Building a lasting South Indian restaurant group.
Mylapore Group has grown from one restaurant in Folsom in 2008 to 15 restaurants across California and Georgia, plus a delivery business and a catering service. If you're thinking about investing, start here.
- First restaurant opens in Folsom, California
- 2008
- Restaurants across 2 brands
- 15
- Cities in California and Georgia
- 13
- Businesses under one group
- 4
Four ways guests can eat with us.
Sit-down restaurants, quick-service counters, home delivery and event catering. Each runs under its own brand, and they all cook from the same recipes.
Mylapore South Indian
Full-service restaurants
Sit-down vegetarian restaurants, serving South Indian food from breakfast through dinner.
7 restaurants · California & GeorgiaLocations and hoursIdly Express
Quick-service restaurants
Quick, everyday South Indian food: idly, dosa, vada and filter coffee, from breakfast to dinner.
8 restaurants · California & Georgiaidlyexpress.com (opens in a new tab)Mylapore Express
Home delivery & pantry
A daily menu of home-style meals delivered to the door, and a pantry of batters, pickles, podis and sweets.
Delivery and pickupmylaporeexpress.com (opens in a new tab)Mylapore Catering
Event catering
Catering for weddings, festivals and family celebrations, from the group's own kitchens.
Booked by enquiryHow catering works
Built around a central kitchen.
Recipes and processes are shared across the brands, and the quick-service counters draw on one central kitchen.
- 01
A central kitchen
The dosa, idly and vada batters are made in one central kitchen in Fremont and sent out to the Idly Express counters.
- 02
Small counters, a standard menu
With the batters made centrally, an Idly Express needs a smaller kitchen and fewer cooks than a full restaurant, and every counter serves the same menu.
- 03
Its own delivery
Mylapore Express delivers its daily menu with the group's own drivers, not through delivery apps.
As the founder described it to India Currents (opens in a new tab) in July 2024.
Opening every year since 2023.
The group started home delivery in 2018 and Idly Express in 2021. Its full-service brand then opened its second restaurant, fifteen years after its first, and has opened at least one a year since, including its first outside California.
“I don't want us to be the fastest growing Indian chain but one that is growing in a calculated way.”
Announced: Idly Express in San Francisco.
Milestones
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.
Founder-led since the first restaurant.
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)
Coverage of the group and its founder.
- Diaspora Dialogues by TOI · PodcastHow to Scale a South Indian Restaurant Chain: The Chipotle ModelJay Jayaraman on moving from chef-led kitchens to central kitchens and standard processes as the group grows. (opens in a new tab)
- What Now San FranciscoIdly Express Coming to Santa Clara and Sunnyvale This SummerTwo more Bay Area openings for Idly Express, including a drive-thru in a former Boston Market. (opens in a new tab)
- What Now San FranciscoUpcoming Idly Express in Lower Nob Hill Targeting September OpeningIdly Express takes a site at 1145 Polk Street, the group's first in San Francisco. (opens in a new tab)
- India CurrentsIdly Express Opens New Restaurant In Mountain ViewHow the group runs dining rooms, quick-service counters and home delivery from shared kitchens. (opens in a new tab)
Financials are shared by request.
We do not publish financial statements on this site. Shareholders and prospective investors can ask for our most recent figures directly, and the leadership team will share what it is able to.
This page is for general information only. It is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security.