Here is our DINNER MENU! which changes every few weeks...and our BRUNCH MENU, for easier viewing & printing!

Join us for some delicious CHAAT during our Weekend Brunches and Monday Nights!

DOSA is proud to be in San Francisco, the first city in the country to recently enact a new set of mandates to provide universal health care for all employees. To cover the significant costs associated with the significant benefits for our employees, we have chosen to add a 4% pre-tax fee . Here's a little more on our position, if you're interested!

A few things about South Indian cuisine...
While DOSA serves authentic South Indian food we recognize that in a region of over 450 million people there is much diversity within the cuisine. There are also personal preferences based on each individuals past experience with our style of cuisine.

If you’ve never had South Indian food before we’d be glad to guide you through the experience. If you have, and prefer a certain level of spiciness or crispiness, please let us know and we’ll be glad to accommodate you.

DOSA’s South Indian dishes are part of a larger, varied and ancient culinary tradition. This region consists of a richly diverse linguistic, religious, cultural and political area that covers the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Geographically, it covers the vast peninsula of India and is densely populated along the coasts of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Many of the South Indian dishes are rice-based, which is combined with lentils to make an assortment of dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams (all of which are described later in the menu). Coconut, which is used in our chutneys and some of our curries is also important ingredient due to the large coastal areas of Southern India.

Andhra cuisine (from Andhra Pradesh) is largely vegetarian though they have a large repertoire of seafood, such as fish and prawns curries cooked in sesame and coconut oil and flavored with freshly ground pepper.

Hyderabad cuisine (a city in Andhra Pradesh) has a direct influence from the kitchens of the Nizams, who were the Muslim rulers that settled in Southern India in the early 18th century.  The Hyderabadi cuisine is the amalgamation of Muslim cooking techniques and meats, combined with the vibrant spices and ingredients of the predominantly local Hindu people.  One of India's finest foods, the biryani or rice with meats and brinjal (or eggplant) or baghare baiganis are originally the gems of Hyderabadi cooking.

Chettinad cuisine from Tamil Nadu is well known for its spicier, richer and more aromatic foods. Spices are liberally used in cooking and most dishes have generous amounts of peppercorn, cinnamon, bay leaves, curry leaves, cardamom, nutmeg, green and red chilies, etc. While there is a large selection of vegetarian dishes, much of this cuisine also includes fish, fowl and meats, such as the pepper chicken served at DOSA.

Kerala is noted for its variety of pancakes and steamed rice cakes made from pounded rice. For the Muslims, the lightly flavored Biryani-made of mutton, chicken, egg or fish-takes pride of place. For the Christians, who can be seen in large concentrations in areas like Kottayam and Pala, ishtew (a derivation of the European stew) with appam, is a must for every marriage reception.

What are curries?
Curry is an English word that most probably was derived from the South Indian word Kaikaari. Kaikaari, or its shortened version Kaari, meant vegetables cooked with spices and a dash of coconut. It may have become the symbolic British word for Indian dishes that could be eaten with rice.

Some mistakenly believe that curry is a specific Indian spice or that curry automatically implies spiciness. Here in the U.S. it has come to mean a blend of spices (mainly garam masala) that is mixed with coriander powder and turmeric. Curry powder is sold in many supermarkets in the U.S and many dishes in recipe books published here call for curry powder.

Indians, in India, generally do not use the term curry powder. In India, and in many parts of Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore, curry means gravy (the thickened liquid part of a dish) that has a blend of spices. Needless to say, since each household can make its own blend there are countless variations of “curries” in India.

DOSA has its own blend of curries that are distinctively South Indian with our chefs own personal touch from Tamil Nadu.

To confuse matters somewhat, there is also a plant that has curry leaves or in Hindi, meetha neem or Kadhi leaves. They look like miniature lemon leaves and grow wild in most forest regions of India and are used as a seasoning. Several of DOSA dishes contain curry leaves as it is an integral part of numerous South India dishes.