Satvik Bhavan — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Review dated: July 24, 2025

To begin with, I want to say that Satvik Bhavan offers good South Indian tiffin items like dosa, vada sambar, and idli. I have no complaints when it comes to the taste or quality of the food.

However, today’s dining experience left me disappointed due to several issues with the service.

My husband ordered a Mysore dosa wherein he specifically wanted the Mysore chutney (lep) on the dosa without the potato filling. Despite this, we were charged $14.99 for a Mysore masala dosa instead of the plain Mysore dosa, which is priced at $9.99. This seemed unfair, as he didn’t get the masala (stuffing).

Next, I ordered pav bhaji and dahi puri. The lady at the counter processed the order and payment, and then only after 30 minutes did she return to tell me that pav bhaji wasn’t available. By this time, my husband had already finished his dosa, and I was still waiting for my meal. I was frustrated because the staff should ideally be aware of item availability before taking orders and payments.

When I asked if the cost of the unavailable pav bhaji would be refunded, she simply told me to order something else. There was no apology, no acknowledgment of the inconvenience caused. I had come in specifically craving pav bhaji, and being told to “just pick something else” without any flexibility or empathy was disappointing.

To make matters worse, she didn’t even stay to take the replacement order, just walked off into the kitchen, the same way she did when we initially entered the restaurant. We had to ring the bell and wait 10–15 minutes for someone to come out and take our order.

Since we had already paid, I reluctantly ordered the karam masala dosa, which was supposed to include potato stuffing and onions. (Unlike my husband I wanted the stuffing!) What I received, however, was a plain dosa with some dry onion powder. When we checked the menu again, we saw that the karam masala dosa was priced at $14.99. They didn’t even check with us, just adjusted the order per the cost of pav bhaji which was $9.99. One would think that the management would be gracious and offer for the inconvenience caused but that was sadly not the case! This made us question the earlier situation: earlier when we ordered the mysore dosa, without stuffing we were charged $14.99, and now karam masala dosa at $14.99 was provided without the stuffing to sit in with the price we paid.

My dahi puri order took the longest to come, and let me tell you, we were the only customers at 7pm at the restaurant at that time, still the service was so slow and lackluster. When it did arrive it was all soggy. :(

All in all, while the food quality is fine, but, the lack of customer service, communication, and basic hospitality really hurt the overall experience. the owner seems a courteous guy; The lady in particular seemed indifferent and it felt like she were doing us a favor just by being there. This kind of service detracts from what could otherwise be a great meal.

There is potential here, but unless they address these service issues, it’s likely to leave customers with a sour aftertaste regardless of how good the food is.

Also, they keep a QR code to scan the menu which makes it so difficult. What if someone does not have their phone with them or does not have data? I don’t understand the point of it, because at the end you expect the customers to walk to the counter and pay, so its not making anything efficient. this is not convenient from the customers end..we just have to keep scrolling all the way down to discover items on the menu..even a single big board display would work, but the QR code scan menu is very...

Attention vegetarians, and occasional vegetarians.

Adrianne and I went to one of our nearby Indian restaurants for dinner, only to find it had changed hands within the last month or so. The former establishment was a full-menu, Indian restaurant, only to find the new owners have changed it to fully vegetarian, and their menu seems pretty extensive. If you are looking for a good Indian-style vegetarian treat you should give place a try. Satvik Bhavanis in fact is loosely translated to English as “Vegetarian House”. While we are not full vegetarians, we certainly enjoy vegetarian delights, and we found dinner here to be really good and definitely affordable!

Not being of Indian culture, the young man taking our order was very helpful and very patient, and we appreciated that. They will adjust your order to your preferred level of heat as it comes to Curry. We both enjoy good curried food, but asked him to back it off “just to touch” from what a “seasoned Indian curry enthusiast” would order, and he nailed it!

The restaurant has eat-in and takeout facilities. When I walked in the door, I immediately noticed the difference from the former owners, and that they did redo the inside seating area, making it roomier here than it was in the past. They also have a nice array of Indian prepackaged food to-go, and things such as Indian spices for at-home cooking.

Satvik Bhavan is located in the frontage strip-shopping center of Costco, just north of 86th St. at 8840 Michigan Road. This seems to be a very nice family run business, and if you’re looking for a wide array of vegetarian offerings, give Satvik Bhavan a try!

You can scan their QR code from their website for their menu, which includes pictures of their offerings and a nice description of what you’re getting for your money! Very affordable!

We really enjoyed Satvik Bhavan, and we will be back. The only down side we saw was that they no longer serve...

Authentic and good South Indian food with plenty of items to try. I have been there a couple of times and will surely come again. I recently became aware of the tiffins which is a great option for families.

The owner is a very warm and friendly person which makes the experience even better.

However, I am giving an overall rating of 3 for a couple of reasons. I have 2 recommendations for the owner. The food was very inconsistent. We loved the dosas, idli and sambar the first time. They were very delicious. But the next time we went both the idlis and dosa had no salt. They tasted very bland. The idlis also seemed a little soggy.

The chutneys and sambar were dangerously spicy. Since I am from South India originally, I understand the spice levels can be high but they shouldn't be so high. As a doctor myself I can say without a doubt that such levels of spices can lead to ulcers and cause damage in the stomach and intestine. It can also lead to cancer in the long run. So please be mindful of the level of...