Our Indian neighbors introduced us to this delicious "authentic" restaurant and helped us order. We ordered the soft idly with the spicy stew and condiments. We also tried curries, dosa, and other delicacies. Spice levels were perfect for us and everything was eaten!! We look forward to our next visit. read more

Idly Express in Mountain View is one of of favorite restaurants, especially for breakfast. They've maintained consistently high quality and their service and attention to customers is top notch. While there's no official 'litmus test' for a great South Indian restaurant, the quality of a vadai comes remarkably close, and by that measure, this location scores very high. We've sampled this item at other Mylapore and Idly Express locations too, but the Mountain View location makes it the best - crispy on the outside, well cooked and soft on the inside. Also love that they're open starting 8 am making it a favorite breakfast spot for our kids. read more

Today, Saturday, we went around 2:30pm for lunch and ordered a thali and a mega tiffin. Thali had multiple dishes that smelled and tasted stale. Even a small cup of ghee had spoilt odor. Curd rice was too salty. Kesari sweet in mega tiffin was also bad. Finally filter coffee also bad. The toilet was out of tissue paper and floor was wet and dirty. Overall, quality has been declining and today was a new low. read more

I came here with my Indian girlfriend--I'm not Indian myself. She helped me choose a combo lunch, and the food is lovely. Everything was very tasty, and I especially liked anything with coconut. The coffee was interesting too--I think it's one of the traditional ways of preparing it, and it tasted great. I'll definitely come back read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Overall very good and tasty food. Benne Masala Dose was too buttery that it was not going well with Sambhar. Methu vada was absolutely very delicious and crispy. Staff is friendly and explained us what is what as it was our first time eating benne dosa. Bit congested at peak hours as space is a bit smaller. Definitely recommend this place for good quality South Indian food. read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Methu Vadai - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Thursday evening with friends for some adai and aviyal. We were persuaded to come here by a friend who's a regular at this place, and this place exceeded my expectations on all levels. For those who are fans of Mylapore express this is a part of their chain. A bright and welcoming interior, with polite and courteous staff, this is a mash between a takeout and sit down place, in a good way. The menu has the usual idli, dosa and vada specials and combos, but the highlight on Thursdays is the adai-avial combo special for $5 which delivers far more value to my taste buds than it's price tag! The portion is good enough for a meal, although I couldn't quite finish mine and had to take my leftovers in a togo box. They also gave us samples of crispy vadas and sambar rice which were delicious. The staff was extremely courteous, offering to click a picture for us and explaining the free samples that they gave us as well. For anyone who is looking for a quick grab & go, they have a fridge with the veggies and curry offerings for the day and idli and dosa batter for sale too. I saw the way they make their filter coffee by pouring it across cups from a height, and I'm definitely returning to sample some of it! read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Samples of crispy medu vadas and some sambar rice - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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This place is a secret awesome South Indian restaurant, hidden from view on San Antonio in front of the Safeway! I've been to the Mylapore restaurant in Westgate mall in San Jose, and this is 5e same owner and group of restaurants. I think the Mylapore is a little nicer but this place is also awesome! My friend and I got the mega tiffin and thali lunches, and I ordered a sugar cane drink. Everything was perfect ... I'm so happy to have a good South Indian restaurant close to home. Prices were reasonable, service was kind and friendly, and the atmosphere was like a Panera or something similar. read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Mega Mini Tiffin (VIPRava kesari) - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Decent. Fast. Clean. Nothing special 111111111111111111111111111 22222222222222222222222222222222 read more

So many things to try, so went with the daily thali option to try a bit of many things. Portions were huge, fresh, tasty, and not overly spicy. The pickled lemon situation was a blast of flavor that I always crave with Indian food. As we were eating, the staff came to the table to ask if we wanted more of anything. What a surprise and no, we didn't need anything else because it was HUGE. The space is large, has instrumental Indian music playing, and is very clean. Can't wait to come back and try more. read more

I stopped by on a Sunday evening for a quick South Indian meal. I ordered the button idly and filter coffee and got my food within minutes. The restaurant is spacious and clean, the service is speedy, and the food is solid, albeit a bit pricey. Sambar and chutneys were flavorful, and were the highlight of my meal! read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Filter Coffee - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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So excited to see so many changes at this location! Compostable plates, coffee in steel tumbler. Very enjoyable experience. Tried their evening special, Poori Masala and ofcourse the amazing filter coffee read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Filter coffee - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Not only is the idly sambar excellent, the staff is kind, generous, and went beyond expectations to help my toddler feel welcome and well fed. Thank you to the uncle who took it upon himself to make our visit with a hungry baby easy. read more

Love this place. For a quick dosa experience, they do a fine job. Sambar is also very good. Oddly they won't let me pre-order then eat inside (they were worried it would not be fresh) but it was worth the very short wait. Not the best dosa ever but very solid and one of the better ones I've had in South Bay. read more

Just fantastic - very tasty tiffin items with Carnatic music in the background and a filter coffee. Thus transports me back to my grandma's place. Great staff with very good service. No wonder this place is never empty Pls keep up the good work read more

Clean dining space and I love the fact that the fast casual South Indian cuisine is accessible in the greater Palo Alto area. Self service and the food is fantastic. I always include the $5 daily special in my order. read more

The food was great - we ordered mini tiffins and coffee and tea to go with it. They brought extra chutneys around the tables for those who needed it. Nice ambience and courteous staff. read more

We went here for breakfast. In terms of ambiance this is the best of all the idli express in the area. There were very few people at 830am. Plenty of seating. Service was good. We are spoilt for choices in the Bay Area especially with South Indian food. And I like the dosa at another Bangalore origin darshini a tad better and hence only 4 stars. The potato stuffing in the dosa could do with a little more flavor and the sambhar was a little bland. But the dosa itself was so good. I wish it had a little less butter so I could eat it more often. A must try sit down place. read more

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Food is great, they meet their SLA for providing authentic taste in a clean environment. The new location is nice, glad they have place to sit and the booths are of varying sizes . Not having takeout has multiple advantages. 1. Protects the environment with less take out boxes, 2. People experience fresh tasting food and 3. Sitting down and eating with friends and family helps add cheer to one's day. They are new at this location and the staff is learning their ropes. Hopefully in a few weeks they'll be a smooth machine. They had the adai avail. It was on sale at $5. The taste was good and so were the quantities. I could eat just that and be satiated. Will stop by again for a quick bite. read more

For $15, this masala dosa isn't even enough for a 10-year-old. I have tried similar dishes at over 20 different restaurants, and this one ranks at the bottom. The taste is average, not particularly good or bad. I'd probably choose a different restaurant next time. read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Masala Dosa - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Personally love this place for its proximity to work. Great ambience, food and service. read more

Parotta kurma- 2 pieces : 9/10 (super delicious) Bisi bele bath- 9/10 (loved it!) Shahi paneer curry- 9/10 (great taste) Benne dosa-9/10 (made in ghee so it's heavy but very tasty!) Poori aloo/ 10/10 (delicious aloo) read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Benne dosa - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Very disappointed with this location precisely Idli Express Mountain view. I ordered take out Ratna Cafe Idli sambar and vadai. I was charged for vadai and given idlis instead. Despite very few people ahead of me, I had to wait a long time, and the staff showed little care in handling my order. I trusted them and didn't check the boxes until I got home, only to find the mistake. This place is in a good location, but it lacks the quality and service of other restaurants. Location alone doesn't make a place better--it's the service that does. For such a popular chain, this was unacceptable. I won't be returning to this location. I have given them high ratings for Mylapore Westgate but this is a disappointment for the chain. read more

Best south Indian food in mountain view and surrounding areas. Benne dosa and rava idli are my favorites

Ok.., not really worth the price. Felt like it lacked spice, and that rich Indian flavour. $18 for an onion uttapam with just avg taste?? Not worth it. The service and ambiance were good but at what cost? As the business manager said that the prices of the food at this place are justified, as a customer even he should feel the price is justified. Not just because your hotel is in a fancy place, charge unreasonable amt for some lame avg tasting food. read more

Took my mom here for takeout last night and it was so good. They also packed the food in sustainable responsible containers (not plastic). We ordered a variety of Iddly and Vada dishes as well as Bisibelebath. They even offered sweet rice Pongal for us while we waited. I'm sure it's even better to sit down and eat - next time! And also great friendly service and very clean. read more

Quality and taste of the food is good but the price of certain items are unreasonable. Benne Dosa is extremely small in size and costs $13, the price you pay for a whole meal ?? Mylapore exp prices needs to come down by few dollars on all items. Service and Ambiance is good . read more

I just picked up food from here. The place looks great and has great promise. I genuinely do not understand why this place gets a 4+ rating. The rava idly was a crying shame. It was nothing like how they make it in Bangalore. The saagu was a few vegetables thrown into an insipid gravy. Nothing stood out about this dish. The regular idly was tough, the chutney was so diluted that no single flavor stood out . The medu vada was soft, was perhaps made a few hours ago. The sambar was decent. The pongal was good. I cannot vouch for anything else that I ate from this restaurant today read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Rave idli, sagu - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Great food - it's a clone of Mylapore express and very accessible to folks in peninsula. Great ambience too.

Excellent ambience, clean, tasty, vegetarian food and friendly service! What more could you ask for? Their coffee was out of this world!

Kicked off the new year by visiting this place and had a great experience. I'm a big fan of exploring South Indian cuisine at different spots around the city, and this place did not disappoint. It was also my first time trying the benne masala dosa which usually comes with a lot of butter/ghee. However, I'm not usually a big fan of excessive butter and ghee in my dosas, so I made a special request to have the dosa made with less ghee, if possible. While I understand that the authentic version typically features a lot of butter, I had hoped they'd accommodate my request. Unfortunately, despite being told they'd use less butter, the dosa still ended up being a bit richer than I was comfortable with. That said, I still understand since the dish is meant to be prepared that way. Aside from that, the rest of the meal was fantastic! The uttapams were perfectly crispy on the outside yet soft and fluffy inside, and they paired beautifully with the sambar. The sambar had a great balance of spices, just the right amount of tanginess. The chutneys were also spot on--each one had its own unique flavor profile, adding a great dimension to the meal. You could really tell the ingredients were fresh and the preparation was done with care. Overall, I had a very enjoyable experience here. The authentic flavors really shone through, and despite my personal preference about the ghee, the meal was still delightful. read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Benne masala dosa - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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I have been Idli express and Mylapore customer from past 3 years across all Bay Area location. Today we ordered Thali was not available at 2:30PM, then ordered mega tiffin - Rava kesari extremely try and tasted like old, ratna cafe sambar Idli - sambar seem very diluted, pongal felt like rice was mixed with ghee also tasted old, overall over experience was disappointing this time. We have been to this location a couple times but this time it was really off. Not a great service!!! read more

Delicious food and the filter coffee is the best i have tasted. Sit down is an option and sustainable utensils available

Really happy this opened up near Los Altos! The staff are very kind and patient, and the food is excellent. I like that they use compostable products instead of plastic for take out. The restaurant is nice for eat in, although some customers do leave a mess behind, that's not the staff's fault during busy hours, it is hard to clean up after everyone and serve the customers coming in. Anyone coming here would do well to be neat in consideration of the staff and preserving a nice atmosphere for others. read more

My go to spot when I'm craving authentic, fresh, and yummy South Indian food. My husband makes some really good idlis and dosas so I think I have a good benchmark for comparison read more

We recently tried the Veena Stores special at Mountain View (apologies for the delayed review). You'll need to purchase coupons online or at the store in advance. It's worth trying at least once, despite the considerable crowds and somewhat chaotic atmosphere. We opted for one plate of everything and added a butter dosa on the side (not included in the $2 special). Everything was delicious except for the Thate Idli, which unfortunately wasn't soft or fluffy. I appreciated that everything was served on sustainable plates. It seems less about profit and more about a "serve and tell" marketing strategy, which is a good mindset to have when attending. read more

Not as good as their bigger locations but still great. Bene masala dosa and idlys call my name!

The much awaited opening of Mylapore in Mountain View has finally happened! Authentic, tasty, and healthy food that is served with a smile. Love the ambience too! I don't know about other Idly Express locations but this one serves everything as to-go. You pick a table, and get compostable plates and cutlery to transfer from to-go containers to convert it to a dining-in experience; complete with soothing Carnatic instrumental music in the background. What's not to love? A shout out to the ghee podi mini idlys - the texture is out of this world! read more

Idly Express - Mountain View - Ghee podi mini idlys - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

I am here every Sunday morning. The food is fantastic especially the sambhar. The ambience is clean and service is at the right level. The Carnatic music is perfect for the morning. Looking forward to hearing from the overhead speakers soon. read more

My wife and I (and our 1 yr old baby) always have an amazing time here. We travel all the way from Burlingame atleast once a week if not more for filter coffee, their curries in the fridge, raw milk and of course their amazing food - big fans of beach sundial, masala vada, pakoda, chai etc. chutneys and sambar are always fresh. Vada can be hit or miss sometimes but I'm sure they'll make it better with time/some experimentation. Special shoutout to Majid - very friendly, smile on his face, great service. If their financial/operational model permits, would love a full service sit down experience with nice cutlery, orders taken at table etc. But grateful that we have what we have today read more

Been here twice and the food is delicious! Liked the mega tiffin, uttapam, and filter coffee. Overall good service and experience