Bay Biryanis — Restaurant in Austin

Had a mixed experience here last week. I was there to order and pick up lunch. Had initially planned to get biryanis and couple of appetizers, but changed my mind after what I'd experienced at ordering. I was greeted with loud sounds of someone talking on their phone (on the speaker). One of the workers, who was the only person behind the desk, was talking over Facetime. He decided to ignore me, since he seemed busy with the conversation. Another person, who was sitting next to the POS, got up and walked inside the kitchen as soon as she saw me. I waited for a couple of minutes. As I was about to head back, the lady brought someone to the POS. This guy turned on the square terminal and realized he didn't have the password to the system. He called a couple of people and finally got in. The entire thing took around 5 minutes, which was quite disappointing. I decided to place just an order for 1 Mughlai biryani, since I didn't have any confidence that I would get anything edible. The order was ready in 15 minutes. The food was very good and spiced right enough to be tasty, without being too overpowering. However, there are better places, where I don't need to wait 10 minutes to order or wait for the POS requiring customer support during peak lunch hour. The worst thing after a terrible experience is seeing that Square checkout screen where it flashes 15%, 20% and 25% tips for people who shouldn't be in...

I’ve tried their Chicken pachi mirchi pulao and Gutti vankaya pulao from a catering order, a few months ago. Both were delicious and with that impression, we visited this place last night, right from the moment I entered, the ambience set the wrong tone — it felt chaotic and messy rather than like a proper restaurant setup.

We ordered their Chicken Vijayawada Biryani, which is supposed to be one of their signature dishes. Unfortunately, it arrived cold and tasted nothing like biryani. It felt more like biryani rice mixed with some random gravy or sambar — absolutely disappointing. The flavors were completely off, and the texture didn’t do justice to the price tag.

Service & Ambience The ambience was unpleasant and uninviting — poor AC control, overly bright lighting that made the environment uncomfortable. Even though the staff offered a 15% discount after we shared our concern, it didn’t make up for the overall experience.

Suggestions: Bay Biryanis seriously need to revamp their dine-in ambience, lighting, and food quality. Their catering pulaos are genuinely good, so maybe they should stick to what they do best and ensure consistency there.

Final Verdict ❌ Not worth the dine-in experience — from ambience to biryani, it missed the mark completely and too expensive for the current quality. If you still want to try something from them, go for their pulavs, not...

Was walking back to the car from somewhere else and the smell overtook me. I had to try. The interior was super clean and bright but fairly generic in decor. They had some bangin' bollywood music in the background which really sold me.

The staff were super friendly and welcoming, offering me a menu and a place to sit even though I was ordering out. The menu was extensive and everything sounded good. I started with the baseline favorite Chicken Tikka Masla with Naan (You gotta sell me on the basics first!) I ordered it 'extra spicy'.

After a 10 - 15 min wait, I had my food in hand. The portions were fairly sized and they provided me a full, large Naan which was a nice surprise (other places have been stingy lately).

The Tikka was tangy and herbal with good garam flavors but missing that earthy smokiness. The swirl of cream on top was a nice touch. I was delighted that the spicy is real! It's hard to find a curry that will make me sweat and Bay Biryanis delivers. Hella hot and I love that. The curry was also very 'chunky' with large pieces of onion and green pepper. Not my style but that's personal preference.

While Bay Biryanis is a vast improvement over the last curry place that was here and their spice level really brings it home, I wasn't blown away. Spent about...