Sri Balaji Caffe Veg and Vegan — Restaurant in Pineville

Edit - July 2025 - Ac not cooling at all. When we stepped outside it was cooler than interior. No windows made the place very noisy. Difficult to have conversation. They do not even serve cold water. First joint in US that doesn’t serve ice water. Very stuffy. Even kids were saying this is our last visit to this restaurant in spite of visiting this place 20-30 times in last 2 years. Food was ok. Uttapam was soft and even edges were not crispy. Dosa was also soggy.

Edit - June 2025 - Completely redesigned interiors with fresh calm blue color.

Inside space is now less and feels cramped. With no windows, no sunlight gives a gloomy feeling. Why would someone remove windows in a country where sunlight is a premium? Water fountain place is cramped and the trash bin along with used plates at the back entrance is not appealing. Please return back the old charm.

Weekend lunch thali taste and variety is very appealing however it is just too carb intensive. I would love to pay a premium of $20 for a premium thali with additional pulses and another curry with yogurt/paneer and soya rice. It will make a balanced thali.

Edit April 2025 - Weekend lunch thali is back but surprisingly the platter is not available during weekend lunch thali timing. Very glad that weekend lunch thali is back. Increased my rating

Edit - March 2025 : They have stopped serving weekend thali and replaced it with all day platter. They were the only ones serving authentic South Indian thali. We were regulars. We are going to miss this a lot. All day platter is just like a combo and more on the snacks side. We wish they atleast have one weekend lunch South Indian Thali ( not naan, paneer butter masala etc but poriyal, curd rice, rasam)

Ordered Podi dosa, Mysore dosa and uttapam. Sambar - Excellent and very different from normal restaurants. Reminded me of Sharda bhavan outside Matunga Central station in Mumbai. Dosa had nice fermented taste and was crispy on outside and soft inside. My 6 yr old loved the coconut chutney.

Seating space is small and it's...

A very cozy little place to have a perfect Vegetarian meal be it dinner or breakfast or lunch. The cafe houses several South Indian dishes that taste exactly the way it’s made back home in India - Tamil Nadu in particular. The service is pretty good as well.

THE FOOD: We ordered several items for our dinner like Cheese Dosa, Mini Tiffin Combo, Chettinad Paneer Fried rice, Sambar Vara and Paneer Dosa. The Fried rice is what I had predominantly and that was over cooked and felt like Sambar rice (stickiness). Requested for Mild spice and it was ok I suppose. The taste/ flavor was okayish. The Sambar vada was good, nicely cooked and soaked. The Paneer dosa was once again requested to be mild spice and it came out bland. The sambar and chutney were excellent. Heard the Mini tiffin and Cheese dosa were good from my friends. Definitely worth the price for the quantity given.

AMBIENCE & SERVICE: The place is very cramped but that’s ok as long as you don’t have a longer wait time or bad weather outside. The cafe is buzzing with so many different people talking and made me feel like I was in a typical hotel back in Chennai. The service is pretty quick and relatively shorter wait times for food to arrive but could be better. The staffs were nice and friendly. The only drawback being its small and finding tables could be difficult during peak hours.

BOTTOMLINE: A very good place to dine out if you are craving for some home made kind of food (tiffin) in particular. Wouldn’t recommend the Fried rice at all here but definitely in for Tiffin items. Price worth the service and food quality. Sits well in your tummy.

MY PICKS FOR YOU: Paneer Dosa (or Dosa...

This is a really great, authentic restaurant. All the dishes were flavorful.

Driving Up: The parking lot is gravel with plenty of parking on the side and in the back. Handicap parking is in the back and has a sidewalk for wheelchair access. There is a ramp in the back of the restaurant that leads to the back entryway, too.

Service: Nice employees. They were really busy at 12:30 on a Saturday, so expect about 4-5 people ahead of you when you order during prime time. It’s pretty casual, so when you’re done, you place your plates in the dirty dish area by the back entry way.

Food: Top notch. We ordered the Mr. and Mrs. Dosa. We ordered it with a vegetable uthapam, which was probably my favorite because it tastes like a soft, semi sweet vegetable pancake lol. We also ordered the karaikudi masala fried rice, a new dish that’s somewhat spicy, a mango lassi, and gobi pakoda which is fried cauliflower. Only con is I really wish the mango lassi was colder. Maybe make the fridge colder or place the drinks in iced containers.

Environment: The expansive menu is up on the flat screens. Drinks are canned or bottled, along with fresh smoothies. There’s a water dispenser machine by the restroom. Hand sanitizers are screwed onto the walls, also. The interior has 8 tables. They have an outdoor patio seating area with tents. You must come inside to get your food if you’re sitting outside. If you sit inside, they’ll give you a number for your table and they’ll deliver the food to your table.

I like their slogan, “Today’s food never sees tomorrow’s sunrise.” They don’t put additives or preservatives, and everything is...