Annapurna

Food here is pretty good. As an Indian, I like the spice level, flavor and service. I would highly recommend it to folks who are looking for authentic South Indian/​Indian food.

Their weekend buffets are pretty good. I have had ala carte on on the weekdays and their gobi manchuri and egg biryani are my favorites. Most of their dishes have the right amount of spices and masala for Indian taste buds

Disclaimer: Review for the Goat Biryani: D
Moving from DFW to San Diego didn’t help our biryani cause. After trying multiple places, a friend recommended we try Annapurna and boy did we not love it!
We ordered the goat biryani to-​go and I was half worried about the quality when the aroma from the food did not flood the car on our way home.
Turns out, it was well-​packaged. The biryani was amazing, at least to us. A little on the hotter side for medium, but the spice mix was perfect, as was the meat — tender and perfectly cooked. Even the salan and raita were really good, again speaking from experience and in comparison to most other places.
Of course, it’s our first foray here, so I will update this review as time goes on. But for now, we have discovered our go-​to place for biryanis.
Now, we resume our search for the perfect street tacos.

Decent South Indian food. The owner and staff were very friendly and helpful. Lunch buffet was worth the money

I was craving some Indian food and was going to go to my usual spot on black mountain road but I thought I would give this place a try since it is closer to my home. The two men who greeted me and took my order were extremely nice. I ordered the chicken tikka with rice and vegetable samosas. The food tasted great but as soon as I was done eating I had immediate, awful stomach pains. An hour later I was in the bathroom throwing up all night! My guess is it was food poisoning, I won’t be back.

Great lunch buffet. One of my favorite Indian place in San Diego

We tried mirchi, chilli gobi (more like gobi 65) and veg fried rice! All of them were so good! They tasted like homemade… I highly recommend this restaurant.

The place is very good, two tables with white people, an Asian family in another table and the rest all Indians. I figured they must know better. Buffett had about 20 dishes including Naan, vegetarian and non-​vegetarian dishes, desserts and if you want to you can still order the big pancake. Some of the dishes were spicy but that’s great!

We have gone back to Annapurna twice after the first time. Their dosas are super yummy and curries good to eat so yeah, it was a no-​brainer to choose this one conveniently located in Mira Mesa.
The lunch buffet the day we visited is AMAZING (bear in mind that this is a south indian restaurant so the quality of the food widely varies from day to night, weekday to weekend and based on your fate that visit).
Anyhoo, back to the buffet. If your doctor tells you to lay off the buffet, do not visit this place. You are at a danger of seconds and thirds. It reminded me of home food and for the first time I was OK paying 12 $ for stuff I can make excellently at home myself. Must try items are the onion-​brinjal curry, vadas, dosas and the mysore bonda. I also personally loved the authentic Telugu version of spinach dal and it was great to eat it at a restaurant for a change!
One suggestion to the wait staff is — Please enquire if the customer wants the buffet dosa/​naan. In our case the buffet dosas were wasted as we were busy eating the buffet entrees with rice.
Definitely recommend the freshness and yummy goodness of the food at the lunch buffet.
The time after this, we went back for a dinner hankering for some food but the tikka paneer and the dosa were a bit off. The curry order was taking a bit longer than comfortable. We had finished the unremarkable and badly executed dosa even before the curry arrived. My tummy had trouble digesting this fare and so I am now going to stick to the daytime buffet if I visit again.
I am still not ordering dessert a la carte after the old, spoiled and fake rasmalai debacle the first time. The hot gajar halwa in the lunch buffet was melt –in-​the-​mouth however, and I ate it with vanilla icecream. Try this combo out if you haven’t already.

Flavors are delicious! Owner, family and employees are very friendly and welcoming!
Favorites: Samosas, Chicken Tikka Masala, Kadai Chicken, Paneer Tikka Masala, Mutter Paneer, & Dosas. Overall we’ve never really had anything we didn’t like. We’ve liked some less than others but overall a solid Indian option!
Weekend Buffet is always good for lunches, definitely recommend that as well. Not sure about weekdays as I’ve never been. Hubby says that’s good too but since I’ve never tried it I don’t want to endorse.
Please know, we have tried a considerable number of Indian restaurants in lots of cities so we are comparing against a lot of other places. This one is a solid and delicious option that won’t disappoint. (Note: if it’s a coupon night don’t expecf fast turn around — usually they quote 45 – 1 hour and it’s accurate)

Awesome… yummy tasty food :) .! Specially the tikka masala, veggi Sambhar, goat Biryani are the yummy mouthwatering food. The pleasure goes not only to the management but also the chef who is the back bone of Annapurna.
The service provided by the crew make us to really feel our home country. Thank u so much for the cuisines what u provide. Annapurna —

Agree with other reviews that lunch buffet is fine.
But dinner here is a different matter altogether.
Bad food. Stale ingredients. Worse service.
It is a shame this restaurant even exists.
Enough said I guess.

The lunch buffet here is awesome. For 10.75 plus tax and tip, you get about 8 different dishes to choose from, plus different breads (not just naan, they also bring dosa to the table) which are all perfectly made, and different chutneys and yogurt.
What impresses me the most about this place though, is how the meat in every curry is so moist and tender. Most other Indian buffets I go to overcook their meat and it ends up being dry and unappetizing. No such problem here.
The waitstaff are also all extremely polite and attentive. Definitely a great family-​owned business that’s deliciously fattening to support!

One of the best south indian n northindian style buffets…
Deserts r jus so well made that i cudnt stop relishin.
Guys if you wanna have some good food hit this place… its PAISA WASOOL

New management. cleaner interiors.better service… much better food…
This is our new go to Indian restaurant… it used to be 8 elements but that place got greedier and the food hasn’t been good lately…
So we wanted to give this place a try since a friend mentioned it got better… we have been here atleast 8times now and we were never disappointed… Word of caution… this is a south indian restaurant so dont order north indian dishes and judge the place. order authentic southern stuff and u wont be disappointed…
To mention a few. idli, vada, dosa, poori aaloo, mysore bonda.
The staff is attentive and make every effort to keep the customers happy…
The Saturday buffet is amazing. it does not have a lot of variety but the ones on the line are delicious…
Dont miss the idli, vada and sambar… i have had them at many places but these guys just get them right.

The first time I came here, I really liked the food which is why I gave 4 stars. This was my second, maybe third time here. This time wasn’t bad, but also not as great as it was before.
Food isn’t consistent. One of the dishes I have liked is the chicken or veggie bryani. The chicken has bones, some mixed in, which can be annoying. This time the dish wasn’t as spicy as before.
The chicken tandoori was still pretty good.
The ice cream was a great way to end the meal last time. This time, parts of it had freezer burn. It wasn’t obvious when I initially scooped it, but you can definitely notice it in the taste and when I looked closely I found quite a
bit. Not sure why this was even served.
The staff is ok. They’re not super friendly, but they do pick up plates fairly quickly.
Though this time wasn’t as great as before, I’ll likely still come back. The price isn’t bad for a buffet and the Indian craving is satisfied.

I am from southern India. I can say positively that this place makes most authentic South Indian food in San Diego. I have been other places like 8 elements, Punjabi tandoor etc. most of them make «Americanized» Indian food. It might taste good but it is not authentic South Indian food.
I have been to this place twice so far and I plan to go again

I have always wanted to try Indian food!
I have had frozen packaged ones before from trader joes when I couldn’t prepare lunch for work, and I really enjoyed it.
So today I felt spontaneous and wanted to drop by for my lunch break. I had the lunch buffet for $ 10.75 after taxes.
I should have checked the Unilocal reviews before I ate here. I too became sick and extremely nauseous .
I am so disappointed … I had to leave work 5 hours early ! I could not stop making trips to the bathroom .
I have never had food poisoning this bad. I will stick to frozen packaged Indian meals from Trader Joes for now… Well actually never since I will never eat Indian food ever again. Not after eating at this place, which made me sick to my stomach !
T.M.I (I might have threw up my bowel movements .)

Meh. Underwhelming food to say the least. Although apparently under new ownership (and I must admit, the décor looks 1,000 times better) the food was an utter disappointment.
Lunch they have a buffet, which I think is great because you can try and choose fishes you like. $ 10.75 is the cost with tax.
They have a wide array of choices for a smaller place, but I am extremely doubtful that they meet the required 135 degree requirement for food temperature. I tried literally 4 – 5 dishes and A couple were cold, one barely warm and one was somewhat warm. It’s food poisoning waiting to happen!
Naan was rubbery or crispy stale.
I do not recommend this place. Go to Punjabi Tandoor instead! It’s awesome!!!

Annapurna is great for lunch buffet. Reasonably priced at roughly $ 11 per person. I stick to my usual — Chicken Tikka Masala over rice. YUM. The food here is mildly spiced, not too crazy spicy!
Great service. My only complaint is that some of the smell sticks in your clothes… lucky for me, I didn’t have any work meetings in the afternoon that day.
ENJOY!