Zaitoon Restaurant, Royapettah — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

I recently visited Zaitoon Restaurant in Royapettah after hearing much about its rich Arabian and Indian flavours. The restaurant enjoys a good reputation for its food, and to be fair, the taste lived up to expectations. However, the overall experience fell short due to service lapses that took away from what could have been a memorable meal.

We waited about 15 minutes for a table, which was reasonable given the evening rush. The ambience was pleasant and set the right tone. Unfortunately, things started to go downhill after we placed our order. The food took unusually long to arrive and was served in parts, with long gaps between dishes. By the time the last item came, the earlier ones had gone cold, and the rhythm of the meal was completely lost.

What made matters worse was the staff shift change that happened midway. The new team seemed clueless about our pending orders, and communication between them was clearly lacking. Our drinks never arrived, despite repeated reminders. To top it off, they appeared on the final bill. When we pointed it out, they hurriedly offered to pack the drinks as takeaway—an unconvincing solution after a long wait.

There’s no denying that the food itself was flavourful and well-prepared, especially the grills and biryani. But good taste alone cannot compensate for poor coordination and service inefficiency. Zaitoon clearly has the kitchen talent to delight customers, but it needs to tighten its service and staff management to deliver a truly satisfying experience.

In summary, I’d say Zaitoon Royapettah offers great food but inconsistent service—a place worth visiting only when you have the time and...

Absolutely Terrible Experience at Zaitoon Royapettah (Chennai) ⭐ 1/5 (Would give 0 if possible)

Visited Zaitoon Royapettah with family for dinner around 10 PM — and it turned out to be one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had.

⏳ Horrendous Waiting Time Despite the restaurant being open, we had to wait endlessly for food — with ZERO regard for the fact that we had kids and toddlers with us. No sense of urgency or empathy from the staff.

😡 Arrogant & Unprofessional Staff Particularly shocking was the behavior of the so-called senior staff on the second floor — a person named Senthil/Siva — who was arrogant, rude, and completely unfit for any customer-facing role. Instead of helping, he kept arguing with customers like they were begging for food at an ashram. Unbelievable!

🧼 Pathetic Cleanliness & Management Even the cleaning staff were openly complaining about poor management and how badly the place is run. It took 30+ minutes just to clean the table, that too after repeated requests! The senior waiter simply ignored us and argued when we asked.

💸 Owner is Only Interested in Money It’s obvious that the owner doesn’t care about customer service, hospitality, or maintaining standards. The place is poorly run, poorly staffed, and clearly only focused on making money, not on running a decent restaurant.

🚫 Do NOT Recommend This is NOT a family-friendly place. Avoid Zaitoon Royapettah at all costs — especially if you’re with children or expecting even basic decency from the staff. Plenty of other great restaurants in Chennai — go...

Zaitoon in royapettah is one of the happening places in that area..so much that an entrance to the Express avenue mall located right opposite to it is mentioned as zaitoon entrance... Located on the woods road this is a ground+2 floored restaurant with bike parking available... But you need to rely on valets for your car parking...

The Ground floor is a takeaway place and top 2 floors are the dining areas with seating capacity of 30 odd ppl in each floor... With almost 3+ years since its opening the outlet still looks new thanks to the good maintenance.. The dining area is clean and no issues.. The seating might seem a bit cramped during full house..

The service is good with less waiting time.. The attitude and behavior is friendly and kind even when are running full house... No hurry seen on their faces... People keep lookout for our needs time in and time out...

The food here is good with arabian dishes being the best... So much that many claim it to be the best in chennai and i wont differ much... For a person who has lived all his life in chennai this could be the best arabian food serving restaurant... The biryani and fried rices though do not seem that great could be the usual stuff served at every restaurant around the city...

Pricing of items is apt.. I wont say its cheap nor is the pricing costly.. But with the addition of GST recently it might seem a bit high.. Nevertheless a place you must visit for amazing arabian food...with almost a dozen visits this outlet is a one i would recommend near...