Amma’s Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

1 star, only because Google doesn’t let me give ZERO. If they ever add a negative stars option, I’ll be the first in line. My fiancé and I were excited for a nice meal and decided to give Amma’s Kitchen a try. Silly us, we thought calling ahead and reserving a table actually meant something. We show up and it’s packed, but there are empty booths, and yet we’re told to wait. For what? Divine permission? The ghost of dosa past? We explained that we had a reservation and were met with blank stares and “just wait” vibes like we were bothering them by even being there. I pointed to a clearly empty booth and asked, “Can we sit there?” You’d think I asked them to shut the whole place down and start retraining their staff. The way they looked at us, like how dare we suggest something so logical. So we did what anyone with common sense and a shred of self-respect would do. We sat ourselves. Still, no one came. Servers walked by like we were invisible, like we blended in with the booth upholstery. Finally, around 7:15 PM, a guy comes over and takes our order… without writing it down. He said he’d memorize it. Sir, you couldn’t remember to seat us, but you’ve got the entire order locked in your brain? Impressive. Or delusional. Couldn’t tell. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Every time we asked, they gave us the classic, “It’s coming.” At this point, it felt like they were just stalling until we gave up and left. Who takes nearly three hours to bring out basic food and still acts like they’re doing you a favor? By the time 9:45 PM rolled around, yes, two and a half hours later, the food finally arrived. If you’re wondering if it was hot, flavorful, or even worth it… no, no, and absolutely not. It was just okay, and when you wait nearly 3 hours for something “just okay,” it starts tasting like pure regret. My fiancé and I were beyond disappointed. This was supposed to be a nice night, and instead we sat starving, ignored, and wondering if we were being pranked. The communication from the staff was honestly embarrassing. No one seemed to know what was going on, and asking a question felt like interrupting a secret mission. Zero updates, no explanations, just confusion. The staff was unbothered, disorganized, and gave the vibe that customer service was optional. No apology, no accountability, not even a trace of basic decency. Just blank stares and bad attitudes like we were the inconvenience. The best part? After all that, not even a discount or free drink for the inconvenience. Nothing. Their energy screamed, “Not our problem. Not our fault. Not our issue.” I wouldn’t come back to this place if they hand-delivered the food, apologized in writing, and gave me a lifetime supply of dosa. They ruined our night, wasted our time, and made it crystal clear that customer satisfaction is not on their menu. This place isn’t a restaurant, it’s a trap. A time wasting, patience-destroying, customer-ignoring black hole. So unless you enjoy chaos, disappointment, and being treated like an inconvenience, do yourself a favor. Run far away from this place and don’t look back. Your appetite, time, and sanity...

Avoid this disaster of a restaurant at all costs. Unless you enjoy wasting 2-3 hours of your time, being ignored, and eating mediocre food after hours of frustration, do yourself a favor and go literally anywhere else. The so-called "positive reviews" you see are Total lies, clearly fake and probably paid reviews or written by the owners and their friends. Don’t fall for the scam.

Drove all the way from New York City to Buffalo, and wanted to try dosa so I was looking for highly rated restaurants and found this one. I even called ahead of time to make a reservation for me and my friend. But guess what? That “reservation” meant absolutely nothing. The place was crammed with 80–100 people, total chaos. Even with a reservation, we had to wait 20 minutes just to be seated. That was just the beginning of the nightmare.

Once seated, we had to beg for a menu multiple times, three or four times to be exact. After another 15 minutes, someone finally brought us the menu. We ordered Masala Dosa, Paneer Dosa, Paneer 65 and Limca. The waiter told us it’d take 30–40 minutes because of the crowd. Fair enough, until it turned into a circus.

Looking around, we saw table after table full of people just sitting there, foodless and pissed off. People were visibly arguing with the staff, one family literally even walked out without eating. Turns out, they had only three overworked guys trying to do everything, taking orders, serving, cleaning, running the place into the ground. The kitchen staff? Probably just as nonexistent and understaffed too.

An hour passed, still no food. I asked about our order, and surprise! They forgot to send it to the kitchen. We had to reorder. Just imagine the mismanagement. And finally, Again after another 30 minutes later, we got two out of our three items. The third—Paneer 65 didn’t come. After we finished the dosas and asked for the bill, only then did the Paneer 65 arrive. Talk about pathetic. The whole ordeal? Over two soul-crushing hours from start to finish.

Taste? Not even close to worth the wait time. The dosas were just average. The so-called peanut chutney was trash, and the other chutnies were okayish. The Paneer 65? Total garbage, just dry, greasy fried paneer with no flavor. It didn’t resemble real Paneer 65 in the slightest. A complete joke. If this is Paneer 65, then I am Shah Rukh Khan.

Dosa rating: 5.5/10 Paneer 65 rating: 1.5/10 Service and Management: 00/100

Message to the owner: Stop being cheap and invest in your staff. You cram 80+ people into the restaurant and expect three guys to manage everything? That’s not hustle, it’s straight-up mismanagement. Your service deserves a 0/100. This place isn’t just bad, it’s a disaster, you should avoid...

Was not spoken to, just was pointed to sit at a dirty table and all over the carpeting around the table from the booth located just a step away from the table we were seated at was a terrible mess and I would be embarrassed to seat customers next to it because the mess carried under our table too. Top of the table was also dirty and only handed one menu to look at between my husband and me. It is our 25th wedding anniversary and we chose to walk out hungry since it was so gross inside. Lots of seating for take away orders. Another couple who came in after us was also seated before us and they knew we were there before them but the only staff member behind the counter to serve the restaurant AND the carry out orders didn't see us or care I guess. Maybe it's fine for UB students but we won't go back there to taste the food. Instead we drove down Main Street into Clarence for Kebab & Curry. We had some wonderful vegetarian appetizers, garlic Nan and we both ordered and really liked Kebab & Curry's Malia Kofta. Our favorite Indian dish we like to try whenever we see it on the menu. Also, University Plaza you need to be aware of your surroundings since there was something going on with several police vehicles next door to this restaurant. We won't waste our time at this place again. Certainly don't go if expecting anything more than...