Udipi Cafe

We recently celebrated a birthday here as a family and had a great experience. The owner of the restaurant came to our table and chatted with us and asked us a couple of times about the food. We had 4 different types of thalis, they were all delicious and well prepared. The service was prompt for a Sunday evening. They brought us a cake fashioned out of gajar halwa and sang a birthday song, this added a very nice touch to the meal. We would surely dine here again and recommend.

We visited with our family, and I wouldn’t say this is a very friendly restaurant. The owner’s wife does a good job walking around all the tables and checking on food. Their banana leaf spread is unique, but highly over priced. You are better off sticking to the buffet! If you really need to experience good table side service try Maharaj Bhog. The staff who tended to us left his smile at home, and probably having a bad day. In customer service industry, it just takes one bad experience for you to turn your back on a business. We had one of those experiences at Udipi. Simple requests were turned down… Satish Rao the owner is far more enterprising and has a customer centric attitude. Unfortunately there are very few ‘decent’ choices in Houston for pure vegetarian food, and Udipi is one of the last ones standing. Their buffet spread needs a shake-​up, its highly predictable… and someone should spend some time in tasting what goes into the buffet too. Just an e. g the gajar halwa served on the buffet was not mixed properly. Not sure if the intent was to make a carrot salad which turned into Halwa later. It was part salty, bland and hardly sweet. Until there are better veggie choices in Houston, Udipi will never change. and we would still visit this restaurant again, only because there arent that many choices out there.

Great buffet & awesome vegetarian food! Definitely worth a visit for all those vegans out there… Loved the pineapple goju & the sides! The owner an elderly lady was friendly & checked on us several times which was very professional and nice! The only downside experience was a loud mouthed indian family seated across us that was too noisy & irritating & also the bald man was picking up an argument with the servers there at the drop of a hat and the wifey was yelling and running around all the tables with half a dozen kids in tow which was rather annoying to the other people trying to enjoy an otherwise quiet & peaceful meal with their family & friends… I guess some people lack even basic manners when outside phew!
We finished off with a hot cuppa madras filter coffee which was the best!

If you like vegetarian this is the place although butter is in some of the dishes, which was a big surprise, usually after a vegetarian meal I feel really light but the butter sort of nixed that feeling. Now don’t get me wrong the food is great it’s an extravaganza of spices. The dosa crape is tasty, and they have a great variety in their buffet. Been here a few times

An amazing Indian vegetarian restaurant. The currys are amazing, and the food tastes very good.
The melon breeze is one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. Delicious.
The owner is a very nice man who was very pleasant to speak to.
I have always enjoyed myself here.

Wow i am not an vegetarian! ! I did not even expected what i got in this place !! Wonderful service fantastic food. Chana batura was out of the world !! Highly recommend this place !! can’t wait to come back for special buffet !! Did i say just tasted freshly squeezed Sugarcane juice first time in US !!

one of the best Indian restaurant. The service was too good. especially food is wonderful!! All tasty vegetarian dishes. I love the food of Udipi Café. Everyone should try!

Chole and batura is absolutely the best, especially when done perfectly, 2 out of 3 time it’s perfect and then once you get it where it’s ok? So consistency could be improved, however overall great place. So far service has been fine as well. Would recommend the place for chole!

The service was good, but everything went downhill from there. Aesthetically, it’s not very flattering and the food is terrible. The food does not have any differentiating qualities and they use way too much oil during food prep. You’d be better off drinking a gallon of vegetable oil. I say that facetiously, but not really. My wife and I got extremely sick from eating at Udipi. We were both out of commission for a week. Coincidence, no. Sadly, their good customer service is severely hindered by their awful food. I will never be back.

This restaurant is the only Authentic South Indian location around this area. Tried both locations and would say the Hilcroft location is better but the Sugar Land location is not bad.

Service was okay. Food made myself and my husband sick. Wayyyy too much oil/​butter used. Also very dingy looking. After eating here we didn’t eat Indian food for 2 years.

Pretty decent — unlimited dosas during buffet. Buffet has enough variety. Service is attentive most of the time.

If you live in Sugarland and like Indian food, especially vegetarian Indian food, Udipi would probably be one of my top picks. The food is more of a South Indian origin, so if you’ve never had it, Udipi might be a little different than what you’re used to. But that doesn’t mean you won’t like it. I’ve been here a couple of times before and Udipi has yet to disappoint. They start you off with a complimentary rasam, which is a small bowl of spicy soup-​ish stuff, I love it. It’ll clear your sinuses if you come in congested! This time I ordered the butter masala dosa (my go-​to item) and the mutter paneer (consists of peas and cheese squares). They were both as good as I expected, the mutter paneer might’ve even been a little better. My dad had the chana battura (I think that’s what it’s called), which consists of an inflated puri/​poori with a chickpea curry on the side. It was good! I liked it so much that I’m ordering it the next time I visit! My only complaint is that I had to ask for ice and a straw for my water, but I wasn’t surprised because I’m used to Indian restaurants that follow this practice with their water.

I am a rookie vegan and am thrilled to have found this gem. The service is great, the food quality is great, the prices reasonable and they also cater to various kinds vegetarian and vegan diets. I went for the 2^nd time in 1 week last night, and plan to go there at least once a month from now on. Their afternoon buffet is only $ 8.99 on weekdays and is of great value! They even let u order masala dosa as part of their buffet by request. I highly recommend this place to any vegetarian or vegan!

I believe I’ve only been here 2 or 3 times, but I definitely enjoyed my experience!
PROS:
How would I describe this place? «Quaint-​ish» would be the best way to put it! The regular seating section is pretty small but comfortable and spaced out so you’re aren’t right next to other patrons. Each time I’ve been it’s been pretty quiet with light music playing in the background. If you have a larger party, then there’s a room/​area in the back that you can be seated at. I’ve never had to make a reservation in advance but I don’t know if it matters since I’ve only been on Sunday’s afternoons after church.
The food is wonderful! I’m South Indian so of course I enjoy my home cooked meals and this feels just as authentic. If you don’t like that, then you won’t like this because it’s real South Indian Vegetarian food… BUT it could be spicier imo! I’ve gotten buffet both times and the only thing that was unique to me was the Pineapple Curry which I enjoyed (Other non-​adventurous friends of mine were skeptical to try it). The Mango Daal tasted just like regular Daal to me but it was still good! The buffet comes with a Masala Dosa that’s made for you once you order it so it’s Fresh! I get the Mysore Masala Dosa which is a spicer version but it honestly tasted the same! I was stuffed by the end of my meals and ready for my post-​church nap lol!
CONS:
Paying the bill! Every time I came with a group they made the payment process very difficult. Wanted us to have one person pay it all till we said no. Wouldn’t split it. We had to figure it out ourselves at the front blocking the door. This time we all ordered the same thing so we just divided it. 1 person came late and didn’t eat but the owner/​person at the front was saying she had to pay till we said she didn’t eat. This was super annoying! Just pay the transaction fee and stop complaining since you’re getting business! Besides that awesome time!

One of the best Indian restaurants I’ve tried in a while. Don’t let the vegetarian cuisine fool you, the absence of meat does not detract from the food. The atmosphere is good, the A/​C didn’t feel like it was on when I was there. The waiters were very helpful and attentive, and we got to meet the owner — he was really mindful of everyone and made sure we had a good meal.
My friend had the South Indian Thali which had a bevy of different flavors. It was like a sampler of the different curries and food, it came with rice and naan, and the rice comes with free refills. I had the Baigan Bartha which is an eggplant curry dish. It was great and spicy, I thoroughly enjoyed covering my rice with it. The menu is large and it can get a bit confusing, but my friend and I took a gamble on the dishes we ordered — and we thought they were great.
The mango breeze was a great way to stem the fire that builds on your tongue. My friend described it as, «Drinking an air freshener.» Which might sound bad, but he was just describing the fragrant feeling that’s left on your tongue after taking your sip. I really enjoyed the food and had a great meal, I really recommend giving them a try.

It was so bad here I got up and walked OUT !! First it was too hot. It was middle of summer and they wouldn’t turn the AC on. Then the buffet was dry, bleak and horrible looking !! We ordered vegetable pakora and it was nasty and we couldn’t eat it and it took over 30 minutes to get that ! Then we tried the saag paneer and it was even worse !! How can you mess up saag paneer? Skip this place and save the money.

This place is worst place I have ever been. There are multiple issues. Flies, spider and flying ant are around and on the dinning table where you sit. When you eat your food suddenly flies comes and sit on top of you food. Awful experience. I have picture also I can post those pictures if I know how to upload.

Really awful experience. Food was not tasty and service was not attentive. The server was nice enough, but rarely filled up our drink and did not mention the additional charge for tea/​coffee when offered at the end. Lunch buffet had very limited choices and nothing was particularly memorable. Ambiance was okay, but definitely would not go back.

I’m sorry to deduct a star, but Udipi has had it coming!
It’s not to say that Udipi isn’t great for some mostly reliably good South Indian fare. It’s just been a couple of times now that our orders have arrived barely lukewarm, dosas slightly soggy — a little bit of a damper.
Service has taken a blow lately. It’s kind of awkward having to repeatedly wave your waiter down to ask for water refills, leftover boxes, and the check (I swear all three occurred during the same visit). Like dude, for real, did I kill your puppy or something? What’s with the silent treatment?!
The hostess/​owner is quite pleasant as per usual, but she really ought to do something about the lackluster staff. Hrmph!