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Roosevelt (Red, Orange & Greens)
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Now see, this is why I always make a habit of checking out the Yelp reviews before going to a new place. I'm walking down Wabash Saturday night and decide to check out a new spot on a wim.
India Grill.
Let's go.
So I walks in India Grill. I immediately think I may have made a bad choice and have a second thought of walking out. Naaaah. I just got back from Mumbai and not all the restaurants are glitters and gold out there, but many a server will come outta that kitchen with that fire (yes, thats fire...as in exceptionally great food, for all the slow people...)
So I get seated. I'm peeping the scenary. Notice a somewhat gaudy chandalier. Very basic chairs and tables, complete with that little skinny vase and lonely dandelion inside. LOL. At this point, I'm still cool, but its getting real rocky.
So then I see the buffet area. Uhhhh..did I just come into the Indian Old Country Buffet? Close.
Evidentally, this is a spot that makes its money on the buffet that is popular for college students and workers on their lunch hour during the week. India Grill very clearly does not make much money in the evenings on the weekends. Add to that the buffet was not going on during the time I was dining. (note to self: thats why there were only 5 people seated when I came in....)
Onward, I say.
So a non-English speaking girl comes out with the pitcher. Walks up, starts pouring and had no clue I had said hello twice. Okay. So about 1 minute later the waiter walks up and says hello as he puts his pen to the pad and awaits the order.
Wait, hold up guy. At least let somebody know what your name is...
Very well. So I order the chicken curry, as I snack on the taco shell looking munchy they bring out to you. Unfortunately, a piece of hair was in the green sauce. SMH. I pick the hair out of the sauce, as a fly decides that's his que to come in and make things worse. Dude, get .....(swat)
Finally got a hold to the curry and THANKFULLY was not totally disappointed. It could have been warmer, but other than that, the taste was pretty good.
The water girl was very timely all dinner, and the waiter was as well. Also to his credit, he was very pleasant when you asked any question. I only said 1 "your kidding..." when he told me they didnt serve beer. ??? If he wasn't so pleasant, I would have said that at least 2 times, before finishing with a "really???"
Fast forward. I get full, ask for check, fly continues to annoy, get check, pay check, the end.
p.s. This place is awesome in India. In Chicago, Illinois, in the US? Meh. Good talk.
Fairly high prices and the quality of the food doesn't match. Menu is about 1/3 to half vegetarian items. It includes beef samosa, which just seems wrong.
I got takeout; they were polite and fairly efficient, and offered me a glass of water while I waited for my food. I got the samoa ($4 for two, reasonable; and the Bombay Aloo on the server's recommendation (I asked for help deciding between that and the vegetable korma).
The samosa were OK except for a huge amount of seasoned salt on the bottom, which I couldn't brush off; it was embedded into the pastry. Potatoes were a bit mushy. The Bombay Aloo was a disappointment; the "cumin, onions and tomatoes mixed with curry leaf flour" was a nondescript, slightly thickened and somewhat spicy tomato broth with big chunks of potato. It didn't taste like much, and when given the choice of taking it home from my final destination that night or pitching it, I pitched it. The rice was very good, obviously long grain and with perfect texture, but that wasn't enough.
It's like Indian diner food, or the Indian equivalent of the Golden Wok.
Takeout doesn't include any napkins or silverware; ask for them.
$8.99 lunch buffet; $5.99 student carryout special.
The India Grill is best for their Student Carryout Special. I give it five stars for the reasons of flavor, convenience, and price. For $6.66, you get a take out box with a generous portion of rice, along with several items chosen from the buffet, and naan. The choices are Chicken, Lamb, and Vegetable if I can remember, but I only get Vegetable. The lunch special is available starting at 12:30 and only lasts a few hours, which is unfortunate if you want an early brunch or dinner.
The Vegetable Carryout Special typically consists of white and yellow rice with carrots, peas, and sometimes potatoes, with 3-4 crispy fried samosas. The side selections vary by day, and there is either Spinach Paneer, Matar Paneer (peas, cheese, and sauce), Chana Masala (chickpeas with spices), and sometimes a steamed cabbage dish or other wild card substitute. It comes with a large piece of Naan to accompany.
I find that if I split the meal with a friend, we both feel quite satisfied with the amount we ate. I have eaten here dine-in style and understand some of the lower starred reviews. I think for the amount you pay extra here to dine-in, you can find higher quality Indian food and more in terms of service, atmosphere, etc. I use this restaurant as a diamond in the rough at least two times a week to give me flavor and variety in my weekly diet.
If you are in the South Loop and want something more substantial than Chutney Joe's for the same price, I recommend The India Grill for their Take Out special. For students at Columbia College Chicago, especially film students who need a break from Subway and KFC, this is a viable option that is right next door to the 1104 S Wabash Building. It's also BYOB if you'd like a beer with your afternoon lunch.
I am so so soooo disappointed with this place and equally surprised at the pace with which this place disintegrated...It easily served THE BEST biryani a few months back..and now..........gosh..dont even think of getting into this place..
I so wanted this place to do well..and spread the word and asked many of my friends to go there..but india grill just do not want to improve...
I will give you an example..The egg biryani few months back was absolutely fantastic...And yesterday it was a plain basmati rice, mixed with some 'ready-to-eat' paste and 2 eggs placed on top...and the taste...dont even bother...its pathetic..
Paneer butter masala...shud have been called..'Paneer water non-masala'..........
And lamb biryani...u shud be a cannibal to eat that..the lamb was just not cooked..
I am so sorry INDIA GRILL..I absolutely wanted to love this place..but now I am running away from this...
Guys!!!! Think of it as a newly opened restaurant. I live right opposite INDIA GRILL. My first… Read more »
This Place was wack-
Went for the buffet and it was God awful! Everything that was put on my plate had to be scrapped from the bottom. The only reason why i stayed was because i was promised everything would be refreshed... lol and with the hopes of good reviews from Yelp, the food would be decent... which proves i cant go off everything everyone says on here...
So the food was refreshed even though the rest wasnt that busy ... lol with barely enough food to fill one persons plate and there were about 5 of us waiting... lol talk about trying to save a penny
The meat dishes were all just bones in gravy and the veggie dishes were bland
I was hoping the meat dishes would at least be boneless...
I dont know about ordering off the menu but the buffet sucked... the owner was cheap
DON'T GO HERE
Plus the selection was very limited maybe 4 things to choose from...lol i thought a buffet was something were you can try multiple things off of what a rest has on their menu..... not to 2 meat dishes and 2 veggie dishes
I would never go here again
There's something wrong with the decor. From eye level up to the ceiling it's extremely ornate with grand chandeliers but then below there is a lot of tacky old furniture you'd find at grandma's house.
I'm usually pretty happy with Indian buffets but this was average in some ways and below average in others. The food was luke warm or cold. The selection was mediocre. My favs were the tandoori chicken and the chicken curry.
The service was awful. There was no "how is everything?" No one came by to refill the water. The waitress looked like she didn't want to be there and didn't want us to be there either. She was quick to ask if we were ready for the check even though we weren't done eating. Then a minute or so after that she asked if we were done paying. ugh! It felt like she couldn't wait to get rid of us.
I went to the india grill with a couple of friends only to find the restaurant deserted. They started off with some cold and soft papad served with chutney which put me off. for non-indians, papad is supposed to be crisp n crunchy.
We ordered some samosa chat which was good. For the main course we ordered veggie korma, shahi paneer, chholey bhatura and veggie biryani.
The chholey bhatura was good, the bhatura was a lil oily but well made. the veggie korma was bad. The shahi paneer was perfect. They probably dont understand what veggie biryani is supposed to be. I cant believe i paid 10.99 for some flavored rice scarcely sprinkled with peas and beans. I even summoned the server and asked her if she had brought me pulav and she smiled and said it was biryani. Tried explaining to her that biryani was supposed to have some spicy gravy and this was pulav but she simply repeated..no sir this is biryani.
i gave up.. this was their biryani. and i had actually ordered 2 !!
The music was a big torture, we requested that they change the track to some new age hindi music and they finally played some aatif aslam track as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant. overall the experence wasnt bad. would not recommend it to anyone though.
I should have read some reviews before deciding to go to a random Indian restaurant. This place was out of samosas (the horror!) which I suppose can happen occasionally, but the worst thing was that they CHARGED SIX DOLLARS FOR RICE. I have NEVER heard of an Indian restaurant doing that.
I signed up for Yelp just to give this place a bad review. Apparently I'm not the only one. Two stars because it didn't actually give me food poisoning.
This is the worst Indian restaurant I have ever been to. It's way overpriced and does not deliver. I ordered shrimp masala and it has a weird twang and really tough overcooked shrimp. The entree was $18 and they must have in really fine print somewhere that rice doesn't come with that. They charge extra - $4 for really dry, overcooked rice. This was a huge disappointment. The front desk at the Essex mentioned it to me because it was close to the hotel. I gave them a thumbs down on that when I returned to the hotel. I really wish I had consulted Yelp before going here because I see a lot of people agree.
The India Grill was not only the worst Indian restaurant I have ever been to, it is probably the single worst restaurant of any kind that I have ever been to.
The service and food at India Grill were so horrific that I actually finally went to the trouble of signing up on Yelp specifically so that I could describe my surreal descent into food hell at the hands of the bizarre and nonsensical staff of India Grill.
The very best thing I can say about this restaurant is that it is BYOB. However, as you will discover, that feature ultimately worked against me.
I arrived at the India Grill with my date at 8pm on a Friday night, with a mind to take in a 10 o'clock movie after the meal. Both of us were very hungry after a long day, and brought a nice bottle of wine with us. Water and wine glasses were brought out promptly, and we began enjoying. A waiter approached us about appetizers, and we told him to give us just another minute to decide.
Fifteen minutes later, another waiter comes around and asks if we're ready to order. We were, but out of curiosity I asked what happened to the other guy. Here's the part where one of India Grill's unique little quirks come into play: the staff do not speak. They are all mute. They mumble at you a little bit, but it's not as if they were speaking in an accent you don't quite understand, it's more of a feeling like they don't have an interest in communicating with you. Anyway, the guy took our order: two paneer salads and a "Pandoori Mixed Grill" platter, which was supposed to have some chicken, two kinds of kebab, and some shrimp.
We're talking and laughing and drinking and laughing and talking and drinking, and before you know it an hour has gone by with no further contact from any staff member. Our empty stomachs had, by this point, accepted more than their fair share of wine and we had opened a second bottle that we had brought with for later.
I finally manage to flag down the first waiter who had come by to ask him what was the status with our food. He lets out a little whisper of a laugh and waves his hand to the side as if to imply that he's not really worried about it. Well, I was worried about it, so I pressed the issue: "It's been an hour since we ordered. Where is our food?" He waves his hand again and mumbles something about checking on it.
Fifteen minutes go by and we are offered no information about the results of his little food checkup. So I flag him down again. Now I am fairly drunk and becoming irate by this point, but I'm cognizant of the fact that I am still relying on him for food, so I keep things as polite as possible: "We really need to get our food, we're trying to catch a movie. It's been an hour." The waiter smiles and says, "One minute."
Fifteen minutes later, this man brought us the most disgusting and random assortment of dried out crap that I have ever been presented with. They literally just started grabbing whatever meat products they had around the kitchen and started putting them together on a plate. There weere things on this plate that, in retrospect, were not a part of the dish we had ordered. For example, there was some kind of fish! And I ate it! There were a couple kinds of weird dried out sausage. No idea what this crap was. Everything on the plate was dry and hard like it had been sitting out under a heat lamp for an hour, and it was all relatively flavorless.
By this point we had been drinking on an empty stomach for an hour and a half, and were ravenously hungry, and wanted to go and watch fucking Star Trek, so we just saw that there was a plate in front of us and started jamming its contents into our faces. In retrospect, I feel very fortunate that I am so far free from any symptoms of food poisoning.
We finished what we could finish of this disgusting mess of random meats, and waited another ten minutes before we could flag down the goddamn waiter to ask for our check. It was another 10 minutes before we had the check in hand! If I hadn't been so drunk there is absolutely no way I would have paid for this meal, but in my present sloppy and agitated state I contented myself to lay down my credit card and think about how I wasn't going to tip.
A few more minutes go by, and I have to actually get up from my table to walk over and hand the check to this idiot waiter, who is placidly standing behind the counter on the other side of the restaurant. I really just sort of threw the check at him with my card inside, saying "You think you might be able to run this for me??"
He finally brought me back the check, which I signed off on like fucking idiot, although I wrote in the tip amount with big angry drunken lettering: $00.00!
In conclusion, The India Grill provided me with a comically awful dining experience that dragged on for two hours and culminated in our eventual receipt of a big disgusting pile of dried out flavorless meat products that weren't even what we ordered. There's hardly any way it could have been worse.
this place was one single most humiliating restaurant experience in my life... bad enough - I created a Yelp account to share my experience with the class...
I understand we all made bad choices - disgusting food, attitude, lack of any decency and moral (and prolly health codes).. but India Grill takes the very tops spot! Because after feeding us garbage from microwave by totally unatentive, dishonest staff, nickle and dimming us for extra bread and dishes - they had balls to go ahead and include tips in to our bill! Unreal! I am attaching a snap shot of my bill...
So we called the waiter and that's where a true Oscar-worthy performance had taken place! Act one - he accused us of not liking him. Act two - challenge to our generosity. Act three - plead for help. by act two we got so fed up with attitude that whole experience became painful.
This place is pretty dismal, in fact if you're reading this review from a mobile phone and are about to walk in turn around and go next door to Eleven City Diner.
The pompodoms were okay, too dry like most Indian places around here that serve them, so I'm not going to be too harsh on them about that. For my main course I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala and an order of Naan. While I waited I decided to order a Mango Lassi, figuring you can't go too wrong with one of those. Although the mango lassi turned out fine, it really was the only thing fine about the meal. The main course looked like it was thrown together in a hurry. The chicken was very bland and tasted more like it had been drenched in a curry sauce rather than cooked in it. The naan was by far the worst part of the meal however. It was so dry and so tough that I might as well have been eating cardboard with my curry.
The vegetable samosas were fantastic and well spicy!!, but the palaak paneer was only okay. What I did not care for, however, was the WHOPPING $5.99 FOR A SIMPLE SIDE OF BASMATI!! For eff's sake, my entree was only $9.99, and the naan was $2.99 or $3.99, so you could imagine my shock when my side of rice was more than I even pay for my lunch, each day. Rice is no longer scarce as it was several months back, so I thought that this was a HUGE rip off, and a way for the restaurant to clean up after its unsuspecting customers. Booooooo!!!
I am a harsh reviewer when it comes to Indian food being that I was raised in London, UK and unfortunately 'India Grill' is a below par Indian restaurant. the food is very bland as much as they try to cover up the blandness with exuberant decorations and excellent service,
it almost adds to the disappointment of the mediocre food.
However, if one is not used to Indian food and is looking for a not-so-tradition experience but a nice dating spot near home, go ahead...it's not THAT bad.
This place is hilariously bad. It has these gigantic chandeliers - very bright lighting... and the decor looks a bit like a bad attempt at a Turkish bath.... (Sybaris??)
The food was near abysmal - I grew up in Australia where there is a cheap Indian take-out on the corner of many many neighborhood streets, and even the worst of those by far exceeded this gluggy tasteless mess....
Also, the service was attentive but quite odd, kind of pained. The Naan bore no resemblance to naan, and the lamb was unchewable. We decided to laugh about this rather than be grumpy, and so I'm writing this review now as therapy.
If a Vegas casino decided to have an Indian restaurant, it would look and taste just like this. Gaudy, bland, overpriced, and well marked by a neon sign. The easy-listening jazz should have tipped us off. The South Loop has seen some improvements in recent years, this isn't one of them.
Excited about a new Indian restaurant not too far from work, we visited for the lunch buffet. The masala tea was not very masala and almost lukewarm, bring your own microwave. The entrees seemed to be made by Germans who consider salt spice enough for any dish. If all that doesn't get you running to the red line, the credit card machine didn't work and there just aren't banks on every corner in that part of town.
Unless this place runs up to Devon to abduct a chef and some real plates, it should be another empty storefront in a few weeks and back to Elevens I go.
I wanted to like The India Grill........I truly did.
But alas I do NOT............Good news or bad news first............
Well being the OPTIMISTIC person I am, Ill fill you in on the good news-
the service is lovely, the location is great(I love the South Loop), the decorations make for superb eye candy and the prices wont leave your wallet crying.
HOWEVER- and this is a BIG however.........(here comes the BAD NEWS)
The food was just "EEUH". My channa masala was watery/lacked flavor- I wanted to SALT! The samosas were a tad heavy(over fried) and my Indian Tea was watery.
Yes the prices are cheaper than India House- but I want to eat GOOD food, not just edible food. It makes it worse that the waiter was so nice!
Quite unfortunately, I have to amend my review of this place. I had only ever been here for the lunch buffet, which I still maintain is very good.
But I finally decided to order takeout and, well, now I see what the hell everybody is talking about. I ordered lamb curry and chana masala. It came to almost $30 for two extremely small containers of food, AND I was told that I was gonna have to pay $6 bucks if I wanted basmati rice -- more if I wanted naan.
I pleaded my case to the manager and got the rice gratis, but I was still very disappointed with my order. The lamb curry was greasy and chewy. And the chana masala tasted like...somebody who doesn't know how to make chana masala made it.
The staff did a lot of apologizing and blamed a lot of the restaurant's woes on the owner (who apparently doesn't want to get a liquor license and also seems to think what he's offering is "unique" even if it's poorly done...)
Bottom line: I won't be back for dinner and I can't wait until Curry House opens. I'd still go to the buffet -- if for no other reason than that the rice and bread are included!
This place JUST opened and is an absolute welcome addition to the South Loop! The owners have… Read more »
Great Indian food! Excellent flavor. They also offer a lunch buffet.
I had dinner, and was surprised. I was walking by on the sidewalk looking for someplace to eat (being new to Chicago), and a couple came out after dinner. While reading the menu outside, they told me "this place is amazing, you have to go!"
So, I tried it and was not disappointed. Some of the best Indian I've had anywhere.
This is definitely not my number 1 pick for Indian. It probably isn't even 2 or 3. However, the options int he South Loop are very limited and this place going in two blocks from my place was very exciting. I awaited its opening with MUCH anticipation. My husband and I dined here last night. The dinner menu is a little pricey. The butter chicken was sort of bland. The Lamb Sagwala was good, but could have used some more spice. The naan was good, they serve it like bread at an Italian place before your meal to munch on, which is a plus! The waiter we had was completely incompetent, but the one serving people next to us seemed great. We just had some bad luck there.
Overall, the place is good, not great, and a little pricey. I feel like they tone down the real Indian flavor. I want more spice! I'll definitely be heading back for the lunch buffet and to see if some of the other menu items are better.
Blah. I want to back this place, but I can't. As mentioned, Indian food is rare in the South Loop. I actually ate food from here twice hoping I can have a great experience.
Problems:
1) Portions are tiny for the price. You would think that taste would compensate for the size, but sadly, it does not.
2) One of the expensive dishes (Mixed Grill) we got looked promising, but the meat was dry. I was thinking these pieces were leftovers from a lunch buffet.
3) Someone in our group thought the naan filled with potatos had a hint of coffee. That was weird.
The only other time I'll try is maybe for that lunch buffet. At least there will be enough options to not be disappointed. Ho hum.
I'm so surprised at the bad reviews!
Admittedly, the decor is totally overdone and definitely gaudy, but the place is spotless. Tried the lunch buffet: they had lots of vegetarian options - the Dal Makhani was a little too salty for my taste, but it didn't stop me from enjoying seconds. Also had potatoes in masala sauce - delicious! The naan was so fresh and tasty! The samosas were huge! For 2 people, the total was $30 with tip - $15/person for an enticing buffet....love it. Its no India House, but I'll definitely be back, looking forward to trying dinner one night.
A great hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant in the South Loop neighborhood. Definitely nothing fancy, but I can see this place becoming a staple for us. The food isn't to die for, but it is very tasty and filling, which is all I ask for in cheap Indian food. A little splcier than I'm used to, which is good thing. Lots of delicious options on the lunch buffet, which is $12 and runs pretty late, until 2:30pm, I think. I like that they bring fresh naan to your table when you get the buffet. For some reason, a lot of Indian place in Minneapolis just can't seem to get the naan right. The stuff they make here is perfect: light, a little doughy and not charred. Service was excellent, my water glass was never empty and they cleared the plates pretty fast. I only wish that they would do delivery.
The only positive thing I can say about this restaurant is that it's within an easy walk of where I live.
The food was poor, matched only by the service. I would give it 0 stars if 0 stars were an option.
I ordered channa with curry; naan was provided as a "courtesy" from the kitchen. Rice would have cost an additional $4 to $6. The naan, I believe, would have been an additional $2-$3. The price is a bit higher than what you would find on Devon, but the quality of the food is dramatically lower. The channa was not fully cooked, and the flavor was almost bland -- I don't know whether they're afraid to spice appropriately or if the folks in the kitchen improperly spiced the batch from which my portion was served.
I doubt that I will try India Grill again, and I usually give restaurants 2 or 3 chances before I write them off.
By far the WORST indian food I have ever had my entire life! Instead of the upgrades to the property, they should have hired a proper chef.
The chicken was hard and overcooked and tasted like it was out all day. The lamb we ordered was overcooked and burnt. Tasted like india beef jerkey. This place should close down soon...I dont know how they justify their existence.
I really don't understand the bad reviews at all. Whenever I've been there, the service is really great. The naan is large and fluffy just like at other good indian restaurants, and the portions are well sized and tasted just fine. Maybe the portions were tiny earlier, but they seem to be more than adequate now. I'm indian, i've been to dozens of indian restaurants, and i know what crappy indian food is. This is not it. This place is just like any other good indian restaurant. If you live in the south loop or close by, definitely check it out. Don't let the negative reviews steer you away.
I have no doubt that this is the worst stinking Indian restaurant in all of Chicago ... no no all of US ... no no all of the world! I am Indian and believe me I can eat crap and be polite and give compliments. But the food here is worst than crap. I have given this restaurant more than its fair share of chances ever since it first started hoping it would improve but it has only gone more and more into the pits.
The waiters are inattentive, untrained and sometimes rude. The food is a horrendous tasting unholy mix of who knows what. The prices are exorbitant. The decor is so so. Absolutely nothing positive. I am surprised that this place is still running.
Take your money and go somewhere else. If you want Indian cuisine go to India House in downtown or Chutney Joe's if you are cheap.
I love Indian food, and this place is decent. The lunch buffet is reasonably priced and has a decent selection.
The complaints I read about here did not really apply when I visited: no fruit flies, quick service, no bones and no watered down dishes. If you are an Indian food aficionado, pass on this place; but if you are new to it, this may be a good spot for you.
The food can be a bit bland (for Indian food), but if you are jonezing for some Indian food and fairly hungry this is a good deal. I believe it was $11.75 per person without a drink.
For me it is conveniently close to school and since it has a lunch buffet you can take as much or as little time as you want.
Here is the breakdown:
* Wait staff: Nice, fairly attentive
* Drinks: Not sure
* Menu: Indian
* Parking: You might find metered...
* Dress: Casual
The food was really good, but I was completely miffed at the prices. I mean seriously. I have to pay $12 for my dish and then naan and rice are extra?!!! Really?!! I have to pay another $7 for a bowl of rice. Seriously! However, considering the tastiness, the lunch buffet would be perfect.
I really wanted to like this place. I really, really did. Like, Indian in my neighborhood? Sign me up! Yeah, no.
I can't have ghee, so specifically ordered my naan and entree (something with eggplant) without ghee. The naan came glistening in something, and so I asked if it had been made with ghee. Guess what, it was! So they had to make us a new batch. Then our entrees came and mine literally had over a quarter-inch of standing oil on top of it. Disgusting. So the server suggested a different entree, which was not oily, but was just so boring: potatoes with spicy stuff on top of them. And then we were sitting there for, like, a really long time before we could get our check and then we were sitting there for a really long time again before the servers got around to taking the card and running it. Seriously.
Okay, one other thing: if you're going to open a place and create a certain ambience by gilding whatever can be gilded and hanging way over-the-top chandeliers, why the hell are you serving food in what looks like college dining hall dishware?
Hmm okay so we were craving some Indian food and wanted to go to India Garden but there was the holiday parade/lighting thing on Michigan Ave so we wound up here instead.
Pretty nice decor and stuff, got seated right away. But then we sat there...for...a while. Finally we flagged down a waiter 30min later and he was like oh let me get your waiter. Our waiter came and was like "heh sorry i am late" umm yeah.
Anyway! After that the food was pretty good. Seemed like they skimped on naan and the chicken tikka masala was a little watery/oily but good flavor.
Good enough, but there are far better Indian restaurants in the city!
The man refilling out water was awesome though :-p
This place is truly authentic Indian....I have never had a bad experience.
We recently checked out The India Grill at 1112 S. Wabash to see what was cracking at this new joint. We've been by a couple times and it usually looks pretty dead, however on this Saturday night it had a decent crowd.
The menu looks to be your typical Indian fare and I can attest that the Tandori chicken is pretty tender. The prices seems comparable to most Indian restaurants (main courses are $10-20) and the wait staff was attentive and quick. They also have a daily Indian Buffet if that's your sort of thing.
The decor is nice and classy, but definitely nothing extraordinary. The one issue we had was that they have a gigantic neon red sign in the window that casts a weird glow throughout the restaurant.
So to sum it up...standard, good Indian food, but not much to write home about.
I'm really surprised at how many mediocre and bad reviews this place has received. I wonder if this is determined on a dish-by-dish basis. I've tried both the lunch buffet and the dinner, and both had choices that were more yummy than bland. The main problem I had with this place was not the quality or quantity of food or the service, it was the decor that could have been less gaudy. Also, as I write this, the restaurant is in its infancy, but there are a few kinks that need to be worked out soon -- little things, like the glass table toppers. My plate kept sliding around the table and it made me nervous. Also, the lighting was intense! I don't want to have to squint to during dinner. Dim that massive chandelier down a bit for a more peaceful experience. Maybe I'll have to settle for the carry-out option and dim my own lights at home.
Pretty bad all around. I was excited that an Indian place was opening up in the South Loop, but this was disappointing.
The decor was not my taste, but that isn't too important to me.
Service was strange...can't really explain it...but strange.
Too expensive for what you get. I could look past that if the food was great, but it wasn't. Also, you had to order naan or rice...rip off.
Will not be going back.
Bummer! Like everyone else, I was happy that there was an Indian option in the South Loop. Looks like there is still no GOOD Indian Options in the hood. First off, The place is nice but a little bright and sterile for my tastes. The seating just looks uncomfortable. Also, the place is expensive. $16 for Tika Masala, $6 for plain Basmati rice?? I spend unreasonable amounts of money on things consistantly but $6 for rice is where I draw the line. AT this point, we already ordered our meal, so I felt like I had no choice. Indian food without rice does not work for me.
For these prices, if the food was rockin, I wouldv'e let it go. But really, it was not good. Our Tika Masala was SOO salty. The Somosas had a horrible doughy/crispy ratio. Our other dish was super runny. Our Naan was precut.
The service was good and the manager (I think) came over and asked us how everything was- Which was nice. How do you really say you don't like anything??
This place was absolutely disgusting. I went for the lunch buffet. The dishes were cold, watery and juts plain nasty. Everything looked like it was out of the ready made indian packet you find at jewel. The naan was just pita bread! every chicken dish had bones in it; you'll be lucky to find any meat whatsoever!
The service was equally terrible. No water, random spills on the table before we sat down, etc etc. just terrible don't even think about going.
I read the reviews, so I had really low expectations. But I live nearby and love all kinds of Indian food, so I thought I'd give India Grill a try. I must have eaten at 50 Indian restaurants over the years at all kinds of places and I think this was the worst Indian food I've ever had.
I went to the lunch buffet. The curry was bland and watery. There were only two "meaty" curries available. The chicken was all bones and I really dug through the pan to find food. The lamb was fat and bones. The nan was bland, the vegetarian curries were tasteless and thin, even the deserts weren't great. I liked the decor and the music, but the service was not great.
Finally Indian food in south loop. I was literally dancing around this place almost everyday in anticipation. My daydreaming included big fat naans, spinach, tomato curry, lentil soup, lamb, tandoori chicken. Finally I stepped in, ah beautiful mosaic tiles, ah lustrous chandelier, (too bad I just sported ugg boots not so classy), and ooooh fresh smelling bathroom. I thought, thank you dear God for upgrading ethnic dining. Truly I give credit to the owner for trying to help Indian cuisine get rid of ethnic stereotype of mom and pop run joint.
However, in its most ambitious effort the restaurant just overlooked the menu range and variety. Unfortunately nothing special, even mediocre.
I would recommend the owner to tone the place down in favor of food and please, make your servers have more relaxed manner. South loop is not that to be hyped about. Come on you can do it. Win me over and I'll roll with you the stars over those lustres.
We tried this place once for the buffet and once for dinner. We really wanted to like it and welcome it to the neighborhood but after the dinner we will not be going back. The buffet is 11.95 and pretty sorry looking for a relatively new restaurant. The food was very so-so and that is being kind. At dinner we ordered our usual appetizer and 2-3 entrees for the two of us and thought we would have some left over. We walked out hungry having spent $75.00 for a sub par meal. They do nickel and dine you for the naan and plain rice. The decor is way overdone. They should have paid the money and attention to a real chef. If you really want some Indian food in the vicinity of the South Loop try The Chicago Curry House just off State St. at 9th. Even Chutney Joe near the Library would be a better choice.
"Check, Please!" Feature
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
No Corkage Charge, Bring Your…
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Neighborhood: South Loop
Category: Indian
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Category: Indian
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Category: Indian
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Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Indian
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