Madurai Mes - Authentic Indian cuisine

Food is lovely and we always enjoyed our visit and dishes. Service is good as well. Surprisingly on our last visit the indo chinese menu turned out to be pretty good considering the place is known for its authentic south indian dishes.

Food is very authentic and delicious. Proper South Indian food with several varieties and don’t miss out!!! Photo attached shows how much we loved and we ate everything we ordered.

The non-veg thali was flavorful, offering great taste and quantity for its price. Every dish was satisfying, making it worth the visit. However, the service needs improvement; we had to order additional items ourselves, which felt inconvenient—perhaps due to the crowd. Overall, a good experience for the food, but service efficiency could enhance it further.

First time trying this place and it was amazing! We ordered the bhaj poori, a dosa with potatoes, southern style goat curry, northern style chicken tikka masala, garlic naan and chicken 65. We’re out of towners and came here to eat bc they were open til 11pm.

We visited Madurai Mess in San Antonio at 2:30 PM. Even though several tables were free, we were asked to wait for 20 minutes before being seated. We were extremely hungry and assumed that ordering a thali would be quicker. However, even after 20 minutes, we still hadn’t received it. When we asked the server who took our order, she was surprised that it hadn’t been served yet. We finally received the thali after an additional 10 minutes. The thali itself was disappointing — we were given only two cups of rasam and two cups of sambar. They completely missed several items, including the fry curry, yogurt, pickle, raita, and dessert. When we questioned what kind of thali this was, they began bringing the missing items one by one. The management seemed very poorly organized. For $17 a thali, the experience was truly disappointing.

The food here is exceptional. We ordered several vegetarian dishes, and every single one tasted incredibly fresh and flavorful. Service and ambience needs little improvement but completely understand as it is quite a challenge to manage the high volume of customers.

I came here at the recommendation of friends and the food was great. We came as a family during lunch time. It was not too busy. We were seated right away. Food is great. We really liked the flavors and the freshness. We got Masala Dosa, Plain Dosa, Fried Noodles with Egg, Madurai Mutton Kuzhambu, and Parotta. The chutneys that came with the dosas were fresh and tasted great. I loved the tomato chutney. We also got filter coffee and Mango Lassi. Both were good. As pointed out by several other reviewers, this place needs to fix the air conditioning. It was really hot inside. I can't imagine how people would sit inside during the peak of summer. That was the only unpleasant part of the dining experience.

The service was good and staff was friendly. The biggest issue was food quality. The sambhar was very salty. The other chutney/curries weren’t good either. The Mysor dosa was good and Idli was good too. Chole Bhature wasn’t good either and Chole wasn’t North Indian style. There is room for improvement in terms of quality. The quantity of food was sufficient and price seems to be on higher side. The atmosphere was dim and dull. It needs to be redesigned.

Great food! We joined friends here that know more about the cuisine and it was great to experience the differences between Northern and Southern Indian cuisine. Place is a little hidden but worth the search. We will be back. I have never had Chai Tea quite like this.... And with no sugar! It was that good.

Tried the kerala parotta with chicken gravy. It did not have chicken piece just the gravy. The veg kurma was watery. The parotta was oily and not soft. Also tried veg and non-veg thali, It was good. The filter coffee was also very bad.

Excellent service & food--a/c not working so very warm inside--everything was delicious and prepared exactly to our requests --ample servings of all entrees, and variety is superb, highly recommend

I am in Indian foodie heaven. Absolutely delicious south and North Indian food!! Do not miss their Dosa(Thin crispy savory crepe stuffed with potatoes/veggies or just plain). Their Idy(fermented rice cake) with spicy dipping veggie soup is so authentic that it brought me back to the streets of Bombay. Also try their lamb/chicken curry dishes and masala egg dishes. And their mango lassi is to die for. The service is great since it's a mom and pop place. Do not expect a fancy place. The tables are clean and bathrooms are decent. We were the only non-Indians eating here so it's that kind of restaurant that attracts real authentic local south Asians.

Had heard about this place a lot. We have been to the Austin location, which is terrible. Tried giving this one a shot and it turned to be disappointing. The whole restaurant smells of phenyl. Dosa was good, but the sambhar was mediocre to say the least. Utthapam preparation was very low par. Chicken kebab was dry. Railway tea turned out to be good. Overall disappointed with the place.

We have been Madurai Mes's patrons since it opened its doors in SA, have recommended it to few of our non Indian friends as well. All of this changed today with an unacceptable and disgusting event. We had a DEAD ROACH in our To-Go soup order. Unfortunately, we found it in the most nauseating manner - when my child was consuming it. This has been reported to City of San Antonio - Health & Social Services. Never stepping foot in this place (across any location) again.

I have no idea how this place has 4 stars. Not only is the food flavorless, but it's also rotten and spoiled. The service was terrible. One of the appetizers didn't arrive until we were halfway through our main course, and one person in our party of three received their main course before another even got their appetizer. The meat in the biryani was clearly reheated and dried out. To top it off, the lassi was made with spoiled yogurt. They tried to charge us for that horrible lassi. This place is health hazard.

food slaps every time i go, can't recommend enough i love their chole bhatura and pani puri!

This is San Antonio's spot for Indian food! I have been here a few times, and I will difinitely be back. What makes Madura Mes so great is that the focus is on the food, and the whole of the Indian Subcontinent is well-represented in their menu. They of course have all if those dishes derived from Northern India you would likely see in most Indian restaurants, such as Vindaloo, Korma, Masala, and others familar to those who frequent most other Indian restaurants, yet they don't stop there. There's entire sections if the menu devoted to Southern India, and also an Indo-Chinese, portion of the menu, which looks very intriguing. I want to try it all. So far, I am in love with their chili chicken (Chicken 65), and last time I was theee I had a tiffin meal that included a dosa, which was what clenched it for me. Dosas are a delctable Southern Indian treat that is essentially a crispy crepe. Theirs practically melt in your mouth. I found both the servers amd regualr patrons to be quite helpful in navigating less familiar parts of the menu. They even gave me some extra dahl when I raved at how good theirs was. As I said before the atmosphere is very minimalist, in fact judging by some of the pieces in there I wouldn't be surprised if it was formerly a Mexican restaurant, but you go their because their food is legit. So if yiu like Indian food, and wish to expand your horizons on ut then check out Madure Mes!

Came here with my Punjabi Indian boyfriend and his parents and we all enjoyed a very delicious meal. We ordered gobi Manchurian, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, Channa bhatura, and all the dishes were extremely flavorful. We also ordered a mango lassi, but found that to be overly sweet. A few things to note: - they charge for water and do not offer tap water. It's 50 cents per bottle, and they bring it to the table without saying anything. We read reviews so we came prepared and did BYO - I see from historical reviews they have an AC issue. We went in October 2023 and they did not run their AC, only fans. It got a bit hot, but not uncomfortably so. I would imagine in the summer months, it would be pretty bad if their AC is not running/"not working" - we wanted to order the rava dosa, but unfortunately they only serve that on Mon/Wed/Thurs - they have a 5% cash discount

Recommend the dosa and thali. My favorite curry is chicken korma. Air conditioner is not blasted. It is almost warm in the summer there. They have lots of desserts available, packaged and ready to take home. They have lots of lassis already in the fridge to be served. They provide bottled water free of charge for each diner.

I'll start by saying the food was very good. We wanted butter chicken but ordered the tikka masala instead since that's what they had, it taste pretty much the same to me, very good. Mutton chips were also very good, just the right amount of spice and flavor with nicely cooked lamb. Hate to be negative but I gotta be honest... the eating experience and everything other than the food was not good. The AC was broken on this 105+ degree day, I understand that's not their fault so can't hold that against them. The real issue was with the service. It was a chore trying to get our server to bring and refill our drinks, never once checked back on us on their own, and I had to flag someone drown over 4 times to get service. It didn't help that their were 4-8 employees standing at the front seemingly not doing anything while customers are needing assistance. We ordered chicken and got fish instead, they look the same so I didn't know till I bit into it, thank goodness I'm not allergic to shellfish... I get it mistakes happen, we asked to have it replaced, it never came, then were still charged for it... Food saved the day but honestly won't be back.

Food was pretty good. We were craving South Indian food as usual and found this place online. I liked both their tomato & their onion chutney. Glad I read the other reviews prior to visiting, they are right. The AC's in the restaurant were still down, so they had fans everywhere. Also, they charge 50c per water bottle which is strange. I had called them a few times right when they opened around 6pm to check on their AC situation but no one picked up. We still ended up going. Hence taking off one star for these reasons.

Went to this place when we visited Austin for holidays. We were a group of 5 families and friends . We had to wait a bit to get the table , as the group is large I guess. But the food is worth the wait. As I recollect, I have tasted a little bit of everything from Dosa, kothu paratha, poori, chili panneer, chili chicken, ambur biryani, thalapakati biryani, Chintamani chicken, few soups. The kids had noodles which I did not taste but the kids seemed to like it. The items that stood out for me are chili panneer and chintamani chicken. We visited a second time 2 days after the first visit again because of chili panner and Chintamani chicken.

Fantastic restaurant! Everything we got was delicious which is not common! I was craving South Indian food and this was the perfect spot, they had a lot of vegetarian options, the idlys were so fluffy and soft. Best part was that their meat is halal so we were able to get the chicken Manchurian and biryani. The chicken biryani was full of flavor and the raita and salna were not watery but instead delicious! Manchurian also was absolutely amazing and not the traditional red in sauce kind but even better with moist pieces of chicken. Even the mango lassi was good and not overly sweet. I was only in San Antonio for two days and unfortunately they were closed on Tuesday otherwise would have gone again.

amazing! I wasn't expecting so much food! I downed this dish, it was incredible in flavor and variety. Will definitely come here again.

we fell prey for the name of the restaurant.. though ambience was not good the server welcomed us nicely.. we got excited after 4 hours travel but ambur briyani's chicken was stinking.. and every one in our family had vomitting in the night.. kothu parotta was nice.. but we are scared it could be same chicken they used.. saw buffet table in rusty conditions and we just asked for a spoon and they spoke to 5 members to get us one after 10 min. never understood why... paan was from frozen section.. they even charged us for the water bottle which was offered to us the time we stepped in.. thought its complimenatry.. we left with excitement and even tipped 20%.. took us few hours to see full impact

I'm very puzzled at the previous great reviews here. The place is certainly underwhelming in appearance, service and food. We were so looking forward to eating in for some Southern Indian food . The water situation is odd- you automatically get a very thin plastic bottle of water for 50 cents - I asked for a glass of ice thinking I could remedy the situation and at least pour the water into a better container...no luck - got a styrofoam cup over flowing with ice We ordered: Veggie Pakora -mostly thin onions and some potatoes with tons of batter - mostly just taste the besam batter Cheese Dosa - best of what we ordered but still barely any cheese and sauces that came it were sorta of flat and the sambol had no zip to it all Paleek paneer - one of our most fav items to order and sadly after a spoonful - couldn't figure out how this was supposed to be this dish other than it was green and did have some paneer in it -we sadly ate almost none of the as key spices were for sure missing Rice - minute rice maybe but worse- not basmati or jasmine at all....odd It was quite a drive for us and we were very sad about this experience The place was clean though :)

The restaurant itself is situated in a strip mall and the area looks shady at night. I went in and was overall average in terms of decor. But you can absolutely smell the curry leaf and authentic South indian kitchen aromas as you enter (this can be a plus or -ve). It's an interesting name - Madurai is the name of a town in the southern part of India. You will see the photos and decor in the restaurant influenced by Madurai temple and surroundings. Mes in India typically means a place of communal eating or tiffins. Since I have actually visited Madurai the town, the photos made me nostalgic and also slightly led to expect good food and better service. The menu is very confusing and fussy for no reason. They claim to be serving all types of food from India - north Indian curries, naan, indi-chinese, chat and lastly the food behind which the restaurant is named - south Indian food. Last time I visited such a restaurant, they could only cook one type of food well enough and the rest were lame. Also there are too many fine prints that confused me even though I've grown up eating south Indian food. Menu items are in south Indian terms and will absolutely need Google searches for a non-south indian to know what to expect. Also instead of masala dosa on the menu, they have 5 different types of fillings for an upcharge. Doesn't make sense to me! Please note - they seem to be making money off of water bottles because there is no option to opt for non bottled water and the charge is 50 cent per bottle. This was hidden in some fine print of the menu and the server did not mention this to anyone they were serving. The charging part is fine since it's their choice but not letting the customer know is bizarre and even more bizarre is no other option for water. Guess they are really set on making money if that each bottle from Costco which they really only pay 15 cents for. Sigh! Bad practices. The food itself was authentic - we loved the masala dosa and the filter coffee (hence the 3 stars). They were stingy with chutneys and the sambar but the dosa was so yummy, it made up for it. . I would either pass this entirely or come with really low expectations only for the food.

I knew very little about South Indian food before coming here, so I had some trouble with the menu, Madurai Mes has vegetarian section on their menu, so that narrow downs it a bit, but I still had to google a lot to find out what's vegan. I've been twice and so far I've tried the thali, an okra curry and the Mysore Dosa with potato curry and I loved everything! The service was underwhelming but the food made up for it. Overall it's such a great place and I want to come back soon!

I heard good things about Madurai Mes, so I came with high expectations. The location of this restaurant is in a strip mall, and can get a little shady at night. Service was good and the waitress was very attentive. I tried the samosa, tikka masala with lamb, and saag with paneer. The samosas were really good and a little bit spicy as well. Tikka masala and saag are two of my favorite dishes; they were good, but were a little bit less flavor than I anticipated. The tikka masala was a lot more creamier than the ones I have tried at other restaurants; the lamb as the protein was a great choice though (very tender). The paneer didn't have much flavor, which was disappointing. It tasted like bland spinach with a hint of salt. I would recommend the tikka masala over the saag here. They only serve bottled water, so we asked to receive tap water (so we didn't have to pay). They were hesitant, but eventually gave us the tap water.

Best Indian food I've ever had. Try their lamb korma, chicken biryani, and their mysore dosa!

Reliably tasty and a good variety. Had a great time every time I've been here. Food is reliably delicious. A good South Indian variety with a balance of indo-Chinese dishes as well. I've been here plenty times but I need to learn which dosas are crispy and which ones are nice and soft, buttery...rassam, khuzumbu, and Tom Yum are off the charts delicious...always. This is Plan A and except for Tuesday- it works every other day.

Mango lassi was amazing 5/5. The madras chili chicken tasted well fried but there was no actual flavor. didn't like it. Would rather have tried Chinese dry Manchurian. The mysore dosa was SPICY. I'm Pakistani and I enjoy desi food but wow, that hurt. Great flavor in the potato masala and daal. Chutneys we're all amazing and fresh tasting. But the heat could be lowered. They make a great dosa.

We used to come here all the time before the management change but it was horrible our last 2 visits. The plain dosa was cooked very nicely, but proportionately to the giant dosa they barely gave any sambar. I would recommend against ordering their chaat or tikka masala. The dahi puri and bhel had all the wrong flavor profiles and the chicken tikka masala was so sweet that we could not eat more than 1 bite. We asked the waiter to please make it less sweet and add spice and they just added water which just made it sweet and watery. No one wanted to clear our table. We had 4-5 empty appetizer plates on the table our entire meal. When the waiter brought out our entrees, we asked if they could take away the empty plates and he replied "Sorry, I don't do that." They do not have tap water, so if you want water, you have to pay for water bottles. The paint was chipping off the walls, the AC was not working, and the booth we were originally seated at had a giant tear in the cushion. I will not be back.

I had Mysore dosa and filter coffee. Both items were tasty. But I had to pay extra for masala (potato). Also, they brought bottled water without telling us there is an additional charge for it too. The place is big and there were plenty of available tables on a Saturday evening. The tables were clean. There were plenty of staff and we were attended immediately. The service was quick and the food was great. But charging extra for such small things ruined our experience a little. They did not even offer regular water.

This place is legit. Nothing else just good food. The food was not overpowered my spice juste enough to taste all the spice, all different flavor. The meat was tender, the dosa delicious crispy and melting in your mouth.

Bad customer service overall,the AC not working at all .the order was given waited 45 mins but not placed in the kitchen at all . Proper treatment given to customer from their community people

I have no idea why restaurant has 4 stars. I am a native Tamil so I know something about taste of tamilian food. Here are the NEGATIVES: a. They charge 50 cents for water bottle. Havent heard of this practice before. b. Prawn varuval was undercooked and the gravy tasted like vengaiya thakkali pachadi. b. Mutton varuval - not sure what meat this was. I think this was recycled multiple times since the mutton felt rubbery. Rest of the food was also sub-par. c. Three girls were just talking without checking if any customers needed anything. Terrible food, worst customer service makes this a ZERO star restaurant. How i wished Yelp gives us that functionality.

Absolutely awful. Went three times, tried two different locations (Austin and San Antonio), I still don't understand why people flock to this place. The service is rude and late, except one or two items the food was abysmal with stale fish, curries that all taste similar and bland, ambiance just chaotic and dirty. South Indian food is so hard to mess up but these guys have that achievement under their belt. When we complained about the food, the manager smelled it and said it's all fine, when the fish was stinking so bad we could not eat one bite of it. I wanted to give zero stars, but it's not letting me post.

Food is great but the service is slow when they get busy. Need to work on ambience and infrastructure

Rip off for a shit smell dirt place and food will give you vomiting sensation after you finish eating. Cheap quality but hefty price for crap. Each item is $15 beware!!! Ambiance is worst and food is yucky. If you like this place then probably you never been to good south India places. Don't waste your time and money. Health will be at risk.

As the name suggests, this is a typical 'mess' style informal dining experience. A good way to segway is that if you are looking for some authentic regional South Indian cuisine, this would be a go to place. The ambience is very plain, the service is prompt and efficient. Located in a strip mall setting, it has enough parking space.

Everything we ordered here was pretty good. We were seated immediately upon arrival and the dishes didn't take much longer to arrive after we placed an order. We ordered mango lassi, Chinese chili corn, medhu vada and ghee dosa. We liked everything we got. I would definitely recommend this space if you are looking for some good South Indian food.

DON'T go there. Just as their spelling of the restaurant, their service is broken as well. Their service is one of the worst I have experienced in United States. They deliver food(Dosa's) to wrong table, let it sit there for 5 mins and re_serve it back to us. I waited for my kothu Parota for an hour and then comes their waitress confirming if we got all items. Lastly, the most absurd thing is they charge 50 cents for water bottles and fun fact they don't serve normal water.

This place is one of my favorite Indian restaurants in the San Antonio area. We've been here a few times and everyone is always so sweet! My son is super talkative and they always stop at our table to have conversations with him. Lol. He loves it because they always give him a lollipop when he finishes his food! They provide a wide variety of Indian dishes. My absolute favorite here are the Dosas! I order this every time I go there. They are huge and freaking amazing! I always get the one with curried potato's in it. The sambar is delicious with the dosa. I also always order the chicken biriyani. It's one of my favorites. I definitely recommend this restaurant if you're looking for authentic Indian cuisine

Don't expect fluff or opulence. The ambiance is simple, but it's clean. The service and food are great. It's a family-style restaurant located near the intersection of Fredericksburg Road and Callaghan Road. Vegetable Thali AND Non-vegetable Thali. Both? Why not? You only live once. I am grateful for the foodies in my life that will explore a menu, and dine family style. Spices and flavors and textures, oh my! It was a delicious South Indian food experience. Their version of a bloomin' onion served with mint and tamarind chutney. It's a MUST! Perfectly crisp without being overly battered. I love the textures and savoriness of lentils and peanuts in rice. I wish the skin of the fish was more crisp, but the fish flaked easily with a fork. It was velvety smooth, and paired perfectly with the rice. Mango Lassi and Railyway Chai Tea are both deliciously different but both are worth trying. Dosa with potatoes is a surprisingly light dish. A fellow foodie asked for it to be cooked crispy. Word of warning: It's not a first date food. It's messy but fun; it's definitely another MUST try.

This place has been around a few years already, but we just heard about it yesterday and headed over there for lunch today. Delicious, authentic Indian food from both northern and southern India, which is hard to find in SA. You know it's the real deal when it's packed and you're the only non-members of that culture, and one of the very few eating with cutlery! Such a vast menu. We went for the Chicken 65 appetizer, the non-Vegetarian thali lunch special, and a lamb vindaloo (properly spiced- not mild the way most other places prepare it). The Thali was like a sampler platter- three different curry styles and three different proteins (goat, chicken, and fish). I'd never had fish curry before, but it was delicious. It also came with chili chicken, a fried cheese, soup, yogurt, chutney, two kinds of rice, bread, and dessert for $12.99. It was a great way to try many different things. The portions are generous. There was definitely spice in most dishes, but the server informed us beforehand and we like spicy food, so it was fine with us! I need to learn the fine art of eating curry with my fingers! There definitely seemed to be a technique or method to it based on what I observed at nearby tables. The ambiance was nothing at all to write home about and could definitely be a lot better (one star deducted for that). The service was good but slow, which I attributed to being quite busy at lunchtime. You know when a restaurant is full of customers from its own culture, it's got to be good! Tip: they seat you with two bottles of room temperature water. The fine print on the menu says each bottle is $1.50 If it were cold water, I'd consider buying in but I told them we didn't want it so we we weren't charged. Warm water for $1.50?? Anyway, great place for legit Indian food opposite Sangria on the Burg, not far from the medical center. We'll be back.

Worst place to go. I will never ever visit again. Close on Tuesdays.we went on Wednesday, and it was closed . Why? Alibi, no electricity. Why can't they have a generator? People like us went there driving 300 miles to eat. But disappointing.

Came here for dinner, wasn't super busy when we arrived. We got dosa and uttapam and they arrived quickly. The meals were served on a leaf on a plate, a nice touch. The chutneys were fantastic. The sambar was pretty good too. The mysore dosa could've used some more masala on the dosa.

Ordered Two Mysore masala dosa . Dosa itself is pretty good. Chutneys and sambar were ok but given in pretty less quantity. The major problem was weather was 99 degrees and restaurant was packed and can smell all sort of odors from other customers because the restaurant didi not turn on the AC. We were pretty much disappointed with the dine in experience due to this and couldn't try more dishes in the menu. If anyone is looking for dine in experience for South Indian i would recommend them to look elsewhere mainly due to sheer careless attitude of the staff

Best Tamil Nadu food I ever had... I went there around 2:10 pm, when it was less crowded. Loved the Thali... I visited them 2 days later again around 12:40ish, on weekend... super crowded!!! The wait times were long, so I left disappointed. But I can understand why it's crowded. Only feedback for them is manage crowds better, give customers buzzer proactively without asking. Because new people like me didn't know that I should take buzzer sooner. Overall, best food I ever had, so my review is for their food

Love the chicken 65! Forever a customer! Definitely recommend! I found this place because it was close to my old work and now I'll be back!

I've been looking for a go to spot to have dosas in San Antonio, and I was really excited when I saw this place. I went here with a friend to have dosas, and I ordered a masala dosa. The server asked if I wanted the masala in my dosa, which I found to be a weird question because why would I not want the masala in my dosa if I was ordering that? When I got my food, the aloo (potato) subji was lacking some flavor and the masala dosa did not have a lot of spice to it. Then, I was surprised when I got the bill that I was charged extra for the masala in my masala dosa. It was also our first time here, and no one told us that you have to go to the counter to pay. Overall, this place was fine, but they could do better to improve their dosas and service.

Went on a thanksgiving week end , got seated quick for a big group of 12 . I ordered bai style mutton biryani , mutton varuval , crab masala . Friends ordered mini ridden , naan , chicken butter masala , chola poori ,non veg Thali Biryani was top notch , typical bai biryani served in a banana leaf with salna and raita. Mutton masala was too good too but can add little more pepper powder Crab masala was my husbands fav I tasted little bit of the dishes friends ordered and everything was delicious starting from crispy dosa , tasty butter chicken , soft naan , good thali spread . We are going again

Delicious food and many options. quantity also perfect, must for someone who likes South Indian food and visiting San Antonio, loved it, will come again.

Amazing food idli like jasmine flower and coconut chutney like freshly ground from the tree. Sugar cane juice like in marina beach, kalaki like silk, and ambur biriyani better than in ambur lol. So many childhood memories coming back

I love the cheese dosa and the variety of dishes one can order. I hope to come back again and again and try new items. This is one of my favorite Indian restaurant to go to and recommend.

Excellent authentic South Indian food!! Similar taste as we get in India. Must try and would highly recommend.