Market Cafe Exxon in Glen Allen

I thought Maps pranked me when it directed me here for Indian but there is indeed an Indian eatery attached to an Exxon gas station. Daring, I tried it anyway and was very surprised. The food was excellent, very spicy, and very generous. Most other places give a smattering of paneer but here the entire bowl was full. Decor is non-existent, service was a bit slow (never checked on refills or asked if we needed anything after meal delivery), and prices are similar to other Indian restaurants in the area but the quality/amount of food makes up for these shortcomings. There is also a bar here but I didn't sample any drinks. Who knows, maybe a bar at a gas station is good.

Excellent food, especially the kerala good. Thanks to Shyam & team.

The food is always good here. I love all the dishes they make. I won't miss home because of their lovely menu and taste.

If there is any place that comes close to authentic Indian taste for biryanis (both veg and non-veg) and sambar, this is the one. We always make a stop here when we cross Richmond to dine in and for to go orders. Definitely worth a stop.

Best Mutton Biryani in Richmond or even Virginia! Very close to what you get in Hyderabad!!Pro tip: Do not dine here. Its not as clean as it should be. Togo is the way to go!

We love the Indian food here - we always order take out online. I recommend putting your spice level in the comments section of your order. Spice level is not consistent. Each dish is full of flavor and we are never disappointed!

I came to Market Cafe expecting another run of the mill Indian restaurant. This is my second visit, yesterday I had the Gongura Chicken although it was not the Andhra preparation it was just awesome. Perfectly balanced taste without overpowering spices. Today I had the Goat Korma with rice, tastes just like eating it back in India. Once again the blend of spices and the chillies is just great and this is another fantastic dish at Market Street. The food at market cafe is like a home cooked meal and the service is great.

Great place for authentic Indian food! Love the biriyani and the lunch Thali!

Their mutton biryani and chicken 65 is the best. I do takeouts often from this cafe when I don’t feel like cooking and it has never been a disappointment. Employees are very friendly and food always tastes great. I would definitely recommend this place to give it a try!

This used to be a really clean place. It's now run by foreigners.

excellent service and great food in the gas station hidden gem

Absolutely fantastic food with friendly service and a menu with an incredible assortment of Indian dishes! I would highly recommend!!

I came over last month for dinner which was not a good experience, the food was too spicy, my aunt and kids barely touched anything. She said this never happened before though. Today, stopped by for breakfast, had poori and dosa, was not a big disappointing as the earlier one. They were fine, liked the red chutney and sambar over dosa or poori. But the ambience was not good in either times, a weird smell all over, especially near the order pick up and staff won't be as friendly as you expectOverall, I should stop at 2.75/5

Worst quality of food. Found couple of baby cockroaches in chicken biryani, so please do check your food before eating.

Chicken 65 & parathas - best combo!

Amazing food and excellent service.Specially if u like the typical kerala parotta and spicy curries u don’t need to search more just walk into this restaurant and place your order.Nice collection of beer and good place to hangout after a tiring day or a game..!!!

A go to eatery for real South Indian food. Been a staple for Mallus and Tamils for several years now. Different people like different items on the menu. After many attempts, we got our favorites identified. Chilly chicken (surprisingly dry), Kerala parota, chicken gravy, aappams are the best for us. Kothu parota and biryani better at other places. Recently there's table service on the weekends with added gratuity (not mentioned up front). Friendly service. Bathrooms can be better. Most folks seem to pick up food. This had some inspection problems in the past.

The food was absolutely wonderful, from preparation to presentation, very pleasing. We especially enjoyed the special bar drinks, ambience is awesome .service is good and friendly.

BEST Indian food in the Richmond area. Portion sizes are large and food is delicious. Put this Chili Paneer against anyone else's, tikka masala too.

Didn't eat here so I dont want to leave a low star review, but who ever designed the bathroom is not very smart. The toilet is offset to one side and for some reason that's also the side they decided to mount the toilet paper dispenser on, leaving very little room to use the facilities comfortably. If it was mounted on the other side then it would leave extra room and actually be a really good design.

A small location in Richmond that serves awesome Byriani.

Always a go to place for authentic spicy South Indian food

Good food at reasonable price. Portion size is great. I would rate 5 for takeouts. Eat in is not a great experience because of not so clean looks and food smell in the air inside.

Nice Indian Restaurant

: Consistent on the flavor and never burnt.

Worst service ever, I have been here 4 years back the service is really excellent then but being back was the worst experience ever. We have been waiting to just get seated for 15 mins after that no one has come to take the order, so we went ahead ordered for to go. So after 30 mins they gave the dosa and then when we are trying to eat over there they refused saying not to open and told it was only for to go. The place is at the worst ever, but the taste was good . Hope at least in future they would maintain better.

Food is tasty Goat roast is the famous dish that’s awesome there. Only thing I didn’t like is plastic cutlery they are using 🙃😬

We ordered this chicken 65 it was worst so spicy I dono what this guys are mixing worst spicy I ever had.... i told them mild spicy and they gave me super spicy .... food poisoning all the stuff never ever go to this place ....

Delicious food and Biriyani are very good, pleasent place for dining.

This place is amazingly clean, fast service, and great food!!!

No idea how this place even has 3.8 stars on google and 3 on yelp. Gave it a try as it is close to my home. Food quality was really bad. Ordered chicken 65 and what I got was overfried chicken pieces which are almost black and dry. I wish I checked at the restaurant. Biryani is subpar and had blocks of white rice underneath the top layer. Also ordered noodles, which had a weird smell. Only item that was ok was chilli chicken. so 2 stars. I dont think I'd ever go to this place again.

Food tasted amazing. I ate a vegetarian dish with paneer, biryani, and a lentil based sauce I had never had before that was on the specials menu and it was delicious. A large serving that allowed me to bring leftovers for hubby's lunch the next day. A cheaper lunch special is available as well. BUT I recommend you order ahead and do takeout because the folks cooking at this place need a serious intervention on their front of house operation. The location should make this an ideal lunch spot for nearby office workers. The ambiance is beyond miserable. The floors are sticky, and the vibe screams dying mall (although it's in a convenience store). Blech. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars but if you like Indian food you should give it a go.

Great food and customer friendly. Every weekend they have special menu selections. Breakfast is good especially pongal and tomato chutney. Chefs talk directly to customers as well.

Worst biryani place.. rotten food.. please don't go to this restaurant

The wait staff was very professional, the food was fresh and exactly what we ordered. We both had the Philly cheese steak and both of us though it was a good sandwich. I would definitely eat here again and would recommend it to others.

Authentic, delicious Indian food.great place for lunch, freshly made delicious curries and biriyani with decent prices and very good service.A nice place to go for meals and i never disappointed.I recommend very one to have a try.

We ordered Chicken Biryani today, It was simply chicken and rice. Not Biryani. stoped ordering Biryani. Greedy folks running kitchen.. Shameful..

Great for taking out wholesome South Indian cuisine of which little is heard about in America.

I love their Biriyani!

My friends from Virginia region loves this place. They believe it's one of the top places for Indian food. We tried lamb roast and it was pretty good. Other items like chicken 65 and Gobi Manchurian were just ok, may be I felt that way because I am from NJ region and we have pretty good Indian food. Noticed they have other snack type items like Mirchi and other bhajji items, kebabs etc..may be worth a try!

The Indian food bursts with flavor in every bite. Authentic Indian with bone-in meat, so good. Will stop here every time I'm in the area!

Nice Indian Restaurant. Wish it had more cleanliness

Solid (bottled) beer selection and very good service. Food was excellent.

good Indian food, spicy. it was a weekday but pretty busy and the one waitress couldn't keep up. don't even expect an ambience or music.

Here foods are very delicious. Service is too good . I strongly recommend market cafe.

Overall a good restaurant around with Indian food. They have nice big place outside where you can sit with friends and have some drinks

great food for take out with lot of quantity

This place sux. Rude people from Afghanistan. The food is Vegan. Restaurant is closed. Not going to open it they said.

Excellent food and Great Service

Awsome Indian food.Great place for dinner, delicious chicken 65 ,nattukozhi roast and biriyani with decent prices and very good service.I recommend every one to have a try.