Minerva Indian Restaurant

I love their butter chicken and get it all the time in the restaurant, it come with nan, sides, and rice. That is amazing and a great deal! I just ordered to go for the first time and ordered butter chicken, they gave me chicken masala and said I said masala (I can’t even pronounce the word) and didn’t give the sides and charged me for rice. I payed the exact same as in the restaurant but got half the meal. If you go order in the restaurant, NEVER ORDER TO GO. They were rude about giving me the wrong order and argued with me about my order.

If you are all the way out in Chantilly, it’s a good option of lunch.

The reputation for this place is very good, and this was my first time here, and I went with an Indian family. I had to qualify all that because my assessment is only for today, but the food was not very good. I’ve only eaten Indian food a few times, but my fellow more savvy Indian diners confirmed my suspicions. There was also 2 parties going on so perhaps the kitchen staff was overwhelmed.

For the price, MINERVA in Chantilly is the top option. Everything I’ve had at this location is very, very good. Far better than other Fairfax County «Minerva» locations. The only Indian place I’ve been to which is even close to being this good is Jaipur near Nutley & 66. The Fairfax City Bombay Café used to be comparable, but they’ve fallen off.
Try the chili chicken if they have it that day!

Consistently great food.
Love their biryani.
The mango lassi is delicious and dosas are excellent. Portion sizes are good.

Always great food and attentive service. This visit was no different. Would have given five stars but the glassware and menu were a bit dirty. This has never happened before and may have just been a fluke. Regardless, will definitely be back next time I’m in town.

Decent Indian buffet, good food. I think its owned by the same people who run the Minerva in Herndon, as the food is almost identical.
The restaurant itself is a bit old and run down though. If they spruced the place up, it would be much nicer.

I ate here with some coworkers for the lunch buffet.
Wouldn’t necessarily come here to impress people, as some of the dishes we grabbed weren’t fully clean and had remnants of food on them (ew).
The food though, was bomb.
I tried everything, but the butter chicken was among my favorites, along with the little fried dough ball things (cannot remember what they’re called for the life of me).
I highly recommend this if you’re with friends and just want to stuff your faces with as much delicious Indian food as possible (and you don’t have really high expectations for cleanliness).
I would definitely come here again if I was in the area and really, really hungry.

This was my family’s 3^rd favorite restaurant but now I don’t know, it may be off the list.
We enjoyed many meals there but picked up our usual on the way home and found it to be just not as good from NAAN not being baked well to the tandori chicken being tasteless. They were super good with all their dishes but seem to have lost their cook or something. IDK After some research it would seem that their owners were convicted of immigration fraud involving another location. Maybe that is connected to why we didn’t recognize the people there this time. Again IDK?
Regardless the food was not what it used to be and we hesitate to return again.
So we figured maybe they have new staff so lets go back to what we thought to be their sister restaurant in Herndon which turned out to be worse experience.

It’s never too early for an Indian buffet. Except when you’re 10 minutes early and patiently waiting for the doors to be open. I am a huge fan of Indian food, my family has cooked, dined, and explored Indian cuisine all over the world. I have to say a couple things– the buffet is tasty BUT I have had much more authentic, more tasty Indian cuisine in Fairfax. That being said, this place is very clean, organized, and delicious. If you’re in the Chantilly area for lunch you should stop by and have a bite, can’t beat a buffet for less than $ 13.

Been here twice for the lunch buffets. Not much items in the buffet but the price is also less compared to the others. The taste of the food is average and some are not up to the mark.

The best Indian buffet in the DC area. The only downside is it is in Chantilly (I live in DC).
The buffet has a huge variety of options. I came on a Saturday and not only was the spread impressive, the quality of the food and meats was amazing as well. I had dosa (try it with their peanut chutney), butter chicken, paneer tikka masala, South Indian chicken curry, chilli chicken, and more! The curries were all authentic and as good as home cooking.
I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for their Indian fix!

Food: have not been to this restaurant for dinner in a long time. The quality of food was average to below average. The spring rolls that we ordered were good. The rest of the items that included Hakka noodles, Briyani and chicken 65 were just below average. The paneer makni was good along with naan.
Ambience: not much of a crowd for a Friday evening.
Price: average.

I used to come to this Minerva whenever I was craving an indian buffet. NO MORE! The past few times I have gone, the food was terrible. Our last visit was the worst. I should have known not to eat there right away… 1) The Happy Father’s Day signed taped on the door — with a ripped off piece of paper, 2) NO ICE, and 3) The buffet lights flickered and burned out as I walked up. Awesome.
The food was dry and had a funky taste (veggies and meats). I will not be returning!

My wife and I went back here again. It was really delicious again. The food is made fresh and the staff are very nice. I like how they give you a pitcher of water and you can fill your own cup yourself. i hate having to wait for more water at restaurants. also when we almost finished the pitcher, they gave us a new one.
I’m not sure if I mentioned in my previous review, but you save about a dollar a person if you pay with cash. they accept credit cards but with cash you get a little discount (about $ 2 off for 2 people for lunch).

Minerva has the best Indian buffet in NoVA if the other 4 – 5 I’ve tried are any indication — by a long shot. The service is outstanding, the restaurant open and utilitarian, and the Bollywood movies playing in the background are a certain source of entertainment. Easy parking and access from ‘fiddy means it’s easily accessible and reachable to many of the local employers. The staff is welcoming and lets you have private conversations even in a large restaurant.
When I showed up with my dear wife for an unexpected lunch date, we were early and the only ones there — a bit worried, the very long buffet quickly drew us in. Within 10 minutes, the place was packed. Clearly this is a local favorite — funny I’ve never heard anyone talk about it, they must want to keep it to themselves.
I’m not the best at recognizing Indian food without a menu or some help, but I’m sure good at enjoying one. Favorites in ready supply included fresh, plentiful and thick na’an. Chicken Tikki Masala was done perfectly, plenty of it as well. The butter chicken naturally is outstanding — tough to beat. The Chicken Tandoori was very well spiced, and well done. Oddly enough there are relatively few salads but the ones there were excellent.
Nearby Rangoli (further out on 50, is IMHO overall better, but their lunch buffet isn’t nearly as good. Bottom line: If you need your Indian fix during the day, do Minerva; at night, do Rangoli.
Solid, solid 3. Another good visit and it’d get bumped up.

Minerva may not look like much, but it’s got it where it counts: the food.
When I first walked into Minerva I was a little thrown off by the décor (or complete lack there of). Tables everywhere, something about it didn’t feel like a restaurant. More like a makeshift dining room where somebody put up an array of tables and a buffet line. Very plain, but they also know you’re there for the food, not art and kitsch pasted on the walls.
And as for the food: good. Seriously good. The butter chicken is superb, and the Tandoori chicken was outstanding. There’s enough variety in spices and heat in the various dishes to offer something for everyone. Only downside from what I could tell is the dishes weren’t rated by spiciness, which may throw some people off who are intolerant to heat. Or people like me, who get uncomfortable with the world «mild». Yeah, I know. I’m that guy.
Nothing was overly spicy, but gave just enough of a tingle to cause few beads of sweat. Which is okay, because the flavors were more enough to make it worthwhile.
The food is cheap, it’s good and there’s plenty of it.

Stopped in for dinner while picking up my new used car out in the wondrous Chantilly, VA. Unilocal led me to this Indian spot in a nearby strip mall, and… it was about what I expected! A-​OK!
I’ll give you the high and the low:
Bad news first. It started off a bit questionably, with papadum that lacked seeds or spice and had a little bit of a puffy quality. Luckily, it was the most disappointing part of the meal.
The high point was realizing the ridiculous quantity and variety of foods that come with your dinner entrée. It’s literally a tray full of side dishes. When they put the first one down on the table, I thought it was to share. Turns out, it just comes with every entrée (unless you order it a la carte). It was fun to sample from, and most everything, entrees included, were at least pretty good. Not worth driving to Chantilly for, by any means, but certainly fine mouthfuls if you’re in need of some out that way.

Decided to experiment a little and came here for their lunch buffet. The place is neat and clean.
Enjoyed their buttered chicken, naan with onions, those sweet balls made of flour, salad and multiple chutney on the side.
EVerything was a delight to my palate. Staffs are attentive to picking up the plates and making sure the pitcher of water is full.
Its cheaper to pay in cash than with a credit card. Don’t forget to tip for good service.

This is a great place to get your Indian food fix. The portions are large and you can choose a la carte options if you don’t want all the heaping sides of curry and lentils. I recommend the dosas, butter chicken, and lamb curry, very tasty.
My party was amused by the Desi music videos and Bollywood films playing on the tvs around the room. Decent atmosphere, has never been very crowded when I have visited. I found the service to be a little slow but other than that, Minerva’s was a good choice. Fellow Indians and Desi kana aficionados may not be too impressed by the menu, but it gets the job done at a reasonable cost.