Chetty Nadu Mess

We are located right on Thiyagi Thayammal Street in Madurai City. Most people find us because we're just north of the Meenakshi Amman temple. It gets pretty crowded around here during festival times, but we’ve been at this spot for a while now. The mess isn't a fancy place with air conditioning or soft chairs. It’s just a simple room where we serve local food on banana leaves. Usually, the morning starts early with getting the spices ready. We grind everything ourselves because that’s how it was always done. The street outside is narrow and you’ll see lots of two-wheelers parked haphazardly. Inside, the fans hum loudly. We don't have a big printed menu that changes every week. We just make what people like to eat every day. Sometimes we run out of certain items by the afternoon, especially the mutton dishes. If you are walking around the temple area and want something that isn't from a big hotel chain, you just walk down this street. It’s easy to miss if you aren't looking closely at the signs. We know most of our regulars by their faces. They come in, eat quickly, and head back to work or the market. It’s a busy life in this part of Madurai. We just keep the kitchen going from morning until the food is gone. No big secrets here, just a lot of cooking and some hard work by the staff.