My family gets Indian Tadka every time we have our extended family come to town. If you like spicy…read morefood order the Chicken Lababdar. It is one of my favorite Indian dishes I've had from many Indian spots. Their chicken tikka masala is great as well. The next time I order, I will post photos. I love seeing family run local spots in the Waukee community and this one is one of my favorites!

Lunch date with hubs. Arrived around noon and we were the only dine in customers the whole time…read more There were a few take outs. Good service. Plenty of parking. Samosas: $8.99 3.5/5 the shell was a bit thick but inside filling was tasty. Paneer tikka masala: $13.99 4/5 fresh paneer and rich sauce. Filling and tasty. Andhra mutton masala: $15.99 hubby was sweating buckets with the spicy level. He enjoyed it. Naan and roti: good

We recently celebrated my Husband's surprise birthday party at Ulavacharu Banquet Hall. All the…read morefood items ordered for the event were tasty and guests enjoyed having them and gave compliments. Staff is hands-on, friendly, and helping to manage the event, including setup, food management. Perfect for those looking for a "hidden gem" that offers authentic, high-quality food without the premium cost of a hotel ballroom. We highly recommend Ulavacharu in Sunnyvale. It's not a fancy, traditional banquet hall, but it is super spacious, very affordable, and the food is hands-down some of the best, most authentic Andhra-style food in the Bay Area. They are very flexible, and the manager takes good care of you. We had a great experience with them.

Pretty good tiffin spot. We focused on the South Indian dishes like Punugulu and generally found…read morethem very good. They have recently expanded their menu to include more northern dishes and curries, and so I hope to come back soon. Extremely nice and attentive staff.

Recently visited Meenakshi Bhavan. Food was excellent. Several vegan dishes. Tried their upma idli…read morecombo as well as masala dosa. Upma was excellent, potato masala in the dosa was not too spicy, tasted great. It comes with tasty chutneys and sambar. Service was very quick on a weekend morning. Give it a try

Weekend breakfast at Meenakshi Bhavan has the right soundtrack. Tamil film songs at a comfortable…read morevolume, two or three tables already into their meals, the steady clink of steel tumblers filling the room just enough to feel alive without tipping into noisy. For a Saturday morning, the energy was calm -- a good sign for a small spot that could easily get overwhelmed. The waitress set the tone early. Warm, unhurried, she asked how we had heard about the place before taking the order -- the kind of question a restaurant only asks when it is still building its crowd and actually wants to know the answer. Filter coffee arrived without delay, hot, no shortcuts. The upma and mini tiffin combo followed. Portions were generous and the food arrived warm. But dish after dish played it safe right up to the edge of forgettable. The upma had correct texture with none of the assertiveness that makes a good upma worth finishing slowly. The sambar leaned thin. The chutneys were there, present and accounted for, doing the minimum. Everything assembled correctly, nothing bold enough to make you look up from the table. Meenakshi Bhavan gets enough right on a weekend morning to be worth knowing about -- clean space, genuinely warm service, honest portions. The waitress clearly takes pride in the hospitality side of things. The kitchen needs to match that energy with a firmer hand on the seasoning. Good enough for a familiar weekend breakfast. Not yet good enough to become a habit. The paintings on the walls that were Indian and Tamilnadu related was great, but the other art work seemed out of place, not sure what the thought process there was with the management. Things where this could improve: Coffee taste can improve (may be sourcing from a different coffee vendor may help, seemed like a standard Narassu's powder from a grocery shop near by that probably was at least a few months old) Chutneys need a certain kick and that was definitely missing. Cleanliness can be improved for sure.

Driven by this restaurant many times and decided to give it a try. While the service was great and…read moreour wait person was friendly and informative, the food unfortunately did not appeal to us. We dined here on a Tuesday evening and we retry had the restaurant to ourselves. We ordered the goat biryani, goan fish curry, aloo gobi and butter naan. The naan was the best dish we ordered. While the presentation of the biryani was nice - the flavor was rather flat and blah. The Goan curry was harsh - you could taste the spices were raw and had a bitter after taste. The waiter said that this was a spicy dish - not at all ! It was so mild. The fish portion was rather small. The aloo gobi was slightly overcooked and a little too salty. The butter naan was great - fluffy and tasted great. Unfortunately we won't be coming back to this place.

Kadhai Chicken is chicken cooked in a thick tomato-based sauce with bell peppers, onion, sautéed…read moregarlic. This dish comes dairy-free without any adjustments and it's delicious! The establishment is great at navigating allergens. In my multiple visits, every time the server will double check with the kitchen on items that they are unsure about (whether or not it contains ghee or cream) which I appreciate. Some other restaurants sometimes assume that ghee is okay for me but here they ask! I ask for my roti without ghee and I have never had an allergic reaction to my food after eating here. The interior is very clean and upscale feeling. The location is a bit unassuming located on the corner of a main road in Cupertino but they have a dedicated parking lot for the restaurant which makes things super easy!

I grew up in the Middle East eating biryani, so I've always had high standards. After living in the…read moreBay Area for the past five years and trying just about every Indian restaurant around, I can confidently say this: Vijayawada biryani at Sankranti is hands down my favorite. I don't usually write reviews--never believed in them much--but this one has been long overdue. I've driven all the way from Tracy twice just for this biryani, the perfectly caramelized onions, and a warm cup of chai. I'm absolutely obsessed.

I can't believe I've lived in South Bay for over 3 years at this point and only just now tried…read moreSankranti. We came on Saturday evening and they had just run out of biryani which made me SO sad but it's a good reason to come back! It's spacious with plenty of seating so would be great for bigger parties too. My bf has a nut allergy so we could only order the andhra chicken curry and the goat curry (which are the same, btw just different meats.) The flavor was truly flavor-ing, and it had just the right amount of kick. I loved the spiciness!! Only note, there were quite a bit of bones in both entrees and I'm taking off a star for this. In the chicken especially, it seemed there were more bones than actual meat which was sad because the chicken was SUPER tasty. Tender and juicy and held the curry just perfect. The naan was also delicious as I prefer a thinner, flakier naan and they delivered! Also you MUST get the mango lassi here, they didn't skimp on the mango and it's the perfect reprieve from the spicy meal Will definitely be back to try their biryanis.

Amazing South Indian vegetarian food. If you are in area…read moremust go! They accept Yelp waitlist Decent ambience great service Crowded everyday especially weekends! No reservations But they have Yelp waiting

Overall a great experience. The dining room is fairly large. You order in the 1st room and chose…read moreyour seats in the next. We tried the Mega Tiffin, dosa, chutneys and some other type of bread which I can't remember what it's called.

Update: After…read morereceiving a comment offering to make it right, we returned and got what we'd ordered the first time. The food was delicious and we appreciated that the order was corrected. Hopefully nobody else gets the wrong order! Great food!

I got takeout from here on a Saturday evening. I got the…read morechicken 65 biryani and a paneer appetizer. The paneer was soft and the vegetables were good combination I would have loved to have a little bit turnt up on the masala - but that's my preference The chicken was really good and a great combo with the rice. Will definitely be back to try the in person dining experience.

Still one of our favorite South Indian spots. Their kothu soya dosa is a standout--it gives me a…read moresolid protein boost, which is hard to find at most South Indian restaurants. The combination of dosa with podi and soya is truly legit. Their sambar and chutneys are always fresh and delicious, and I'm a big fan of their filter coffee as well. What we really appreciate is that the food is both healthy and flavorful. They offer healthier options like millet dosa that actually taste great. Service is quick, and Nitin and Praveen always takes excellent care of us.

I tried this place as I had heard so many good things about this place and it is true…read more I tried idli and banana bhajjis here on a Saturday evening. The complex is very crowded so if you find a parking spot just take it. The idlis were soft and fluffy and the chutneys and sambar were just the right accompaniments . The Banana bhajjis were delicious The covering had a good combo of the powdered and whole spices and came very close to what we have in India I am definitely gonna be back to try the rest of the menu !