45pm. Fine, I did so. I show up at 5:45 and am told that it will be another 10 minutes. Ok.... They seat me in this empty second dining room where they can't see me from the front. 6pm comes and I go up to the front to check on my food - oh, uh, hold on they tell me. (New guy at the front now) They walk over the chefs, point to a bunch of tickets on the counter, and repeat my order to the chef. They tell me a few more minutes. I FINALLY walk out of there at 6:15pm with my order. No discount was offered, no "we're really sorry, this isn't normal for us." This is terrible customer service and it will prevent me from ordering here again. Bollywood Masala is a close second for me in the area and they'll be getting all my future business. Annapurna - get your act together. (Now that I've read more reviews, I see this is an ongoing problem.) read more

Very slow service, unorganized and food was just "OK" Sadly, this place has lost its edge. read more

We moved to Pasadena from New York and were always looking for south Indian restaurant. Out of no where we found this gem of a place. Authentic flavors, great service-- what more did we need ? This has become our go to dosa place now :) read more

Depending on what you order, the food is pretty good / good / excellent. I tried the Chicken Biryani Vijawada boneless and it was 10/10. Delicious and authentic. The other chicken biryani (bone in) was maybe a 6-7 /10. Rice was pretty good but otherwise decent. Also the house special chicken curry was hands down one of the most delicious Indian curries I have eaten. 10/10. Delicious, mouth watering and authentic. The paper dosa/ spicy dosa and masala dosas very good too. 9/10 and the only change I wish was if the sambhar could be a bit thicker (and maybe more drum stick?) But otherwise pretty good read more

We waited for 1.5 hours for our appetizers, and then some more for our actual meal. We watched them churning out takeout orders while we sat waiting, and they kept seating other people as well. The dosa had so little filling, barely enough for a few bites let alone the entire dosa. The food tasted pretty good, but definitely not worth the wait. read more