Biryani Mania

Found this little piece of gem after fishing nearby. A lot of different varieties of Indian dishes. The Tandori Chicken, Curry Lamb and Chicken Marsala were delicious. We
Even got free dessert from the owner. We got in at 5 minutes to 9pm and he actually stayed late for us. (They’re closing at 9pm
On Sundays). Even though it is a fast food restaurant, but the place is clean and with patio seating. It’s a nice place to sit out during the hot days. The food prices are very reasonable. We would come back again.

Love Indian Food.
But, not this place. It was just okay. At first, I thought, wow, this place is cheap ! But then the portions came out and I was disappointed. Still love Naan n Curry for quick, delicious, and affordable Indian food ! Other favorite: Sargam — Walnut Creek, they often give coupons.
Sorry, I wanted to love this place because it’s independently owned… but I just couldn’t.

«What? One Star?», you ask. Well let me list the reasons.
Called the number listed and it didn’t work.
Went in and had the gut instinct that I should leave immediately (damn me for not listening!).
Poor customer ahead of me got his order all screwy.
Poor me got my order all screwy.
This place was so disorganized like chickens with their heads cut off.
Got charged $ 9.23 for something that was listed at $ 6.99.
They were low on butter chicken and heard the woman microwave some extra chicken. I saw her bring it out in a Glad container.
90s alternative rock playing in an «Indian» restaurant.
I think you get the picture. I should have just gone to Swagat. Stay away!

Their tag line is Indian Fast Food and the service was very fast (and über friendly) but the food was far from «fast food» quality. It was all fresh, from scratch, and very tasty. Portions were generous and the naan was probably the best I’ve ever had. Right out of the tandoori oven, too.
We were offered samples and stuck to our favorites, chicken tikka masala and butter chicken. Both were great so we ordered the special that came with a portion of each, lentil soup, rice, mixed veg and nann. My husband, who is crazy for spicy, asked if there were any peppers or spice that could be thrown on his. The owner shared some of his special hyper hot pepper blend a friend brought back from overseas from him. You can’t get it here in the US and my husband ate probably a full ¹⁄₈^th of the container and the owner wasn’t upset at all. He was a lovely gentleman and very accommodating. The prices were very, very reasonable.
I can’t wait to bring my son to try their lamb and goat curries.

I initially went with a friend to Biryani as a fluke and I’m glad we did because the food is very delicious. What I like about the menu is that you can get plenty of food at very reasonable price. Plenty of food, enough to fill and fuel you up for a workout.
My suggestion? Order the the Thali, which is a combination order with 2 curries, rice, deal, naan with raita and chutneys. This is my usual order.

Awesome! The food was really good, the prices are decent and the service is most excellent! This is a place I will be returning to again.
I really liked how my friend and I were able to try samples before ordering. It was just like those froyo shops.

My friend and I were concidering where to eat and she chose this place. It’s a bit hard to find, becuase it’s kind of behind a building. Which already made it a winner with me… I have long decided that the harder to find spots are the better ones.
The gentleman who was sitting on his laptop when we walked in jumped up and was instantly charming and gracious. He asked if we had Indian food before with a grin… when we both replied we had… he grinned bigger and asked if we had had it there… he truly seemed delighted when we said no.
Next thing we know, he is spooning up samples of almost everything… we almost filled up! lol! ALL of the samples were tasty! I had a very hard time narrowing it down to what I DID get.
So for under $ 12 I got rice, naan, lentil soup, and 2 curries. He even slipped me a little sample of something I hading tried and a soda. (glad he did!) It was WAY more than I could possibly eat. The servings we generous, hot, and fresh.
Truthfully all of the food was so good that I over stuffed myself so I didn’t have to leave it behind since I was heading to a baseball game afterwards.
We weren’t rushed at all… I enjoyed the music… and we were even asked when I got up if he could get us anything more… He didn’t even bring the check to our table… so there was no awkward moment about being rushed out.
I will most definatly return! Great service, Great food, an all around gem!

This place was awesome! Fast food spot in the heart Concord Square. All the dishes were delicious. $ 30 for four ppl and still had a to go… can’t beat it.

After going back and forth in my mind about Biryani Mania vs. Naan + Curry (both in Todos Santos), I finally decided that there need not be one superior, but two stand-​alone champions. While I prefer the food at N + C, the service at Biryani Mania is better than any other restaurant in the area, hands down. I am always greeted warmly, and they eagerly introduce you to all the available curries, with samples if you need them. I like being able to see the food I’m ordering before it’s put in front of me.
I have been several times now, and always get the thali (combo) plate ($ 7.99 for rice w/​2 curries of choice, raita, and bread — different from your traditional naan). It is a GREAT value, I have never left hungry OR sick to my stomach — I can say with some other places that it’s a bit of a «crapshoot,» if that isn’t too graphic. Chicken tikka is solid, though I really enjoy their vegetarian curries. Try the okra if they have it, it’s a deliciously unique experience. They also have great Mango Lassi ($ 2.50).
The interior is always spotless, they have a nice patio to enjoy on a sunny day, and I can always find parking easily. Added bonus are the jams they always have going. Nothing better than some Sublime with my butter chicken.

We got takeout from here the other day, thanks in part to a LivingSocial coupon. The setup is sort of fast-​food style, similar to Kasa Indian in SF, if you’ve been there— most everything is already precooked and sitting in steam tables ready to go. Great option for lunch if you work near Todos Santos and prices are incredibly cheap for the portions too. ($ 5 and under for a curry!)
So yeah, we ordered a ton of food for four people and had plenty of leftovers.
Tikka masala, chicken curry, lamb curry, veggie biryani, the veggie special, roti, and mango lassi. Everything was intensely flavorful and tikka masala spicy enough. Curries were a little oily, but not enough to bother me in the least. The only thing I didn’t really love was the roti, but only because I would’ve preferred naan, which they don’t happen to serve.
I’d say Biryani Mania is a pretty fab option for cheap-​eats in the Walnut Creek /​Concord area.

Er, home cooking? No thank you. My mom was a lousy cook so I have spent most of my life avoiding restaurants that advertise home-​style food. Do I needs those nightmares again? Haven’t I spend enough on therapy already?
Anyway, Biryani Mania is different. This is good home cooking, the kind that is edible and enjoyable. My wife and I have eaten there at least half a dozen times and here are the things we like about Biryani Mania:
— Super nice and friendly owners
— Casual modern atmosphere
— Decent selection of vegetarian and non-​vegetarian dishes
— Reasonable prices and portions
— Consistent quality
— No torturous Bollywood music
— No nasty cilantro sprinkled on top
The food can be greasy and spicy at times. Still, this is our go-​to place for Indian in Concord. Parking is inadequate for the building but we can usually find a spot about a block away.

My boyfriend loves Indian food and I didn’t… until I came here. It’s clean, quick, and very tasty along with being very affordable.

This place is absolutely no frills, but I have no problem with that if I get cheap Indian food! And prices here are cheap.
However, portions are a bit disappointing and smaller than most places I’ve been to. The daal was strange and included kidney beans in addition to lentils. That was fine, but I also did not find it particularly flavorful. Good and plentiful rice and I liked the substitution of Roti for the traditional Naan. The rest of the food was ok, but nothing outstanding. I did like the eggplant curry, but I could have sworn that the cheese in the saag paneer was cold (and the spinach was warm!).
On top of that, they did not open on time. This is a serious negative when you have fussy kids that hate waiting around! The owners were super nice and apologetic about this though so I forgive them. But it may have explained the cold paneer in my saag.

Went here our first time and ordered the «thali» plates — rice with two curries, lentil soup, roti, raita and chutney, for $ 6.99. In theory it sounded great, but in reality the portions were TINY. I’m not sure if it was just our particular server, or what, but they seemed to be very sparing with how much food was put on our plates. We got a decent amount of rice, but only one small scoop of each curry. Less than half of the bowl was filled with the soup (and it was already a small bowl). Raita and chutney came in little sauce «to go» cups. The worst was the rice pudding — $ 1.50, and it also came in a «to go» sauce cup. I really couldn’t believe how stingy they were with the portions. The food itself was pretty good, but I might as well spend an extra $ 3 and go to a buffet, which will have a far larger variety of dishes and is, of course, unlimited (to a reasonable extent haha).
The staff is very friendly and extremely helpful. The music they played was pretty awesome also. However, go to any Indian restaurant in Berkeley and the portions will be double the size, easily… with unlimited chai!

Just stopped by for some dinner. The food looked good and the smells were captivating. I ended up getting a dinner plate to go.
I got rice, Chicken Masala, and Butter Chicken. Both curries tasted great. I liked the flat bread that I got on the side, but where is the naan? No naan at an Indian restaurant? Whats with that. Oh well. I’ll still eat here again.

Well… It’s home-​ish! In this price range, you can’t have this many items.
I took two ‘thali’es — a veg and another chicken curry and lamb.
The dal was yummy and the taste of Lamb was like home.
The owner, Kalyan is a very friendly person. I never had an warm welcome in an Indian restaurant before. It’s clean unlike other places, I’ve been to.
Being an Indian, I deliberately give this place 5 star.
I would strongly recommend it.

Discovered this place and I am glad that I did!
The place had a very warm and friendly feel to it. Met the owner and he brought out what he thought we would enjoy.
He was right on! The meal was delicious! We got 2 Thali plates with an assortment of meat’s and curries.
I have to note that the ambiance was totally cool because the music played was Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, and throw in Guns and Roses.
Great Indian Food, and Rock’n Roll, you just can’t get better than that!
By the way, this place only accepts cash, but there is a Wells Fargo and Bank of America nearby.

Wow… I go to Todos Santos Plaza all the time and had never noticed this place until today. I had lamb curry, chicken masala, and rice– for $ 4.99! Unbelievable deal, food was pretty darn good too. My only complaint was the rice was just warm, not hot.
I used to hate my fast food options in this area– I had been going to Palace Hotdogs, but if I can get a good plate of curry for less than the price of a hotdog, seems like a no-​brainer to me.

Bumping to 5 stars as I have gone back here several times and enjoyed fantastic home cooked food every time. This is my go to lunch+dinner spot now. The Thali is an outstanding value IMO. It comes with rice, roti, 2 curries (variable, keeps changing every day), raita (spiced yoghurt), daal, and some achaar (spicy Indian pickle). All that for $ 6.99! Even a hearty eater like me can have a filling lunch and save up some food for dinner.
I have also tried their Biryani and that tastes great as well. Their desserts are also nicely done, with both both the kheer and gulab jamun having just the right amount of sweetness.
So don’t just walk, run to this hidden gem of a restaurant to enjoy fresh, great tasting Indian food.

OH MY GOD. If you love Indian food, you must come here. If you hate Indian food, you must come here as it will change your preconceptions of all Indian food.
My fellow Unilocalers, thank you so much for introducing me to this wonderful oasis of Indian bliss!
My wife and I were craving Indian food tonight, so naturally I went to Unilocal to find the best Indian food around. I found a few places that I had already been to, but this place was new and had stellar reviews, so I figured I would head down and check it out.
When I got there, I was promptly greeted by the owner. He was very pleasant, and took his time with me while he guided me through his menu. Make no mistake folks, this isn’t a traditional sit down and order place, its very much so geared to fast take out, although there is an abundance of seating in the restaurant.
Anyway, onto the food. Simply amazing. Just thinking about some of the entrees makes my mouth water! The chicken masala is simply the best I have ever had! The lamb curry was delicious… and this is coming from someone that hates lamb!
The owner was gracious enough to provide me with some samples of stuff to take home and try with my wife. We found some things that we both liked, some things that I liked and some things that only she liked, there was only one dish that we both didn’t like.
We seriously got enough food to feed 5 to 6 people, and it only cost us 20 bucks! Come here, you won’t regret it!