Indian Restaurants in Memphis You Should Know About (2026)

TL;DR

• Memphis has a small but real Indian food scene anchored by three established restaurants 🍛
• India Palace on Poplar Avenue is the longest-standing Indian restaurant in the city, a cornerstone for the local South Asian community
• Mayuri Indian Cuisine on Quince Road serves South Indian and North Indian dishes in the east Memphis area
• Sai Biryani Point on Winchester Road specializes in biryani and is popular with South Asian families and students
• All three spots welcome food explorers — you do not need a South Asian background to enjoy a meal at any of them 🌶️

Indian Food in Memphis: The Full Picture

Memphis is celebrated for barbecue, blues, and a food culture rooted deeply in the American South. But the city's culinary range extends further than many visitors and even some longtime residents realize. The South Asian community in Memphis — largely professionals, physicians, and graduate students at institutions like the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center — has built a quiet but durable Indian food presence here over the past few decades.

Three restaurants define that scene today. They are not interchangeable: each has its own personality, its own regional strengths, and its own loyal following. Understanding what each one does well will help you make a better choice for your meal.

India Palace: The Anchor on Poplar Avenue

India Palace at 1720 Poplar Avenue is the name that comes up first among South Asian residents when anyone asks about Indian food in Memphis. It has been part of the city's dining landscape long enough to feel like an institution — the kind of place where a family can mark a birthday, where a homesick student gets their first proper biryani since leaving home, and where curious Memphians have their first taste of butter chicken.

The Poplar Avenue location puts India Palace in Midtown Memphis, one of the city's more diverse and culturally active neighborhoods. That position has helped it build a genuinely mixed clientele — South Asian families who come specifically for the food, and non-South Asian Memphians who have made it a regular rotation.

The menu covers the familiar North Indian canon: a range of curries, tandoori items, dal preparations, and breads, along with a lunch buffet that is a practical midday option for nearby professionals. The buffet format is particularly good for anyone exploring Indian cuisine for the first time because it lets you try multiple dishes without committing to a single order.

For the South Asian community specifically, India Palace functions as more than a restaurant — it is a reliable source of familiar flavors in a city where those flavors can otherwise be hard to find.

Mayuri Indian Cuisine: East Memphis, South Indian Strengths

Mayuri Indian Cuisine at 6524 Quince Road brings a different regional perspective to Memphis's Indian food landscape. The restaurant draws on South Indian culinary traditions alongside more broadly familiar North Indian dishes, which makes it a particularly good destination for diners from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, or Karnataka who want flavors closer to home.

The Quince Road location sits in east Memphis, a part of the city with a significant portion of the South Asian professional community — many of the area's Indian physicians and tech professionals live or work nearby. That proximity has helped Mayuri build a loyal base among Indian families who make it a weekend ritual.

For non-South Asian diners, Mayuri is worth visiting for its dosa selections and rice dishes, which offer a different entry point into Indian cuisine than the North Indian standards that dominate most Indian menus in smaller American cities. The atmosphere tends toward the relaxed and family-friendly, making it a practical choice for groups.

Mayuri also handles catering requests, which has made it a go-to for South Asian community events, temple functions, and office gatherings in the Memphis metro area.

Sai Biryani Point: Winchester Road's Biryani Specialist

Sai Biryani Point at 7233 Winchester Road occupies a specific niche in Memphis's Indian food scene — it is built around biryani, one of South Asian cuisine's most celebrated rice preparations, and it executes that focus with the kind of care that draws regulars.

Biryani is a dish with intense regional variation across the Indian subcontinent. Hyderabadi dum biryani, Lucknowi biryani, Kolkata biryani, and dozens of regional variations each have their partisans. Sai Biryani Point's Winchester Road address positions it in southeast Memphis, convenient to the South Asian student and professional populations in that corridor.

The restaurant's appeal for the South Asian community is direct: it offers the kind of biryani that genuinely satisfies the craving, rather than an Americanized approximation. For food explorers new to biryani, this is an excellent introduction — the dish arrives as a fragrant, layered rice preparation cooked with meat and spices, and it bears almost no resemblance to standard American restaurant rice.

Portions tend to be generous, and the price point is accessible, which has made Sai Biryani Point popular with students, young families, and anyone who wants a satisfying meal without a long commitment.

Insider Tip: If you are visiting Memphis and planning to eat Indian food at all three spots across a trip, sequence your meals this way: start with the India Palace lunch buffet for an overview of North Indian cuisine, visit Mayuri for dinner to explore South Indian flavors and dosa, and end with a biryani meal at Sai Biryani Point. This sequence gives you the broadest picture of what Indian food in Memphis currently offers.

FAQ

Q: Is there authentic South Indian food in Memphis beyond dosa? A: Mayuri Indian Cuisine on Quince Road is your best starting point. South Indian rice dishes, curries, and regional preparations appear on their menu alongside North Indian options.

Q: Are these Indian restaurants vegetarian-friendly? A: All three restaurants offer meaningful vegetarian sections on their menus. Indian cuisine has a deep vegetarian tradition, and vegetarian diners will find plenty of options at India Palace, Mayuri, and Sai Biryani Point.

Q: Which restaurant is best for a group dinner or celebration? A: India Palace on Poplar Avenue is the most established for group dining and has hosted community events over the years. Mayuri also handles group reservations and catering.

Q: Do any of these restaurants deliver? A: Delivery availability changes with platforms and restaurant decisions. Check current delivery app listings for up-to-date availability at each location.

Q: Is Memphis's Indian food scene growing? A: The South Asian population in Memphis has grown steadily alongside the city's medical and academic institutions. The current restaurant landscape reflects that community's size — small but loyal — and new options emerge periodically as the population grows.

Bottom Line 🌟

Memphis's Indian restaurant scene is anchored by three restaurants that each earn their place. India Palace at 1720 Poplar Avenue has been the community anchor for years, Mayuri Indian Cuisine at 6524 Quince Road brings regional South Indian depth to the east Memphis area, and Sai Biryani Point at 7233 Winchester Road delivers on its biryani promise in a way that satisfies both homesick South Asians and curious first-timers. For a city more famous for ribs and hot chicken, Memphis punches well above its weight for Indian food — if you know where to look.