Named for Mylapore. Cooking in America since 2008.
Mylapore is the old temple quarter of Chennai. Early every morning its streets fill with flower sellers, and the air smells of filter coffee and breakfast on the stove. That's the food we cook.
It began with one restaurant in Folsom.
Mylapore Group began in 2008, when Jay Jayaraman opened its first restaurant in Folsom, California. He wanted guests to leave with a feel for South Indian culture as well as a good vegetarian meal.
That restaurant is now one of seven Mylapore South Indian restaurants, from Folsom to Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2018 the group started Mylapore Express, which delivers ready-to-eat meals to working families and sells a pantry range. In 2021 it opened the first Idly Express, a quick-service brand that now has eight locations. Mylapore Catering cooks for weddings, festivals and family celebrations.
The whole business still cooks the way that first restaurant did. It keeps to traditional recipes and to cooks with decades of experience, and as it has grown it has kept its menus focused instead of adding dish after dish.
Every year Mylapore Express also donates food to people in need and supplies prasadam to temples when they ask. Guests can contribute through the Pay it Forward item in the online store.
“Discover happiness through food.”
- First restaurant opens in Folsom, California
- 2008
- Restaurants across 2 brands
- 15
- Cities in California and Georgia
- 13
- Businesses under one group
- 4
The people who run the group.
Jay Jayaraman has led the group since he opened its first restaurant. His partner, Sathish Kanchi, runs operations and has two successful business exits behind him.
Jay Jayaraman
Founder & CEO
Jay opened the group's first restaurant in Folsom, California, in 2008, started Mylapore Express in 2018 and Idly Express in 2021, and has led the group from one dining room to 15 restaurants. He trained at the Institute of Hotel Management in Madras, graduating in 1985, and worked for India's Oberoi, Taj and Welcomgroup hotels before moving to the United States.
Jay Jayaraman on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Sathish Kanchi
Partner & COO
Sathish runs the group's operations. He holds a master's degree in information technology and has more than twenty-five years of business and investor experience, including two successful exits.
Sathish Kanchi on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Cooked the same way in every kitchen.
- 01
Made from scratch, to order
We grind our own masalas, ferment our own batter and use no preservatives. Food is cooked in small batches through the day, instead of being kept warm under heat lamps.
- 02
Vegetarian, in the Mylapore style
South Indian vegetarian cooking in the Tamil tradition, from agraharam-style sambar podi and kalyana rasam to Thanjavur sweets, with menus that follow the seasons and the festival calendar.
- 03
Experienced cooks, shared recipes
Our cooks have decades of experience with traditional methods. The dosa, idly and vada batters are made in one central kitchen in Fremont, and every kitchen follows the same recipes and hygiene rules.
A new dining room every year since 2023.
Mylapore South Indian stayed a single dining room in Folsom for fifteen years. The group grew in other ways first, starting home delivery in 2018 and Idly Express in 2021, and then took the dining rooms to the Bay Area and on to Georgia.
2008
The first restaurant opens in Folsom
10 years later
2018
Mylapore Express starts home delivery
Ready-to-eat meals for busy working households, delivered to the door.
3 years later
2021
Idly Express opens its first restaurant, in Milpitas
The group's first quick-service restaurant.
2 years later
2023
Mylapore South Indian opens in Pleasanton
The brand's first restaurant outside Greater Sacramento.
2024
Mylapore South Indian opens in San Jose, Fremont and San Ramon
2025
Mylapore South Indian opens in Sunnyvale
2026
Mylapore South Indian opens in Alpharetta
The brand's first restaurant in Georgia.