A1 Adyar Ananda Bhavan — Restaurant in New York

BAD RESTAURANT. WE CAME TO NY from Cali over the 4th of july weekend. IT IS A FAKE RESTAURANT. NOT THE REAL A2B. My wife is from Adyar and funny enough we actually met in the one on Mahatma Gandhi road. The A2B in Chennai and the one in New Jersey is amazing. THIS ONE IS JUST PLAIN BAD. The service is trash, we got our food in an hour. We ordered a thali but they didn't have idli so they gave us 2 vadas instead. Also they put charges on everything. There is a credit card fee, a service fee, a fee if you have a party OF 1 OR MORE. and they ASK YOU FOR A TIP. I spent over 100 dollars for 4 dishes. Pretty Overpriced. Don't go to the restaurant if you don't want to get scammed. Trust me, you'll thank me later. I don't want the owner to say I abused the staff or to learn dining etiquette. Like the owner has been saying to all the other negative reviews. Advice to owner: Take these 1 star reviews and reflect accordingly. Then only people will start coming to your restaurant and you can start doing better so don't think you are the only one right and you have the best restaurant in the world. All restaurants get bad reviews it is just part of the cycle. Reflect Accordingly and do better next time. Don't just say bad stuff about your customers.

EDIT: The owner's response is so funny. The owner didn't even point out the things I said. Just cause I said a negative review he got all worked up thinking he is the only one right. He didn't point out the fees the terrible food or service. Also, A2B would never go as low to pay someone to compete with you guys. You guys aren't even close to their level. You are just a wannabe.

Edit #2: You have to respond to my review first. I am just saying that A2B is way better than your restaurant. This is an unbiased review. You need to understand that THERE ARE SUCH THINGS AS BAD REVIEWS. Every company has some. Even the WORST or the best. You need to reflect on these and improve. Or your restaurant is just going to keep going downhill. And I did dine here. I would not waste my time finding some fake Adyar Ananda Bhavan and write a fake negative review about it. Stop sleeping under a rock. Reflect on these negative reviews. My...

I have been going to Adyar Ananda Bhavan since they opened their first location on 59th St and 1st avenue! I really love their south Indian food. I was very sad when they closed their Stamford location but was very happy when they opened another location near Grand Central. We went here during lunch and tried their dine-in thalis. Both masala Express and Chennai express thalis were delicious and you can't go wrong with your order. If you are craving rice and curries then I recommend the Chennai express thali and if you are craving dosas then try out the Masala express thali! The vegetable of the day for the Chennai express thali was beetroot poriyal. Along with that they served a lentil dish which in my opinion was a North Indian daal and should not be served in a south Indian thali. For anyone who is trying out south Indian cuisine for the first time, please do get the masala express thali so that you can try out an idli, a medium vada and a masala dosa! I highly recommend their Madras coffee too! If going for dinner do try out their pondicherry masala dosa or gunpowder masala dosa or cocktail fried idli. They give cash discounts so make sure to take cash if you want the discount. They also charge for a takeout container, so go there with an appetite so that you can finish...

If there was an option for 0 stars, I would have given it a zero - this place is so bad. I thought being an AAB it would at least be good, if not amazing, but sadly it was my most disappointing meal in the US till date. Even the corner shops in Boston serve better Indian food.

The food is bland across the board - its not that it has been adjusted to for a non Indian palette, it simply has no flavor The sambar is thinner than the water in my tap The chutneys need chutney for life support Only the coffee was nice

The place has nice interiors though, but I guess that’s where all the investment has been made.

Edit: Loved the owner’s response to my review saying that I needed to be more proactive and research better:

If your restaurant caters to different tastes, then the serving staff should explain that. All restaurants I have ever been to always communicate on the level of spice to align/meet with customer expectations On doing my Sambhar research, I think having eaten it atleast twice a week for the last 30 years across several establishments, I know how different Sambhars can potentially taste like. Maybe you could try and be more accepting of feedback instead of just trying to find responses to every negative...