Mylapore South Indian
Full-service restaurants
Sit-down vegetarian restaurants, serving South Indian food from breakfast through dinner.
7 restaurants · California & Georgia
Locations and hours
Since 2008 · California and Georgia
South Indian food, the way Mylapore cooks it.
Mylapore Group is the family of vegetarian food businesses behind Mylapore South Indian, Idly Express, Mylapore Express and Mylapore Catering. It started with one restaurant in Folsom in 2008 and now runs 15 across California and Georgia, plus home delivery and catering.
- First restaurant opens in Folsom, California
- 2008
- Restaurants across 2 brands
- 15
- Cities in California and Georgia
- 13
- Businesses under one group
- 4
01Our businesses
Four businesses that cook from the same recipes.
Two restaurant brands, a delivery and pantry business, and a catering service, each with its own customers.
Idly Express
Quick-service restaurants
Quick, everyday South Indian food: idly, dosa, vada and filter coffee, from breakfast to dinner.
8 restaurants · California & Georgia
idlyexpress.com (opens in a new tab)
Mylapore Express
Home delivery & pantry
A daily menu of home-style meals delivered to the door, and a pantry of batters, pickles, podis and sweets.
Delivery and pickup
mylaporeexpress.com (opens in a new tab)
Mylapore Catering
Event catering
Catering for weddings, festivals and family celebrations, from the group's own kitchens.
Booked by enquiry
How catering works
02Since 2008Read our story
From one dining room in Folsom to fifteen restaurants.
Jay Jayaraman opened the group’s first restaurant in Folsom, California, in 2008. He wanted to cook South Indian vegetarian food the way it’s cooked in Mylapore, the old temple quarter of Chennai the group is named after.
Mylapore Express followed in 2018, bringing ready-to-eat meals to working families’ doors, and Idly Express opened its first quick-service restaurant in Milpitas in 2021. Since 2023 the group has opened a new Mylapore South Indian restaurant every year, and Mylapore Catering cooks for weddings and festivals.
Milestones
The first restaurant opens in Folsom
Mylapore Express starts home delivery
Ready-to-eat meals for busy working households, delivered to the door.
Idly Express opens its first restaurant, in Milpitas
The group's first quick-service restaurant.
Mylapore South Indian opens in Pleasanton
The brand's first restaurant outside Greater Sacramento.
Mylapore South Indian opens in San Jose, Fremont and San Ramon
Mylapore South Indian opens in Sunnyvale
Mylapore South Indian opens in Alpharetta
The brand's first restaurant in Georgia.
Next
Idly Express in San Francisco
Announced; opening date to be confirmed.
03Where we cook
Fifteen restaurants, three metro areas.
The group began in Greater Sacramento and grew into the Bay Area. It now has restaurants in Metro Atlanta too, and San Francisco is next.
San Francisco Bay Area
California · 9 cities
11restaurants
- BerkeleyIdly Express
- FremontMylapore South Indian and Idly Express
- MilpitasIdly Express
- Mountain ViewIdly Express
- PleasantonMylapore South Indian
- San JoseMylapore South Indian and Idly Express
- San RamonMylapore South Indian
- Santa ClaraIdly Express
- SunnyvaleMylapore South Indian
Coming soon: Idly Express, San Francisco
Greater Sacramento
California · 2 cities
2restaurants
- FolsomMylapore South Indian
- Rancho CordovaIdly Express
Metro Atlanta
Georgia · 2 cities
2restaurants
- AlpharettaMylapore South Indian
- SuwaneeIdly Express
Mylapore South IndianIdly ExpressMylapore Express delivers from the group’s restaurants and dedicated kitchens.
04How we cook
Cooked the same way in every kitchen.
- 01
Made from scratch, to order
We grind our own masalas, ferment our own batter and use no preservatives. Food is cooked in small batches through the day, instead of being kept warm under heat lamps.
- 02
Vegetarian, in the Mylapore style
South Indian vegetarian cooking in the Tamil tradition, from agraharam-style sambar podi and kalyana rasam to Thanjavur sweets, with menus that follow the seasons and the festival calendar.
- 03
Experienced cooks, shared recipes
Our cooks have decades of experience with traditional methods. The dosa, idly and vada batters are made in one central kitchen in Fremont, and every kitchen follows the same recipes and hygiene rules.
05Reviews
What our guests say.
Consistent quality South Indian food. I really like their dosa and idly batters, much better than the ones you get in a regular Indian grocery store. They also catered to a family wedding, was wonderful.
I have outsourced my kitchen to them since the last two years, and have loved to watch them grow. … Food is always good quality and delivered on time.
I have been regular to the Fremont location and love Idly, Wada, coffee and chhans. … It is the best idly batter that I tried so far.
Guest reviews as published on mylaporeexpress.com.
Investor relations
Founder-led, and opening every year.
Jay Jayaraman opened the first restaurant in 2008 and still runs the group, which now has 15 restaurants. If you’re thinking about investing, our leadership team would be glad to talk.
At a glance
- Mylapore South Indian restaurants opened since 2023
- 6
- Next announced opening
- Idly Express, San Francisco
Counted from the group’s published location lists, as of October 2026.
Jay Jayaraman, Founder & CEOSathish Kanchi, Partner & COO