This place is what is: an inexpensive BYOB restaurant in Lincoln Park. Came here on a Saturday night with a group before seeing a comedy show nearby. We had an 8 PM reservation and got seated right away. The service was good and quick. The food was good but not great. We ordered some naan and a vegetable samosa for the table. I had the Haryali chicken which ended up being chunks of chicken in a green-ish sauce. It came with plenty of rice for the table. I could have used more chicken and less green sauce. With the appetizers for the table, I spent under $20 including tip. Overall, BYOB places always get a few bonus points in my book. I'd go back, but I won't be craving it any time soon.
Review Source:First of all, the woman who runs it (I think her name is Ruth, not sure) is really nice. Last time I was in she talked with me about the restaurant and how thankful they are for their customers, which is pretty rare in Chicago. I have had a few dishes but by far the best is the Lamb Biryani and the garlic Naan. Go now! It will not disappoint!
Review Source:Hema's Kitchen is a great Indian food staple in Chicago. Food is good, hardly ever a wait, convenient Lincoln Park location and it's byob!
Food is the standard Indian fare and they will customize the spice level for your tastes. I had the Chicken Tikka Marsala with Naan bread, both of which were great. My boyfriend tried the Lamb Vinadoolo and asked for it super spicy, and spicy he got! Overall, we both thought the food was good and will definitely be back.
The chicken/lamb korma is to die for! This Indian restaurant is a tad more expensive than other comparable Indian restaurants and the service is a bit slow... However, the food is worth it! Go there with this in mind, have some patience, and you will be very pleased with the delectable dishes. Moreover, the pond is just a couple blocks away, making this an extremely lovely place to get takeout from in the summer time for a fantastic date night.
Review Source:I went to this restaurant with my boyfriend an another couple. The food was delicious and came in big portions. Most of their options are pretty spicy, but their Masala sauce is great if you want to cool the spice a little bit. Â I can see where others have complaints about the service. The place is small and was packed the entire time we were there. We were lucky enough to get a table right away but there was what seemed like a decent wait. We love BYOB types of places and will be returning!
Review Source:Great Indian food and very spicy. There is no mild food here no matter what they say. I don't think Hemma, a very nice lady, is doing the cooking , but I remember when she was just starting out on the far north side. The food was hot then. She would come out and talk to customers. I would give this five stars as the food and bread are as good as it gets, but the servers just don't seem to understand English well enough to help with the menu. One has to get what one desires at a restaurant or why go?
Review Source:Food is delicious! The service isn't stellar but it's still okay, no complaints. The naan was delicious and crispy, the chicken vindaloo is soooooooo good and spicy! My favorite! Â The tandoori chicken is great and so is the lamb with baigan and curry leaves. The atmosphere is really intimate and nice, fun place for dinner with excellent Indian cuisine.
Review Source:Food was GREAT, service was AWFUL. Â We had about 9 different servers, who were all rude. Forget asking questions - I asked "what are the different sauces?" Â Their reply? "this is the red sauce, this is the green sauce." Â Gee thanks, guy! Â It is good for a laugh, it is BYO, food is good.
Review Source:I stopped by for lunch, ordering saag paneer and chicken tikka masala. Â The saag paneer was a little too salty for my taste, and the chicken tikka masala didn't really have the buttery, creamy goodness that I am used to. Â Hate to say it, but I was disappointed since I had heard nothing but rave reviews of the original Hema's on Devon.
Chances are I will drop by again for dinner to see if the same dishes taste any different (read: better) in order to get a better gauge of the cuisine at Hema's II.
I love Indian food, so I can say with confidence that this place sucks. I'm still in awe of how this place is in business. The service was horrendous. The server acted like we were doing her a favor. She was too busy playing with her phone to notice we were ready to order, needed more water or the check. The food was nothing to write home about either. Overpriced and lacked flavor. Also, this places charges for rice and naan. Are you kidding me?! Insane. This was my first and last time Hema's. Not about to settle here when there are so many other places that can cook and provide quality service.
Review Source:I have been there at least 10 times. But I have always tried just two things. Their shami roll and dal dahkni are AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! I want to try other stuff but whenever I go there, I just cant resist ordering my favorites. I do think the main course is a lil over priced, considering their portion size. Service is a lil slow but I love the food. Its so close to my place...would probably end up going there once or twice every month.
Review Source:The food was good, but the service was appalling. I came with 2 other people on a Thursday night. We were seated right away by an apathetic waitress, who basically just pointed at a table. We followed her finger and sat. We ordered muttar paneer and vegetable vindaloo with rice. 2 of us received our orders after 40 minutes. After another 15 minutes and flagging down 2 servers (one was the owner) the 3rd person received her order. It was clear that they had forgotten about her. We didn't receive any sort of discount and the prices here are high to begin with. The food was pretty good and mildly spiced, for those who don't like spicy. However, I would recommend the Indian Grill down the street which has much better service.
Review Source:God I want to love ALL Indian food, but sadly I can't handle much spice so what I order is limited. Still, everything I got at Hema's was spectacular! And I really wanted to try every flavor of naan they had, but I was just with one other person and there are like 8 so that didn't happen. It's super tiny and they pack the tables in so on a Friday night like when I went, you'll probably have to wait a while for a table, and for your food. I thought it was worth it though. It's a cool ambiance and the portions are perfect, you're not served a gigantic portion so everyone can order their own entree and get exactly what they want! One tip though, rice does not come with entrees. I have never heard of that before so we didn't order rice then sat there like idiots for 5 minutes after our food arrived waiting for it.
Review Source:RUDE! Â I called for delivery five minutes after the 12.00p, the time Hema's opens for business. Â The man on the other line seemed annoyed, and without so much as a "hello," quickly told me to call in ten minutes and hung up on me. Â I called ten minutes later, and then 15, and finally 20 minutes later to no answer. Â The worst part is that my coworkers and I were all planning to eat this food for lunch, so we spent our staff meeting trying to find a place to deliver us lunch. Â They would've received great business from us, but alas... they clearly do not care about delivering food, nor great customer service for that matter.
Review Source:I was recommended this restaurant 3 years ago by a friend who had lived in India for several months. She said that since returning to the states Hema's was most like she had remembered of her stay in India.
I lived in the neighborhood, and I tried it. I could have Hema's food every meal of the day if I could. It's BYOB so prices are kept lower.
The service isn't the greatest, but we all know why you go to Hema's... to pig out on amazing Indian food.
If I could have just one meal, the lamb curry from Hema's might be it. Â I moved away from Chicago for two years, and as soon as I came back I went to Hema's and ordered the same thing I always order.
This 5 star rating is purely about the food. Â If you're looking for some super-trendy date-night spot, this might not be it. Â But if you're okay listening to sometimes odd music and byob service, you'll love love love the food.
PS, also get vegitable samosas and naan.
Just had dinner here Saturday night with my fiance. Â The food was good, but I was hoping for bigger portion on the Kheema Mater my fiance ordered. Â He's a bigger guy and it was not enough food for him. Â I also thought the naan should just come with the dish, but instead we had to order separately. Â
I ordered the Chicken Biryani (basmati rice with chicken). Â This dish was good and the portion was plenty. Â Although not the best I've ever tasted.
Overall a pretty good byob option if you're in the mood for Indian food.
Good BYOB option!
Hema's has been my go-to place for Indian food on a weeknight. The food is great, slightly expensive and the service is friendly. A few of the dishes I've ordered have been misses like the Vegetable Jalfrezi (Its so obvious that they use frozen mixed veggies!) but most of the time I end up licking my finger after savoring spicy curries. My favorite is the Mutter Paneer.
Seems like the food and service has gone downhill as of late. Â
The mattar paneer was good, pretty standard, but the chicken mahkani (butter chicken) was so lacking in chicken and flavor that we had to send it back. The staff didn't seem to handle the situation particularly well either. Â
For the high prices, I'd expect more in terms of portion and service. Â I used to be a fan of Hema's when they first opened and they definitely have some regional specialties that are hard to find in other Indian spots, so I hate to say this, but for solid Indian food in the neighborhood, I prefer to head to another place a little further south on Clark where the portions and prices are more reasonable and the food tastes better.
Meh. Â I've experienced better. Â Granted, it was Friday night, but i thought service was a little on the slow side. Â When I happen to notice that it's been a while since I ordered the food - it's been too long. Â The prices are "Lincoln Park-ish", but it is BYOB, so that might appeal to some. Â
Anyway, the restaurant was able to quickly seat us and I didn't have to schlep all the way up to Devon for Indian food. Â It's been probably a good 5 years since I last visited Hema's and probably another 5 before I come back.
Pretty good food, chicken tikka masala was tasty but I asked for spicy and it wasn't very spicy. Maybe they didn't think I could handle it? I can!
The staff is a little off-putting, very intrusive and I felt like I couldn't really enjoy my meal under the watchful eye of the staff. I might try the place again but given the other options a bit further north I might be inclined to try other places first.
If you like white people Indian food, then you'll go for Hema's. Â A building neighbor recommended this place to me, so a blustery evening this winter I checked it out with two of my girlfriends.
We ordered family style to share - starting with lamb samosas. Â We tried to order many dishes, but they didn't have spinach... AKA NOTHING WITH SAAG! Â
We ended up getting Chicken Mahkni, a lentil dish, a paneer dish and a lamb dish. Â Because rice and nan are sold separately, we ordered those too. Â The food tasted well enough going down but was just bland.
Liked that it is BYOB with a bottle store on the block.
Our issues came later that night with 3/3 feeling sick into the next day.
Not bad but I've had better. It tasted like your standard indian fare. We had a reservation but still felt like we were somehow imposing our large party on them. I asked for another coffee twice and never got one.
The dough for the samosas was light and puffy, I prefer a thicker and greasier dough personally. The veggie samosas had good flavor but the keema samosas seemed only half filled.
I liked the heat from the lamb vindaloo and appreciated that they didn't think we couldn't handle spice because we were white folks and the flavor of the navratan curry was good but nothing amazing. I don't live nearby so it's unlikely I'll ever be back but even if I did it would still be pretty unlikely.
I took a long break from eating Indian food (probably a year) after eating it fairly consistently for a long time. The strong flavors and different tastes always drew me in, and I was thoroughly impressed with most everything that I tried while I temporarily lived in London for about half a year. Although it's fairly obvious that London has better Indian food in general as compared to the midwest, my quest continues for my favorite Indian restaurant within the confines of the city.
FOOD:
Murg Makhani: The tandoori chicken in this dish was extremely tender and moist. Nothing dried out here, and I enjoyed the flavors of the sauce the most. That's probably because this dish stood out the most in terms of boldness as compared to our other two dishes.
Ghosh Rogan Josh: Rogan Josh is probably my favorite preparation of lamb when it comes to Indian dishes, and I was underwhelmed by Hema's version. The lamb was fine and mostly tender (some pieces were overcooked), but there was nothing about the curry that was memorable. It sort of blended into my memory and overall, I was happy with it, but would try other lamb dishes here before ordering the rogan josh again.
Sag Paneer: I liked this spinach and cheese dish because it wasn't overly oily like it can be in other places. The flavor of the dish itself was once again mild - I would have liked to see some more taste come in.
Vegetable Samosa: Pretty bland. Not very exciting. I'll pass on this and try the kheema samosa next time (they were sold out when we ordered).
Shami Khebob: A pretty interesting dish as it wasn't what I was expecting - the lamb meat was minced far more than I expected, and it almost seems like the proportion of ground lentils to lamb was off (as in too much ground lentils). The two sauces were good, although the khebob itself was fairly flavorless.
SERVICE:
A bit awkward, but we didn't have any issues with length of time to be served. The restaurant was about 1/4 full when we sat down, and probably half full as  we were leaving. Water service was quick, and the food came out fast and hot after we ordered.
VALUE/OVERALL:
Dinner cost the three of us about $21 - that's with 2 appetizers, two orders of normal basmati rice, an order of garlic naan, and 3 entrees. I think that turned out to be a pretty good value.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal, but I can't help but feel like the flavors were almost dulled a bit to better suit the typical midwestern palate. I really like my Indian food strong and heavily spiced as I believe it should be. But if you're craving Indian food and want a fairly relaxed meal with friends, you really can't go wrong with Hema's if you're in Lincoln Park. However, I will state that I do prefer Raj Darbar a bit more overall.
The bf and I headed here with another couple the other night, and were seriously underwhelmed. Our server was super awkward, so that got the whole night off on a weird foot. Also, our table was SUPER strange-- a square four top, but they had us seated like it was a rectangle. too weird!
Anyway, the food was just... mediocre. It tasted like what I get from the buffet I love, but you know, that's a buffet! I expect a general mushiness. There were like four squares of cheese in my Sag Paneer, and about as much chicken in my boyfriend's tikka masala. We definitely ate a ton, but between the awkward set up, the mediocre food, and having to order rice separately (for real, a huge issue!), we probably won't be back.
Highly disappointing experience here at Hema's to say the least.
Service: terribly below basic standards. Our waiter was extremely rude and barely acknowledged our presence as customers through our whole meal.
I kindly asked for bottled water, and he rudely shouted that no one asks for bottles in these "kinds" of places. Not quite understanding his purpose for it, I proceeded to order a sweet lassi which he got 15 minutes later.
We found him speaking on the phone and walking around, but not asking us about our food, meal or even re-filling our drinks.
I felt basic restaurant etiquette was very much lacking unfortunately.
Food: The rolls were okay, but I felt the shami kabob had way too much salt for my liking.
We ordered to chicken dishes- the chicken tikka masala and chicken haryali and both were lacking in flavor.
It also took him about 25 minutes to bring out the food, which was also a bit long as ourselves and another two person table were the only ones there.
Overall, I felt this restaurant was very much lacking in service, basic expected etiqutte and quality of food. I wouldn't repeat again.
I was in Chicago for the holidays visiting my sister. Couldn't decide between Thai and Indian food. Â Since I am from Pdx, and there are plen-thai of Thai food, decided to opt for Indian. Â
I heard it was a busy crowded place, but we didn't have a long wait.  We started with Tandoori chicken (an appetizer).  It had quite a kick to it, but fortunately, the wait staff brought me some yogurt and that calmed the hot taste.  We ate family style (sharing dishes) and ordered the dal and tikka masala.  Both were very tasty.  We also ordered the naan (not the garlic) and all was good  But, am being more surprised as places are charging for rice.
We topped our dinner with ginger tea. Â
It was an enjoyable meal, and I can see trying some of the other dishes on my next visit to the Windy City.
I am 26 years old and I have not eaten at an Indian Restaurant before....until tonight.
It was my friend's birthday and she's known to take us out to the most exotic of spots, to please her diverse group of friends.
I am an extremely picky eater. I was panicking until I browsed their menu online. A lot of the dishes actually sounded pretty good.
Come night-time, I stroll in and meet up with the peeps just as they were ordering. I had a general idea of what I wanted from what I saw in the menu earlier, so I ordered 2 veggie samosas, the tikka masala with chicken, and garlic naan.
I was pretty easy to please tonight. I'm pretty sure it's not authentic Indian Food, but I will definitely visit a few other restaurants to compare.
I like it here a lot and I would definitely come back.
It's proven that authentic, delicious, amazing Indian food doesn't exist in Chicago, Hema's Kitchen was recommended to me as being close.
I don't care what anyone says, this place sucks.
The food was mediocre, generic.
I've had better samosas from the frozen foods section of the grocery store.
The service was awful.
After our server repeatedly forgot food items we ordered, brought the wrong items, then forgot again - she still charged us FULL PRICE for the items she FORGOT to deliver to us.
Zero ambiance. Weird place.
If I'm going to eat americanized Indian food in Chicago, I'll go to Vermillion or Cumin, both of which offer ambiance and fantastic, eclectic food.
My first suggestion when my non-Indian friends ask me where to get the best sampling of Indian food. Hemas Kitchen rocks.
They really cater their spice levels to your taste, which is a major plus. I'd suggest the Spinach/Veg Pakoras and the Veg Cutlets for appetizers. Among the curries, their Bhindi Masala and Shahi Paneer always hit the spot. If you cannot handle extreme spice, steer clear of the Vindaloo. They also serve really warm and fluffy breads - Garlic Naans, Stuffed Kulchas, yummm.
The owner (Hema) is very sweet and stops by whenever she is in the restaurant to enquire if the food is good, etc. The place is BYOB, so pick a beer or a sweet white to counter the spice. And please try and take the CTA or a cab, finding a spot to park in the neighborhood is a nightmare!
Eh, not so much. Â I've experienced both take out and dine in at Hema's and neither time knocked my socks off. Â
The first time was take out with my coworkers. Â Hema's is down the street and we were all craving Indian food...seriously. Â Hema's to the rescue. Â Kinda. Â They wouldn't answer the phone. Â We called and called and no answer. Â We wouldn't be thwarted. Â One of our gals went down there and waited it out. Â Bummer for her because she may have missed out on a big sale.
The food was okay. Â The garlic naan had so much garlic, however, that I'm sure our clients were a little turned off for the rest of the day. Â I'm glad I keep a toothbrush in my bag! Â My paneer dish was super spicy (I requested it that way) which was good. Â Overall, so-so.
The next time I ate in. Â This time I ordered my Chicken Tikka Masala spicy but it really wasn't. Â The chicken was sorta rubbery and a little bit scary. Â The portion size seemed way smaller than our take out sizes from before. Â And, paying for rice always chaps me. Â The worst part was the nonchalant service. Â It took forever for me to get my card back after submitting it for payment. Â Sigh.
This was such a disappointment, especially since the Hema's Kitchen on Devon is consistently delicious and pleasant.
Reasons why this place sucks:
-It is more expensive, which might be expected since many LP businesses think it's okay to hike up the prices, as if we're all too dumb to notice or too rich care. But, it is not okay when the portions are significantly smaller (as in most appetizers @ other restaurants are larger than the entrees here). It's also not okay when the food is not nearly as good. Or when everything is extra.. but apparently to some people 9.99 for four scoops of mediocre food plus another 3 dollars for plain basmati rice is a deal. And I'm assuming it's even more expensive for the meat eaters.
-The staff here has no concept of good customer service. Although there were only two other tables taken in the entire restaurant, we were seated in one of the smallest tables near both the door and window, and it was effing freezing. The waitress took forever to come take our order, bring our food, check, see how we were doing, etc. When I asked her about a specific dish, she couldn't tell me anything about it. When a dish we've gotten numerous times at the Hema's on Devon was TOTALLY different here, we mentioned it to the waitress who stared blankly at us. When we asked for a bit more sauce since the dish appeared to have been sitting out all day and was totally dry, she brought us out cold, very sweet, red sauce. The dish we had was mostly curry and potato, the last thing we would have wanted to put on it was what she gave us.
-So, basically the food sucks, it's pricey, the waitresses have no clue about how to treat their patrons, and there are so many amazing Indian restaurants in this city that there is no reason I would ever subject myself to going here again. If you're in LP and want Indian, go to Raj Darbar on Halsted near Schubert.
Terrible, terrible, terrible.
I despise Hema's Kitchen (Lincoln Park) and gave up long ago. Â
It is nothing more than a place for Lincoln Park yuppies to go "Oh! Â I'm so desi! Â Naan is a cute word! Â And it was Indian! Â 4 Stars!"
Hema's sucks. Â Small portions, rude service, and they charge you for everything under the sun. Â Extra money for extra naan? Â Homegirl, please. Â If I'm not paying extra for breadsticks at some suburban Olive Garden, I'm not going to pay extra for bread (called Naan) because you think I'm a Lincoln Park moron.
I'll eat your horrendous Tandoori and sit in your "oh so Desi" atmosphere and be dazzled that white people can be so enlightened to be so close to "real culture."
Tip: Get a CTA card. Â Take Brown Line to Western and Western bus to Devon. Â OR take Clark bus to Devon and Devon bus to Western. Â Eat good, realistically priced Desi food where Naan isn't extra money. Â Buy a good Kajol movie on DVD, puri shells and the necessary ingredients from Patel Bros., and make it a fun night.
Hema's is a joke. Â Overpriced, poorly staffed, and a terrible operation. Â Indian Grill a block south on Belden is much better in food, portion, atmosphere, and service (even if being more expensive than Devon restaurants).
Avoid.
I ate at this place on SATURDAY. The restaurant was totally dead (we're talking zero tables at 5:30 at night) , and the waitress tried to guilt trip us into sitting at the front most table next to the cold window. When I asked to move she started sighing large sighs and rolling her eyes and then burst out, 'Just sit wherever you want! You don't need MY permission to do anything!"
Whatever. The food was okay, but for real--no more bitches.
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