• Udupi Palace

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  • White Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Indian
Delivery
Take-out
Catering

Vegetarian Indian restaurant, affiliated with the Udupi in San Francisco Mission District. Most dishes can be made vegan. A walk from downtown Berkeley BART. Open Mon 11:30am-9:00pm, Wed-Sun 11:30am-9:00pm.


Venue map for Udupi Palace
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22 Reviews

First Review by secret reviewer

vegandinosaur

Points +318

Vegan
26 Dec 2023

Udupi combo is the way to go

Everything here is great, but I love the combo dishes (dosa or uttapam). Good value and excellent food.

Gopala108

Points +2612

Vegan
15 Aug 2023

delightful South Indian vegetarian cuisine with many vegan options

So I recently found myself in Downtown Berkeley on a Saturday night, Lo & Behold Vegan Butcher's Son closes at 5pm on Sat & Sun, so what to do, what to do?

I rolled on over to Udupi Palace for dinner as this was my second time there. This isn't the place to go to impress a date as that would be Cha Ya for vegan Japanese cuisine yet Udupi Palace is quite alright in a simple setting. I spent three years abroad in India over several winters & a significant time in S. India so appreciate pure-veg S. Indian food.

If you aren't familiar w/ South Indian food here is a great place to give it a try. As far as I know this is Berkeley's only all vegetarian Indian restaurant so kudos for that. Most of the food is vegan by default yet store manager Jaffar Salik says anything on the menu can be made dairy free & don't worry. As is common in India eggs are considered non-veg so there are no eggs here for those vegans looking to avoid them.

Dosas are a gigantic crepe made from fermented & rice filled w/ potatoes, veggies, or spinach. There are eight types of dosas available here. Another option is uthappam, which are pancakes made from the same batter of dosas wrapped in spices w/ options of veggies, hot chilis, or onions.

The food here tends to be on the mild side & traditional Indian food especially in India can be super spicy as I have had my taste buds burned off there. If you like things on the spicy side I am sure if you tell the server you would like it spicy they can probably arrange for that.

My previous visit I went w/ a friend & I got the Udupi combo for $10.95 that comes w/ your choice of dosa, uthappam & is served w/ idly & menu vada. This is a great option for those unfamiliar w/ South Indian food.

My first visit I also shared the samosa chat for $5.50 w/ my friend. This comes w/ samosa & chick peas topped w/ spices.

This visit I decided to go w/ the S. Indian Thali for $11.95. I was delighted that this can come vegan upon request. It is quite awesome & comes as a platter w/ soup, curries, rice, & desert. I don't think the vegan version came w/ desert yet there was plenty of other assorted dishes so didn't miss the desert.

The menu here is quite extensive yet the two best ways to go in my humble opinion is getting the Udupi combo or South Indian Thali made vegan as these are probably the best dishes on the menu!

I will be back!

Pros: delightful all vegetarian South Indian cuisine , many vegan options

hanana

Points +101

Vegan
11 Jun 2023

Delicious curry

Fast service, delicious food. Curry comes with a side of puri.

Cons: Allergens (cashew) not labeled on the menu

shreyp

Points +67

Vegetarian
30 May 2023

Lots of amazing vegetarian options

The inside is pretty casual and nothing great from an ambience pov. Our table ordered Thali, Spinach Potato Dosa and Gobi Chettinad Dosa. I had the Gobi Dosa and I felt the Dosa was not as crispy as I like it to be especially when it's fresh out of the kitchen. The Gobi curry in the Dosa was good, decent spice level but has an exceeding number of large pieces of onion. It felt like it had more onion than Gobi and I left them all the onions.

The spinach Potato Dosa and Thali was well liked by the others. I will probably try them next time.

Pros: Everything Vegan Unless Marked, Lots of Vegan and Vegetarian Options , Decent Spice level

Sjjk12

Points +1077

Vegan
02 Oct 2022

Same excellence as the SF location

Udupi is an SF staple, and the Berkeley location does not disappoint. Dosa and uttapam are amazing staples here. Nothing new here, just confirming the hype. A delicious place to stop.

gggggggggg

Points +55

Vegan
08 Feb 2022

One of the best meals of all time?

Tasty, reasonable prices, just what the doctor ordered. Clearly marked vegan options and options that can be made vegan.

Updated from previous review on 2022-02-08

ShaneGarcia

Points +18

Vegan
16 Dec 2021

Love this place

I can’t say happy I am to find a place that makes amazing masala dosas. On top of delicious food the people who work here are incredibly friendly.

Pros: Lots to choose from! , Tasty, Quick

villain

Points +7039

Vegan
13 Sep 2021

Good price and good flavors

Not the best Indian food I've had but still a good choice for Berkeley! Everything is vegetarian and menu items marked with two stars (**) can be made vegan so there are many options. The samosas are delicious. The only downsides are that the portion of rice that comes with the food is easily a third of what I need, and none of the dessert options can be made vegan. Regardless, I'm really happy with Udupi Palace. The restaurant maintains its laid back, friendly environment even when they're more crowded. The food came out very quickly.

Updated from previous review on 2021-09-12

Pros: Quick to bring out food, Low price, many vegan options, Friendly staff

Cons: Small serving of rice, No vegan desserts

isabeldetre

Points +30

Vegan
05 Jul 2020

FAVORITE RESTAURANT

Almost entirely vegan and so so so good!

powerleegirl

Points +57

Vegetarian
24 Jun 2020

Dhosas to die for

Love the dhosas here and the mango lassi. So many great finds on the menu.

DarinBolt

Points +26

Vegan
07 Feb 2020

Udupi Palace is fantastic

Number 1: "Idly, steamed rice and lentil patties served with sambar and chutney." and #30. "Udupi Special Spring Dosa" is excellent. Very good, yeah thank you,

Pros: Lots of delicious vegan options., Lots of vegan options.

leahk

Points +264

Vegan
09 Dec 2019

Reliable inexpensive vegan option

Had many a tasty dosa, uttapam and thali here over the last few years. When you ask for a vegan preparation, they make sure you get the same amount of food with substitutions, for example in the thali. Tiny bit on the greasy side sometimes is my only complaint.

ChristopherSJ

Points +60

Vegan
20 Jun 2019

Lots of vegan options!

Delicious and lots of vegan options. Inexpensive, too.

Cons: No naan! Sob!

Josh Fossgreen

Points +144

Vegan
21 Feb 2019

When I need a dosa fix...

I go to Udupi. Reliably yummy masala dosa, and I think they've leveled up their coconut chutney lately.

I wish the menu was a little clearer about vegan-itude - most things are vegan, but not everything that isn't is clearly labeled. PLEASE ask your server if you're not 100% sure about something, they seem to know what's in the food in my experience.

Also, learned recently that some of the vegan entrees come with non vegan sides - eek! Be careful if you're not hip to how Indian food is usually made, and ask questions regardless. For example, the chana masala entree is listed as vegan, and comes with rice, pickles, poori, papadum, which are all vegan, but also comes with raita which definitely isn't vegan (could be if they wanted it to be, but I confirmed with waitress tonight that it's made with animal dairy).

Tighten up your menu, Udupi!!!

Updated from previous review on 2019-02-08

Pros: Yum, Moderate price

Cons: Menu needs to be clearer, Some vegan dishes come with non vegan sides

frazum

Points +968

Vegan
14 Nov 2017

South Indian food

Shared a Potato Dosai set and Samosas with a friend here. What I ordered were tasty and the price was moderate. I need to try other dishes to give an honest review, but given that I don't live in SF. This will have to do. It was worth going. Given that it was quite packed during the lunch time. I'd say people do enjoy the food here.

Pros: Easy to find and tasty food

GlennVeggieRunner

Points +53

Vegan
13 Aug 2014

Tasty dishes take the asterisk out of vegan dining

Tired of uninspired vegan menu offerings, such as, garden burger or hummus with veggie sticks? Udupi Palace's menu is the ultimate is budget-wise, tasty, veg-friendly. Single asterisk items (11) are non-vegan, vegetarian which use ghee, egg, cottage cheese yogurt or cream. Double-asterisk items (11) may be veganized upon request. Remaining 35 food items are vegan. For a famished family of four, familiar with dosas, the Udupi Combo was just what we needed. It took a moment for an employee to appear to greet and seat us. Served neatly on a tin tray our huge dosas and accompaniments were tasty. Combo includes one white rice and lentil patty and one fried lentil doughnut. Both paired yummily with coconut chutney. For an extra dollar your combo can be from one of the higher-end dosas, such as the Udupi Special Spring Dosa packed with cabbage, peas and cilantro added to the basic potato and chutney dosa. The combo is also available with your choice of Uthappam (rice and lentil pancake). Bargain family dining, although not organic.

Pros: Dozens of vegan options, Priced right with generous portions, Clean, well-maintained interior

Cons: Menu lacks sufficient descriptions for t, Not all vegan, Not organic

HollyCalifornia

Points +47

Vegetarian
02 Aug 2014

good Southern Indian food

Totally vegetarian restaurant. We like the thali (platter with about 8 small dishes including dessert) and the spinach/potato dosa. Not much atmosphere, but pleasant enough. Good prices and daily specials.

imightnotloveyou

Points +62

Vegan
23 Apr 2012

Spicy and delicious!

I love Indian food and am sooo happy this place exists.
Everything I've ordered has been tasty and the people that work there are really nice.
The food is a bit oily but that's normal for Indian food. I recommend the Special Vegetable Curry. Yomay!

Pros: lots to choose from, spicy!, tasty!

Cons: it's a bit "cozy" inside

vegan_geek

Points +68

Vegan
12 Feb 2011

Good Southern Indian

They have good southern Indian food such as dosa and uthapham. Not much atmosphere, but the prices are low.

Pros: Food, Price

Cons: atmosphere

m@earthville

Points +9252

Vegan
29 Jul 2010

Respectable Indian meals at reasonable prices

Udupi Palace does pretty good dosas, vadas, and other South Indian staples. Their samosas are well above average. The staff have always been very warm and friendly. Whenever we've taken friends from India, most of them have been very pleased, with few disappointments.

We would go more often if they used organic ingredients and made efforts to be eco-friendly. There are now so many more health-conscious vegan places in the East Bay that we rarely eat at those with a lower bar for healthful ingredients.

Pros: Better than average Indian food, Quite reasonable prices for the location

Cons: Not all vegan, Not organic

m@earthville

22 Feb 2013

PS: though they aren't all vegan, they are quite vegan-friendly

brianedwardgreen

Points +40

Vegan
27 Jan 2008

Good Food Cheap

Coming from a city that has, for the most part, only two kinds of restaurants--steakhouses and burger joints--I was not prepared for the variety of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in Berkeley. There are incredibly upscale (and expensive) vegan restaurants, and there are modest, inexpensive (and yet still vegan!) places like the Udupi Palace. Possibly the name seems slightly ironic, because the restaurant is not large or fancy. The plates are plastic, the walls and tables are worn, and the decorations are not as fancy or colorful as I've seen in other Indian restaurants. But the prices are low, the portions are large, and the food is delicious. My wife and I ordered dosas, and they were huge! This is the ideal place for students or anyone on a budget, for a quick lunch or dinner, or for fans of Indian food (like my wife and me). The only people I wouldn't recommend it to are business people looking for a place to impress clients, or for couples wanting someplace romantic to dine (not fancy enough).

Pros: Good food, Cheap, Big portions

Cons: A bit worn-down

secret reviewer

Points +28

Vegan
12 Jan 2007

Good food

I like it here. I've only had two of the dosas, one of them my favorite (masala dosa), samosas, and the lentil donuts (they have an indian name though). I've liked everything. The dining atmosphere itself is casual, and the staff is friendly, helpful, and accomodating.

Pros: great food, accomodating staff, reasonable prices




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