Chennai Hoppers is a charming little spot in Gaithersburg that serves up some fantastic South Indian food. I ordered the Mysore dosa, and it was perfect--crispy, flaky, and packed with flavor. The sambar was also spot on, with a well-balanced taste that wasn't overly spicy but still had a nice depth of flavor. Everything tasted fresh and authentic, and the service was friendly and attentive. For dessert, I tried the cardamom crème brûlée, but it was more of a flan than an actual crème brûlée, which was a bit disappointing. While it was still tasty, it wasn't what I expected, so I'm taking off a star for that. Would come again! read more

What an experience. The restaurant was classy, yet comfy. The only thing is that the tables were a little too close together. It was hard to get in the seat. The staff was very helpful, available, but not in your face. We started with Kozhi 65, one of their very popular dishes. It was crispy, moist, and very tasty. For entrees, we got Hopper Ghee Roast, which was exceptional. We have not had anything like it before. The second entree was the Paneer Labadar. Just LOVE! My husband does not eat the Paneer, but he loved the sauce so much he dipped the garlic naan in the sauce. I just love a plain dosa... so I had to get one. It was HUGE and good. Obviously, we got plenty of leftovers. They were as good as the first night. We will be back. read more

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As someone who worked in South Asia for years, I am confident in saying this is the only authentic Indian restaurant I have encountered in the DC area. The cuisine is from the South of India and Sri Lanka. Delicious dishes that don't compromise on taste by moderating the spice and heat. They offer a wonderful array of vegetarian, fish and meat dishes, with their hoppers a standout. Excellent and attentive service. We usually walk Seneca Park and then drop in here for a well-earned meal. A gem. read more

I went there on a Sunday at 8pm and it was packed. I expected to wait but the server said they were going to close soon so he basically refused us. Not great but I could see they were visibly busy. A friend who gets catered by this place brought me a plate while I was at work. The food was delicious so that's why I wanted to dine in. I ended up getting carry out for myself and family. The Thalappakatti Mutton Biryani dish was phenomenal. (I don't even eat meat but the rice alone was fragrant and flavorful). It comes very spicy so you should request it accordingly. It reminds me a spicy pulao. This is probably the best I've ever tbh. I picked up the Kozhi 65 which my family said was very good and flavorful. I also got the yellow dal which was ok (a bit too much bay leaves). But that rice dish was! read more

After reading reviews of several area Indian restaurants, we decided to try Chennai Hoppers. The restaurant is decorated with photos and artifacts from India. When we arrived only a few tables were occupied, but before we left there was a line at the door. The service was excellent and the food was perfect. This may have been the best saag paneer I've ever eaten. The Murg Tikka Masala was perfectly seasoned, cooked well and the chicken was mouthwatering and tender. The street samosas were served in the cutest truck, but it wasn't just about the presentation they were perfect! The only downside was that there is no alcohol to drink, but don't let this deter you from trying this gem of a restaurant! read more

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We found this place on Yelp when we were in Gaithersburg. We made a reservation on a Friday night and drove to this place. It's a small place with limited seating inside. There were some people waiting to get in. We waited like 5 mins and were seated. The service is ok. There were just 2-3 servers that night, and they just came to take the order. But never came back to check if we needed anything. We had to flag them to talk to them. The food is quite good. We didn't try a lot of things or the traditional items, which I'm sure is quite good. We got the following: - Uthiri Onion Pakoda- this was very good and crispy. It comes in a good size portion as well. - Street Samosas - this was ok. Nothing special. - Dosa - not bad. The chutney and sambhar were good. Dosa could have been more crispy. Overall, we had a good time and the food was good. Look forward to trying other things on the menu next time. read more

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12/9/25 Tonight for the first time I ordered a new dish, Lamb Kurma. Absolutely delicious! Thank you Chennai Hoppers ! read more

These guys never fail me!. Amazing good and great service! Food was great! Ambience was on point! read more

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New go-to for South Indian classics AND some fun "newer" options. We came for dinner on a rainy Friday for date night and it was well worth it. We started with Chana daal vadas and paya soup. The vadas were wonderfully crispy, flavor packed, and plenty of chana dal inside which I really enjoy. A warming that they Might be spicy for some but it was just perfect for me. The Paya soup was for hubby who had been looking to try this since watching Killer Soup on Netflix. He said it had good but spicy flavor with plenty of goat. No real reference point as this was first try but still very tasty and comforting on a rainy day. For main I got the Mysore masala dosa which was perfection. Delicious chutney inside and out. Flavorful sambhar but just a bit too thick for me. Nonetheless flavors were just perfect top to bottom and dosa itself was top notch quality and texture-- exactly what you expect when getting dosa. My husband got the Lamb uttapam which he said was not spicy but not at all bland -- flavorful but not "hot". They didn't skimp on lamb which he appreciated. He agreed that the sambhar was exactly Right in terms of flavor but perhaps a bit thick. He specifically enjoyed all 3 chutneys it was served with. For dessert we split the Cardamom creme brulee. Fair warning that this is definitely more of a flan in texture which hubby wasn't fond of but I enjoyed the flavors immensely. We really enjoyed the food so much that we didn't mind the cramped quarters in the restaurant itself. We will certainly be back to try more. read more

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Wonderful restaurant, the food is delicious, the service is on top of everything, very polite, and pleasant to be there, you feel special. the food present is excellent, you feel that you want to try everything. I will go back anytime. I am sure your family will be very happy there. read more

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Was excited to finally check this place out. I went for lunch with some friends and the food was delicious. We ordered okra and paneer dishes as an appetizer. For entrees we got the mango shrimp curry and goat biryani in addition with side of Naan and Masala dosa. We also ordered mango lassi and rose milk to drink. All the dishes were exceptional. I was looking for a lunch menu but was told they didn't have one. This place was worthwhile, and a bit pricey for lunch but I highly recommend it. read more

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Thursday 5/14/2024 I made a takeout order through toast app and got some items i was familiar with & some new items that were highly reviewed & rated. I ended up spending $78.22 on a mango lassi $6, garlic naan $5, plain dosa $12.95, old Delhi butter chicken (mild) $18.95, kozhi 65 (fried chicken cubes) $12.95, and aadu chukka (boneless lamb-medium spice) $17.95. - mango lassi (rating: 7.4/10) * this reminded me of a mango flavored Danimals yogurt drink but it was decent. * one thing I didn't like was that I got the drink only 3/4ths full while having to pay full price which is bogus. - garlic naan (rating: 7.3/10) * this was solid and it goes great with some of the other dishes I got (particularly the butter chicken & rice). - plain dosa (rating: 2/10) * this was something I never had before until now and I did not like it at all. I tried it with multiple different dips but I just wasn't feeling it. - old Delhi butter chicken (rating: 8.4/10) * this item right here was my favorite. Butter chicken is easily the best Indian dish I've had and they definitely made it pretty good. - kozhi 65 (rating: 7.4/10) * these fried chicken pieces are decent but nothing impressive. It does have a nice citrus flavor with the lemon, cilantro, and onions but I wish the texture was more crispy. - aadu chukka (rating: 7/10) * this is seasoned well and definitely has a spicy kick to it but for me it was alright. All in all, this is a solid Indian spot with pretty expensive prices and smaller portions than I was expecting. When I saw pictures of the food, the portions looked a bit bigger than what I got but maybe I'm tripping. If you come here make sure you definitely get that delicious butter chicken. I would be open to a future visit so I could try even more of their items like the goat biryani, nilgiri lamb kurma, kozhi lollipop, murg tikka Marsala, tandoori wings, and murg til tikka. read more

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One of my friends ordered a feast for a birthday party and I enjoyed the Palak Paneer, Samosa, and Garlic Naan. The paneer was quite flavorful, albeit a bit greasy and oily. The crispy Samosa weren't too big and a good size, easy enough to conquer. The naan was soft. The food had a mild spicy kick, but not overpowering. I would order more dishes when we're in the area! read more

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Updating my review. We gave this another chance. We go alllll the time now. It's a unique experience and the food is sooo good. Okra fritters are a must try. Cheese dosa is a treat. I love the way they cook the fish. read more

The samosas' and the dosa's potato filling, the mutton kurma, and the chatneys, particularly the tomato chatney, were all delicious, and the service was very attentive, but the room was chilly and all of the drinks are all non-alcoholic and sweet (except for the water). read more

I can't believe I haven't been here before but really impressed by this restaurant. It's in a very competitive area but was fully packed. I had made a reservation prior to coming in so was on a table within seconds of coming in. The staff was friendly and attentive even with how busy they were. The menu has lots of vegan and vegetarian options along with other non-vegetarian staples of South India. We ordered all vegetarian options and were not at all disappointed other than the fried onion pakoras and the veg Biryani. The pakoras were just too crunchy and individual onion slices meant we felt more of the dough rather than the onions in each bite. And with the veg biryani, a little spicier than expected. If they would have asked us, I would lower the spice level just slightly (I was able to eat but my parents found it really hot). Now for the good stuff, the paneer tikka multani was perfectly spiced and the accompanying moong daal and chutney add the nice balance. The moong dal helped clean the palate and calm the flavors so I can take another bite of the paneer for more spiced fun. The banana gotas or the banana dumplings as they called them in their description were surprise winners in my book. They had that gota and falafel texture but with the South Indian feel to it. Really nice with the Imli chutney on the side. My two year old enjoyed the sambar and idli but for me the paneer curry and masala okra were the show piece. Enjoyed how unique flavored they were; even though they were North Indian dishes, they had just the right amount of south india represented. Overall, really great menu with some of the best non-typical south indian fare but still lots of options for south dishes as well. I will definitely come back. read more

Chennai Hoppers - Paneer Tikka Multani - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Overall a pleasant experience! It's only my second time trying dosa so it's hard to compare, but I enjoyed their dishes. Ordered their fried taro and onion as appetizers, both were solid but not too special. Their eggplant curry was good, but a bit oily. Service and atmosphere were excellent! read more

Chennai Hoppers - Masala Dosa - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Cozy nice well decorated clean place with friendly staff. The food is very delicious we enjoyed every single dish . We definitely will go back to try more . Thank you best of luck read more

The food was delicious. It had the authentic South Indian taste. I definitely recommend this place.

Authentic Tamil / South Indian cuisine. Great veg Thali. Service is great and felt like fine dining from start to finish. read more

Don't think I've ever been to an Indian restaurant with a menu like this - classics mixed with a lot of fun options. We came on a Thursday night and the restaurant was pretty busy, but the tables were moving fast and we got seated in under 10 minutes. The ambiance in the restaurant was really nice. There were artifacts and pictures all over the place and a lot of families dining in. We got the onion pakoda to start. Seriously what's not to love about battered fried onions, such a fun snack. We shared the Mysore masala dosa and chicken biryani as mains. The dosa was crispy and came with deliciously spicy potato filling and a tasty Sambar. The biryani was amazing as well - the rice flavorful and the chicken cooked tender. The portions are so generous, the two of us thought we did pretty well but had at least half of the pakoda and biryani as leftovers. Btw the leftovers keep so well, the pakoda remained crispy for a few days in the fridge. read more

Chennai Hoppers - Onion Pakoda - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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It is very hard to find a good south Brian place in Maryland and I really this place. Food was very good. It is clean and has a very good ambiance, nice interior. Reasonable prices. Definitely go again and highly recommend. read more

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The egg drop tasted so refreshing. The staff allowed us to try how much spicy we liked. Naans were crispy outside soft inside. First time to have chicken biryani, I liked it more and more after first bite. read more

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I went and picked up an Old Delhi Butter Chicken (hot) for lunch and this dish was a banger. The total was $17 after tax and I received a text msg to tell me when the order was ready for pick up. The online ordering and the in store pick up process was super smooth. Now, onto the highlights: 1) the sauce: the creamy, buttery, sauce was delicious! When mixed with rice, the sauce really enhanced it! I only wished they would have gave slightly more sauce :( 2) the chicken: the flavor really seeped through and the chicken was incredible. There were a good amount of chicken pieces! The heat and the herbs surrounding the chicken just worked! 3) lots of rice and the rice was cooked flawlessly. The only lowlight (very minor): just slightly more sauce in a slightly bigger container! The amount of chicken is already enough! It was the first time that I received more rice than the actual dish haha My wife gave the dish a 5/5 and I gave this dish a 4.9/5.0 I'm definitely ordering something else from this restaurant soon! read more

Chennai Hoppers - Old Delhi Butter Chicken - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This is my go-to spot for Indian/South Indian food in Maryland, and perhaps the entire DMV. Food is always flavorful and on-point. Lovely ambiance. Service is great. Get a reservation in advance, if possible. read more

Never have I been this upset leaving from lunch! Mother and I went for a mother and daughter lunch out and decided on this place after seeing the decent reviews. Boy was I so disappointed in the portions, service and overall experience! EXTREMELY overpriced for SMALL portions. Tamarind sauce and mint chutney was bland, nan was not soft and fluffy, fried onions were over fried! Not to mention, service was subpar. Establishment was HOT, like stop being cheap and turn up the AC and stop charging $1 per cheap container! Never again. 0/10 would not recommend. read more

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Truly spectacular! Exquisitely authentic and insanely delicious ----if you've missed your favorite South Indian delights---you've got to go here. On the pricier side sure but it's worth it. read more

The food here was delicious. I had the paneer tikka to start, and the Dum goat Bryani. The servers were attentive and very nice. The inside of the restaurant has a warm vibe to it. Definitely a great place for lunch and small groups. I had a chai tea for dessert and left full and happy. I'll definitely be back. read more

The ambiance is really good and the service and food presentation is perfect. I will come back to try more items on their menu. read more

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Not my favorite for Indian food. This is one of those Indian places where everything has a cinnamon spice taste. I don't like this kind. It's also more expensive than the Indian restaurants in my neighborhood, which is a far nicer neighborhood than where this place is. So you have to go out of your way to this neighborhood and pay extra for worse food. Not ever going back. I don't think their food is bad, as in the quality of the got was good, and the overall preparation was good. Maybe some people even like these flavors. But for me, I spent $80 for 2 people and had only enough leftovers for 1 meal. I normally spend only $45 for 2 people at Minerva and have leftovers for 2-3 more meals. The other negative is the packaging. They package to go orders in paper boxes. Everyone knows the industry standard is the black plastic containers. Yes it wastes plastic, but I don't care about wasting plastic when the alternative is a flimsy paper box that dissolves before you finish the food. If I lived in this neighborhood I might go back, but there's absolutely no reason to take a trip to this neighborhood for high priced Indian from the part of India that relies on one spice dominating the dishes, rather than the complex flavors of better Indian food. read more

Astronomical portions for the chicken biryani. The chicken is bone in. The rice was cooked very well. It didn't mush up, i could feel each individual grain. I personally would've preferred if it was spicier. But it's definitely NOT lacking in other aspects of flavor. read more

This is by far my fav Indian restaurant in the area. I have been here so many times and I'm surprised I haven't reviewed them earlier. This time we went with some family that was visiting from the West coast. We started with Gunpowder paniyaram. It's not really gunpowder Gunpowder is a South Indian dry rub made with roasted lentils, cumin, and other spices each chef/home chef have their own version of gunpowder. Paniyaram is a lightly fried rice batter dough, the paniyaram quoted in the gunpowder spice and it is delicious. For the main course, we ordered Nilgiri lamb korma, chicken korma, ceylon Porotta and Kothu porrotta. A porotta is a flaky naan but so much more yummy. A Kothu porotta is dice up porotta with diced onions, spices, and your choice of protein, we chose chicken. This is a must have item. Chennai hoppers is not for the faint of heart. They do ask for your spice level, but even the mild is spicy for the weak hearted. We ended the night with cardamom custard and a Palkova. The cardamom custard was delicious, but the chocolate sprinkled on the plate I think took away from the cardamom being the showstopper. The Palkova was mind blowing delicious. It was a wrapped in a banana leaf and was moist and had a slight grit to it as well. Ditch the other Indian restaurant and come here for an awesome meal. The place is small so make a reservation! read more

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Wonderful restaurant with authentic food. Easily the best Indian food we've had in Gaithersburg. We also loved the ambiance and warm service. read more

Chennai Hoppers - Vidal - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Excellent food, great service and really nice place to eat! This was the best Indian restaurant I've eaten at in a long time!!

We went for dinner on a Friday night. Front desk staff was not pleasant when we confirmed our table booking. Ordered mushroom Manchurian, masala dosa, butter chicken and naan. Manchurian and Dosa arrived quickly but the other dishes were served after 30-35 mins. Chicken was very good in taste but it wasn't very warm. They can add more staff for weekends to handle the rush and train the staff to be more courteous and polite to customers (read Indian customers). read more

This restaurant is exactly what I was looking for in the DMV area! I love everything I tried- everything was so fresh, flavorful and delicious! My favorites were the veggie biryani, appam and sambhar and idlis. The owner was so welcoming and kind as well! The food was ready for pickup within 25 minutes. The takeout packages were perfectly wrapped to prevent any leaks. read more

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Every once in a while a restaurant completely surprises you with their uniqueness. Chennai Hoppers did that to me. Decided to go with a friend on a weekend lunch double date. Arrived without reservations but the usher was kind enough to seat us outside while we waited for a preferred inside table. He even came by to offer drinks and we were seated within 15-minutes despite being a popular venue. We came assuming we were going to experience what we normally expect from South Indian restaurants and knew this place had been getting good reviews. Exploring the menu while waiting for our table though, we were surprised by the variety beyond the typical tiffin dishes. We had already decided to get the Hoppers Grill BBQ platter and Goat Biryani but also wanted suggestions. Among the recommendations was Nalli Lamb, a chef specialty teaser not yet on the menu and the Kothu Parotta. Additionally we got the Kaigaari Pakoda, Masala Dosa, and Sambhar Vada as well as Rose Milk for our drinks. The platter and the pakodas were great starters and the rose milk really brought home memories of India. The tiffin dishes were among the best we have had in the DMV. The kothu parotta is an incredible hash of chicken and layered bread mixed with flavorful spices and was an accomplishment on its own. But the pièce de résistance was the Nalli Lamb! With the meat cooked in an elaborate medley of spices until the curry was reduced to a thick gravy so that the flavors penetrated all the way...along with a bread basket of paratha and naan, salad and raita on the side...we were so blown away that the Goat Biryani was not touched at all and became a prize take away for our dear friends. Just so you know...goat biryani is usually the top shelf item on our table so it should be evident how amazing the lamb was! Definitely worth adding to the regular menu! Bottom line...Chennai Hoppers does South Indian food like no other place in this area and if you want to explore beyond typical dosas, idlis, and vadas...this is definitely the place that brings out the variety and richness of the flavors from that part of the homeland! read more

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Good: Food was delicious, a little pricey but worth it. We ate chicken biryani and butter chicken, kozhi 65, butter naan and mango lassi was delicious, decoration was nice Not that good: they give you lots of rice but not enough chicken to eat with it tables are really close to each other Waitress was nice but at the entrance employees were not friendly. read more

Chennai Hoppers - Kozhi 65 - Indian Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

This place is the best kept secret in the dmv. Everything was delicious. Service is prompt and hospitable. The ambiance is great, even the outdoors is so cute! I already have a list of things to try next time!!! read more

We ordered the Tandoori Pomfret and Virudhunagar Chukka Kari. Both were delicious and authentic. The waiters were polite and helpful. I have eaten here 3 times and all of them were gastronomical delights. I will keep coming back! read more