Saffron Indian Bistro

San Carlos, United States

3.5

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 650-593-4269
Website:
saffronindianbistro.com
Address:
1143 San Carlos Ave, San Carlos, CA, 94070
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
360 ftSan Carlos
1.3 miBelmont
1.6 mi73 and 273 Buses
Categories:
QR code
Download QR Image Download vCard

Map

Streetview

Activate map

Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch, Dinner
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Open now
Local time (San Carlos) 5:40 PM Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Sunday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm

Description

Specialties

Saffron Indian Bistro is a family owned restaurant situated in the sophisticated dining destination of San Carlos. We serve Gourmet North Indian cuisine and have been successfully converting nay sayers to lovers of Indian food for over ten years.

We feature an ever-​changing menu that is sure to please the Meat eaters, Vegetarians and Vegans alike, including items that are Gluten Free.

History

Established in 2003.

Saffron opened in March of 2003 at this location and was an entirely different restaurant from the one you are dining in today. We were a self-​serve restaurant, and sold food from behind a deli case. Entrées came as a platter, and we were essentially a café. We served many of the same dishes: our famous butter chicken, our Channa Masala, and of course, our delightfully fluffy naan.

At the time, our restaurant was only permitted to have 12 seats. Gradually, as our business became more popular, we felt as though we owed our customers more. The City of San Carlos finally granted us more seating capacity. We removed the deli cases, added room for a buffet, and became a formal sit down restaurant, all within a year of opening.

To this day, we remain close to our roots — those of experimentation. We are constantly making improvements to our menu and our restaurant. Enjoy!

Meet the Business Owner

Ajay W.

Business Owner

Born and raised in New Delhi, India. Ajay came to the U.S. in pursuit of an MBA in 1992. Post graduation, his career spanned at the fortune 500 companies from JP Morgan, Deloitte and Touché, Oracle to Cisco etc.

His first exposure to the restaurant industry happened somewhat by accident — while helping a close friend set up his first restaurant in Chicago in 1993. Together they enjoyed tremendous success — and after running several restaurants they opened India House Restaurant and Banquet; the largest Indian banquet in the country, boasting 45,000 sq. feet and 1400 seats worth of banquet space.

In 2000, Ajay left Chicago in order to pursue his day job at Oracle. He soon found that he missed the challenges of being in the restaurant industry, and laid the groundwork for Saffron Indian Bistro in 2002. His vision for Saffron is to have the most authentic Northern Indian Restaurant.

Saffron Indian Bistro also recommends

Rasa

231

reviews

Indiano

Ajay W. says,

«Outstanding, upper-​scale contemporary Indian dining on the peninsula.»

Related places

You might also like:
80
ft
Red Hot Chilli Pepper
1125 San Carlos Ave
510
ft
Kamakshi’s Kitchen
601 Old County Rd
1
mi
Daily & Weekely Tiffin Service
632 Cedar St Apt #2
1
mi
Dosa Curry
345 S 4th St San Carlose
1
mi
Monas Cuisine
632 Cedar St # 2
1.4
mi
Peacock
520 Masonic Way

Vicinity

Browse nearby places:
20
ft
Legaspi Taxes & Accounting
1139 San Carlos Ave Ste 305
20
ft
Maria Bohland RD
1139 San Carlos Ave Ste 308
30
ft
La Corneta Taqueria
1147 San Carlos Ave
50
ft
Aging Life Care California Inc.
1139 San Carlos Ave Ste 301
50
ft
Bay Area GCM
1139 San Carlos Ave Ste 307
50
ft
Curbside Grill
1163 San Carlos Ave

20 reviews of Saffron Indian Bistro

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Woodside, CA
Wanted to try the Tuesday Buffet.
Says buffet Tuesday and Sunday on website and on menu.
Ummm…No dinner buffet, only on Sundays!
Prices are still way too expensive.
Avg is about $ 15 bucks per item a la carte.
Nan and rice are extra.
Beer is $ 6.50 per.
Tandoori is server on cold plate, not sizzling iron platter.
You have to pack your own leftovers.
At these prices, I don’t think so.
Food is OK, pricing and service are not.
Place rating: 3
San Carlos, CA
The food here is OK, a bit too expensive for what it is. We’ve only been here for the buffet and as far as Indian buffets go, it is about average but with a price tag that doesn’t go with it.
We love good Indian food, but we have yet to find an Indian restaurant in this area that serves truly delicious food. If you are desperately craving Indian food, this place can lull the craving demons but not satisfy them completely.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
This is our favorite Indian food on the Peninsula! We highly recommend the chicken tikka masala and the garlic cheese naan!
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
Delicious! This was my fist visit to Saffron in San Carlos. We had Vegetable Samosas, Naan and Paneer Tika Masala. The flavors were perfect, the service was excellent and the restaurant was clean and inviting. I will definitely be returning soon.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
A big favorite!
I’ve eaten here at least a dozen times, with various family members and friends. The service has always been efficient and polite. I read some reviews saying otherwise, and that is what motivated me to write a review. Regardless of whether my party ate the buffet, a large meal, a small meal, or had drinks, the service has been consistently high quality. I’ve been there on different nights of the week and once for lunch, at busy times and not so busy times. No difference in the service — it is always good.
As for the food, I obviously really like it, but has every single person I’ve brought to the restaurant, and that has been at least 10 others.
My one and only complaint is that the cost of a beer is $ 6.00, which is way too high.
Place rating: 1
Fremont, CA
The worst service i have experiences ever. I went there at 12:15 PM today with 9 others from my Visa Inc. office. We booked a table in advance. I went to the counter to get our table. I let the person on the front desk know that I had a meeting at 1:15 so would appreciate if there was a way table could be arranged sooner.
The restaurant person told me «i don’t care about your meetings», I explained the situation to him that it is an important meeting i don’t want to miss so if there was anything. before i could finish my sentence the person said «don’t you understand, table will be ready when it is ready».
I came out and told my group about the situation and we went to another restaurant «red hot chill papers» and were so much satisfied with service even though we did not have a booking.
Saffron may have nice food but the service sucked pretty bad. Horrible experience with horrible waiter/​front desk person. Go there if you would like to be insulted. The employee should be fired.
Regards,
Abhi
Place rating: 2
Redwood City, CA
We came here for take out because Broadway Masala in Redwood City (which we loved) closed.
It was OK but the chicken in our butter chicken wasn’t the best quality: it was parts of the chicken from underneath and quite fatty. The sauce was fine, a bit bland but as a Brit, I’m used to spicier Indian food than American Indian… I should have asked for more spice!
I also thought it was expensive for what it was (30% more than Broadway Masala for the same dishes and the dishes were smaller)
Place rating: 2
Redwood City, CA
This review is in regards to take away, not eat in.
We tried this restaurant after out local Indian restaurant in RWC closed (Taste of India.) Not any Indian currently available here due to closures. Bummer.
Placing the order was quick and efficient. Very polite. Time until food was available was pretty good; only 25 minutes on a Saturday night.
Quality of food was all right. It was tasty, but definitely had an «American» taste to the whole thing. So, good, but not entirely Indian, imo.
Prices were a bit of a shock. $ 80 for 4 people to eat seemed impressively high for two chicken dishes and two veggie dishes. Especially considering how *incredibly* small the portions were. Naan? 2 slices. Samosas? Only 2. All the main dishes? Each dish would fit into a small/​medium take out Chinese box. Definitely not food to share.
Check out their online menu. I should have known better when there were no prices listed. You are definitely paying for the location and the «Bistro» in their name. Can’t see myself eating there again.
Place rating: 1
Brooklyn, NY
Don’t come here with a kid. They will serve everyone who came after you first. Especially if you’re Indian and other customers are white. Yay!
Place rating: 4
San Carlos, CA
Got carry out with Order Ahead tonight and the food was excellent! We are from New York so we’ve had a LOT of carry out in our lifetime and this definitely ranks up there for Indian food.
We went out on a limb and tried some new things like Tomato Garlic Shorba soup and the Baingan Bharta eggplant and they are our new favorite Indian dishes! Super rich and flavorful! We also got the Chicken Tikka Masala which had big chunks of white chicken. The Peshawari Shrimp Masala didn’t quite live up to our expectations, as the mint was pretty subtle, but still okay. We got everything «spicy» and it was just the right amount of heat — spicy but not uncomfortable. Will definitely be ordering from here again.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Had the lunch buffet.
Naan was fluffy and hot. The mango lassi was nice and thick, some places water it down.
My favorite was their vegetable puffs. It has a warm flaky exterior texture like an apple strudel, except the filling is Indian spiced veggies. Everything was fairly good. I consider it above average compared to other Indian buffets I have tried. My only discontent was the tandoori chicken. It is served as boneless chunks of chicken breast or thigh. I prefer the bone in thighs and drumsticks served at other places.
Overall good food, friendly service.
This is a place I would recommend and bring friends.
Place rating: 5
San Carlos, CA
Best Indian food buffet in Peninsula!
Butter chicken, tandoori chicken, and all masala dishes are top. Great casual place for lunch.
Place rating: 4
San Carlos, CA
I love their rice pudding, paneer dishes, tikka masala, rice, and complementary chai tea with their lunch buffet. Wait, that’s practically their whole buffet isn’t it? So, no, it’s not wrong to love this place. And, well, this is one of my favorite Indian buffets around the Bay Area.
The dishes taste good, but the pricey lunch buffet can cost as much as a New York Pizza. And they only have a dinner buffet once a week (I keep forgetting if it’s Tuesday or Wednesday) There you have it. If you miss the buffet set price, go to the ATM, because this place adds up quick.
Place rating: 5
Redwood City, CA
Make reservations for lunch or you will wait a long time. Came here are on a Friday with co workers and man, did we go to town on the buffet! Butter and tandoori chicken were the only meat options, but that’s ok. The curries were perfect for dipping with the naan bread and the flavors and spices spiced up my stomach in a good way :)
I looked the deep fried kale and I devoured every curry they had. I went back for seconds then dessert which was probably a bad idea, but the food was so yummy!!! Good service, cannot complain. Price was a bit high than other buffets, but it’s San Carlos and it’s all you can eat. Not the best buffet I had, but still really good.
Overall: Great food, Good price, Good service
Place rating: 4
Redwood City, CA
This place has dinner buffets on Sunday and Tuesday! It’s like $ 19 per person. If you eat a lot it’s definitely worth the money.
There is a good variety of dishes although when we went it felt like there wasn’t as many meat options. I am not a huge meat eater when it comes to Indian cuisine so I didn’t mind as much.
The butter chicken and butter paneer masala were good. It’s that rich creamy tomato sauce that we all know and love.
I thought the saag wasn’t bad either. It’s that consistency (green mush) that I like.
The eggplant dish was also solid. It was a vegetable curry and had lots of other vegetables inside. I liked its rich flavors.
The naan wasn’t that fluffy unfortunately. The vegetable samosas were small and bite sized so I thought they were pretty tasty.
I did notice that a lot of the food felt a bit lukewarm. I think they should heat up the food a bit more or keep the food covered.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
Ok, honestly… Best buffet for Indian. So many options especially if you eat meat. Very clean, attentive service, reasonably priced and easy to get to. This is our go to place!
Go here for buffet, won’t be disappointed. Ignore the 3.5 star overall rating; trust an Indian who knows Indian food and eats meat.
Place rating: 5
Cupertino, CA
Only 3.5 stars?! They get a full 5 stars from me. Love the variety of food, and love the quality too! I’ve been here 5+ times now, and even after coming here on consecutive weekends, I noticed that they change up the dishes offered — so that was a pleasant surprise! We’ve been taking our out-​of-​town guests here and everyone has loved it so far.
I always have to tell myself not to eat so much when I come here. but it’s so hard when the food is so good!
Place rating: 1
South San Francisco, CA
«You want to get indian food? It’s a buffet style» — my mom.
Heres the thing about my mom, she hates trying new things so this must have been on a mind for a while. Hahaha.
«Sure. What the heck? Indian food? I’m not even sure you like Indian food.» — me
«Oh well lets just try it” — my mom.
Not sure if she was bored and wanted company or really wanted to try it…
The restaurant looked very nice and the décor is simple but sophisticated as well.
First off, the parking situation sucks. I was here on a Thursday afternoon around 1 and looked for parking for 15 minutes.
Arrived and went inside, they barely even made any conversation and I didn’t even know the prices or anything. Got seated and I wasn’t even offered if I would like water or drinks. Anyways, since I was confused I asked the guys and he said «oh it’s a buffet just get up and get food» «oh… okay? can I also get water?» He gave me a very annoyed face. Not happy with the service at all.
I got up and got the chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, and long grain rice. Not much variety really but oh well.
The tikka masala was the most flavorful dish there was. The butter chicken was pretty good, my favorite just because I loved how soft the chicken was and how creamy the sauce was. It did lack the tomato flavor though. The long grain rice is good with the creamy dishes.
Each table comes with plain fresh naan, which is also great with the sauces. The naan was super fresh and we ate plenty of that instead of the actual dishes to be honest…
Wouldn’t come back. Lacks service and most of all flavor. For $ 18/​per person lunch special… not worth it.
Place rating: 2
San Bruno, CA
Meh is the word of this place…
I came once and the food was actually tasty.
Yesterday I came back to pick up dinner, and the place somewhat changed.
The décor inside looks nice, and seems they are trying to take a modern approach.
The mango lassi was watered down.
The chicken tikka looked like yellow curry from a Thai place. uhhh? No taste, very bland, just all wrong.
Chicken tandoori: Could have been better, but not terrible. The meat was tender, and seemed like good portion.
Garlic naan: I said garlic didn’t I?
Most likely I won’t be coming back here. San Carlos has way too many choices, and this place just doesn’t cut it.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Hi! On today’s special Diwali edition of Seb’s Unilocal reviews, I’ll be reviewing Saffron Indian Bistro, from where we ordered lunch earlier today!
Our office used to be located near this restaurant, so we ordered Saffron a bunch. We’ve since moved, but we like Saffron so much that we continue to order from there despite several other alternatives.
In fact, I, myself, asked to postpone my out-​of-​office lunch appointment with a colleague today just so I could have Saffron. He wholeheartedly agreed once he heard what we were eating as well!
Saffron Special Salad: I skip this because it doesn’t look Indian, which is the type of food that I want to eat when ordering from an Indian place!
Veggie Samosas: These are really good and came with some channa and mint sauce that are very complementary. I only ate half of a samosa because one full one is just too much for someone who wants to also enjoy a main course. On this note, why are «restaurant samosas» always so much bigger than those made at home?
Tandoori Dishes: I had the chicken and shrimp, and both were excellent. Tip: you know those lemon slices that come with the dish? USE THEM! It’s so simple to include a lemon slice, but it does wonders. I always scoop some onions/​peppers from these tandoori dishes as well since they’re so flavorful
Baingan Bharta + Saag Paneer: These were OK and were nothing to write home about.
Butter Chicken /​Chicken Tikka Masala: We ordered one of these dishes. The issue is that I’m never able to tell the difference between the two! This is my fault and not Saffron’s. It was fine.
Mango Lassi: These are so good that I HATE when the office orders them! I’m trying to stay away from such sweet and delicious dessert-​type stuff. However, lack of willpower always has me wanting some once I’ve spotted it!
I’m already looking forward to our group ordering from there soon!