Saapaaduu — Restaurant in San Jose

Dec 2024: Same review from earlier stands. The new item is Jigarthanda on the menu and Mushroom Jeeraga Samba Rice Biriyani. Both are excellent items to try. Update Aug 2024: Tried their Kavuni Arisi Sakkarai pongal for dessert (Black Rice Pudding), Rose Paneer Soda and Paneer Tacos. Yum!! Note: Paneer in soda is an essence made from natural minerals and not to be confused with Paneer (Cottage cheese). Original Review Below A relatively calm wintry day with clouds hanging over prompted a culinary quest and resulted in a visit to Saapaaduu for lunch.

Location: Saapaaduu is nestled in the foothills by the southern most part of the Evergreen hills in San Jose. The restaurant can be conveniently accessed right off the 101 freeway.

Parking: There is ample parking around the restaurant in the front. The restaurant is very much visible to your left as soon as you enter the complex and has open parking.

Ambience: It is very hard to miss the careful attention to details of the restaurant owners to decorate the interiors with a cheerful, contemporary and yet elegant vibe. The gold designed decors, place setting and theme reflect the traditional South Indian style of decorating interiors. Clean interiors and very clean restrooms as well.

Wait time and Ordering process: You check in at the front and if available are seated immediately which was the case with our party as well. Once you're seated at your table, You can scan the QR code and start ordering immediately. Food is prepared fresh in this restaurant from scratch and hence a 10 to 15 minute wait is reasonable time. This is unlike most Indian restaurants that I have been to that serve factory style with everything pre-done and ready to serve. There is no premium for the fresh food that they make, any wait is totally worth it. In our case it was just 10-15 minute wait for food to reachout table.

Service: Service staff are very friendly and accommodating. The folks working include the owners who check in regularly with patrons to ensure satisfaction.

Food: Our group ordered Chatti Choru and Kothu Parotta. The Chatti Choru is a very traditional South Indian dish bringing together a mix of items including a combination of rice, thogaial, Kootu, masala Vadai etc.

The Kothu Parotta was tasty and traditional as well served with Salna.

Quality of food is amazing. Highly reythat you try the Saapaaduu specials. You will not be disappointed.

Come Hungry, Leave Happy!! Enough said. Now go order conveniently on Door dash or visit them soon! Let the...

I’m here to mention about the issue I faced today. We walk in to the Restaurant registered for a table by scanning the QR code.

Waited 45 minutes, we are party of 6 people with toddler, we mentioned them we need to keep our baby with stroller, so we prefer any side table .

After 45 mnts waiting they mentioned one table will be ready in few minutes and showed the table, it’s on the side way there is place to keep the stroller. So we asked for another table where we can keep the stroller with us.

And want to mention in waiting list we are the first people, but suddenly One person came came and stranded beside the table which we are waiting for, once the person who is standing in the counter cleaned the table and with same hands he is serving and talking with customers and keeping the Plates and cutlery ready for the new tables. Now the person standing near the table we waiting for occupied the table and his family got seated. We saw these people came after we arrived there. They were speaking in Tamil with the person counter/ Server/Cleaner and they taken the table.

The person in counter is multi tasking Serving/Cleaner trying to obey us as we are waiting there after few minutes he came and mention us another table will be ready and we can provide that table. At that minute exactly the table which the Counter/server/cleaner mentioned us got their main food. But the person mentioned they are done we will get the table.

Now we don’t know Tamil to speak with them, so we have to wait some time.

What’s the hell the owners are doing, without at least one person to manage a restaurant. Just on festival days keeping outside stalls and serving food getting crowd attention. And normal no servers no cleaners, no one is to check the customers need anything or if they are comfortable with the everything.

Just like a road side food stall get your food. Eat it and leave. Don’t accept good seating and enjoying your food. As they don’t have much space to keep you seated comfortable.

For the owner: please go to Chaat Bhavan, Sunnyvale. or Mylapore in east ridge mall,they have multiple branches in Bay Area. Visit there and see how to maintain a restaurant. They don’t hurt their customers and they maintain a way to arrange a table for customers in waiting list.

This is the place where all idiots are working and maintaining, If you want to customer maintain a restaurant with some good value or else maybe not today tomorrow you are going...

Overall a very very nice restaurant. Elegant, sophisticated, and tidy, even down to the way they package food to go. Service is extremely polite and thoughtful. Food was very good. I wouldn't say it's the absolute best Indian I've had but it was a solid 4/5.

As for the food I tried my staples, butter chicken, chicken 65, a mango lasso, and the poori (fried roti essentially).

I've tried dozens of butter chickens at the point. This one ranks above average. Generous portion of meat, and the chicken was delightfully tender. My only gripe with it was I felt it was down on flavor compared to others, was a bit too tangy, and a lot more watery than I prefer. Also the chicken was incredibly well cooked but didn't seem to be specifically grilled or marinaded.. it just tasted like it was thrown in. Still though, very fresh and very solid curry. It was also light in a pleasant way. Not detracting any points for this but I requested hot when asked but it came out with absolutely zero heat despite the ticket saying "hot".

Chicken 65 was a good portion and again, very well cooked and seasoned. Would definitely order this again.

It's a disappointment this place doesn't do naan. I understand this is a south Indian restaurant but why offer North Indian curries like butter chicken and tikka if you won't offer naan? Only roti and chapati basically, which aren't my favorites and don't accompany a rich curry nearly as well. The poori was extremely tasty and well textured though. Think of it like a flaky buttery croissant, but very very thin.

Mango lassi was bomb.

Overall it didn't knock my socks off with its flavors but you can tell there's a lot of care that goes into the restaurant, the food, and the preparation. While the food does take some time to come out, it's excusable due to how fresh it is. Solid 4/5 but I'll round to a 5 for the...