CholaNad Restaurant & Bar

A South Indian Culinary Gem. If you're craving authentic South Indian localised cuisine, Cholanad is a must-visit. My recent return after some time away revealed a delightful transformation, from a completely revamped menu to a rich and inviting ambiance. Parking was a breeze in their dedicated lot behind the restaurant, a definite plus. The staff was courteous and attentive, and the food arrived promptly. The menu boasts a wide array of options, including an impressive Thali and numerous appealing combos. While they don't offer a buffet, the extensive selection more than compensates. I opted for the Fish Kuzhambhu and fry combo, and it was exceptional. The generous portion included two pieces of perfectly fried fish and four substantial pieces in the flavorful curry – excellent value for the price. We also savored a very high quality Set dosa, Parotta, and Appam combo, accompanied by a rich Goat Milagu curry and a fragrant Chicken Curry. Every dish was a testament to authentic South Indian flavors. It was, without a doubt, one of the best South Indian meals I've had in a long time. Will sure return.

This was one of my favorite restaurent 8 year before in 2017 - 2018. So I wanted to try again after 8 years. Inhave ordered Morkozambi bowel, sambar bowel, dhal bowl. The combo is good, quantity is very good with all other accompaniments.

I have been searching far and wide for good south Indian cuisine!!!! This place is fantastic. So many flavors!!!! Decided to try the lemon ginger agave tea (although the saffron green tea looked good too) and the samosa appetizer was INCREDIBLE. So many options for Dosa too, I went with the pepper onion. Highly recommend :)

The food quantity is very less. The tawa fish fry especially for 13 dollars you only got one small fillet of fish. The curries we ordered butter chicken and vindaloo were decent. The best dish which I would definitely recommend is the pepper chicken from the appetizer menu, it's super delicious and very spicy perfect

Absolutely one of the best Indian places around. The chicken tikka masala is really incredible, but THIS: we tried a new thing tonight called Masala navratan tartlets were absolutely unbelievable. It is this light flaky pastry bite filled with well flavored vegetables alongside dipping sauces. It is an absolute must to try. And they have a massive outdoor covered seating area, alongside an uncovered outdoor eating area. The atmosphere and food all around make for an excellent place without doubt.

Excellent food, quiet atmosphere, and helpful server made a wonderful experience. We had the lamb saag and lamb vindaloo. Both were delicious. We will be back.

Fantastic food seasoned and spiced just as we ordered. Sundays half off bottles make for the perfect brunch combo with naan, egg dosa, and parota… Definitely coming back soon! Service was fabulous.

6/6/25 Update: I wrote my review below on March 27, 2025 and they had it removed. Since then you can see this pattern continued. And, not surprisingly, they get most negative reviews taken down. 3/27/25: I took the time to write this thorough review because not only did I have negative experiences here, but because the restaurant was dismissive and dishonest when I respectfully brought that to their attention. Also, because the Google reviews seem wildly inaccurate. Given my 2 very negative experiences in the past 2 months (I don’t know what I was thinking returning for a second time), I’m surprised by the multitude of 5-star and ecstatic reviews in just the past couple weeks. These reviews seem fabricated (friends or bots posting to drown out any negative reviews). The reviews either include no comment at all  (simply 5 stars) or extremely exaggerated/hyperbolic comments. Unrealistic for any restaurant. Even the best restaurants in Chapel Hill don’t have so many recent reviews with such inflated comments. There are only 5 negative reviews from the past year, but 42 glowing reviews from just the past month?? Bogus. Their reviews on trip advisor and yelp tell a very different story. Save your money, avoid ruined meals, and go to literally any other Indian restaurant in town.

My husband, our youngest daughter, & I came here for lunch last Saturday while our oldest daughter was attending a program at UNC. We had a phenomenal experience here from the food, & drinks to the service, & even the music! Our server was extremely helpful in offering suggestions to my husband & I since we wanted to try something we had not tried before. My husband's dish was the winner of the afternoon, he got the lamb saag. Ordinarily, this is something my husband would not have tried, had he not been given the suggestion from our server. It was delicious! I will be ordering this next time I'm there. I tried Parota for the first time with my Chetinad chicken curry, and I will definitely be trying that again as well. My youngest daughter just stuck with what she knew and got the chicken tikka masala. Everyone was very pleased with their dishes and the next time we are in town, we will absolutely be back.

Being a South Indian and after reading the reviews i visited with my friends for dinner. The food was very bad and nowhere close to the actual South Indian food. There is not even enough people to serve and the answer I got was everyone is on vacation and they don't have any one to serve the cocktails. The ambience is average . I typically won't do this level of criticism in any of my reviews until it is so bad.

Good, solid Indian food in Chapel Hill. The spring dosa was a fantastic appetizer with a few different sauces for dipping. The lamb vindaloo had a decent amount of tender lamb with a great sauce. The chicken tikka masala was great as well. The garlic naan was good. The main area for improvement would be on the service. Our waiter was attentive early on but then was more difficult to get a hold of to ask for the check and some to go boxes. He gave a great recommendation for the spring dosa though. Overall, Cholanad is a solid restaurant and I will come back!

Delicious, flavorful dishes! We got dinner on a quiet Sunday night, and the food came out really quick! I got the pepper chicken with Ceylon parota bread, and my friend got the chettinad chicken curry. the and they were pushed out on this little trolley. The presentation could be better, but I'm not judging off of looks here. The chicken was delicious and packed with aromatic spices, but pretty spicy, so make sure you can handle spice decently well before ordering. It was topped with raw onions and some mint leaves. The parota was really good for dipping, scooping the chicken, and eating it together. My one complaint was that the parota to chicken ratio was a bit off: much less chicken than I wanted but still filling. Overall, really good Indian food around the area!

We've been meaning to try Cholonad for a while and finally decided to go when we had a discount from a local dining club. They used to be in a separate building but are now located where Ham's and Mellow Mushroom were located. We made reservations for an early weeknight dinner and my wife went in while I drove around to the parking lot in the back. We got garlic naan, mango lassis and I got the chetinad curry with parota (a flaky bread I had never tried before). The food was good but unfortunately the service was lacking. It looks like on that night they seemed to have two servers for the entire restaurant. It took us a long time for someone to take our order, and a long time to get our check. Perhaps their service is better on other nights when they have more staff.

One of the most authentic tasting indian restaurants we've visited locally. Tender chana without being mush, and fall-apart lamb. The naan basket was underwhelming for me, but my wife quite enjoyed the subdued flavor. Only down side is the price... around $20 per meal, not including drinks, the naan basket, or starters. We spent $75 without trying. Not the cheapest, but very quality.

My boyfriend and I love this place and eat here several times a month! Delicious food, kind folks, and very reasonable prices.

Been to Cholanad at least 10 times now, it's one of my best friend's favorite places on Franklin. Flavors: 4.5/5 (not an expert on Indian cuisine but everything I've ordered has been very tasty) Ambiance: 4.5/5 (great date spot/classy dining spot) Price: on the pricier side (it's Indian food on Franklin St, after all) HERE'S THE THING: Every time I've come here I've spent bought an entree, cleaned my plate, and left the restaurant a little hungry. It's more of a testament to their ability to deliver great flavors than it is a criticism of their portion sizes. Either way, IF YOU HAVE A BIG APPETITE LIKE ME, GET AN APPETIZER (some Dosas, some Naan, just anything extra to go with your entree) or else you will leave the restaurant with a craving to go across the street to McDonald's and satiate your remnant hunger with a few McDoubles (been there, done that).

For South Indian cuisine in Chapel Hill, this place is pretty solid. I originally wanted to come here to try Pani Puri, which they called "tartlets" on their menu. It was really good. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, they offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis, which are basically an assortment of sauces along with a side of rice and a couple bread pieces. Of course, coming on a Sunday, we were on board to try that. We ordered mango lassi, saffron-infused iced green tea, the bone-in mutton, parota and the vegetarian thali. Everything tasted so great and we left feeling very content. Note-they are currently short-staffed at the moment since there was one waiter running the floor and takeout, and food took a bit of waiting before it arrived but I think it was worth it.

Cholanad has been my favorite Indian restaurant in the area a few years ago. I recently went back for the first time in a while and can confirm that is still the case. Naan is always something I debate ordering at an Indian restaurant, but here it is never a question. The naan comes with a curry dipping sauce that is unique to any other sauce I've had anywhere else. The menu offers exceptional options for each course, and nothing I've tried was a disappointment. Staff always go above and beyond my expectations. The manager has remembered me from past visits and offered free samples of new offerings. The opinion of a top customer obviously matters. If you haven't been here yet, stop the naan-sense and come try it's out for yourself.

Delicious South Indian food and nice outdoor seating! I had the cauliflower chettinad. It was spicy with great flavor! My husband got the chicken tikka masala -also excellent. My daughter enjoyed the white vegetable kurma (similar to baba ghanoush). Everything was tasty and the service was great. They even brought water for our dog. I will go here anytime the opportunity presents!

Enjoyed the dosas , with the three chutneys ( coriander, coconut and tomato) and the sambar( lentil soup) . The chutneys were served cold rather than room temperature. The dosa was not as crisp as it could be. Attentive service and nice ambiance. Women's bathroom was clean, but one of the two automatic faucets did not work.

Was not prepared to suddenly have the most amazing Indian Food of my life but there ya go. I have no idea what secrets are behind their Tikka Masala sauce but it makes me regularly consider a 3 hour drive from Charlotte. Great late night option. Available through Postmates.

We visited cholanad hoping for a delicious Indian place in chapel hill. We started off with the bread basket. The garlic naans were certainly the highlight and we highly recommend them. The roti and regular naan were just okay. The samosa appetizer was decent but wouldn't get it again. Our chicken tikka masala was pretty good but nothing special. Nothing we couldn't whip up at home with a spice packet. Overall, the place was good but not great. There are other places in town that are better but we weren't disappointed in anything.

Was excited to try this place. We love Indian food and having recently moved to Chapel Hill was thinking this would be a good Valentines Day spot. Started off with not being able to park. DO NOT FOLLOW GPS RESTAURANT - get in the right area then jump over to w. Rosemary. Go behind the restaurant on W. Rosemary street as the parking is only accessible from that street. If you know Franklin street you already know it isn't easy to navigate. This caused us to be late for the reservation by 10ish minutes. We called the restaurant to let them know we were running a few minutes late and they told us "no problem." Then they gave our table away. They offered us a spot at the bar which we accepted. 10 minutes later, no one had spoken to us or even acknowledged we were sitting there. I went back to the hostess stand and they told me the only option was to wait for a table and didn't know about service at the bar. 30 minutes for a table at that point. When I returned, the bartender had finally acknowledged us - right after that a table magically came open. We ordered the vegetable karma (gluten free) and the chicken tikka masala which were good but we would try something different if we go back. Call them good but not great. Service was pitiful. Still don't know who the waiter was for our table as different people brought water, the food then I had to flag down the bar tender to get the bill (we were not in the bar area - he was walking through). Not one spoke to us asking how it was or if we needed anything - we had to "grab" someone walking by each time. So - three stars as I feel it has potential. Great spot on Franklin (once you know about parking) and we got a window seat so talked and watched people. They were busy - so I'm giving them that they may have been understaffed on a busy night. So - my advice is give it a try if you like Indian food but be aware it could be hit or miss.....

Yea Biryani was kinda ass ngl. I mean its edible and fine. No taste and spice. Will have to give a 2 stars

We had been to this place long time ago. Tried it again yesterday. Food was very mediocre, but the service was very good. We tried few of their entries and only thing we liked was their Dosa. For me, it was not worth driving 40 miles to eat Indian as there are many better ones in Cary area.

I rarely write reviews, but we had a wonderful time dining here. Really good food, great service. Loved the Ambiance. Convenient Parking. I am happy to recommend this place because they have earned my business.

Ordered a take out plate of the chicken tikka masala, the staff probably knew it was a take out order. The chicken in the masala sauce was dry AF. The staff probably thought " hey this is a take out order, let's just put some of this old chicken in the masala and it'll get tender before it's delivered," no, it's still dry AF just like when you put it in the to go container my guy. Naan was descent when delivered, but the chicken was blocks of cardboard in a hot (and decent) masala sauce.

PHENOMENAL!!! Our server was so knowledgeable about the type of food that was being served and explained to us the history of different dishes such as Tikka Masala. He gave us his different recommendations for each of our requests and was extremely patient with our 1000+ questions. The food was nothing short of extraordinary. The tartlets and paneer appetizers were a must! The paneer was seared to perfection and came with an amazing yogurt sauce. I have never had chicken chetinad before but I will most definitely be ordering it again. It was the perfect combination of spicy and flavorful. Would definitely recommend!!

The food is really good and the presentation of food is also something I like it here. Their naan is absolutely fresh and tasty. This is the third time I went and every time I go I order spring Dosa for sure.

Cholanad is a staple in the triangle for delicious South Indian food. My favorite here is the whole fish and Gobi Manchurian. The fish had a nice dry rub that was just awesome with a squeeze of lemon. The Gobj was served a bit awkwardly on a skinny plate but very delicious. The prawn curry is also a stellar dish. My only point of critique is the thali was no longer available/run out at 7:00pm. The servers, ambiance, and food were pleasant and zesty!

Cholandd was a solid South Indian restaurant: personally I thought the food was pretty mediocre, do keep in mind I am a South Indian myself and it did not live up to the hype that the waiter had. Overall if you are in the mood for some Indian food I think Cholanad is the perfect spot! I wish my dosa and Sambar felt a little bit more fresh, it was served at not so hot as many restaurants do. The thali was okay, the chicken curry is pretty spot on! Service is amazing, the staff has a family like nature and are super sweet and understanding.

Second time here. Ordered the Samosas for an appetizer along with the mango lassi. The samosas were different in a very good way! They were smaller but served on a bed of chickpeas with a sweet and spicy sauce. The flavor was amazing and I absolutely loved them! I ordered the Chettinad Chicken curry for a main with garlic naan. The spice was perfect and the chicken was moist and fantastic. I will definitely be back!

Came by with my family around 5pm on Sunday for an early dinner. They were a little understaffed but told us this at the beginning so we could temper our expectations. Got the white korma, Gobi Manchurian, and kothu parota. All three dishes were quite good but the korma and kothu parota were my favorites. The white korma was a creamy coconut curry that was rich in spices without being overly Rich. The kothu parota was also wonderfully spiced and one of the better kothu parotas I've ever had. The roti and parota were also both quite good. There is no other South Indian place in chapel hill so I'd highly recommend this place. Also I'd advise to try items aside from the chicken tikka masala or saag paneer. Get a dosa or a South Indian staple you wouldn't be able to get elsewhere!

Really good South Indian food. Authentic chili chicken. Chicken 65 is excellent. Dosas are good, chutney's are fine. The older restaurant was warmer and cozier so now I mostly get takeout.

Amazing atmosphere with equally amazing customer service, not to mention the food was great! My wife and I stopped by actually on accident as I was looking for a different place. We walked in without a reservation and were seated immediately which was a great sign. Our waiter came by and took our order and gave some great recommendations, we ended up going with the Chettinad Chicken Curry, Gobi Manchurian, & Vegetarian Biryani. All dishes were amazing would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for some flavorful Indian cuisines.

Very good Indian restaurant in UNC campus. We ordered assorted Baji and uthappam, which were really tasty. We also ordered Poori with potatoes & Kothu porota, both tasted good but little bit mashed & creamy. One thing I liked is that they have many gluten free options.

This place is awesome. Service, authentic South Indian taste - just fabulous. Place and location are awesome. I would come here any-day.

Ordered Saag Aloo and Garlic Naan yesterday to go and it was amazing! I'll definitely be ordering this again and I'm so glad there's a great Indian restaurant near me!

Not my best dinning experience, the staff was mediocre almost nonchalant the cook was outside drinking beers I thought he was a customer, the waiter was nice but I didn't like that he came out with the bills while he was on the phone. The food. Not the best I got the tikka malsala and roti bread just cause they didn't have the whole menu at that time and I didn't really like it. It wasn't bad but it's wasn't the best Also got a lamb app that was rather chewy and the flavor was odd also. I tried a cocktail some kind of coffee mix and that's probably my fault for getting that cause coffee and alcohol don't mix so I didn't like it. Overall I don't see my self returning here.

I've been hearing about this place for a long time and have finally had the chance to try it! Two of us came for dinner around 6:00ish and were seated promptly. There were a lot of menu items that I did not recognize so I asked the waiter for recommendations, which he was very helpful with. We started with two drinks ($5 Monday special!), the Love Tail and the Sandy Jeans. The Love Tail was an excellent easy drink; akin to a Sangria. The Sandy Jeans was... different. I was thought it would be something like a Dark and Stormy, but it was quite different. Not bad, just different. For an appetizer, we started with the dal fritters. They were nicely fried and gave off a really good crunch. As for flavors, it was very different from anything I've had before. It definitely wasn't bad, just not something I peronally would like as much as say, a samosa. It is vegan though for those who choose that diet. For the entrees, we went with the waiter's recommendation of the Mutton Milagu Curry, which he said was the Chef's favorite. Oh man, this was so good. The sauce wasn't heavy/creamy and had a bit of a kick/spice to it and the goat was cooked really well so that it was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was a tad bit gamy, but it is goat meat and they do mention it on the menu, and the sauce really cut down on how gamy it could have been. Excellent dish. For a second entree, we chose the Chettinad Chicken Curry. This was also a really good dish, which we got with Parota bread. I fell in love with the Parota bread instantly. It reminded me of a Chinese scallion pancake cooked really well, without the scallions and extras. It was nice and warm, with a good amount of chewiness and flavor in it. As for the chicken curry itself, I was pleasantly pleased as well. Like the Milagu Curry, the sauce wasn't heavy/creamy and had the kick/spice to it. The chicken was a tiny bit tougher than I would have liked (unsure if this is because they used white meat over dark meat or something else) but the sauce and the Parota bread more than made up for it. Definitely recommended this place to anyone who is looking to go beyond the typical heavy/creamy yogurt based chicken tikka masala and palak paneer that dominates the Indian food scene in the Triangle. The portions may look small at first upon delivery, but they definitely filled us up, and we had leftovers! As an added bonus, they have their own parking lot, which is very rare for Franklin Street. My only gripe was that service was a little slow (high table to server ratio). We did notice another waiter show up after a while so perhaps it got better as the night went on.100% will be back.

I've been here a couple of times and have a couple of opinions about this place... Usually, when I go, its been with a big crowd of people, usually around 6 people. Friends have always recommended getting the Chettinad Chicken Curry with rice. So that's what I went with, as well as a Chicken 65 for an appetizer to share with another friend. The dishes were good, I'd give it that, but the way the receipt was given was weird. First, the waitress decided to split up everything into 1/5 the price of the original item and handed us the bill. I found this weird because some people ordered dishes that were more expensive than others, so to assume that everyone was willing to pay the same price without asking was rude. Another thing was that she split it 1/5 when there were 6 people at the table. This caused us to wait another 15-20 minutes unnecessarily while the waitress corrected her mistake. The final point of consideration was that it took 30 minutes for the staff to get a to-go box for one of the friends, even though he had repeatedly asked numerous waiters to do so...oh and the food was leaning towards the expensive side. Before writing this review, I also happened to see the numerous replies by the owner of this establishment and the blaming of external problems regarding other people's reviews instead of looking internally. There were a ton of reviews in which the owner would accuse the customers of being fake customers or requesting that they provide evidence to their dining experience. While I do admit that some reviews were malicious due to their parking lot towing habits, it's upsetting to see an owner so rude and condescending to people who have eaten there as well. With that being said, overall, the food was okay, but I don't deem it worth the price. And upon seeing how the owner reacts to malicious and nonmalicious reviews on yelp, it doesn't make me want to come here ever again. P.S: A word of concern. Reading other people's reviews reveal that this place has a predatory contract with a local towing business. They'll hire men to sit outside, facing the parking lot, and will tow cars away immediately after the cars are parked if they do not enter Cholonad.

I wanted to like Cholanad very much. For a spice loving foodie who enjoys good wine- being at a place that has half price bottles on sundays in one of my favorite towns- this should have been a home run. The staff/manager is actually pretty nice, they get points for service. They get even more points for the fact that they have free parking! But will we return for our monthly Sunday wine bottles, parking, service when the food didn't deliver? Probably not. Here's why. Our table was a party of 8. The appetizers looked amazing but one of them (vada) came without salt. Not one person asked us if the food tasted good. They don't put salt shakers on your table so that's double whammy. The samosa Chaat served with the minuscule cocktail samosa also lacked salt and seasoning. The samosa itself Was acceptable probably because it was a Premade frozen version that was fried before serving. We also got the paneer skewers and while they looked amazing, there was no flavor to the paneer at all (this time it's try lack of spice, flavor from herbs) navaratan Chaat was this strange pani Puri style stuffed Chaat, again- has none to negligible salt. The parotta and Korma were okay, not sure if parrota was made in house or frozen but prepped in house? It was decent nonetheless. Crisp dosa wasn't crisp but was fine and came with an array of likeable chutneys. The Veg thaali has a ton of items, each of which tasted mediocre. There wasn't one shining star on that plate. This was such a sad food experience overall. I wish the seasoning was 'tested' before serving and I certainly wish they had asked us for a food feedback especially when we all requested salt three times.

So I went to lunch on Saturday at Cholanad. Place was not very busy at around 2pm. Its a nice place and the staff is friendly. I ordered the Lamb Vindaloo which had great flavor and texture. What it didn't have was much lamb. I joked with the server that half of my lamb turned into potatoes. For $20 they can surely spare a bit more lamb in the dish. I like potatoes but I don't want it in place of lamb. And, are potatoes even supposed to be in Vindaloo? Make it the way you want but give people a fair shake.

Had an outstanding experience at Cholanad last night! Started with a veggie dosa as an amazing appetizer followed by the brussel sprouts tikka masala that was quite possibly the best tikka masala I've ever had! We also had the yellow dal and tandoori paneer kabobs and they were equally excellent. Our server was super, super helpful in helping us narrow our choices from a very appealing assortment of menu options. One of the best Indian meals we've had in years!

UPDATE: Appreciate the owner reaching out to me but that was a tepid response at best that didn't address any of the issues that I brought up. There really was no excuse for the poor service and mediocre quality. Decided to try Cholanad to celebrate a special occasion so we made reservations. We got there & was seated promptly. We ordered our entrees & drinks. The waters & drinks came out promptly but we waited for over 40 minutes for our food. No one came by to check in on us despite sitting right in the main dining room in direct sight of the host, bar and servers. No one came by to offer an explanation. We had to flag someone down and ask where our food was. The waiter's claim was that our vegetarian thali required extra time to prepare?!?!...& that they prepare everything to order. We also had a fish tawa fry, saag paneer, butter paneer masala & lamb saag. Of all these dishes, I would think that most of the items in the thali would be prepped in advance as it is in all the other Indian restaurants I have been to. If that was the case, why weren't we told this when we placed our order??!?!! When the food came out finally, it was just ok. We've had much better Indian food in other parts of the triangle. Portions seemed large but there was only a few cubes of paneer in our paneer orders. Most of it was sauce. For that price point, there should've been more substance to the dishes. Very disappointed in our experience with the food and with the service. Definitely not somewhere we would go back with so many great Indian restaurants in Cary, Morrisville and Durham.

Southern Indian restaurant on Franklin St. The inside doesn't have a whole lot of decor, but is bright and contemporary. The restaurant has its own small parking lot with a couple of spaces. Compared to other Indian places I've tried in the area, Cholanad has some items that you don't find in other places. For the appetizerr, we got the Masala tartlets, and then got the Chettinad Chicken Curry and Kothu Parota Salna for entrees. I've never had the tartlets and the Parota Salna (chopped bread and egg plus other things, shaped into a block) before, and they tasted pretty good and had nice presentation. The chicken curry and the accompanying naan was decent as well. For the dessert we got Kulfi (Indian ice cream) and the Sarakara pongal rice pudding. Both were tasty, but I especially liked the mango kulfi. Overall, a pretty good meal where I got to try a few dishes that I've never had before. It wasn't cheap, but we did order quite a bit of food.

Great environment, great food, and great service. Cholanad hits the dot on all these and continues to surpass my expectations. I came in with a group of 6 people and had no trouble with ordering food or waiting too long for our food. One thing to be careful about (not a bad thing): their portion size for the bread baskets are large. Don't be deceived by your hunger, my group of 6 struggled to finish two baskets.

Wow! Wasn't planning on eating here, but a colleague and I decided to stop in to try. You were hit with a magical aroma immediately. From that point we decided we were Eating here. The staff was super friendly and attentive to us. I let manager choose my meal because I couldn't decide. He selected the chicken curry......amazzzzzzing. We also had naan bread and the tiger sampler. I'm completely stuffed and overwhelming satisfied. I Will be back #terminatorvoice

We have been here quite a lot but I think we will cut down our visits going forward. I had the vegeterian Thali. It was a hit and miss...the rasam, raita and the eggplant curry were good. The chole and sambar were just about OK. My wife had the Mysore Masala Dosa. It was very good. They specialize in Dosas and generally don't go wrong. My problem was with the service. The service was hurried and the servers lacked fundamental courtesies including a simple smile and pleasant demeanor. You can get people to come for food but you will lose them quickly enough for lack of service.

Celebrated our friend's birthday here and it had nice ambiance and great food. Our server was very attentive and made really good drink and food recommendations. We had the big bad tiger dosa. It was huge! There was 4 of us and we ordered the big bad dosa with tandoori wings and one of the tartlet appetizers. Too bad we didn't have any more room to eat. I really wanted to try the curries. But you can't go wrong with the big bad dosa. It's a little on the spicy side just how I like it and very flavorful and yummy. Can't wait to go back.

Finally found an Indian restaurant worth returning to. In addition to tandoori, which is always a favorite, I prefer more of the southern chaat type foods that Indian cuisine offers. We had the veggie sampler that included the beachside lentils, little poori and assorted bajji. I could honestly make a meal with that. We also had the chetinad chicken curry, served with parota, a thin spongey crepe used to soak up all that deliciousness. The cilantro chutney as good as any, and mango lassi sweet and filling. Would love to dine in and sample their dosa. Couldn't be happier that Cholanad is so close by.

Nice restaurant , great service and tasty dishes. Give it a shot if you are in town and looking for a southern aromatic delicacy

Nice food excellent service good chef all food taste awesome.... Great environment and good staffs

This may the the best tasting Indian food I have ever had and I eat amazing food everywhere I travel. Might even be the specific dishes I had too-I was celebrating something recently and asked the host his favorite appetizer and his favorite meal...I've never heard of the dishes before and ordered a side of fresh garlic naan too. Wow. I will eat here every chance I can from now on!

Cholanad has amazing food and the staff is knowledgeable and solicitous. We would most definitely eat there again, as well as order from them via GH or DD!

At one point, years ago, this was roughly as good as Vimala's and almost as good as the South Indian food in Cary or Morrisville. Since then there was a gradual overall decline in quality, though you could still have great meals. The last time we went was before they moved to a new location and before the pandemic, and things seem to have gotten dire. Their best dishes were creative riffs on South Indian staples, so we ordered the mussel curry. The mussels were old, and even though we sent the dish back after the first bite we got bad stomachaches upon returning home. The paneer we replaced the mussels with was burnt on the outside and undercooked on the inside. Due to some miscommunication with the server, the chicken chettinad we ordered was forgotten, which was ultimately for the best. Meanwhile, the service was very slow for a medium capacity Sunday night so we couldn't escape fast enough to get dinner somewhere else. To top it all off, there was a reality show about autopsies playing on one of the TVs (they did change the channel when asked). If the original owner still manages this place: why did you give up? If management changed hands in the past few years -- maybe you could ask the original owner to come back and help you? This isn't working.

VERY delicious food omg i loved it so much that i scarfed down my plate in 10 seconds flat you DEFINITELY have to try it if you visit UNC. scrumptious dining.

This was another of those rare, almost magical dining experiences where everything falls into place, your fullest expectations are met & even exceeded, your complete appetite for food and adventure satisfied (for the moment), and you leave talking about how soon you'll return, knowing full well complete duplication is high unlikely. We'd had our eye on this place for a while because of its menu (a nice variety of Southern Indian dishes, especially Dosa & Uthappam), its location (easy drive from Greensboro, easy lunch time parking on Franklin St, this time of year), and the large number of positive reviews (out of over 200 reviews, nearly 79% were 4 or 5 stars). We arrived a bit early for the 11:30 opening, and while meandering up West Franklin Street we saw that there was some construction going on at the front of the restaurant. We walked over and ask if the restaurant would be opening for lunch. It so happened that it was the very personable owner that we ask, and he said yes they would be open, and invited us inside right then, at least 15 minutes early. We talked with him for more than a few minutes about his restaurant (5 year anniversary coming up soon - big plans, new & expanded menu - food & drink), his part of India (Chettinad, a region of southern Tamil Nadu state, on the Bay of Bengal), Indian Beers (serves them, but he doesn't like them, prefers Palm, a Belgian pale ale, his restaurant was the first in the area to offer it), Dosa or Uthappam (he likes Dosa, Uthappam is "too thick", his wife feels just the opposite), and he discussed the history of his part of India (the impact of the Chola Dynasty over a 1000 year period, and the name of the restaurant). Whew! For our lunch choices, we settled on the Uthappam (Pepper, Onion, & Cilantro savory pancake, served with 3 Chutneys and Sambar), and a lunch special, the Ellora (a Thali type combo) which included Chicken Tikki Masala, Lamb Saag Curry, Tawa Roti, Seasonal Vegetable mixture, Raita, Basmati Rice, & Gulab Jamun (a sweet, very sweet), and there was some Pappadum in there, as well. We'll be back for the Dosa - probably Rava Masala. And I settled on a Taj Mahal, because it was on draft. The food was out quickly, the various parts of the Ellora first, the Uthappam and its condiments soon there after. The table was small, the plates were large and irregularly shaped, there was much in the way of condiments, there was no room for share plates, there was plenty of silver ware, including two forks, a knife, and a very big spoon, things got messy, things got good, real good! The Ellora (I think there are caves in India with that name) - Chicken Tikki Masala, and the Lamb Saag Curry were excellent, with a nice, very nice, heat level. The Roti and the Pappadum were very good, as was the Raita, though a bit watery. The Seasonal Vegetables were, well, seasonal vegetables, and were best served wrapped in a bread form and sauced, heavily. The Gulab Jamun was a ball of dough in a very sweet syrup, and I have bookmarked this as an acquired taste, for further review. The Uthappam was very nice, and the 3 chutneys (Tomato, Dal & Coconut), and the Sambar made it all work, each with a nice spice level, the chutneys in particular. This is basically a dip and dunk process, and one needs to get personally involved - cleanup can come later, that's what napkins and hoses are for. This was an exceptional experience - the food, the service, the beautiful passion of the owner - not everyone will have the same experience, but we were there, and we did!