Saffron Indian Cuisine

I’m in Greenville twice a year. This is one restaurant I visited every time for many years. Whether a novice or fan of Indian food, go. Plenty of choices for meat lovers and vegetarians.

This is first class dining at affordable prices. White tablecloths, fresh flowers on the table, expedient, friendly staff and the FOOD! The food is a wonderful variety of flavors and textures along with seasonings that are both pleasant to the palate and a welcome change from other restaurant offerings. For lunch, better get there early, always gets crowded fast. Try the dessert. It’s like a vanilla rice pudding, but it’s creamy and fresh. When you check out, take a spoonful of fennel seeds to cleanse your palate.

I came to this restaurant in 2007 and it still made my mouth water when talking about their buffet! I now live in the area and finally came back. Oh, I am SO glad I did!
Seriously, the food at their buffet is absolutely delicious. From the chicken dishes to the vegetarian dishes to the tandoori, all of it was perfect.
Great service and wonderful ambiance. You will not be disappointed!

Sometimes reviews can really be confusing. A bad restaurant has high ratings and when one experiences it, it leaves a bad taste. This sadly was one of those for me.
Was very excited to try out this highly rated eatery but was left horribly disappointed.
As soon as we were seated the sea of disappointments kept poring in.
Firstly they brought our food 65 mins after we had ordered. The table behind us got so tired of waiting that they had to request it to go instead. To make things worse, they weren’t courteous at all. I’ve had experiences where food was delayed before at other restaurants but good places always accommodate you with at least a drink or appetizer offer, the least an apology. Sadly none was offered here.
And when the food did arrive it was very ordinary. Something you’ll get at any other Indian restaurant. The presentation was horrible, with the portion sizes very small and the serving dishes looking more of a café than a proper sit down restaurant.
Overall it’s another Indian restaurant, where the food is miles away from authentic flavors of india and the service is bad.

below 0 star for the management and service
1 stars for food
I was visiting Greenville and there were 6 of us. Since our go-​to Indian spot was closed for renovation, we tried Saffron.
It was Friday night and people were waiting at the door. When I put the name down I was told the wait would be about 20−30min, which is understandable.
The restaurant had mostly 2-​top tables and so were other parties that were ahead of us on the waiting list. There were really only 2 tables that could seat a large party and both were empty.
We all thought those 2 large tables were probably booked since it had already set up with glasses and utensils.
After about 20minutes of waiting, I went to the host stand (more like a desk) and asked how much longer the wait would be. The guy who seems to be running the restaurant (owner?) told me
«You still have some more people ahead of you. Your table is ready. We will seat you when everyone’s seated.»
It sounded a little confusing as he said our table had been ready. I came back to where we were all standing around and told my family what I was just told.
We started doubt that he sure didn’t mean that we had to wait for others to seat even though our table was already set up. We had kept our eyes on this 6-​top table thinking it’s probably reserved. But now that we were told the table has set up, we thought that’s actually for us.
After chatting in a confusion for a minute or two, I grabbed the same guy as he walked pass us. When I asked him what he meant by «they were waiting others to seat,» he confirmed that the big table was for us but we cannot seat because there are other people waiting ahead of us although they were all party of 2!!!
For sure 2 people won’t seat at a huge round table especially on a busy Friday night!!!
Basically the table has been available from the minute we walked in but the owner made us wait for over 30minutes because he didn’t think it was right for THE ONLY BIG PARTY to seat at ONE OF THE ONLY 2 BIG ROUND TABLES.
The owner rudely said «just wait» and was about to move on. I stopped him and said if he seat us now, it would 1) clear a lot of space at the crowded entryway. 2) other people won’t complain because they already know they can’t seat at the huge round table for just 2 of them.
And most importantly 3) he might be worried about others complaining but also he’s risking us complaining about the unnecessary wait.
As rude as the owner could be, I wasn’t even mean to him at all, but he looked at me like a scolding father would look at his daughter and completely ignoring me, walked away while SHAKING HIS HEAD!!!
I’m usually generous for bland food as long as the service is good but the other way around isn’t acceptable to me, especially this much ridiculous situation and the ATTITUDE of the owner.
This one lady that was standing next to us heard our conversation and she couldn’t believe what she just heard and witnessed. She said «food better be good to tolerate this kind of hospitality» which was exactly what we all thought. And it turned out they take reservation but it doesn’t really matter because you’d still be on a waitlist for the same reason we had to go by.
Since it was one night out with family, I kept it cool and didn’t say anything to the owner.
But yes, it took us almost 40minutes to sit down at that EMPTY ROUND TABLE THAT’S BEEN READY FOR US.
And guess what, the food wasn’t good either. The local family member has been going to the other place that’s been closed for renovation and she said she could definitely tell the blandness of Saffron dishes. It also took 20minutes for them to bring «a basket of assorted bread» appetizer, too. Do I need to say how long it took to get the rest of the dishes, especially when there were 6 of us?
Having lived in New York City and LA, I’ve tasted some real authentic Indian food and one of my college roommates was Indian. I know when Indian food is served and cooked right.
It was supposed to be one and only family night we all looked forward to since we haven’t seen each other for over a year. And it was just so horrible I still feel so upset after a week by writing this!
Do not go here!!!

Definitely not a hole in the wall. This place has a rather nice interior and was absolutely packed. There were nearly a dozen people waiting for a table when we left at around 7:30p on a Friday.
As soon as we were seated we were brought a type of bread and sauce. I started with the Meat Somosa appetizer. The order comes with two. The mixed type meat filling had great flavor and the Somosa were filled completely.
My main was the Chicken Tikka Masalla. The portion wasn’t big, but the chicken was all good and the sauce very tasty. The flavors were perfect, though my dish at a medium spice level was not spicy in my opinion. I could have done more heat.
The servers were all very friendly and despite being busy we did not feel rushed. Someone checked on how our food was and offered dessert at the meals end.

Had the dinner for 2… The food was great! Def be back next time we are craving Indian! Yum

I liked my food. It was pretty good. I had the curried lamb and Garlic naan. I thought the food was over priced for the quantity. I got maybe 8 at most small cubes of lamb, It was more like a soup for 14.95. The garlic naan was good. The staff was very friendly and nice.

MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN GREENVILLE
Where do I start?! Whether it’s the lunch buffet or dinner the food is always fresh and the wait staff treats you as if you’re royalty! My favorite dish is the shrimp and kalmi chicken. It’s a must try if your in the mood for authentic Indian cuisine. The atmosphere is elegant yet relaxed. The sounds of Bombay fills the restaurant while the scent of cardamom and curry tickle your olfactory nerves! Truly a pure foodies paradise!

Tandoori chicken and shrimp perfectly cooked; great smoky tandoori flavor. Chicken tandoori is often overcooked at Indian restaurants but was very tender here. Vegetables were mostly onions unfortunately and not properly charred but still great. Sauce with tandoori items very delicious. Samosas also very flavorful.
Service was really fantastic.
I recommend this place for Indian in Greenville as a good option. Only a minute off the highway.

I love Saffron. Their food is fresh and delicious every single time. The atmosphere is clean and relaxing. There are linen table cloths and nice glasses, but I feel comfortable taking my child there. The garlic naan makes me want to cry tears of joy but that would make it soggy so I try to keep it together. I personally do not like my food super spicy but the flavors are so rich, I do not feel like I am missing out by requesting mild spice levels.

This place is busy and jamming! Why? The food is that good. We went on a pretty busy night. Saturday and parking was a little scarce probably from the other businesses. We waited no lo ver than 20min till we were seated.
The menu has many selections to choose from. If you look over all my other reviews you will see that I get really. Ray and get the Vegetarian Thali. It was packed with flavor and it was simply delish! Kinda funny it came out on a metal like cafeteria tray. Haha
The Nan was yummy and Cory and our friend Lacys food looked really good. They said it was a little on the Spicy side.
Hands down we will be back! Head out and get some yummy Indian food with really great service!

I don’t go to Woodruff Road often… but when I go there for Indian… haha no, but really this place is great. I went there once a few years ago with some friends. I only went back recently because for some odd reason Indian is never on my friends’ radar of high priority. When my friend from out of town was really craving some Indian food I was happy to see that this place hadn’t changed in quality.
I always order Chicken Vindaloo when I go out for Indian. I really want to try something else, but this dish is so good. It never fails me.
It’s also a good thing that the place was packed for dinner from the moment we walked in to the moment we left, and it was not a quick dinner. I’m really happy I“ve rediscovered one of my favorite styles of food thanks to this place. Will be returning sooner next time.