We were looking forward to our return trip to Karavalli. We started with Vegetable Samosa and Bhel Puri. Both were excellent. Partner had the Lamb Malabar. It was advertised as "3 Pepper Hot." It was bland and the Lamb was tough. She was disappointed. I had the Navatranan Korma. It was excellent. The problem was the horrendous service. I asked for more water and the woman said, "No English." When someone cleared our table, I asked for the Waiter. He said, "No English." Finally, I went up to the bar and asked for a Waiter. The Hispanic guy was sent over and he had no idea that I was asking for dessert and the check. This whole thing went on for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the tables around us were having the same issues. The food is pretty good for the most part, but the aggravation of this horrible service makes the trip to Karavalli not worth it. read more

Best Indian in capital region - excellence in food, service and ambiance. Highly recommended read more

See all

Mixed feelings. The food was pretty good. But it took 74 minutes to arrive at our a table. Yes. One hour and 14 minutes. At the 45 minute mark I informed the server that we'd been there for the better part of an hour and asked if we could get the naan we ordered at least. It didn't end up happening, and actually came out after the meal. Oops. We were offered a casual "thanks for your patience" on the way out the door. Not sure if we'll be returning. read more

The food at Karavalli has always been superb. Ambience was the only lacking element. The newly revitalized space is not only tastefully designed, the lighting, wall tones and minimal carefully selected and placed wall art all serve to complement a leisurely and serene dining experience. The current placement of tables provides a sense of privacy unlike the prior ambience which felt crowded and where each table seemed to encroach on neighboring diners. The variety of house cocktails are a divergence from the standard fare. This is a review from a demanding and discriminant foodie and consumer. read more

This is an insanely good restaurant for Indian food. Their food is spicy and they serve some authentic regional food. One of my favorites besides the food is their madras coffee. read more

Clean, sleek atmosphere. Delicious food and drinks made in house, including a full bar. They do buffet style for lunch and there is a full menu to look at after 5pm. The wait staff have been so patient with us and helpful in any way possible. Water refills a plenty. The Good Dr. I see in Albany says this is the Indian food place to be and this is where they go when they go out. Wasn't disappointed. read more

Karavalli - Mango madras, tasty. Love the atmosphere and the art. Service and servers are wonderful. This place was highly recommended. - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

Best Indian food north of Jersey City. Seriously rivals the best spots in and around NYC. Fantastic vegetarian options (Channa masala!) and you gotta go dosa or go home. read more

The food is always delicious whether it's from the buffet, dine-in, or take-out. The absolute best Indian food in the 518. They never disappoint! read more

Good place to eat but don't come here if you're in a hurry or have a schedule with little time flexibility. Don't get me wrong. This is a slow food restaurant. Very good food, cooked fresh from scratch. The only problem: I was in a hurry. So, don't make the same mistake that I made. Come and enjoy the food when you got plenty of time in your pocket. read more

We waited twenty minutes to order and asked three different restaurant staff if we could order and still no one came to take our order. We kept waiting and eventually left. it Really doesn't matter if the food is good if you can't order it. read more

This place is amazing! During lunch they serve a buffet for a flat rate. If you are not familiar with Indian food like myself this is a great way to experiment and see what you like. Also order a plate of Naan bread! It's delicious especially when paired with the curry. This place is newly remodeled with a modern atmosphere. Almost always busy with customers. The wait staff always seems to be helpful and attentive no matter how busy. I also recommend a cocktail from the menu, they are five star quality good. read more

Worst Punjabi food I have ever had..... I would never tell someone to go here for anything other than dosas. And even then parrivar on central avenue is comparable and much better prices. Saag paneer is not actual saag to start off it is all cream and spinach and no mustard leaves. Pakora are a dollop of besan deep fried with way too much salt and chaat masala. Daal makhani, is all cream and tomato paste, you have to search through the dish to find any actual lentils. Naan is good but that's it. I have been there for their lunch buffet on weekends. I would not recommend it at all. Service is really bad, usually they ignore me, not sure if it is because I am Indian or if it is because I am young and they don't think I will tip well. Either way when I was ordering for my two friends and I, the server was rude to me and asked "are you trying to take home leftovers?" I was confused by this question but said "if there is some I will" he replied with "you are ordering too much food, take some of this away" I was stunned anyone would say that especially as the more I spend the higher your tip would be. He then asks me if I want to order naan. I thought I was being punk'd as he just told me I ordered too much and now is telling me to order more. Our water glasses were rarely refilled and we were ignored most of the night. We left there without leaving any tip on a $70 bill because I was so annoyed by their service and their food is really bad. I had wrote an email complaining about this last visit and I never go a response. Not that I am surprised. If you want good Indian food, go somewhere else or Trader Joe's has good frozen Indian food and most grocery stores carry Amy's kitchen brand Indian food in their freezer section. read more

There are few Indian places that make you feel like you're back home in India with your grandmother. Karavalli food is a comfort food for me and it's absolutely delicious. Chicken biryani is made to perfection and you can never go wrong with their weekend buffet. If I could eat this everyday, I would. read more

I placed a simple order of 5 items (idli, mulligatawny soup, chickpea salad, paneer kurchan, and naan) at 6:15 pm for pickup an a Saturday. I was told it would be ready at 7:15 pm. When I reached the restaurant at that time with my 12 yr old to pick up the food, they said it was not yet ready. We waited at the bar, then waited, and waited some more. People walked in, were seated, were served, and we still waited. I asked a few times when I could catch someone's attention (there was no bartender and everyone else seemed to be very good at avoiding customers), they said it would be ready soon. After an hour and a half, at 8:45 pm, someone came to ask if we were waiting for anything (!). Got our food finally with some additional attitude, and it was not worth even a 1-second wait. The idlis were stale and they were stuck to the paper wrapping them. The mulligatawny soup had little/no salt. I have been going here since before they expanded and they were good then. Not going to go there anymore. You have been warned, go at your own risk. read more

Karavalli - Stale idli stuck to wrapping paper - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

This place is great. I mean really. A good measure of how good the cuisine is at any Indian restaurant, is how many Indian people eat there. Well this place beats any of the other Indian restaurants in my area (Syracuse) That being said, its actually so good that they cram people in here. The owners would be doing themselves a huge favor by relocating to a spot with a much larger dining area. So to recap, the food is A+ Dining area is the size of a show box. I love it anyway. read more

Karavalli - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

This was an outstanding southern Indian dining experience! Our dear friends (whose husband is from New Delhi), picked out our cuisine and it was great! read more

One of the few Indian restaurants in the area that serves more then just the run of the mill Indian-Pakistani fare. Karavalli brings delicacies form all over India to Latham. They make my personal favorite indian dish Mysore Masala Dosa, that fact alone gives Karavalli five stars in my book. If its your first time I recommend the Maharajah brunch, where you can sample a number of the dishes on the menu at once. read more

Karavalli - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

We came here for the weekend buffet as our old time favorite Indian restaurant in the area closed. It's kind of a strange seating arrangement... basically in an open room with people on top of people. The waitstaff was attentive, the food was good, a vast assortment of food. It was spicier than I remember, but I like spicy so I was pleased! We will be back again soon! read more

Excellent Indian food. Staff was great and inside looks great! Very upscale and look the food of course. Highly recommend!

Really enjoyed this authentic Indian restaurant. My family of four ordered 3 dishes,chicken tikki masala, chicken cashew curry and another spicy curry dish. It all came with unlimited jasmine rice. These Indian dishes are big portion for sharing, we had a bunch of leftovers after dinner not knowing the portion was meant to be shared. I highly recommend this restaurant for authentic Indian cuisine in the capital region!! read more

Karavalli - Garlic naan, chicken tikki masala, chicken cashew curry and spicy curry - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

The best Indian food I've ever had. I bring everyone here from out of town to show them ideal Indian food. I really enjoy their weekend buffet to give myself a chance to try everything. Great service also. read more

One of the best Indian restaurants we have visited. Visiting from Southern California. Having eaten at many Indian restaurants, we loved the curries made in a traditional manner. Service was next level. Please stop by and patronize this incredible institution. Great vegetarian and great non-vegetarian. read more

Horrible customer service didn't care for trying the food. The manager lies right into you face Never going back again. I am not giving my hard earned money to such a dishonest person to prepare my food. read more

Wait - No Wait @ 20:30 Value - $16 / dish. Dish Size: Large Chicken Tikka Masla - The chicken is extremely tender and flavorful. However, the sweetness is a bit distracting and can be toned down a bit. Chicken Korma - By far the best dish. It's not overly sweet and the chicken is cooked well. It is well balanced with the creaminess and spices. Lamb Vindaloo - The vindaloo has a chipotle smoky taste which is reminiscent of a barbecue sauce. Personally, I didn't find it that spicy but rather sweet. Also, the lamb is not cooked well as it's a bit chewy and comes in really small portions. Naan - The naan is fresh and baked well. The outer layer is slightly crunchy with a slight char and the interior is fluffy and chewy. The constant bickering for Indian food from of one of our group members is the main reason we ended up at Karavalli. Needless to say, even towards the later operating hours, Karavalli still had a fair amount of customers - the dining room is large with tables packed to the brim. Not knowing much about Karavalli, this gave us a bit of reassurance as we entered the sky blue painted dining room. Just for extra confidence, the walls are decorated with clippings of newspaper reviews and printed out TripAdvisor scores. I'm not sure it applies to every restaurant but I find it telling sign of the quality of food by the extensiveness of the menu. And Karavalli has a very large menu that covers every permutation of curry and even an Indo-Chinese section. You'll be hard pressed to find something that they couldn't cook. In addition to the very large menu, the portions are also huge. One curry dish can easily satisfy 1-3 people if paired with naan. Unfortunately overall the food is mediocre. One of the consistent flavors in Karavalli's dishes is sweetness. Whether it's the Tikka Masla or Vindaloo, the sweetness overpowers and ruins the dish. For example, the vindaloo literally tastes and looks like a thick mesquite barbecue sauce. It's unfortunate because the chicken of the tikka masala is cooked very well but the sweetness makes it unappetizing. If the dishes were half as sweet, they would be delicious. A large menu with large portions does not make up for the quality of food. Karavalli does have a few great dishes but overall the food is mediocre. The heavy handiness of the sweetness overpowers all the spices which is a defining characteristic of Indian food. read more

Karavalli - Chicken Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

See all

I been there last weekend and the food was very good. We arrived at 9:30pm and the place was full. They keep it open for us since the restaurant closes around 9:30/10:00pm. The service was perfect. I highly recommend this place read more

Karavalli - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

Upon walking in, their door stuck so we thought they were closed. But turns out, you just have to yank it hard! All of the employees were standing by the register looking bored. It wasn't too busy, so I understand. The tables were nicely set up with China and a fancy bottle of water. We went for glasses of water (free) instead of the bottled water. There was a plate with two dips on it- something made out of onion and spices, a green one made from yogurt and spices. The server came over with some type of cracker to dip them in. The cracker tasted a little odd and the dips were ok. I ordered off the vegan menu. I got the cauliflower dish. I lost the picture of it but it was bright red. It was supposed to be spicy but it wasn't that spicy at all. It was so good! They gave me white rice to put it on top. And some type of whole wheat thin bread that looked like a tortilla to me. It was so delicious. Though it was a little pricey,I didn't pay for it so I didn't mind. Plus I got two meals out of the one serving so I was happy. And it's flavor was absolutely amazing. I need the recipe! Overall, good service and food. I would go back if I ever went to Albany again! read more

Located in Latham NY, Karavalli is an Indian restaurant that brings a modern twist to classic Indian cuisine while being closely knit to its Indian roots. While delivering a genuine and delicious Indian food experience, Karavalli goes beyond this standard by also including different Indian food from across the region. For instance, there is a section in the menu titled "Indo-Chinese" that encompasses a spectrum of dishes from Cambodia, Laos, and the Vietnam region. Our Bhanu visit was conducted at approximately 7:20 PM on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. I ordered the vegetable samosas, the chili chicken, and a plain flour naan. Food was brought out at a relatively slow speed, however, we were reassured when we tried the food. Hot steaming plates of food were brought out one by one, each carrying a different smell of pleasure and spice. Just the smell of the food made me salivate like a dog from the Pavlov experiments. When I finally took a bite of the food, my face lit up. The chili spice from the chicken touched my tongue, releasing a response of heat that played around in my mouth. The white meat chicken was so juicy, hot, and most important, fresh. Each bite of chicken was accompanied by basmati rice which synergized with the spicy chicken to create a beautiful melodic mixture of joyfulness. My experience here was exceptional and has really changed my perspective of Indian food. read more

Karavalli - Chilli Chicken - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

Unfortunately I didn't have the same food experience as the others. Maybe the night I went there was a substitute chef ? (Lol) I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt but sadly this was the most bland Indian food experience I've had in the area. We got chicken tikka masala and palak paneer, neither of which had anyyyy authentic Indian spices (I didn't taste a single trace of Garam Masala spice). The tikka masala sauce tasted like Italian Vodka sauce and it was clear the chicken was not seasoned or marinated prior to being cooked in the sauce. There's a past review that says this restaurant doesn't smell like Indian food and I have to agree- and that's not a good sign. Maybe the other diners have not have authentic Indian food before but this definitely isn't it. read more

This place is incredible! Introduces me to something new every time I come in and it's always always delicious. The servers are helpful and polite. I recommend this place to everyone I know! I wish they delivered. But maybe not because I would eat it every night. This is a must try! Even if you think you don't like Indian food you should give this a chance! You will probably be proven wrong. read more

We've been to Karavalli three or four times now, and our experience is fairly consistent. (All for dinner, I note; we probably should try the lunch bufet sometime). We arrive, get fairly laid-back service (that's a euphemism for 'slow') and then spend a long time twiddling our thumbs in the somewhat cramped dining area waiting for the food, perhaps sampling indifferent appetizers or their seemingly alcohol-free cocktails. But then the main courses show up, and they're delicious! The spicing isn't quite authentic levels but it's dialed up from most Indian places we've tried in the CRUST (Capital Region of UpSTate New York). And nothing has tasted reheated, which is probably why we wait all that time. Add to this it's one of the few places you can get goat meat in the area (my favorite). But then the check comes, and it seems just a bit too much for the total experience, at $15ish for most entrees (which are, to be fair, usually gigantic portions). I strongly suspect we'd groove even more on a quick lunch buffet, but our experience is what it is. read more

Why have I waited so long to try Indian food!?! A coworker of mine (from India) recommended this place. We went in for dinner and was wowed by the decor. It was so gorgeous inside! I felt under-dressed wearing shorts and a tee, but no one seemed to mind. We had no idea what to order since we haven't really tried this cuisine before. I ordered red snapper with curried shrimp. Hubby asked for spicy curry chicken (not on the menu, but they have it). We also ordered an appetizer meat sampler. The meat sampler was incredible, especially the green sauce! The green sauce is made with cilantro and mint and is every bit addicting. The naan was so fresh, light and soft. There was a lamb kabob, full of flavor. My husband does not care for lamb, but he ate his piece without realizing it was lamb. The waiter was so polite to talk us through the menu and what we were served. Another gentleman kept coming over to refill our water glasses. The service here is excellent, very attentive but not overbearing. They are so understanding and polite. The waiter gave us some recommendations for next time as well. He even said they serve a lunch buffet that is worth trying. I loved the gorgeous colorful murals on the wall and they have beautiful finishes throughout. Between the decor, service and delicious food, we will be stopping here more often! read more

See all

Went for the first time for the lunch buffet with a coworker. Tried almost everything - delicious! The colors and tastes were unlike cuisine I'm accustomed to in Upstate New York. The price was very reasonable and I left very full. Will definitely come back again. read more

Karavalli - Indian Near Me - Latham, New York

Let's talk about the good things first. They have a large and extensive menu. The menu is clearly annotated to specify level of hotness for each dish (although I ordered a 'one pepper' dish that was probably closer to two peppers). They're beer list had some unusual, different and reasonably priced choices which surprised and pleased me. And lastly, the food was very good. So, you may be wondering why I gave only a 3-star rating. It all comes down to the service. On Saturday, we arrived at 5:50 and although the place was crowded (I'm guessing mostly it was people picking up takeout orders), we were promptly seated. It took about twenty minutes for them to take our food order and they said they would come right back and take our drinks order. After another twenty minutes we had to flag down a waiter so they would take our drinks order which arrived in about ten minutes. Forty minutes later we were wondering where our food was. We flagged downs another waiter (after being ignored by two others) and he was nice enough to bring us our appetizers. We expected our food to follow soon after, but again we had to flag down a waiter and ask what was happening. Half an hour later we finally received our food. Bottom line, it took us one hour and fifty minutes to receive our food order. We were told that our order was misplaced, but that doesn't excuse everyone ignoring us and it taking almost two hours to get our food. When we finally got our order we were the only occupied table in our section. No one checked on our table or seemed to care about us. I will say that they gave us a free takeout order and two complementary deserts, but I would have preferred more prompt and attentive service. It's too bad, because the food was very good. Luckily they at least had comfortable chairs. read more

Our family ate here for the first time today. We have visited their other restaurant in Saratoga several times and love that one. This did not disappoint. It is larger and less cramped. The food cannot be beat. The weekend buffet is amazing. The staff is attentive, friendly and welcoming. I also VERY MUCH appreciate that they did not charge us for our four year old who ate rice and fruit salad (she's working on her palate). Their curries are flavorful enough to discern the unique flavors in each. The tandoori is delicious and not overcooked. Come early! We arrived at noon and when when left the restaurant was packed with satisfied guests! read more

As an Albany-born person who works in Manhattan and lives in Brooklyn, I feel like people are constantly delineating between things that are "Albany good" and "good good." This is pretty ridiculous, especially in light of what I'm about to say. Karavalli is my favorite Indian restaurant in the States. Not my favorite Capital Region chappati joint or the best place on I-87 to pick up sag paneer ,it's the best. And the Latham location is better than the Saratoga one, despite sitting next to sketchy pool hall off Route 9. The first clue that you're in for a special experience is the clientele. There's a steady stream of diners at off hours, and it's a stream that becomes a torrent around peak dinner times. Your fellow patrons will be the crème de la crème of the region's South Asian community, the doctors and engineers who have settled in the North Colonie school district. They're herefor regional Indian cuisine that's hard to find in New York City. Kerala is an seaside state on India's southwest, known for its tranquility and high rates of education. There's a strong tradition of seafood in the State, and dishes like crab ulathiyathu and bagari shrimp are a great way to sample the cuisine. Highlights on the mains are numerous to list but I find that Karavalli does a particular good job balancing spicy flavors with sweet ones - so considering ordering something with a pepper on the menu. It won't be a monolith of fire. The Latham location has a particularly large menu and presentation of "Southern Indian dishes" - typically associated with provinces to the north and east of Kerala - are to be recommended as well. This is the best dosa within a hundred miles and the iddli are just like your imaginary babaji in Chennai makes. This might sound overwhelming, but the staff here are great. The more you ask them, the more information they'll volunteer about the consistency, preparation and origins of the dish. Karavalli is a blessing. Go immediately, and order something different. read more

Awful, biased service with pretty nasty Indian food I always feel bad giving a terrible review, but that's what happens when you get terrible food with equally horrendous service. I really wanted to like this place; with such raving reviews I was ecstatic to try this place. I guess there was just too much hype for them to live up to. It's sad to say, but I think this is the worst Indian food I have had yet: I arrived here around 8 on a Saturday. I originally made reservations, but we were late so I anticipated a wait being such a small place, but the host was nice enough to say that the next table would be mine. I was still waiting on my friends but figured I would sit down and order a drink while I waited. As I stood there, a waiter came up to me and asked if my party was here yet. Since they weren't, he ended up giving my table to another group that came in after me...okay then, guess I won't order that extra drink. I waited another ten minutes for a table. When I was finally seated, I immediately ordered a Mango Lassi ($4) and water. The waiter quickly scampered off with little acknowledgement. I began looking at the menu and snacked on those "Indian tortilla chips", as a friend put it. My group arrived shortly after and also began to look over the menu. I eventually received my mango lassi and the waiter left with haste before anyone else could ask for a drink. My friend and I were surprised how good the lassi was though. The best we've had in the region. It was appropriately thick and creamy with a hint of sweet mango. 10...15...20 minutes passed by and someone finally came over to see if we wanted to order anything, including drinks. We were already a bit ticked off by not being acknowledged for such a long period of time, but as we were ordering, the waiter intervened a couple times asking if we really wanted that many samosas or that much naan. We each ordered an appetizer, entree and a bunch of naan...yeah, we do want that much food. Do you have a problem with that? For our entrees, we each made sure to ask for spicy. They have a scale on their menu: 1 to 4 chili peppers. When he got to me, I asked for it be 3 chili spicy. After that, it was another waiting game. Our appetizers came at different times. My one friend and I ordered their Kheema Samosa (3 small lamb samosas for $5). It wasn't served with the traditional yogurt, but it did come with a small dish of sweet sauce. It was barely enough. The samosa itself was not very good. There was literally a layer of salt on the outside. The first bite, which was mostly exterior was disgustingly salty. You could feel the layer of grainy salt on your tongue and the interior wasn't much better flavor wise. It was bland. And with such little sauce, there wasn't anything to make it taste better. Another friend got their samosa chaat, which came out well after we were done with our samosas. I've never tried this before and found it to be decent, but he said that he has had significantly better. Our entrees finally came a little while after he was served his appetizer. For my main entree, I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala ($15) with one garlic ($4) and one garlic chili naan ($5). I dished some up on my plate and dived in with some garlic naan..."this has no spice what-so-ever and is revoltingly sweet". My friends had similar reactions with their Chicken Makhani ($15) and Chicken Ammwala ($15). I ate a little more, hoping that the next bite would be better. No luck. I got to the point that I just stopped eating the curry it was so disappointing. The chicken was tender and well cooked but the sauce, with not a hint of heat in sight, was basically tomato soup with cinnamon. The naan was decent, but definitely not worth the price, especially the chili garlic. It had no spice either even though it was a whole dollar more. My friend's makhani equally lacked in heat. I tried my the Ammwala, which my Indian friend ordered, and her's actually had spice! Are you kidding me? The two white people get absolutely no spice, but the Indian does. Seems a little skeptical and presumptuous to me and I even specified I wanted it super spicy! We were quite peeved. I ended up boxing my stuff up, but, as I sit here writing this, I am unsure if I even want to eat it. I have had better tikka masala from a bottle! Within this time, no one came over to check up on us. The place was dead at this point yet we were still neglected. At least earlier I could understand them being rushed, but at this point we were beyond annoyed. We had to flag someone over to get boxes and the check. Overall, I feel bad, but this was an awful experience. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. The service was ghastly - even as we were walking out, they ignored our existence - and I have had significantly better (and cheaper!) food elsewhere. The prices are nuts for what you get - so not worth it. I don't know what people see in this place, but I will definitely not be coming back read more

See all

TL;DR: Terrible customer service. Racist attitude . Don't give them your money. Eat elsewhere It pains me to write this update. This is based on my experience with Karavalli on May 14th, 2016. I waited a week to write this review, because my mother always says dont make decisions when you are upset; dont speak about it when upset . And so I waited : to see if I would feel different in a few days. Nope. I break up with you Karavalli. I will describe the event and let you make your own judgement. So this happened.. I brought 3 of my friends who were visiting me from NJ. I sang praises of Karavalli all along the 24 mile drive from home in Saratoga springs to Latham. We were there for the Saturday brunch buffet. We waited, as usual. Our name was called soon and we went in. No water on table. Ok No problem. I understand they are not magicians. And they are busy catering to a lot of hungry saturday brunch eaters. I wait for 10 mins. No water. I look around . I request one of the staff for water. I know this staff from our hundreds of visits earlier. He is a polite well-mannered young man. He said he'd bring it in a few mins. No problem. Waiting. No water for another 10 mins. I look around. I am dying for water. I see water jugs on the table near the dessert table. The guy probably got busy and forgot my water. I walk up and get water myself. Fast forward 10 minutes later; a different staff comes over, this time a not so well-mannered, not-so-polite young man. (Brandishing tone) "Who placed this jug here? This jug is not meant for the table. You should have asked us for water. " (I smile) "Hey ya.. I did ask for water. But since no one got water to our table for a while, i helped myself. No problem. You can take the jug back" "It doesn't look nice if the jug is on the table." I was thinking he would feel apologetic for not getting us water. Boy, was I wrong. I chose to enjoy my food & ignore his way of speaking. I decided to give him the benefit of doubt. He likely was not as socially adept . May be it s a language problem. Then my friend notices she doesn't have any napkins . We asked for some. I walked up to the big guy & explained how there was no water/napkins & how the guy was rude to us despite the service was lacking. I addressed him as sir & explained . The big guy without batting an eye defended the rude young staf(wow..! ) He started shouting at me. Now, I dont like it when ppl get loud . Especially ppl who take my money , and then yell at me when I do their job( read fetch my own water) I walked back to the table, embarrassed. I would have walked out, but I didn't want to ruin my friends' lunch. So I bore the brunt and put up with shame. And I paid $16 something to get yelled at. Now beat that! There is an older gentleman who walks around the restaurant with a water jug to refill empty glasses of water on the tables. He is usually prompt. He doesn't seem happy with his job though, coz I've never seen him smile. When he asks you if you want water refilled with a military tone, dont be offended. That's just his way of talking. He wont return your smile back. It's only a culture gap. I know because I grew up in India. I can tell he doesn't mean to be rude. Anyways, even the Water Nazi uncle didn't come to our table for 10 mins. Also the dosas didnt show up for upto 40 min until we asked. It was late, we dint eat it. I am not upset about the water, or the napkins. I am upset about how the staff was rude and lectured us about the silly jug. He could have just taken it away form the table. There was no need to make it a big deal . The big guy,an older gentleman, I later found out he is the owner. He is quite haughty, and obnoxious. Dear Owner, I have recommended your restaurant to a at least 100 ppl in the last 3 yrs, if not more. Well, I wont be doing that anymore. I will put a word to my friends about the diminishing customer service. Fewer people waiting at your door yeah? Good for you. I have been coming here almost every alternate week with my husband. I understand this place gets busy over the weekend. I also know that sometimes things take a little time to land on the table, like water. But when someone asks for water, may be they are choking, or may be they are dehydrated, or like me tired and dizzy and can't start a meal without a sip of water, make sure you bring it in atleast within 10 mins, and if you do get delayed and they help themselves, dont treat them like they did something wrong, leave alone apologizing ! And Oh! they are racist too. Won't elaborate on that one here. There's other reviews that talk about the racist facet of their customer service, and I ran out of space. To the patrons of Karavalli, don't ever touch the forbidden jug. Save yourself the embarrassment. Wait for water. Else they'll treat you like a 2 yr old who just ate his booger! Or, go to another place where they value customers more. (Psst..Spicy Mint is a good place!) read more

The food was nice. We ordered a lot! And the portions were quite filling. Med spicy is A bit extra though coming from someone who can take heat. read more

Karavalli used to be my absolute favorite Indian restaurant... I think I have been going there since they opened, but at least 15 years. And everything from the tamarind eggplant to the blue walls was perfect. Since the expansion, I have been less than satisfied with each of 4-5 visits. Expansions can be difficult for a restaurant to get right. I fear this one hasn't gotten it even close. I held off writing a review after each visit, hoping they would come around and right ship, but now I am writing this review because I don't intend to return. The restaurant is not what it used to be In terms of food or dining experience. The food is hit or miss now, and many of my favorite dishes seem changed forever. On my last visit the Rohan Josh was the only of 8 items that was of old Karavalli quality. The tamarind eggplant wasn't sweet or crispy- in fact I could have honestly argued that this wasn't what I ordered, the bagari shrimp poori was soaked with oil and there were very very few shrimp... need I go on? I am not sure if the issue is that they did not expand the kitchen during the dining room expansion, so the whole kitchen staff is really overworked and cannot keep up, OR if the chef was replaced. In any case, each time I have visited and ordered dishes that I have ordered since I began going to Karavalli, they are inconsistent and seemingly worse than the time before. And on top of this, the service has degraded too. I'm saddened by the changes but I am here to tell you that the emperor has no clothes. read more

I occasionally get in the mood for Indian food, and when it strikes I really crave it. On a suggestion from some friends, we decided to give Karavalli a try one Friday night. The wait was a bit long and the restaurant doesn't have a lot of room to wait, but it was well worth it. I got the Chicken Tikka Masala, which is my standard dish to get, and it was amazing. It was one of those plates where I felt like I shouldn't finish it since it was large in quantity, but I almost couldn't stop eating it since it was so tasty. Their naan was fresh and warm when served and just delicious. The service was attentive and though the place was very busy, we did not feel rushed at all. We will definitely be coming back here soon! read more