I underestimated this restaurant, both in the scale and ambiance of the dine-in experience, but also in the food they offered. This place has an extensive South Indian menu of dishes that are hard to find, which is to say I could have gotten something more creative than the standby of a masala dosa. The execution of the dosa, however, was excellent, with the sort of thin crispy texture I've never been able to duplicate at home, plus a mouthwatering potato mix and a robust chutney selection. I also had the option of a tea with saffron threads (and sugar) in it, which was an interesting one. An introduction to the South Indian food experience was part of college for me, and with this being on the main stretch in a college town, it can serve as a similar experience for many. read more

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I got some chicken tikka masala while on campus and it is absolutely amazing. The portion size is huge and very filling, the price is decent, and the flavor kicks and rocks your mouth. Great classic local spot. read more

Cholanad - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The hub and I had a good first experience at Cholanad last night. We were craving Indian food, and it felt safe to venture onto Franklin Street since the semester had ended. We were greeted and seated immediately; our server was warm and friendly. I chose the Chicken Tikka Masala (which the menu stated was rated #1 in the Triangle), and the hub chose a different chicken curry with dosa. We also snacked on some Popad while we waited for our meal. Both dishes were very tasty, and we would return to try some other menu items. read more

Beautiful restaurant. Quiet and serene - which is great for a nice Saturday lunch. Mango Lassi was amazing, smooth creamy and very tasty. Chicken curry with parota was excellent. read more

Cholanad - Curry Chicken - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

I had a great meal with a group of friends here! The atmosphere is nice especially on a rainy evening. I had the yellow dal, garlic naan and mango lassi. Everything was delicious, and the rest of my group thoroughly enjoyed their meals as well!! Just a heads up that anywhere on Franklin St is going to be tricky for parking. Street parking can be difficult and limited so just look for signs for public lots (there are so many nearby) and you'll be fine. read more

Franklin Street is fortunate to have three top notch Indian restaurants within a stone's throw of each other. Each restaurant has a decidedly different perspective. On this particular day, I received the lamb vindaloo - rice an additional up charge. My lunch partner the white vegetable kurma - Parota an additional up charge. The vindaloo was hardy and well spiced (perhaps on the spicer side for some). The flavor close to what one could expect from an authentic home meal. Very tasty! The lamb could have been slightly more tender - but again still very delicious! While I didn't try the veggie kurma, my lunch partner was less than enthusiastic. It's was good, but not as expected. The menu is expansive and the most robust in this particular area. I find the online menu a bit easier to navigate than the physical menu, it may behoove you to check there first. Finally, the price was elevated for a lunch meal and the lack of lunch specials was disappointing. Service and wait time were standard. The next time I'm looking for something more reminiscent of what I'd expect from an authentic Indian home meal or something off the beaten path, I'll be sure to visit here again. Indian Restaurant: 4.4 read more

Good, solid Indian food in Chapel Hill. The spring dosa was a fantastic appetizer with a few different sauces for dipping. The lamb vindaloo had a decent amount of tender lamb with a great sauce. The chicken tikka masala was great as well. The garlic naan was good. The main area for improvement would be on the service. Our waiter was attentive early on but then was more difficult to get a hold of to ask for the check and some to go boxes. He gave a great recommendation for the spring dosa though. Overall, Cholanad is a solid restaurant and I will come back! read more

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Ordered chicken biriyani and what I got for 26.00 was two cups of flavorless rice with flavorless chicken. Girlfriend got the channa masala and it was also a dud and also 26 bones. Take your money to lime and lemon or tandoor kitchen if you like either of those dishes. read more

Cholanad has been my favorite Indian restaurant in the area a few years ago. I recently went back for the first time in a while and can confirm that is still the case. Naan is always something I debate ordering at an Indian restaurant, but here it is never a question. The naan comes with a curry dipping sauce that is unique to any other sauce I've had anywhere else. The menu offers exceptional options for each course, and nothing I've tried was a disappointment. Staff always go above and beyond my expectations. The manager has remembered me from past visits and offered free samples of new offerings. The opinion of a top customer obviously matters. If you haven't been here yet, stop the naan-sense and come try it's out for yourself. read more

Cholanad - Chicken Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Delicious, flavorful dishes! We got dinner on a quiet Sunday night, and the food came out really quick! I got the pepper chicken with Ceylon parota bread, and my friend got the chettinad chicken curry. the and they were pushed out on this little trolley. The presentation could be better, but I'm not judging off of looks here. The chicken was delicious and packed with aromatic spices, but pretty spicy, so make sure you can handle spice decently well before ordering. It was topped with raw onions and some mint leaves. The parota was really good for dipping, scooping the chicken, and eating it together. My one complaint was that the parota to chicken ratio was a bit off: much less chicken than I wanted but still filling. Overall, really good Indian food around the area! read more

Cholanad - Pepper Chicken with Ceylon Veechu Parota Salna - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

We've been meaning to try Cholonad for a while and finally decided to go when we had a discount from a local dining club. They used to be in a separate building but are now located where Ham's and Mellow Mushroom were located. We made reservations for an early weeknight dinner and my wife went in while I drove around to the parking lot in the back. We got garlic naan, mango lassis and I got the chetinad curry with parota (a flaky bread I had never tried before). The food was good but unfortunately the service was lacking. It looks like on that night they seemed to have two servers for the entire restaurant. It took us a long time for someone to take our order, and a long time to get our check. Perhaps their service is better on other nights when they have more staff. read more

Cholanad - Mango Lassi - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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We visited cholanad hoping for a delicious Indian place in chapel hill. We started off with the bread basket. The garlic naans were certainly the highlight and we highly recommend them. The roti and regular naan were just okay. The samosa appetizer was decent but wouldn't get it again. Our chicken tikka masala was pretty good but nothing special. Nothing we couldn't whip up at home with a spice packet. Overall, the place was good but not great. There are other places in town that are better but we weren't disappointed in anything. read more

Was excited to try this place. We love Indian food and having recently moved to Chapel Hill was thinking this would be a good Valentines Day spot. Started off with not being able to park. DO NOT FOLLOW GPS RESTAURANT - get in the right area then jump over to w. Rosemary. Go behind the restaurant on W. Rosemary street as the parking is only accessible from that street. If you know Franklin street you already know it isn't easy to navigate. This caused us to be late for the reservation by 10ish minutes. We called the restaurant to let them know we were running a few minutes late and they told us "no problem." Then they gave our table away. They offered us a spot at the bar which we accepted. 10 minutes later, no one had spoken to us or even acknowledged we were sitting there. I went back to the hostess stand and they told me the only option was to wait for a table and didn't know about service at the bar. 30 minutes for a table at that point. When I returned, the bartender had finally acknowledged us - right after that a table magically came open. We ordered the vegetable karma (gluten free) and the chicken tikka masala which were good but we would try something different if we go back. Call them good but not great. Service was pitiful. Still don't know who the waiter was for our table as different people brought water, the food then I had to flag down the bar tender to get the bill (we were not in the bar area - he was walking through). Not one spoke to us asking how it was or if we needed anything - we had to "grab" someone walking by each time. So - three stars as I feel it has potential. Great spot on Franklin (once you know about parking) and we got a window seat so talked and watched people. They were busy - so I'm giving them that they may have been understaffed on a busy night. So - my advice is give it a try if you like Indian food but be aware it could be hit or miss..... read more

Really nice music and food. Short of service but overall a great place for a quiet lunch. read more

Cholanad - Fish curry in Grandmother's Menu - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Great customer service and large food portions, truly loved the food and the service from Cholanad. Thank you for a great experience staff and if you're in the area, try the lamb vindaloo!! read more

Cholanad - Lamb Vindaloo - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Being a South Indian and after reading the reviews i visited with my friends for dinner. The food was very bad and nowhere close to the actual South Indian food. There is not even enough people to serve and the answer I got was everyone is on vacation and they don't have any one to serve the cocktails. The ambience is average . I typically won't do this level of criticism in any of my reviews until it is so bad. read more

Cholanad - Drinks menu - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Been to Cholanad at least 10 times now, it's one of my best friend's favorite places on Franklin. Flavors: 4.5/5 (not an expert on Indian cuisine but everything I've ordered has been very tasty) Ambiance: 4.5/5 (great date spot/classy dining spot) Price: on the pricier side (it's Indian food on Franklin St, after all) HERE'S THE THING: Every time I've come here I've spent bought an entree, cleaned my plate, and left the restaurant a little hungry. It's more of a testament to their ability to deliver great flavors than it is a criticism of their portion sizes. Either way, IF YOU HAVE A BIG APPETITE LIKE ME, GET AN APPETIZER (some Dosas, some Naan, just anything extra to go with your entree) or else you will leave the restaurant with a craving to go across the street to McDonald's and satiate your remnant hunger with a few McDoubles (been there, done that). read more

One of the most authentic tasting indian restaurants we've visited locally. Tender chana without being mush, and fall-apart lamb. The naan basket was underwhelming for me, but my wife quite enjoyed the subdued flavor. Only down side is the price... around $20 per meal, not including drinks, the naan basket, or starters. We spent $75 without trying. Not the cheapest, but very quality. read more

Cholanad - Chana masala, naan, and lamb saag. - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

We got take out and the food was excellent as usual! The samosa chaat is out of this world. We got a dosa, a tiki masala and a saag paneer. Perfection. We happened to order during a flash flood and couldn't reach the front of the restaurant because the street was blocked off and the we couldn't reach the restaurant. But they directed us around back and a staff member braved shin high water to bring us our order. read more

Before we even were able to get inside the restaurant, we had difficulty finding their parking lot. The sign in front of the restaurant directs one to West Rosemary Street where the lot is. However, there is no sign at that lot and once it's found, neither the lot nor the spaces are marked as being for CholaNad. We had to ask the hostess if we had parked in the right place and I worried all through the meal that we might be towed. The atmosphere was nice, staff pleasant and service incredibly fast. The mango mojito that I ordered contained a lot of mango nectar and was too thick to easily drink. It also masked the mojito/mint flavor and that of the rum too. The appetizer, chicken 65, was too spicy and cooked a touch too long. The shrimp tiki masala came with too much sauce and the shells were still on the tails. How was one supposed to eat them in the accompanying naan without first removing the shells? I asked for and got a knife and had to do surgery before attempting to eat. For the last disappointment of the evening, I ordered the Sakara Pongal. It was served much too hot and was so bland I felt I was eating baby cereal! This was my first time here and I'm not going back. If you want great Indian food, eat at ZAYKA. It's 100 times better in every way. read more

For South Indian cuisine in Chapel Hill, this place is pretty solid. I originally wanted to come here to try Pani Puri, which they called "tartlets" on their menu. It was really good. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, they offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis, which are basically an assortment of sauces along with a side of rice and a couple bread pieces. Of course, coming on a Sunday, we were on board to try that. We ordered mango lassi, saffron-infused iced green tea, the bone-in mutton, parota and the vegetarian thali. Everything tasted so great and we left feeling very content. Note-they are currently short-staffed at the moment since there was one waiter running the floor and takeout, and food took a bit of waiting before it arrived but I think it was worth it. read more

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Cholanad is a staple in the triangle for delicious South Indian food. My favorite here is the whole fish and Gobi Manchurian. The fish had a nice dry rub that was just awesome with a squeeze of lemon. The Gobj was served a bit awkwardly on a skinny plate but very delicious. The prawn curry is also a stellar dish. My only point of critique is the thali was no longer available/run out at 7:00pm. The servers, ambiance, and food were pleasant and zesty! read more

Cholanad - Whole fish - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Was not prepared to suddenly have the most amazing Indian Food of my life but there ya go. I have no idea what secrets are behind their Tikka Masala sauce but it makes me regularly consider a 3 hour drive from Charlotte. Great late night option. Available through Postmates. read more

Cholandd was a solid South Indian restaurant: personally I thought the food was pretty mediocre, do keep in mind I am a South Indian myself and it did not live up to the hype that the waiter had. Overall if you are in the mood for some Indian food I think Cholanad is the perfect spot! I wish my dosa and Sambar felt a little bit more fresh, it was served at not so hot as many restaurants do. The thali was okay, the chicken curry is pretty spot on! Service is amazing, the staff has a family like nature and are super sweet and understanding. read more

Cholanad - Crispy Plain Dosa - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Amazing Garlic Naan!! Especially with the sauce!! Lamb saag is also a fantastic dish here read more

Cholanad - Garlic naan - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

My husband, our youngest daughter, & I came here for lunch last Saturday while our oldest daughter was attending a program at UNC. We had a phenomenal experience here from the food, & drinks to the service, & even the music! Our server was extremely helpful in offering suggestions to my husband & I since we wanted to try something we had not tried before. My husband's dish was the winner of the afternoon, he got the lamb saag. Ordinarily, this is something my husband would not have tried, had he not been given the suggestion from our server. It was delicious! I will be ordering this next time I'm there. I tried Parota for the first time with my Chetinad chicken curry, and I will definitely be trying that again as well. My youngest daughter just stuck with what she knew and got the chicken tikka masala. Everyone was very pleased with their dishes and the next time we are in town, we will absolutely be back. read more

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I ordered takeout from here and my food was burned. I contacted the restaurant to offer respectful feedback and they apologized with a templates email, "let us make it right," and refunded the dish. We had prior positive experiences, so I ordered from them again and surprisingly same problem came up again - the dish was burned, literally black and shriveled up. I contacted them to once again offer this feedback respectfully (I prefer to work it out with a restaurant rather than leave a negative public review). Both times I sent them photos of the burned food. The second time they replied that the food was not burnt, and they would not do anything about it. Very disappointing to have repeatedly gotten inedible food, which ruined the mood of 2 meals. This is too bad because it used to be good, but we won't be eating there again. read more

We had been to this place long time ago. Tried it again yesterday. Food was very mediocre, but the service was very good. We tried few of their entries and only thing we liked was their Dosa. For me, it was not worth driving 40 miles to eat Indian as there are many better ones in Cary area. read more

Cholanad - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

This is literally the best restaurant on Franklin by far. The food was so so delicious, and the staff was so kind and amazing. The restaurant was very well decorated and the food presentation was very aesthetic. Such a top notch dining experience for a very affordable price. read more

I've been hearing about this place for a long time and have finally had the chance to try it! Two of us came for dinner around 6:00ish and were seated promptly. There were a lot of menu items that I did not recognize so I asked the waiter for recommendations, which he was very helpful with. We started with two drinks ($5 Monday special!), the Love Tail and the Sandy Jeans. The Love Tail was an excellent easy drink; akin to a Sangria. The Sandy Jeans was... different. I was thought it would be something like a Dark and Stormy, but it was quite different. Not bad, just different. For an appetizer, we started with the dal fritters. They were nicely fried and gave off a really good crunch. As for flavors, it was very different from anything I've had before. It definitely wasn't bad, just not something I peronally would like as much as say, a samosa. It is vegan though for those who choose that diet. For the entrees, we went with the waiter's recommendation of the Mutton Milagu Curry, which he said was the Chef's favorite. Oh man, this was so good. The sauce wasn't heavy/creamy and had a bit of a kick/spice to it and the goat was cooked really well so that it was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was a tad bit gamy, but it is goat meat and they do mention it on the menu, and the sauce really cut down on how gamy it could have been. Excellent dish. For a second entree, we chose the Chettinad Chicken Curry. This was also a really good dish, which we got with Parota bread. I fell in love with the Parota bread instantly. It reminded me of a Chinese scallion pancake cooked really well, without the scallions and extras. It was nice and warm, with a good amount of chewiness and flavor in it. As for the chicken curry itself, I was pleasantly pleased as well. Like the Milagu Curry, the sauce wasn't heavy/creamy and had the kick/spice to it. The chicken was a tiny bit tougher than I would have liked (unsure if this is because they used white meat over dark meat or something else) but the sauce and the Parota bread more than made up for it. Definitely recommended this place to anyone who is looking to go beyond the typical heavy/creamy yogurt based chicken tikka masala and palak paneer that dominates the Indian food scene in the Triangle. The portions may look small at first upon delivery, but they definitely filled us up, and we had leftovers! As an added bonus, they have their own parking lot, which is very rare for Franklin Street. My only gripe was that service was a little slow (high table to server ratio). We did notice another waiter show up after a while so perhaps it got better as the night went on.100% will be back. read more

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I've been here a couple of times and have a couple of opinions about this place... Usually, when I go, its been with a big crowd of people, usually around 6 people. Friends have always recommended getting the Chettinad Chicken Curry with rice. So that's what I went with, as well as a Chicken 65 for an appetizer to share with another friend. The dishes were good, I'd give it that, but the way the receipt was given was weird. First, the waitress decided to split up everything into 1/5 the price of the original item and handed us the bill. I found this weird because some people ordered dishes that were more expensive than others, so to assume that everyone was willing to pay the same price without asking was rude. Another thing was that she split it 1/5 when there were 6 people at the table. This caused us to wait another 15-20 minutes unnecessarily while the waitress corrected her mistake. The final point of consideration was that it took 30 minutes for the staff to get a to-go box for one of the friends, even though he had repeatedly asked numerous waiters to do so...oh and the food was leaning towards the expensive side. Before writing this review, I also happened to see the numerous replies by the owner of this establishment and the blaming of external problems regarding other people's reviews instead of looking internally. There were a ton of reviews in which the owner would accuse the customers of being fake customers or requesting that they provide evidence to their dining experience. While I do admit that some reviews were malicious due to their parking lot towing habits, it's upsetting to see an owner so rude and condescending to people who have eaten there as well. With that being said, overall, the food was okay, but I don't deem it worth the price. And upon seeing how the owner reacts to malicious and nonmalicious reviews on yelp, it doesn't make me want to come here ever again. P.S: A word of concern. Reading other people's reviews reveal that this place has a predatory contract with a local towing business. They'll hire men to sit outside, facing the parking lot, and will tow cars away immediately after the cars are parked if they do not enter Cholonad. read more

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I wanted to like Cholanad very much. For a spice loving foodie who enjoys good wine- being at a place that has half price bottles on sundays in one of my favorite towns- this should have been a home run. The staff/manager is actually pretty nice, they get points for service. They get even more points for the fact that they have free parking! But will we return for our monthly Sunday wine bottles, parking, service when the food didn't deliver? Probably not. Here's why. Our table was a party of 8. The appetizers looked amazing but one of them (vada) came without salt. Not one person asked us if the food tasted good. They don't put salt shakers on your table so that's double whammy. The samosa Chaat served with the minuscule cocktail samosa also lacked salt and seasoning. The samosa itself Was acceptable probably because it was a Premade frozen version that was fried before serving. We also got the paneer skewers and while they looked amazing, there was no flavor to the paneer at all (this time it's try lack of spice, flavor from herbs) navaratan Chaat was this strange pani Puri style stuffed Chaat, again- has none to negligible salt. The parotta and Korma were okay, not sure if parrota was made in house or frozen but prepped in house? It was decent nonetheless. Crisp dosa wasn't crisp but was fine and came with an array of likeable chutneys. The Veg thaali has a ton of items, each of which tasted mediocre. There wasn't one shining star on that plate. This was such a sad food experience overall. I wish the seasoning was 'tested' before serving and I certainly wish they had asked us for a food feedback especially when we all requested salt three times. read more

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Tasty south Indian food in Chapel hill. Located on the iconic Franklin street. Good service and nice ambience.

PHENOMENAL!!! Our server was so knowledgeable about the type of food that was being served and explained to us the history of different dishes such as Tikka Masala. He gave us his different recommendations for each of our requests and was extremely patient with our 1000+ questions. The food was nothing short of extraordinary. The tartlets and paneer appetizers were a must! The paneer was seared to perfection and came with an amazing yogurt sauce. I have never had chicken chetinad before but I will most definitely be ordering it again. It was the perfect combination of spicy and flavorful. Would definitely recommend!! read more

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Enjoyed the dosas , with the three chutneys ( coriander, coconut and tomato) and the sambar( lentil soup) . The chutneys were served cold rather than room temperature. The dosa was not as crisp as it could be. Attentive service and nice ambiance. Women's bathroom was clean, but one of the two automatic faucets did not work. read more

Southern Indian restaurant on Franklin St. The inside doesn't have a whole lot of decor, but is bright and contemporary. The restaurant has its own small parking lot with a couple of spaces. Compared to other Indian places I've tried in the area, Cholanad has some items that you don't find in other places. For the appetizerr, we got the Masala tartlets, and then got the Chettinad Chicken Curry and Kothu Parota Salna for entrees. I've never had the tartlets and the Parota Salna (chopped bread and egg plus other things, shaped into a block) before, and they tasted pretty good and had nice presentation. The chicken curry and the accompanying naan was decent as well. For the dessert we got Kulfi (Indian ice cream) and the Sarakara pongal rice pudding. Both were tasty, but I especially liked the mango kulfi. Overall, a pretty good meal where I got to try a few dishes that I've never had before. It wasn't cheap, but we did order quite a bit of food. read more

Cholanad - the masala tartlets, the kothu parota salva, sarakara pongal, and mango and pistachio kulfi - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Great environment, great food, and great service. Cholanad hits the dot on all these and continues to surpass my expectations. I came in with a group of 6 people and had no trouble with ordering food or waiting too long for our food. One thing to be careful about (not a bad thing): their portion size for the bread baskets are large. Don't be deceived by your hunger, my group of 6 struggled to finish two baskets. read more

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Wow! Wasn't planning on eating here, but a colleague and I decided to stop in to try. You were hit with a magical aroma immediately. From that point we decided we were Eating here. The staff was super friendly and attentive to us. I let manager choose my meal because I couldn't decide. He selected the chicken curry......amazzzzzzing. We also had naan bread and the tiger sampler. I'm completely stuffed and overwhelming satisfied. I Will be back #terminatorvoice read more

Cholanad - Chicken Mint Rub - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Delicious South Indian food and nice outdoor seating! I had the cauliflower chettinad. It was spicy with great flavor! My husband got the chicken tikka masala -also excellent. My daughter enjoyed the white vegetable kurma (similar to baba ghanoush). Everything was tasty and the service was great. They even brought water for our dog. I will go here anytime the opportunity presents! read more

This place is awesome. Service, authentic South Indian taste - just fabulous. Place and location are awesome. I would come here any-day. read more

Cholanad - Mutton Dosa - Indian Near Me - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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