Biryani Pot — Restaurant in San Antonio

This Indian restaurant chain specializes in food from the southern region of India, with many options that the city of Hyderabad is known for. They also have some Indo-China options on the menu.

The entrees here are REALLY large and meant to be shared family style, or you can always take your leftovers home. The place isn’t very large, but we got there at 6:45 and had no problems getting seating for about 10 of us. By the time we left around 8:30, the place was bumpin’ though, and people were standing around waiting for tables.

Appetizer - Gobi Manchurian - WOW, these were the bomb, and I would recommend them to anyone. Crispy fried cauliflower smothered in a wonderful spicy, soy based glaze. It had just a bit of a spicy kick to it, but not overwhelmingly so.

Entrees: Navaratham Kurma - REALLY good. Nine vegetables served in a delicious, creamy sauce. Normally not served spicy, but I asked them to make it spicy and it was perfect! However, there was more sauce than veggies in it (almost like a soup) so I poured it over the basmati rice to thicken it up a bit.

Hyderabadi Goat Dum Biryani - the rice was wonderfully seasoned and you could taste the separate distinct seasonings that each of the three rice types were cooked in. They don’t cook them all together like another place in town does - they cook them separately and then combine them. The goat meat was in decent sized chunks, it was tender and had a good flavor to it.

Chicken 65 (I don’t see it listed on the online menu, but I’m certain that’s what it was - it might be listed under another name) - tender, spicy chunks of chicken. I’m a fan of this dish, but I’ll have to confirm the name of it.

Shrimp Biryani was also ordered, but by the time it made its way to me, I was stuffed, so I can’t comment on that dish.

Service is good, very friendly, but the place DOES get crowded in the evenings. And when we were all closing out at the register, the guy running it was also juggling call in orders between two phones. They are...

My family came here for a birthday lunch recently. Upon arrival, a few tables were seated. We were pointed to the other side of the room with more room. I took my kids to the restrooms (which were really foul smelling and dirty). There were also no paper towels. You wash your hands in the hallway outside of the bathrooms.

The restaurant from the outside looks questionable and after the restroom experience, I was wondering if we should stay to eat.

We ordered our food. Chicken tikka masala, samosas (chicken), garlic naan, the chicken fried rice, and then the lunch special with meat. The masala was fairly spicy for a medium heat. The food all came out at different times, which was also kind of odd. Some of us were waiting for others to eat our food, but it didn’t come. My kids’ food (chicken and rice) didn’t come out until we were almost ready to leave. He filled up on garlic naan because he was so hungry waiting for his food. We also were given some dessert ball right after sitting down at the restaurant. Just overall very strange dining experience.

The food was mediocre. The higher reviews have me perplexed. There are some really good Indian restaurants here in town. I will not be coming back to Biryani Pot. **the garlic naan was excellent!

Small parking lot, but plenty of spaces free...

Indian waiter rudely & abruptly stretched across me to show what was on the menu and just slap the pages down like I wasn't even there. Then a lady who walked shortly after and got seated, asked him for an iced tea and he just loudly told her they don't served that here and walked off with an attitude. The lady just took her stuff up and immediately walked out. He did spend some time on his phone away from the few customers within the establishment. Also ordered a bottled drink and he brought everything except the drink and I had to ask another waiter to bring it. By the time we needed his service, he was no where to be found so we beckoned to another waiter. So one them told him we need his service. I really don't know what is up with him but looking back on my previous encounters with him, he simply has an animal approach about him. Actually, he has absolutely nothing about him. Worst than an animal. It is very evident the all Indian waiters have absolutely no training, not even home training. And couldn't care less how they treat their customers. But service from the owner himself, is way better. If their own Indians complain about their poor customer service in other reviews, what am I to expect? I'M REALLY NOT EXPECTING ANY BETTER BUT WILL ASK NOT TO BE SERVED BY HIM THE NEXT...