Malgudi Garden: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Malgudi Garden is a pure vegetarian Indian restaurant in Plano, and nothing on the menu contains meat. The kitchen cooks South Indian and North Indian dishes, and the owners schedule the week around buffets with live stations. Vegetarians can order anything. Vegans need to ask questions, because the restaurant states that pure vegetarian doesn’t mean every item is vegan.

The lunch buffet anchors the schedule. From Monday through Thursday it costs $12.99, and the restaurant calls it the Holistic Healthy Lunch Buffet. Weekends bring a Grand Lunch Buffet with live stations, and Friday lunch adds a live appam counter. Evenings rotate. Wednesday is Dosa Night, with 15 types of dosa from a live counter. Friday is Tiffin Night, with 10 South Indian tiffin specialties plus live dosa and appam stations. Monday and Thursday are Dhaba Nights, with unlimited rumali roti and dhaba-style dishes. A Monday dinner buffet adds an Asian theme.

If you order from the menu, start with dosa. Reviewers on Restaurantji name the Mysore Masala Dosa, the Mumbai Masala Dosa, and the Chocolate Dosa. Other favorites include the Medu Vada Sambar, the Malgudi Special Thali, and Appam with Coconut Milk. One writer who ordered the masala dosa called it generously sized and crisp, with coconut and tamarind chutneys alongside. Reviewers also mention a vegetable biryani, Tofu Garlic, and Pulikulambu. The restaurant’s site describes dosa, appam, rumali roti, poori, and bhatura, and it says the brick oven bakes organic artisan pizzas.

Here is the vegan picture. The restaurant says some dishes contain ghee, butter, paneer, cheese, milk, cream, or yogurt. HappyCow reviewers from 2023 and earlier said the buffet marked vegan items, but a 2024 reviewer said new owners had changed the food. That mix means you should ask a server about each dish. Community Impact lists tofu tikka masala, chilli gobi, and soups on the South Indian menu in Richardson and calls that restaurant vegan and vegetarian.

Malgudi Garden also runs a second location at 955 East Campbell Road, Suite 200, in Richardson. Community Impact reports that the Richardson restaurant opened on March 19, 2026 and replaced Masala Twist. The Plano restaurant sits at 5024 Tennyson Parkway, Suite 200. The restaurant calls itself family-oriented and says it cooks with low-fat oil and high-quality ingredients.

Plan your visit by phone. Hours differ between sources. The restaurant’s site lists lunch from 11:30am to 3pm and dinner from 6pm to 9:30pm Monday through Thursday, with later dinners on Friday and Saturday. Several aggregators say the dining room closes on Mondays, and the website advertises Monday buffets. Call (800) 886-5253 before you drive. A Restaurantji reviewer posted about the lunch buffet on October 6, 2026, which tells you the Plano dining room was serving this fall.

The restaurant takes catering orders, too. Packages start at $14 per person for a Mini Tiffin Combo and run to $20 for the largest combo, with a minimum of 30 guests. Live counters for dosa, appam, rumali roti, poori, and bhatura need at least 50 guests. You can order online through the restaurant’s ordering link.

Go on a Wednesday if you love dosa. Go on a Friday if you want to try ten tiffin dishes in one sitting.