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San Francisco, CA

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Star India

3.9 (1.3k reviews)
Closed • 11:00 am - 10:30 pm

Star India Reservations

Order Star India Takeout or Delivery

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STAR INDIA ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Classy
Quiet
Good for kids

Recommended Reviews - Star India

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Reviews With Photos

Teija A.

Coming to Star India on Geary and Arguello feels like coming home. Beautiful service and excellent food every time. This visit I had saffron rice, Paneer tikka masala, palak pakoras, naan, chai and mango lassi. Everything tasted so fresh and so tasty, from the creamy paneer to the crispy pakoras. The chai was perfect and the lassi so refreshing. I love this place!

Deepthi T.

I had a couple friends visiting who wanted to go to an Indian buffet, so I decided to try Star India. We came early for dinner so the space had lots of open tables. It was clean and I liked the art they used to decorated the walls. It was a classic Indian buffet with lots of veg and non-veg options. There was somebody refilling stations too. I appreciate how they had a chai station and a sambar option too. They brought garlic naan to the table. Overall, solid food and great price. The saag paneer was great, the chicken tikka was a little on the watery end for me, but I had a great meal with friends. The price was good too.

Store front
Stanley L.

My friend Jun took me to this lunch buffet which costs $21.95 you get a chai drink and naan (you have to eat in person) but I decided to stay fit and ordered the chicken tikka masala with rice and mango lassi. Their chicken tikka masala is simply heavenly. The curry tastes so good with the rice and the mango lassi is delicious. Service is by the waiter on Tuesday 03/10/2026 is outstanding. They also accept UberEats, DoorDash, and GrubHub for orders. Highly recommend with my utmost respectful regards.

Nancy P.

Always driven by but finally ate here today. This review was for the buffet. Selection was limited and food was alright. The saag paneer actually tasted sour and old. The tandoori tasted dry from sitting under the heater. I appreciated that they brought us naan freshly made.

Some of the buffet
AmberAyame T.

We've been coming here for hella years bc it's within walking distance of our condo and bc it's consistently really delicious and very vegetarian friendly. The restrooms are always very clean and the staff is always very welcoming and friendly. The buffet prices are very fair. We recommend this restaurant a lot.

Chicken Tikka Masala
Tiffany T.

Came on a weekend night for dinner around 6 pm. When we got there, it was pretty empty so we were able to choose where to sit. I ordered a chicken tikka masala with butter naan. Our server was amazing, took our order quickly and came to refill water a few times. Food came out in about 10 minutes. To be honest, portion size was a bit small for $16, especially since you would have to order naan or rice to go with it. With that said, I did enjoy the taste, though chicken was kinda dry. The inside is super cute with lots of decorations.

Poori
Bob K.

Star India is on the Aadvantage dining list, and we're trying to build up miles, so we stopped in after visiting the Legion of Honor. We were the only customers there the whole time, so attention and service were quite good. We ordered veggie pakora, and I had vegetable biryani medium spicy, while The Wife ordered vegetable Navratan korma, mild. I also ordered a glass of gewürztraminer. All the wines were $5-7 per glass, and healthy pours! Most of the entrees were $13.95. The korma was more tomato forward than usual, but still tasty. Kind of like a milder tikka masala sauce. And water chestnuts, yay! The biryani had a good mix of veggies and cashews. Potato, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, peas, etc. We also got our first poori in many years, which was quite nice. The room was very colorful, and oddly, the men's room decor (wall and floor design very modernist) was completely different from everything else. Must be leftover from whatever this space was before? The chai tea was pretty good, but The Wife's kulfi just tasted like frozen milk cubes, no flavor. The gulab jamun in rosewater was good.

Star of India is a classic San Francisco restaurant. If I had to guess iv been going to the star of India for 20 years or so. Always a solid meal full of flavor for a fair price with courteous service. They told me they've been there since 1992, that's a lifetime for a restaurant and it makes sense.

Garlic naan
Lorraine G.

The food was just okay overall. Most of the dishes were really salty, and there wasn't a lot of variety for an all-you-can-eat ($23.90/person). The garlic naan was the highlight--fresh, hot, and really tasty. The chai, on the other hand, was a bit disappointing--it tasted too milky and lacked that strong, spiced flavor I was hoping for. For the price, I expected more options and better quality. That said, the service was friendly and attentive, which I appreciated.

Chris R.

Me and my girlfriend love coming here very close by and the service is very fast and friendly I like this restaurant because it feels like a hole in the wall super lowkey and if you're around the neighborhood neighbors know this spot smacks! Me and my girlfriend order the basamati rice with medium chicken tikka masala

The worst indian food I've had this year 2024

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Reviews are mixed. Many highlight the authentic flavorful food, friendly attentive service, and cozy inviting ambiance. The good buffet value is also noted.

Read the full review summary in the app

4 months ago

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5 months ago

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6 months ago

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11 days ago

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15 days ago

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16 days ago

the food was ok, the price was right. I have mix feelings about this place the service was great.

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1 year ago

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2 months ago

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2 months ago

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5 months ago

Underrated lunch buffet. I can barely eat dinner later when I have lunch here. Not too spicy for the kiddo, also.

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4 months ago

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4 months ago

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10 months ago

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2 years ago

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5 months ago

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2 years ago

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7 months ago

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7 months ago

I stopped by for dinner and left satisfied. The meal was filling and served without long waits. Staff were friendly

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3 years ago

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7 months ago

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2 months ago

such great service, very friendly and the owner is super sweet! the food was really delicious especially the garlic cheese naan

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8 months ago

Amazing experience ! Great customer service and food. Would totally recommend and come back!

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Star India Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Star India

How much are the buffet prices (weekday /weekend /lunch /dinner)? I don't see that information on their website or app.

11 to 4pm $21.95 everyday Friday and sat dinner $23.90

Is there vegetetain buffet available?

Yes there are 4 veg dishes and appetizers also

Your update shows you will offer dinner buffet starting on Diwali (1 Nov '24). Will you continue to offer the dinner buffet every night? How much will the dinner buffet cost?

Yes

Do you offer a dinner buffet? I do remember before the pandemic, the dinner buffet was offered.

Hi .. lunch buffet only 11 to 4pm

Is buffet lunch on weekends too?

Yes from 11 to 4pm everyday

Is buffet open?

The buffet has resumed.

Aré you still offering lunch buffet?

The buffet has resumed.

Buffet back yet?

They no longer offer buffet. Menu only. Buffet is not coming back.

View All 10 Questions

Yakiniq

Yakiniq

3.3(1.9k reviews)
1.7 mi•Japantown, Lower Pacific Heights
•$$$

Service , ambiance , and food variety have improved by miles over the years…read more Staff is wonderful, attentive, and the overall experience is enjoyable. Reasonable tier options for menu and great for any time of day or outing.

YakiniQ really said "leave hungry? never heard of her."…read more Pulled up with my homie Jun because this man treated me to lobster last time and you already know... Asians keep receipts but in a wholesome way We don't split love, we rotate blessings. For $49.99/person, this AYCE Korean BBQ was straight violating my self-control. The short ribs?? HELLA BUSSIN. Like actually criminal. Every bite had me ascending like a TikTok food review in 4K. Meat so juicy I almost stood up and thanked the cow personally. The grill smoke got us smelling like seasoned warriors walking outta there but honestly worth it. Staff kept the meats coming faster than my auntie asking why I'm still single. And let me put y'all onto some elite Chinese vocabulary real quick: "好吃到舔手指" (hǎo chī dào tiǎn shǒu zhǐ) = "so good you lick your fingers." That's EXACTLY the vibe. Finger-licking good fr fr. YakiniQ got me fighting for my life, unbuttoning my pants in the parking lot, and already planning my return. 10/10. No crumbs left. Their "Red Hot" peanut sauce is the carry here - no doubt. Highly recommend with my utmost respectful regards!

Photos
Yakiniq - Short ribs

Short ribs

Yakiniq
Yakiniq - Seafood pancake

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Seafood pancake

Julie's Kitchen - Vegetarian bento box, very satisfying and filling meal

Julie's Kitchen

4.1(128 reviews)
3.1 mi•Financial District
•$$

This spot is perfect for buffet lovers. The pay-by-weight system is fair, but a pound is lighter…read morethan you think, and it can be hard to restrain yourself from loading up your container when so many of the items look good! They have a salad bar with some interesting items, like an avocado quinoa salad loaded with avocado. They also have egg salad and tuna poke, both of which I enjoyed Their Korean items are great. The japchae (glass noodles) have the perfect texture and are seasoned well. The tteokbokki is delicious, great consistency to the rice cakes and the sauce is sweet and a little spicy. The sushi is decent considering the context. The sushi rice is cooked well and seasoned. They have salmon avocado rolls, California rolls, and fried rolls, as well as kimbap. The mapo tofu is better than I was expecting, and I would say better than at some Chinese restaurants. It seems a few of their items vary by day. They had some fried chili shrimp the second time I went. There's seating both immediately outside the restaurant as well as on the lower floors on the (basically empty) mall.

Good food! Obviously not Michelin quality or anything but it's really good for the price. It's…read morereally cheap for a good quantity and big variety of good or great options. They deliver too. The staff helpfully explained how this place works: it's priced purely by weight which is very convenient. They didn't even ask me for a tip. At lunch time there aren't too many people at once so it's not crowded to get stuff from the buffet, and very few things were out. There's a good amount of seating. However, I must dock points for two things. Most of the food was cold or at least not hot anymore as it doesn't seem actively heated. It doesn't help that seating is outside. The center of the chicken felt a bit questionable, possibly not cooked enough. I didn't get sick but that's a bit yikes. Maybe if you are prone to food poisoning don't come here or at least don't eat the more risky items. I was thinking of giving feedback to the staff about the chicken, but they didn't seem very receptive to the feedback so I didn't say anything. Possibly due to language barrier?

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Julie's Kitchen - $11 a pound

$11 a pound

Julie's Kitchen
Julie's Kitchen - $11 a pound

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$11 a pound

Matsuyama Shabu House

Matsuyama Shabu House

4.0(176 reviews)
1.7 mi•Japantown, Lower Pacific Heights

I have been a repeat customer at the shabu house and I can't get enough of the golden chicken…read morebroth. They made the broth in house and it was flavorful. The owner is charismatic and I love to chat with her every time I come. The wagyu was nicely marbled even for basic tier all-you-can-eat. The tempura Oreo was a nice surprise at the end of the meal--classic fried Oreo with a nice crunch and strawberry drizzle. It's a good place to come back to scratch the shabu itch.

don't even know where to start. This place completely blew me away…read more First, the service. Irene made this entire experience unforgettable. She was so warm, friendly, and genuinely helpful. It honestly felt like we were ordering with a friend who just happens to know the entire menu inside and out. She gave amazing recommendations and even told us she makes the hot sauce from scratch (which... you can taste the difference). That level of care really set the tone for the whole night. Now the food... not a single miss. Seriously, not one thing we didn't like. We went with the Ultra menu ($108), which includes lobster, and it was 100% worth it. For broths, we chose the Tom Yum and Tonkotsu. Both were rich, flavorful, and perfect in completely different ways. The meat selection was incredible, especially the wagyu options, they literally melt in your mouth. You can tell the quality is top tier. The flame-torched wagyu nigiri was absolutely out of this world--perfectly balanced and paired with a wasabi powder that elevated every bite. We also had the hamachi cloud, which was so fresh, flavorful, and had the perfect crunch--such a standout dish. And the spicy clams? Easily one of our favorites. Super fresh, super tasty, and packed with flavor. Beyond the food, the entire staff made us feel genuinely welcomed, which made the experience even better. The location is perfect. It's right in the center of Japantown. Inside they have a bar where you can sit and talk with the servers face-to-face. And it's a great spot to people watch while you eat. I truly cannot recommend this place enough. Between the incredible quality, the variety, and the next-level service. This is a spot I'll be coming back to again and again (and yes, I'll absolutely be asking for Irene).

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Matsuyama Shabu House
Matsuyama Shabu House
Matsuyama Shabu House

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Star India - indpak - Updated October 2026

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