Pavani Express

Food: This is where I give Pavani its 4-star rating. The place gains some brownie points in that there are hardly any pure Indian vegetarian restaurants in San Antonio. My personal recommendation is to try one of their dosas (lentil/rice Indian pancake); I especially enjoyed their Mysore Masala dosa (with spicy powder and potatoes/peas filling). Their dosas are quite large and can suffice for up to two meals unless one is quite hungry. The lentil soup and chutneys (sauces - coconut, tomato, and peanut) that accompany the dosas are also quite good. They also have nice side items (really like their vegetable cutlet and onion pakodas - fried fritters) and several rice and Indo-chinese options too. A decent range of beverages too. Price: Very reasonable. Most items are within $10, and some are under $5. Service: yes, they cook the food for you. That being said, we have to pick it up from their counter once the food is ready (they won't bring it out to the table) but it helps me get off of my sedentary/lazy ways and go bring it back to the table. We also have to get our own water, serving utensils and napkins, so I guess its hard to rate them on service. The food does come out in a reasonable amount of time (within 15 min or less usually). The lady taking my order is a pleasant person - her main language is Spanish but she can communicate decently in English. Cleanliness: definitely needs improvement here, but not to the point of oh wow, I cannot imagine eating here. Tables, serving areas, and bathrooms are reasonably clean, though it does help to have an extra wipe down of the tables before/after eating just in case. Ambience: not the fanciest of places, definitely not a romantic type of setting. Its pretty much a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but I don't really care as long as the food is good and service isn't horrible.

After a while had good south Indian food buffet. This is the kind of food they were known for.

Two words: Gobi Manchurian!!! Get this dish and you will thank me later! I am always hunting for good lunch eats that are close to work. After reading positive reviews on Yelp about this Indian vegetarian place and learning that it is close by, I was determined to try it out. Today, I stopped by Pavani for lunch with a foodie friend. Man, evers road does have some good restaurants. I frequent this area for Thai taste and pho hong phat but never knew Pavani was just right across the street. I read it was a hole in the wall place so I was afraid that it would be dirty and unpleasant. But the inside was actually much better than I thought. I guess a hole in the wall has different categories too. This wasn't in the scary ass category for sure. They don't have servers here so you order at the counter and go get your own food. That's OK with me but we didn't get water to drink which was a bit out of the norm to me. We ordered masala rava dosa and Gobi Manchurian to share. Our orders were ready within a few minutes. The only complaint I have is that they serve food on plastic plates. But I knew I was eating at a hole in the wall so i was fine with it. The dosa was huge! It is similar to a type of Chinese crepe. It came with three different dipping sauce and a tiny curry bowl as a side. The Gobi Manchurian came with white rice. I did some research on this dish before hand. It is a stir fried cauliflower in spicy sauce with chopped onions and cilantro. It is a Chinese influenced dish. I am not vegetarian but I am a big fan of vegetables including cauliflower. This dish was made to perfection, the cauliflower was not too hard or mushy. It was cooked just right with the right amount of spice! I had the same satisfaction just as eating meat, but much healthier for sure. Oh, sooo tasty!!! The dosa was good, not great. Guess I am not into the potato and peas fillings. Maybe I will try the vegetable spring dosa next time. Or I'll just skip the dosa and get the Gobi Manchurian only!Overall, I was quite happy with my new discovery. The price was reasonable too. Now the Pavani has been added to my lunch go-to places!!!

This place still has it! Stopped in for our favorite Gobi Manchuria with a side of white rice. We shared and it was plenty of food and we left satisfied. The food was fresh, hot, and so full of flavor. They haven't updated anything, but that's fine with me, because they have consistent produced some amazing food! I can't wait to go back and grab one of their dosa's.

I became vegan 15 months ago. Finding good vegan food in San Antonio is a little frustrating but the owner of Pavani (Reddy) has introduced me to a new world of flavors as he guides me through the extensive menu cooking only the ones that are vegan. They are all vegetarian . So far I've tried 3 different types of Dosas, Lemon Rice, and the Gobi Manchuroan Dry. They have all been excellent , the portions are huge. The soup served with many entrees is call Sambar, and it's made with crushed lentils, tomatoes, and potatoes. Don't be surprised if you find yourself licking every last drop from the styrofoam bowl that it's served in.My wife is a bona-fide meat eater, but loves the vegetarian dishes here. This place is a must try foor plamt based diet folks.

Great food for great price. Love their sambhar, coconut chutney and their Madras coffee is equally good too! Its not a trendy place to sit and dine but if you only care about the food, I would say this is by far best south Indian place. Quick service and clean restrooms are a big plus.

I only come here for the Gobi Manchurian because it's oh so good!I found this place via my non-vegetarian Indian friend. I gave him a funny look when he suggested getting vegetarian food because I'm a meat eater by default. But after one bite of the Gobi Manchurian, I was converted!Gobi Manchurian is an Indian Chinese dish of fried cauliflower (gobi=cauliflower) florets that are sauteed with onions. At Pavani, the cauliflower is cooked to perfection and has never been mushy. The dish has a nice level of heat that keeps you craving more. Oh and they are very generous with the rice! You will leave here full and happy!Expect to seat yourself, serve your own water, and clean up after yourself. Sometimes the food is slow to come out, but it's worth the wait. If you would rather skip all that, place an order for pickup! Sorry no delivery.

People in my office raved about this place, and I went this afternoon, unexpectedly, with this same group of co-workers.Wow.The portions were huge, and the seasoning/spice levels were perfect. For example, in the samosas, which were traditional potato and pea, there was an extra punch -- which might have been due to caraway or mustard seed (or both). Also, the food was not oily or greasy. I ordered a dosa -- their specialty -- and the crust was light without being soggy with grease.A co-worker ordered the Gobi Manchurian which was one of the most surprising, outstanding dishes I've eaten ALL YEAR. That's right, all year. Perfectly-cooked cauliflower (not hard and sulfuric, not mushy), in a dark, tangy, sweet and spicy sauce (reminiscent of good General Tsao's Chicken), with green onions, regular onions, green peppers, and cilantro. It was unfortunate that I only had 2 bites, but I plan to return to Pavani and order this dish on my own.The only reason why I am not giving this restaurant 5 stars is because the menu does not have any descriptions next to the items -- how in the world are you supposed to know what to order? Luckily, I was with people who had been there before, who could guide me.I plan to return to Pavani to experience more delicious surprises.

This place getting bad as time goes. The quality and taste of food is going down. I've been here multiple times and not even a single time I was treated well. The customer service is worst here. The place needs to be more neat. I would expect little respect being a customer. Guys atleast consider us like a human. Again thanks to gal for making me write reviews and contribute my suggestions via yelp.

Excellent South Indian food served with a lot off warmth and love. I'd them for my daughter's engagement at my house in my backyard and they served live dosas and everyone who attended the event were so happy.