Parivar Spices and Food

I love this place! From the quick chai and samosas to sitting down getting my Bollywood video fix and an affordable and tasty meal. Whether it’s a dosa, the numerous types of chat, or something from the hot case it’s hard to go wrong here.
And you can get groceries at the same time!

Really rude staff. Especially at the restaurant section stay away from that black dude. In the restaurant side. Teach him how to treat people nice before you put him on the floor ! Never going there again

The food is delicious and the staff members are friendly and nice-​something you don’t always find. The chaat and dosa are so yummy. I always lol forward to coming here when I come to Albany. Delicious food and nice people!

On a long Thruway trip, this unexpected gem had all of the important features we seek in a chaat oasis: South Indian, vegetarian, and easy to access from the highway.
Just a short distance from Exit 24 on Interstate 87/​90, this unassuming counter is hidden in the back of a well-​stocked Indian grocery. There is plenty of seating to dine in, but carry-​out is also a popular option.
We ordered samosa chat, bhel puri, medu vada, kachori chat, and a bottle of Thums-​Up. The medu vada came with an excellent tomato-​based spicy chutney, a coconut chutney, and a well-​seasoned sambar.
This is now on the list of places we must return to. Parivar, be on notice: we are coming back to sample your idlis and dosas.

What a fantastic hidden gem! Behind the isles of groceries, there is a tiny café specializing in both Northern and Southern Indian Cuisine (all vegetarian too). I got the samosa chat, and it was fantastic. It was sweet, savory, spicy, filling, and CHEEP! I also saw they have a large selection of Dosas, which you do not see often in Indian restaurants. If you want cheep, fast, delicious Indian food, you should check this place out.

First exposure to Indian vegetarian food. I normally loathe vegetarian food (MEAT IS GOOD). But this place, is magical. The Paneer Dosa (Like a huge, rice crêpe, stuffed with cheese) and the accompanying dips/​chutney just blew me away. I’m hooked.
It’s a hidden jewel. It’s in the back of a very unassuming indian grocery store. You would have no idea it was there until you walk to the back of the store.
I’ve also brought Indian co-​workers here, and they’re consistently impressed. «It’s like home-​cooked indian food»
So, yeah. This is on Albany’s «Must Try» list.

First of all this is not a typical full scale restaurant. This is inside of grocery store serving vegetarian items. This probably is most economical food joint in the area. They offer variety of chat menus.
I had their full meal which comes with samosa as well. They have variety of Subzi’s (veg main course) to choose, Chapati was made fresh in front of me. I felt like I am eating home cooked food. I was tempted with their chat items n had paani puris which was yummy as well.
I have been traveling for last 2 weeks and today I felt at home! Thank you Parivar Café!

Quick food that hits the spot when you’re craving Indian food. Got my standard — chaat papyri and masala dosa. It was seasoned well, came out relatively fast and seemed fresh. It’s located in the back of an Indian grocery store so not like a first date type of place but yum, nonetheless.

I am so sad to write this update. The South Indian food magic is gone. The Dosa God I mentioned in my earlier review has moved back to India. Now they have a new cook who is also good, but the Masala dosa is no longer top-​notch. The new cook makes other things well though. The gobi-​manchurian is very nice. The idli’s are are a 10 on 10 .
On the North Indian menu, Dahi Puri is very nice. and all the other chats… are good.
I used to love the Dosas here. I grew up in Bangalore, the sister town of Mysore, and the home of MTR, and I recognize a well made Mysore masala Dosa. This place had it. Its not the same anymore. But the rest of the food are nice.
The people who run the store here are as amazing and welcoming as ever. And yes. the $ 1 chai continues to be awesome.

I was doing some shopping around the area and needed to refuel myself but also wanted something fried. I know, not an extremely healthy craving but then again I’m not going to limit myself to a delicious offering as most have claimed about this grocer’s chaat bar.
As I entered the grocery the aroma immediately attracted me like a large magnet to the back of the store. There were several tables set up casually along the back area while a few families appeared to be happily dining. The guy who manned the chaat bar was friendly and helpful, while I perused the large menu board hung overhead. The drinks and desserts in the cold case looked pretty amazing but since I wanted to snack on fried goods I immediately eyed the samosas. There were only 2 I could see in the hot case but I was told he could make me more right away. So I ended up with 8 lovely samosas that were packed with spiced potatoes, onions, peas, + lentils… and most importantly it was packed with tons of flavor! The yogurt sauce was light and refreshing while the tamarind sauce was sweet but not overpowering. You’ll get to pay for your goodies at the register toward the entrance so it is convenient to grab grocery items while you wait for your food and just pay altogether.
As I made my way from the back to the front end of the store I saw many spices, teas, rice, frozen items, and more. I ended up getting some crunchy corn puffs and kulfi. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back and finding more yummy food.

This is a hard review to write, because I essentially want to write two very different reviews with very different ratings.
I came to Parivar on my recent visit to Albany. I make a lot of Indian food at home and the small city I live in doesn’t have an Indian grocery store, so there are some things that I can’t easily access and I’d much rather support a small shop than order online. Work sent me to Albany and I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity. After dinner at Jewel of India on Lark, my friends and I picked Parivar to check out because it has good reviews.
We came in and I was thrilled. The selection is fantastic, organization is good, everything is clean and well lit. I found all of the spices I needed, several kinds of tea, and was impressed with the variety of dals and rices as well as the produce. I am well-​versed in Indian cooking and did not recognize a fair amount of the spices here, so I can’t overstate the quality of the selection. I got a large quantity of spices and tea for under $ 35, and most of a grocery bag of spices alone would have been under $ 20, so the prices can’t be beaten. For selection and price, I would rate Parivar at 5 stars with no hesitation.
However, when I was browsing through the aisle of dals, I realized something was a little off and I wasn’t sure where my friends were. As I said, I came here with two friends. We are all fairly obviously not heterosexual, but my friends are more visible than I am because they are a couple and occasionally do things like stand near each other or touch each other’s shoulders, a public display of affection like you would see in any grocery store from an opposite-​sex couple and think nothing of. Apparently here people thought enough of it to stare at them enough to make them really uncomfortable, to the point where they went and waited for me outside, and none of us are easily bothered by staring. For this I would rate Parivar at one star, and had I realized what was going on before checking out, I would not have bought anything here.
I went with the one star rating because I cannot come back to a place that makes my friends so uncomfortable, and where I would also not be welcome if I had come in with a date.

This place used to be a good place for chats and other veg food but lately they are trying to cut corners in every possible way. For example they refried old stale wadas and served me. Also they have soda bottles that are well past their expiration dates. When confronted one of the helpers just asked to take another bottle and the old bottle went into the same fridge. The south Indian stuff served here is kinda tasteless nowadays.
Every single item in the grocery store is way overpriced. If u want Indian goods at cheaper rates try India bazaar right next door. They don’t have a restaurant but at least they don’t store expired goods for sale. Here they are charging extra for even the smallest things like a to-​go box. They must be in real hurry to make money.

Amazing place I’d never woulda guessed there was a little eatery in the back of the store. This was my first time having dosa and it was awesomely delicious! The taste reminds me of a waffle!
I am not to fond of the soups tho. There was no flavor to my taste buds atleast. Order in the back and pay in the front at check out lanes. There’s a tv in the dining area which mostly plays Indian music videos. Lots of dancing in their videos!

Fresh, good price, and flavorful food prepared in back of Indian grocery store. Delicious!

Ok so I’ve been back twice in 10 days. I got the full meal 2x and tried 4 different subzi (vegetable dishes) and they were all great. The full meal is basically enough for 4 meals so a huge bargain at $ 11. It’s $ 10 plus $ 1 for the container. The full meal includes a samosa and a couple jalebi, those fried funnel cake like things filled with syrup, and dal or kadhi (both are good), and 2 big chapati which taste homemade and are super good plus rice (which is a bit salty). The chai is good too and you can add sugar to your taste and is only $ 1 per cup. I also had a mirch which was delicious and a tad hot which I bought separate. You don’t get to pick your sweet or snack with the full meal so if you want to try other stuff you have to buy it separate.
I also had the pani puri which was also very yummy. They put the components of the pani puri all in separate containers which worked great for takeout and were delicious when I got home. I like to dunk the whole puri into the pani and even so there was plenty of pani for the puris which was awesome.
While waiting for my food I had a chat with a super nice, distinguished retired Indian doctor who was also waiting for his food. He was 85 and still sharp as a whip.
I’m going to eat here until I leave for home! :-) Since I had a good experience with the pani puri, I need to try the pav and idli before I go. We don’t even have anything this good in Cleveland. This stuff is El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA good. Which you can argue is not all that good and is very inconsistent but I’m hey, I’m not going to nitpick. I’m just really happy to eat such tasty food.

My oh my, this is good food. What a surprise to find such wonderful, simple southern Indian dosas and idlis. Tasty, just barely spicy enough, honest food at an incredible value. Love the coconut chutney and the sambar, too.
There’s a language problem to overcome and, yes, its simple tables and chairs are tucked way back at the far end of an Indian grocery store. but get over it. This plain little place is well worth the trip. The food will have you coming back. And back again. And who knows, you might pick up some wonderful Indian spices and curries while you’re there.

I had most of the chat items here and liked all of them. They also have curries, but only vegetarian ones :(
Anyways, I recommend it!

I had Gobi Chili a very good meal. The only reason I took off a star is because of the seating more like a pizza joint than a restaurant.
I tasted a little Dosa from my companions and this was also good but the one was a tad spicy.
I’d go back again for about ten dollars I had a good lunch. I think I’ll get something off the Chat menu next time.

The best Indian food that I’ve ever tried. My Indian food said that this is very authentic. The smoothie was really good

Very authentic and delicious Indian food. I had a great paper masala dosa. We had chana as well. Very reasonable prices.