Favorite Indian started out as a tiny restaurant on A Street just east of 2nd Street in Hayward. They had a killer-value lunch buffet that was small but soooo cheap and very tasty. I guess they’ve been doing well because they’ve moved into a far larger location just near the intersection of Jackson, Mission, and Foothill. Flashback to the past – this new facility used to be Sizzler, then Perko’s Cafe, followed by El Rancho Steakhouse, then maybe something else – anyone? Where are my locals?
Anyway, moving away from Hayward Historical Trivia (which I’m probably not very good at), Favorite Indian has moved to the big time, so to speak. They’ve really done-up the old Sizzler (it will forever be Sizzler to me) nicely with dark colors and a sophisticated theme. It looks great.
The decor at the new Favorite Indian Restaurant on Mission Blvd.
And being that I’d only experienced the lunch buffet at the other place, I don’t know if the menu is the same as before. But it’s a very professional looking menu with lots of choices – and it’s Indian, so there’s plenty of veggie stuff, of course. The prices are reasonable – about $7 for an a la carte veggie dish – but we decided to go for something more exciting – the dinner combos.
A veggie dinner combo is priced at $11.95 typically, and meat combos are about a dollar more. The combo is so much more fun that I can hardly describe it properly. It includes: soup and papadams with dipping sauce in addition to your main dish, rice, naan, and then five small side dishes including the daily curry, some other curry, red saucy stuff, white saucy stuff, and a sweet and delicious dessert ball. Forget the crappy description, a picture can tell a thousand words:
Veggie dinner combo at Favorite Indian Restaurant.
The combo wasn’t exactly cheap, but if you think about it, you’ll probably order rice anyway ($2) and naan ($1.50) along with your main dish ($7), and by that time you may as well pay the extra $1.50 to get all the fun sides also. At least that’s what I think. And I was hungry so what the heck. While boyfriend and I normally can finish two main dishes with rice and naan, all the extra little sides of the combo left a whole lot of our main dishes remaining this time. So, we even have another meal to have at home, and all for under $30.
The service was extremely attentive this visit, so I want to give it the highest rating. But, I have to say that there was very little pizazz in the demeanor of the wait staff. They were polite, they were helpful, they did their jobs pretty much flawlessly; but they didn’t seem very excited. I know it’s an odd complaint, but I feel like if they’re not excited to be there (or at least pretending to be), why should I? But it didn’t detract from the experience at all, just a random thing I noticed.
I’m certainly happy with the new and improved location and the quality and taste of the food at Favorite Indian, and I will most certainly be back for the famed all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, and maybe even the weekend dinner buffet! Note that you can also enjoy Favorite by ordering online and via free delivery. I’ll have to try that sometime on a lazier day…
I have yet to see the new location, but the tiny one was a huge favorite of mine and many friends. I loved that I always saw someone I knew there, because everyone in town loved it. I’ve had every one of their veggie choices a scary number of times. I love the fancy rice (binyari? or something like it)!!
We’ll have to go to the new one next time I’m in town!
To delve a bit deeper into this restaurant’s history….prior to the ‘A’ Street location, it was on Foothill Boulevard (a little south of ‘A’, on the east side of the street). The space was larger than the one at the second location, and I do not believe it did very well. The move to ‘A’ near Second Street was a good one for them, as they do very well there. I look forward to checking out the newest spot (the old Sizzler)!
I think your memory of the previous restaurants in that building is accurate, although there might be a couple of others tucked in there that only lasted a very short time. The ones you listed are the significant ones. This info does indeed come from a local!
I thought that was a good and accurate rundown of the places that have occupied that building. Hard to keep track after so many. Like Frenchy’s/Shakers/Images/Frenchy’s (again)/Mexicali Rose/Mexicali – on Mission Blvd. at Valle Vista Ave. I am taking Angie and Kane to Bombay Garden indian buffet tonight. To my knowledge, that is the bestest indian place ever. so far. I am anxious to try the Favorite buffet soon. I ate at their old location on A St. a couple times. The old Sizz building should be a huge upgrade.