Sapthagiri Taste Of India

Awesome food, the best in NJ, specially at this one in Franklin Park.
But as someone else experienced, the person at the desk should be a little more courteous,
after all he is in the service industry…
Their lunch buffet is very good, I loved their chutneys and dal.
Am a regular.

Warning: do not order takeout from Sapthagiri. I ordered takeout from this place on 12÷24÷15 and I had the WORST experience ever. My family and my friends are regular visitors to this place! Never again. I have told all of my friends and family to never give these people any business and will continue to hammer that home.
This is what happened: I went in at 7pm and asked to order takeout — just a few dishes. Before I paid, I asked the guy at the desk «how long would the wait be», and he told me «25 minutes». I said, «ok,» and I paid. While paying, I glanced around and noted the few families either eating or waiting for their order to be taken, and figured a half an hour wait would be reasonable. I got back there in 35 minutes, thinking that my food will be ready. I was parked right outside, and went in, and the guy said it’s not ready yet. I said, ok, how much longer. He said, it’s almost done. Ok then. So I waited another 10 minutes. So, 45 mins in toto so far.
I looked through the store’s bay window while sitting in my car, and noticed the front desk guy walking around, taking orders from tables, answering the phone and taking orders (I’m assuming), then looking over out to me, looking away, walking around, chatting with the diners, walking around, answering the phone…
All of this time, I had my 80-​year old mom in the passenger seat who had fallen and had had to get stitches (and the two of us had spent the day at the ER). She was nursing a splitting headache and spiking blood pressure for which she needed some food to eat before taking her medication. I had ordered the food at 7:10 pm and it was now 8:05 pm. A full 55 minutes! And I’d been told 25 minutes. So I go in and ask: how much longer. And he says to me (in a very rude manner): it’s almost done, you have to be patient. I said — «are you serious? You said 25 mins!» He repeated himself: «you have to be patient, it’s almost done.» I said, «you said that 25 mins ago! To my knowledge, there’s no takeout that takes one whole hour to make. Why did you tell me it’s a 25min wait when it was going to be an hour? Why did you not give me the option to bail out and go to another restaurant and get my food? And have of these people (gesturing at the diners) had to wait THAT LONG to get their food to be served?!» I noticed everyone that had been there before pretty much happily eating and/​or paying their bills or gone. I have an almost eidetic memory. I don’t forget faces, or details.
He kept repeating, «you have to be patient! it’s almost done.» I was close to losing my patience. And I said, «so if it’s done, can you go in there and check and bring it out?» He just stood there. And repeated his litany, «you have to be patient. it’s almost done.» I was livid now. Was this guy serious?! What finally did me in was his tone and the fact that he never said the words «I am sorry for the wait». HE NEVER SAID SORRY. Even once.
In India, the first rule of any business (or any household for that matter), is the fact that the customer (or the guest) is king. India is KNOWN THE WORLD OVER for its hospitality. This guy has no idea of the culture he represents AND the people. And he was dealing with someone who was FROM that culture — his own culture! — in the shabbiest manner possible for a business by 1) not only NOT apologizing, but 2) teliing THEM they needed to change their ways? (be patient etc). Would he do that if I had white skin, and blond hair? I think not. There’s a label for this behavior — discrimination.
Anyway, I then demanded a refund and — finally (after a few more «you should be more patients») — got it (a grudging $ 30 he threw down on the table).
It was unbelievable! I don’t know who he was, but if I was the owner of this restaurant, I would sack him the next minute. In fact, I intend to give the owner a call, and I will never again give this business a single penny. nor will my family and friends. And this review will also be posted elsewhere on food sites and other papers, as I am also a journalist and a blogger. Rest assured, Sapthagiri’s reputation will be shredded once I am done with them.
Thanks.

Southern Indian, well marked and large menu for vegan, and super cheap prices! I learned a lot about the food from the staff. Masala dosa was of course huge and could have made a whole meal for me, stuffed with potatoes, onions, and cashews. This area is a wonderland for vegetarian Indian, and we so wish we had these options in our hometown. It’s in a shopping center with a huge Chinese market. I wish I could buy one of their signature-​etched wine glasses. Four people were more than stuffed for well less than $ 50. Loved the veggie pakoras — watch out for the seeds in that breaded pepper. Lots of gluten free and even Jain options, and they sell some of their products.

Nice south indian cuisine. My husband and I visit at least twice a year. Their food is excellent
Pure veg food and authentic so many of the dishes may not appeal to the western taste buds and sometimes not even North Indian tasters. The light and crispy dosas however definitely will.

Delicious fresh Vegan Vegetarian food!!! The dosas are amazing… if you r heat index level is high try the mysore podi dosas… I like their paneer burgi with roti or naan… Love their rasam. all freshly made.

Good food at great price. Lunch Buffets are well worth every penny.

Good vegetarian south Indian food. Love thethe gluten free options, although the new staff don’t seem to know that much about gluten free. The last time we were there they put a Naan on my gf thali. I asked why it was there and they said we don’t have gf bread. Ok, so put none on there cause I’m not eating it anyway. Otherwise the food is always fresh and yummy, and the staff is friendly.

Everything was good, but nothing was outstanding. The dosa we chose (Pondi cherry masala) was more flavorful than anything on the thali.

Enjoyed the sat lunch buffet. Loved the vada idli dosa and especially the chutneys. I hv found my goto south indian place now.
Loved the filter coffee too.

Pros: food is good and dosas are excellent.
Cons: wednesday night buffet is not good.

Went there for dinner on a whim with my fiancé. Food just ok. not bad but nothing to brag about either.

Great vegetarian & vegan Indian restaurant in Franklin Park. The thali sets are a great option to try lots of small dishes. Don’t forget to order one of their giant dosas-​that comes with amazing coconut sauce. Overall a great Indian restaurant in Franklin Park…
Clean, great service and very delicious food!

I absolutely LOVE the food at Sapthagiri. I think I have written a review for their Jersey City location raving about the fabulousness, especially for a vegan such as myself.
We live nearly exactly in between Jersey City and Franklin Park and we began going to their Franklin Park location more often because it is much easier to park.
I wanted to issue a review for this location in particular after we visited there again last weekend. The last two times we have been there the service hasn’t really been friendly. I am not looking for over the top cheer (this is New Jersey, after all). I mean general friendliness. We always order way more food than we can eat (not at a buffet time – everything we order is off the menu, non-​buffet stuff) and the last few times we have been there we have literally had to beg for containers to take our leftovers home. They would only give us one tiny box, which we would fill, and then have to show them we filled the tiny box, as we begged for a few more tiny boxes. Not sure why this is.
When we were there last weekend, I let them know we were having a big party in August and wanted to order catering trays to carry out. Could we see their catering menus so we could place our order? The waiter said, «That is our catering menu.» I explained that there were not catering prices or sizes on this menu. I really wanted to place the order. The waiter just stared at me. I eventually gave up and we just ordered the food we were eating that day.
It is hard to give a business your money that doesn’t seem to want to take it.
But the food – phenomenal!

Pros–
–Wednesday dinner buffet
–Decent food –liked the idly and chaat
–cost was decent
–made to order dosa included in the buffet
Cons–
–the Wednesday buffet had no roti
–buffet had Pav bhaji, chinese food, idly, vada, pulav, chaat options. Felt more random than regular food
Overall decent place considering the Wednesday dinner buffet. But for a weekend buffet, i would recommend Abhiruchi or Dosa Grill on Rt 27

Food is great here. We have yet to try anything we didn’t like. We love that it’s vegetarian and kosher, especially since we can get take-​out and put it on real plates at my in-​laws.
But I must give only 2 stars because every time we order takeout, the food is much later than the 30 – 40 minutes they tell us it will take – anywhere from another 20 minutes to an hour. Very disappointing that they have not been able to figure out how to get the food out more quickly or to give a longer estimated time.
They also leave dishes out of our takeout order with astonishing regularity, so check your bag before you leave.

Visited for the lunch buffet on a Sunday. As a South Indian, I was rather underwhelmed by the quality of food. The Sambhar had an odd pungency to it – I can’t put my name on the exact flavor, but it was off-​putting. The Mysore Masala Dosa was slathered in «Mysore» chutney, far more than you would usually see, but it was rather bland. The Idlis had a weird gray-​brown tinge. The Okra dish was really greasy and had barely any flavor other than coconut (which I am not a fan of). The North Indian curries (Palak Paneer, Gobi Mattar, and Baingan Bhartha) as well as the Bisibele Bath were all bland. I didn’t try some of the dishes I knew I wouldn’t like– the Kootu and Korma, to name a few. Overall, I didn’t think this place deserved the many five star reviews I’m seeing.
Things that were decent: the Naan, the Coconut Chutney. My dad really liked the Ginger Chutney, as well.
Service was also sub-​par– we had to ask for more water several times, we had to repeat our dosa order to several waiters, several times before they came out correctly, my dad asked for a to-​go cup for tea and the lid he was brought was quite dirty– things that I would expect to not be problems at a restaurant with such good reviews.

I’ve been here twice total. First time was with my husband, just the two of us, and second we brought along my mom.
First off, the food is crazy good. We have had a bunch of things from here, including the medu vada lentil donuts which were hot and tasty, the paneer mysore masala dosa which was huge and a little bit spicy, perfect for a group, the bagara baingan eggplant curry which is a longterm favorite of mine, delicious garlic naan, tamarind rice (which I’m not sure they have anymore on their menu, looking at it now online) and some other rice dishes. The dosas come with delicious curry and coconut chutney sauce for dipping, and the rice dishes and curries came with yogurt sauce and a fragrant chili sauce.
Unfortunately, Indian cuisine is one of the things that despite my love of the spices and tastes, I don’t know much about it in a technical sense. But I do know that everything tasted incredible and fresh, the service was nice and friendly, and the guy we dealt with both times who I think might be the owner treated us to free dessert both times (some kind of sweet potato/​brown sugar dish the first time, and delicious creamy spiced tapioca pudding the second.) Even so, the prices are really low and you can eat a ton of food for less than $ 30, which is amazing in this area.
I will probably go there a bunch more times, I’m sure. I don’t know what a lot of dishes are but picking random stuff and eating it has worked well for me there so far.

Best Indian restaurant that we know in New Jersey! We have practically tried each item on the menu and everything is just great! This is our go-​to place whenever we have friends over.
If you wish to try out this restaurant, try their lunch buffets (esp. weekend) or thalis. They sample quite a few dishes and are unbelievable!
Also, their service is remarkable and we are never rushed! So, it’s a great place to relax and enjoy your meal too.

We dropped by after Phở 99 for some Garlic Nan, and it was sooo good. And this is coming from someone who tends to avoid Indian cuisine. The service was spectacular. I tend to be pretty picky about spices and sauces. This place really mastered the spray and pray technique. We got three dipping sauces, then two more. Out of the five of them, I was a huge fan of one, and two were okay!
Would come back again to try their curry and etc. The service was great (and restrooms were clean!).

Have eaten at the one in Jersey City… And knew one opened up in Franklin Park, so had to try it out. We took my parents for lunch… Had the buffet lunch. Excellent food. The Dosa was a little cold, as it was probably premade… But the sambar was really good. The Pav Bhagi was excellent, and the chai just completed the meal.
Will definitely be back!