I come here for the dosa deal on Wednesdays. Masala Dosa: super crispy and the masala is delicious. the coconut chutney is savory and cools your mouth while the tomato chutney is spicy. the sambar is good if you like spice and a lot of vegetables in your soups. Egg Dosa: it's a good snack dosa. they take an egg and crack in on the dosa and spread it around. read more

Market Cafe - Masala Dosa - Cafes Near Me - Glen Allen, Virginia

Great variety of Indian cuisine made fresh to order. Classics such as chicken vindaloo, butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, goat curry, and great korma curries as well. My only complaint is that they don't have a plain rice option. All the rice has spices added which can be a bit off-putting with some of the dishes. read more

Superior South Indian food at a reasonable price and good portion size. We decided to try it out on the recommendation of friends. We were not disappointed. My wife and I ordered the chicken biriyani. It was the best we have ever tasted. If you feel the spice level is too high mix in some plain rice and/or raita and your meal will be more palatable. We will definitely be back to try their fish curries. This take out cafe has earned our business. read more

We came because I wanted a masala dosa. Apparently they only serve them at breakfast. We came at an odd time 1:27 pm. So it was before anything and after anything. They did let us order a meal we started with a potato dosa. It was mild and good. Then we shared a paneer tiki it was also mild. It came with rice. And we also ordered nann bread. It was all good. I don't know if the food was made mild for us. But that was good. I look forward to getting here for breakfast so I could try the dosa. Place looked clean. It is part of the gas station. But we will come back sometime soon. The nann was excellent. Better than a lot of places. Last is dessert. Just a heads up-Bathroom not that great. No soap and no paper towels. read more

See all

I asked the manager if I could swap Bhindi Masala with what I actually ordered.. (Gobi Masala) He said, sorry.. you asked for Bhindi Masala, and that's what we made to order. I said I'm sure I said Gobi. He said absolutely not. I asked how would I ask for something I've never heard of. He said it was my mistake, and that's why he wouldn't switch it out.. I thought he was about to say "NO SOUP FOR YOU". Mercifully, Richmond has plenty of restaurant options. Bye.. read more

My wife is from Bangalore & I'm a huge foodie + Indian is my favorite. This place is the best Indian I have found in Richmond - it tastes the most similar to what you would find in India (a LOT of spices, seasoning... flavor!) if that is what you are looking for. The head chef is from Kerala & the parathas are FIRE! Love the curries & biryani. read more

Market Cafe has been my go to Indian restaurant for some time now, I can't believe I haven't written a review yet! The people there are always friendly and their food is always on point. I'm so glad they've re-opened during COVID times. They are taking orders by phone or online and you pick up through their drive thru window. They are connected to a gas station and is a perfect place to grab some food while filling up your tank but definitely we'll worth the drive just for the food! I've tried a number of items on their menu and they're all delicious. My go to items are chicken 65, goat biriyani and chicken makhini (very similar to butter chicken but better!). I love that they offer paratha which goes perfectly with the curries. I've tried many Indian restaurants that don't come close to the quantity and quality of Market Cafe. I mean, you can find cinnamon sticks and other herbs in some of your dishes, which shows that they don't skip steps in making their dishes as delicious as possible! read more

A variety of food from morning to until closing. Had ordered egg roast biriyani and it was awesome with eggs roasted well and onions and curry leaves together make it mouth watering when you open the biriyani box. Will recommend always and definitely will order it again. read more

Seriously, very dirty facilities. Some of the worst bathrooms I have been in a long time. Not wiped or sanitized in recent time. Smelled terrible. read more

Great food as always. Traditional Indian food. Goat biryani is awesome. Trying new dishes this time. read more

Market Cafe - Latest menu - Cafes Near Me - Glen Allen, Virginia

Most people will remember me by my love for food. I've been known to drive a few hours just to appease my appetite (i.e. Slash Cafe in Pismo Beach). While filling my tank I stumble upon a this hole in the wall adjacent to a gas station and was pleasantly surprised by all the spicy savory flavor, it left my palette yearning for Indian food all week so of course I had to return. Customer service was polite. He even offered to make us a dish that wasn't on the menu and that dish was on point! I'd drive the extra hour to eat here again. read more

Market Cafe - Cafes Near Me - Glen Allen, Virginia

It used to be my favorite restaurant. I used to order food every friday. Of late, the food is so pathetic that I stopped ordering. Not planning to go back again. read more

The worst possible restaurant I could ever find, No customer Service, half of there items are out, Worst food, was prepared 2-3 days ago read more

The best Biryani place in Richmond West End!! The biryani is consistently well done and I have been having it for 10+ years now. It does have good competitors in Hyd. Biryani house but this comes ahead in sheer consistency...A big fan of their Shrimp pepper fry appetizer too... read more

Ok, full disclosure I found this place leaving Kings Dominion when I stopped for gas. I walked inside to get a soda and was floored by the delicious smell of curry?!? Turns out there are 20ish tables in this place and they are cooking brick oven pizza and Indian food? This place literally has the best palak paneer and chicken curry I have ever had. Every time I am back in Richmond I try to stop here and bring friends. EVERYONE I take absolutely loves it. My favorite item is the mango chicken curry, it's a game changer, but you can't go wrong anywhere on the menu. I highly recommend ignoring the wanna be critiques dinging this place with low stars for stuff like atmosphere, service, silverware, etc. Sure they don't have white linen table clothes or a host stand, but the food is five-star fantastic. read more

Love thier dum biriyani and chilli chicken. Kothu parotta and ghee rice are my other favorites

Looks like it at one point was an awesome place, but has gone downhill after management changes. We were never offered food or drink within the first 10-15 mins of being there, so we left without eating. Staff is skimpy and not very friendly, while the place looks unkempt and a bit gross. Chairs were sticky, floors weren't swept for years, tables were nasty. It's disappointing because I would've loved to experience the food and this place during their prime time, but since the management swap, health and cleanliness hazards have been ignored. Would not recommend. Whatsoever. read more

Food quality has gone down unfortunately . Looking for some improvement . Natu kozhi chicken was very hard , too much skin

I was in the hospital and my nurse told me about it. Went yesterday. Wow! Super authentic. GREAT food. For me, best atmosphere. Killer place. read more

Worst service! waited for 30 mins to get a country chicken briyani. No water glass on table, tables are not cleaned properly, they are not even asking me What I want to eat. Briyani taste is so bad, Waste of money in a cheap poor served restaurant. read more

Market Cafe has always been my go to place for Chicken Biriyani and Pongal. Sometimes their Biriyani is a hit or a miss, but the Pongal is so authentic and reminds me of my good old days back in South India. I tried their samosas a few weeks back and it was so savory and delectable. And my favorite on their menu is the Shrimp pepper fry. It's hot and spicy and full of flavors, the way I like it. The customer service is good and the food is flavorful & delicious. Just had their masala Chai and its the best. read more

Ordered masala dosa, and goat biryani. They were both very delicious! Nice friendly staff. Surprisingly delicious food as we hadn't expected much when we walked in. Service was great. I do plan on making the drive again to eat here! read more

Delicious Indian food! My fiancé and I are absolutely obsessed with their chicken biryani and tandoori chicken. Amazing! We also love getting breakfast here of Aloo puri and masala dosa. Too good! The atmosphere is not so great but the food is totally worth it! read more

See all

Mediocre food, no customer service. We ordered chicken 65 and they burnt the chicken to coal black. Wouldn't recommend this place .

I came here because I asked a friend for a hole in the wall killer Indian spot. He did not fail me. It's inside a gas station, and I had to ask the gas station cashier if the cafe was open cuz it just seemed a lil sketchy. You ring a big ass bell. Someone comes around the corner and you start you spicy adventure. The price per portion is out of this world. Starting off with the App Chicken 65 for 8.99, more than enough to feed 3. And has a nice back burn to it. I also ordered the Goat Roast, the most expensive item on the menu, but hey I don't eat out much. Let me tell you. Not my first Goat roast, but I'm willing to make it my last. Spice great. Taste great. Texture great. But the bone marrow dude! The BONE MARROW! Melt in your mouth Bone Marrow. So to summarize. I'll be going back. And I'm bringing friends. read more

Place is shit! Smells like shit! Over charges for shit! All I can say is what a piece of shit! Update: place is still shit!! read more

This place is dirty, repeat offender in Health Inspection Reports and had mice and still has cockroaches and to top it bad customer service. Here are some of the details: 1. When you call their number (804) 934-0144, if no one picks up the phone, you will get the message "The mail box of the person you are calling is full and cannot accept any messages", very unprofessional. 2. Both the inside and the outside are as dirty as dirty can be. They are so cheap they don't turn on lights during day time, and let some sunlight help them with their electricity bills. Even if they turn on the light, these lights are low wattage tubes that emit gloomy light. 3. The floors have not been mopped or cleaned, since they took over from the previous owner. Don't even try looking at the kitchen area, as it may make you feel nauseating. 4. I wouldn't even open the bathroom door, as both the door and the inside are dirty. 4. Outside dining area has furniture from the 90's that has not been cleaned for God know how long. Some of the furniture are broken or rusted. There is trash all over the place. Even the trashcan deserves some cleaning or replacement. 5. Now for the food: Although some of their South Indian food is good, after my first takeout, I decided this is not for me. They have only a handful of people working there, and you may have to ring the bell to get somebody's attention. 6. If you are waiting for the food to arrive from the kitchen, the pantry area is visible to the public and it is extremely dirty and unorganized. I saw cockroaches running behind the cabinets at one point and that's when I decided not go to this place again. 7. I kept going back to this place hoping things would get better I was very disappointed, that it stayed the same. I am surprised that Virginia Department of Health has given their OK to operate this place, with all the health hazards lurking around. Following was the Comment left by the VA Department of Health following their inspection on October 13, 2015: "PCO serviced kitchen with crack and crevice, glue boards, and gel bait on 10/5/15. Clean up the dead roaches. Floor drains/grates to be cleaned more frequently. Too much food debris observed. This food debris feeds the roaches. Do not allow dirty dishes over night. Permit can be issued. Continue to clean and/or replace ceiling panels. Some soot is still evident". However, the inspection report dated February 10, 2016 says: "No critical violations. Clean floor drains by both grill areas. This to be done more frequently. Two dead mice on glue board. Clean up and keep more traps set up in case of others. No active roach issue today. Continue to clean kitchen. Kitchen has improved. Keep working at it". This is not true because the violations in the October 2015 report is still evident as of July 17, 2016. Here is the link to the Virginia Dept. of Health's Reports: http://healthspace.com/Clients/VDH/Henrico/web.nsf/formFacility.xsp?id=EF0E18BF5A31E81F85256F150057A43A read more

Triple A, Amazing, Awesome and Authentic!!! Do not be deterred by it's juxtaposition in a gas station. You will be wonderfully surprised! Thank you for the sensational meal! read more

Somewhat of a hangout for the local Indian community. Some of the best indian food in the area. Who would know they produce food like this at a gas station! Why the 3 stars? Well the staff are unfriendly, in fact pretty rude to be honest. read more

The food is alright, those who like really spicy food with beer it is good. The management clearly need to hire more staff. We had one server who would take the orders and serve the entire restaurant. For a 15 min dine we ended up staying two and half hour in the restaurant. The restroom smelled horrible too. Please hire more staff. read more

Awful! Gross! Slow! I stopped here to grab a quick sandwich and get on the road. The place was so gross, I grabbed a bottle of water and went home hungry. Bathrooms are disgusting. Shelves were dusty. read more

The Gongura Chicken Curry is awesome. I expected another run of the mill Indian restaurant in Richmond but was way beyond pleasantly surprised with the homely taste of the food. This is a completely different recipe and method from how the Andhra's prepare Gongura.curry but it is really good. read more

How in the world has no one written about this gas station?! It's on the Knuckles Road exit off of 295, and it's absolutely worth stopping at. Yes, it may be a gas station, but then you realize it's so much more when you see people sitting on the outdoor patio with $11 buckets of beer and listening to the 80s station on Sirius Radio. And the reason you'd want to grab a beer here? The fantastic food that's prepared that morning. A wide variety of wraps and sandwiches (thai chicken wrap!!), and a hot bar (meatloaf!) make for a satisfying and quick meal on the road. Best of all, they serve Indian food. And you KNOW it's good because of the many Indian customers. It's spicy as hell, but I cherished the kick that stayed with me. So amazing, so delicious. This is a must stop if you're through Virginia. You'll be glad you did! ps. check out their website! http://www.marketcafeinnsbrook.com/ read more

It may not be the best presentation, on the metal tray, but the quality of taste makes up for all of that and some. The prices are also very reasonable as well, for this veggie platter the total is around 7$. I haven't quite figured out their lunch hours though. This place by far my favorite Indian restaurant in RVA, or really ever to be honest. One of my coworkers suggested this place almost a year ago, I have been a regular ever since. I thought it couldn't be but so bad with what I was hearing about it from different coworkers, it is a also less than a mile from my job, so one day I stopped by, took one bite and I was in love. Everything was full of flavor with just the right amount of spice. The platter changes daily so it is always fun to see what you will get next visit. What always included is rice, naan, 3 different veggie side dishes, Thayir Saadam, veggie samosas, and a dessert of some kind. I can't put into words of how much I am in love with this place. If you ever have the chance to visit for lunch do yourself a favor and GO. read more

Last night we ordered mutton Haleem it was so delicious we order again it was the best Haleem ever Owner lady was very cooperative and kind I give food A + Shawn bhamani read more

Place sucks big time, food stinks alltime, we have a bunch of retards in the kitchen who do the cooking and real all time methheds. Dont even try to eat at this place, you ll end up in doctor's office. A part of 6 went bad when we spoilt our moods and came out to fill our belly with some icecreams, Think twice before you go there , better to reach out to some where else for food read more

Always the best place in Richmond for authentic Indian spicy foods. The flavor is always consistent and never let's you down.

I recently went here for lunch with coworkers, and to be honest, think it was more hyped up than I was expecting. Both on Yelp and from some fellow Indian coworkers I was told that this was *the* place to go for hole-in-the-wall good cheap Indian food, and looking it up and finding that it was in a gas station definitely fit that bill. The Atmosphere was about what you would expect, certainly not 5 star dining, but honestly pretty clean for a gas station. As others have mentioned, they have a lunch special that has all sorts of goodies not on the menu for a steal price, so that's what I decided to go with. Perhaps it was just the day, I'm not entirely sure, but the special included a Chicken Korma, rice, naan, rice curd, and a dhal side. the Dhal was really the star of this dish, worth 4 stars at least, both from myself as well as some of my veg Indian friends who came along; the individual lentals were tender, and it was thick and hearty, not served in a watery broth like you'll get some places. Definitely reminded me of some Dhal you'd get at a station stall in India. The naan, rice, and curd were pretty good, nothing spectacular, however in this instance the Korma was a complete let-down. I think I only got one or two forkfuls of meat on my entire tray, the rest being bone and cartilage. I totally understand serving whole divided chicken instead of pandering to westerners with their need for everything boneless, but come on, at least have a majority of what you cook be meat. While their prices for the full plate are totally reasonable, I think unless you go with the Veg platter, if this is "the best Indian food in Richmond," then I think there's ample opportunity for some enterprising restaurateur. read more

Hidden gem when it comes to Indian food. It's definitely not one of those restaurant where the steward opens a bottle of champagne at your table! but the kind where you buy your sh*t, fill up and gtfo. the quantities are humongous which is i believe their USP. The quality is above average. Service is fast but definitely not personal. few mainstream beers on tap, some Indian bottled beers and some basic spirits. The seating is average and the place feels a little run down. Also has some outdoor seating. Definitely not for date night! Inexpensive. Accept cards for orders above 10$ read more

My all time favorite for biryani!!!So tasty and so reasonable!!!Great quantity and quick service!!I ordered food through phone and was already ready to pick up barely in 10 mins!!yummy read more