Udipi Cafe
| Address: | 4141 Old William Penn Hwy, Monroeville, PA 15146, USA |
| Phone: | +1 412-373-5581 |
| Site: | udipicafepittsburgh.com |
| Rating: | 3.8 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–9PM Closed 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
SA
Sanjay K
This place has a couple of things going for it. First, of course, is the location. Being so close to the SV temple, I would assume many (if not most) of the devotees visit Udipi cafe after their temple visit. The other positive is the team of cooks they have. My family and I visited this place three times within a span of 6 days and each time we were treated to some delicious, authentic Indian food. However, I strongly believe that these two positives are being counterbalanced by the quality of their service. The service, at best, was totally impersonal. And at worst it was downright rude. With a mixture of incompetence and carelessness thrown in between. It seems there are only a couple of waiters and they play multiple roles as the ushers, order takers, food deliverers and table cleaners. And they man the cash register as well. So it doesn’t take a lot to imagine why it takes a while before your order is taken and food is delivered. I do not appreciate it but I can understand the reason behind the delay. But what really irritated me on all the three visits is the attitude of the servers. On our third visit we were made to wait near the door for almost 10 minutes. And when the family ahead of us approached one of the waiters to enquire about their turn I heard him replying, referring to the other server, ‘Don’t ask me, ask him. He is the manager’. Obviously there had been a fall out between the two and the customer was bearing the brunt of it. Later, while we were having food, another family came in. To them, the other server says – no orders – ‘Wait for some time. The tables are getting cleared. …wait in that corner!’ That begs the question – why did I visit the place three times if I had such a poor opinion of their service? Well, I got the overall impression during the first visit itself. But I did not want my feedback to be based on a one off experience. Now for the real reason for the subsequent visits? – Go back to para 1. What Udipi Café needs is a competitor in the area. Mysore Café, anyone?
A
A Private User
Udipi Cafe is hands down the best Indian restaurant in the Pittsburgh Area. Dont get me wrong, India Garden is a good restaurant, but it is a little overpriced and overrated. Udipi is where its at! First let us talk about the service. I had read some bad reviews about the place before going, but I like to form my own opinions. Some people had complained about the service, but I have been there many times and they are always friendly and prompt. I think some previous reviewers may have come across a language barrier, because I suspect that some of the bussers and water servers speak limited English. The servers and cashiers are fluent, so no worries. The menu is huge and the portions are large. I would recommend Rasam soup which is a hot and sour soup to start. They have great Poori which is a huge, puffy fry-bread. I also like the paper-masala dosa (Thin, crispy crepes filled with potatoes, onions, and spices) and the idili. You really should also try the lentil donuts dipped in rasam. I also like the sambar and the channa. Their curries are tasty and come mildly spiced, though I always order my food extra-spicy, which they are more than happy to oblige. They specialize in South Indian Cuisine, but also serve a few choices from the north. I usaually choose the curries and not the spinach dishes, but they are also delicious. The ambience is nice. The music is quiet. The decor is not too fancy. The seating is comfortable red booths and some tables. It is too bad the Udipi Cafe does not serve liquor because then it would the perfect restaurant. It will just have to settle for near-perfect. Did I mention this restaurant is vegetarian? A safe place to eat for all. Say good-bye to veggie burgers and plain salads forever! A+
JI
Jibran Mushtaq
Ive been to Udipi a couple times, but it was never my choice. It was chosen by people in our group despite my hesitation. Ill start with the food first. Its probably the only positive thing about this place. However, it wasnt good enough that I would recommend it. And it was certainly wasnt bad enough that I would tell people to stay away. Its good food at a good price. The two big negatives are the decor and bad service. It would not be a stretch to say that both of those things are non-existent. From the outside, the place looks like a small shack, but I would not hold that against it. Some of my favorite places are small hole-in-the-wall restaurants (i.e. Spak Brothers), The problem is that the inside looks like a shack too (and not in a good way). Its not a welcoming environment at all. I often imagine the cleanliness of the kitchen based on the seating area, and Udipi would not pass. I wont talk about the service as other reviews have covered it well. Lets just say it was bad and no it was not a language barrier. In summary, its not a place I would recommend because the positives definitely dont outweigh the negatives. I think that this place is supported by the people who attend temple. Without those supporters, Im not sure this place would not do as well. They could use some competition in the area. If that happened, they would have to improve or they wouldnt survive.
PO
Pooja Upadhyay
If there is anything lower than one star would have given it happily (try considering it as -5). I visited this place first time with my friends yesterday for dinner. I am pretty sure the waiter or server who took our order was drunk as I could smell alcohol on him. On top of it he was extremely rude. we were 6 people he had so much trouble remembering everyones order, on top of it in efforts of being funny he was very very lets say extremely rude. When we were deciding what to order from their not so great extremely long menu he said and i quote "Either decide our get out." Then again in his pathetic efforts of being funny he hid my pone and I had to practically snatch it away from him. Although, my friend still tried to keep their calm during the entire humiliation, he didnt stop there. He literally called us idiots because we walked some 0.5 miles to get to the place. Also, after all this service he had guts to demand tip. Just because we were bunch of friends he though of us as students and treated us literally like we were there to eat for free. I just didnt understand even if we were students who gave him right to treat us like this. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. NEVER NEVER GO THIS PLACE. I dont care much about ambience as long as the place is hygienic. BUT TRUST ME NEVER VISIT THIS PLACE. PATHETIC SERVER
VE
Venkat Rao
We were coming from out of state, my wife and I went here for dinner and lunch. I dont have any negative comments about customer service, people there seemed to be nice, addressed us properly and food was delivered with in reasonable time. However, the food itself was not so great. We ordered South Indian meals for dinner, the food taste was about 7/10 for most items, but the after effect was painful. Both my wife and I had severe stomach ache around 2 in the morning this was abated post our consumption of some antacids. We initially assumed it was something we ate some where else. However we experienced the same symptoms after we had lunch. I remember once I had this symptom after eating at a wedding back in India several years ago and found out it could be due to use of baking soda in the cooking process. I dont know if they are actually using it. For lunch we had sambar vada, set dosa and Mysore masala dosa. The Sambar was runny and sorry to say this but it was more like a very hot water. Coconut chutney was ok, I am guessing they made it with shredded coconuts. My take on the restaurant for out of state people, please avoid if you are here for a couple of days only, eating may very well make your trip less pleasant, we know it did for us.
