Cons:
The platter had very little non veg and a hell lot of sad tasting pakoras.
The service was extremely slow.
The biryani was nothing compared to Hyderabad House in Devon.
The dals and chicken were OK, nothing great.
Pros:
The complimentary papads and chutneys were amazing. The chutneys were out of the world.
The ambience is pretty cool.
RESTAURANT WEEK 2013....RESTAURANT NUMBER 4.
My bff and I came here and we got sooooo much food for $44/person and it came with a drink. I had a lychee martini which is one of my favorites (number 1 is a lemon drop martini). We had veggie samosas and she had some kind of tiki fish and I had the chicken simmered in a tomato and butter sauce. We had regular naan and garlic naan bread. The pistachio ice cream was AMAZING, my dessert was AWFUL, it tasted like a lemon flavored sponge, I think it was some kind of hard, semi-cool, fried cottage cheese, i did not care for it one bit, that teaches me to be adventurous. Everything, but my dessert was GREAT and I will be coming back in the near future
Probably not the best choice for a restaurant week dinner. From the get-go, service was sketchy. We walked in at the same time that a delivery man was walking out, and he asked us how many and guided us to a waiting area...we started walking over and then the hostess came up to us, asked us the same question, and said we could come with her "if we wanted to." Weird? Yes. Maybe 4 out of the 20 or so tables were filled, so there was obviously ample room.
It took at least 10 minutes for anyone to come by and greet us or take our order, and when they did, it wasn't greeting, it was "are you ready?" We didn't even have the restaurant week menu at that point, so we clearly needed more time. We had another 10 minutes to decide, and when he came back to take our order and we both started to list our choices off the menu, only then did he tell us that it would be more cost-effective and still an absurd amount of food if we ordered one restaurant week meal and one appetizer or entree on the side. Granted, that was a good piece of advice, but why did we waste 25 minutes getting to that point?
I love Indian food, and I loved the baigam bartha (spelling? probably way off) with the rice and the naan, but the chicken in the other dish we ordered did not even come close to par. It felt slimy but overcooked, if that's possible. There really was so much food that when the dessert menu came out, I didn't even want to think about any other food. Granted, it was good, but I was just sooo full.
I felt like the servers were trying to get us to leave as the night wound down. They started setting up for the next day's buffet, which was distracting and loud. Ultimately, not a bad price considering the amount of food (~$35/person) but definitely not on my list to try again for a while.
I came to Chicago for the weekend and decided to try how indian food tastes in Chicago. It was horrible! I am from California and I have never had disgusting food like this before. It was a disgrace to indian cooking.
Avoid their meat dishes at all cost. It is evident that they cook their meat maybe once or max twice per week -- it tasted very bad. They mixed newly cooked pieces in with really really old pieces. Hard to tell if it was chicken or road kill.
Additionally, the staff is very unprofessional.
I would avoid this place at all cost.
They seemed to have excellent vegetarian options and the food was at least on par with most Indian cuisine I have had in the price range, and I have had a lot. The dining room on a weeknight was pleasantly quiet and relaxing, despite being a huge dining room that can surely accommodate large parties when needed.
I have only been here for dinner (non-buffet) on an expense account, so I cannot honestly judge the value for the price. It is worth a try if you are in the area.
Wonderful restaurant, I have nothing but glowing praise. The food is delicious, I've never tried anything I didn't love, my favorites are the naan, the mango laasi, navratan korma, chicken tikka, and lamb saag. The decor is beautiful, the staff is hospitable, especially the owner Anu who is absolutely charming and gracious. She makes sure that you have a top notch experience, from the service to the food. My favorite Indian restaurant in Chicago hands down!
Review Source:Just had the buffet here and it was excellent. Â I am picky with Indian food and just about everything here tasted great. Â And I loved the hot naan bread they bring to table. Â Most dished are not very spicy, so if you like your indian food kicked up a notch on the hot scale then this place is not for you. Â Went at noon and service was quick with no wait to be seated. Â See thru kitchen windows in front of buffet so you can see true Indian chefs at work.
Review Source:Stopped in at exactly 11:30am for the lunch buffet. Was in and out in 30 minutes, which perfectly met my timeline.
Really liked the eggplant pakora, potato fritter, and mango chutney for my appetizers. Naan bread came quickly to the table.
The chicken curry was the pick of the main courses - fall-off-the-fork chicken with a creamy sauce. I tend to prefer lamb, but thought the lamb rogan josh a little bland in comparison. As for vegetarian options, the lentil curry was very flavorful. My least favorite curry was the paneer in a tomato sauce, which was too much like soup for my liking.
Overall, a great atmosphere and very good selection of food. If I am in the area again, will definitely go back.
Just ordered food  through Grub Hub. I told the guy that the order was wrong and he tells me I just talked to you and told you if you wanted this or that. Funny thing is I never talked to anyone, I ordered my food online. So right there was a fight. The food I ordered was incorrect and he fought with me if it was wrong or not. I eat at the restaurant all the time and order the same thing so ordered online what I always get but was completely the wrong food. The person I was talking to said it was not their problem to call grub hub. but hello!!! the food comes from your restaurant so it is partially your problem. The guy was such an ass to me on the phone. Customer service is definitely not a priority for them. They just completely lost a loyal customer. I'm sure they will lose plenty more if that's how they treat their customers.
and I have my own successful business and if I had a customer complaint I would just resend the correct food no matter whos fault. GET IT RIGHT INDIA GARDEN!
I liked their foods!! It is just that their service is horrible.
A waiter did not come to take an order soon enough. She does not smile at all. no I do not need a big smile on her face, but I would not like it if she looked angry or very unhappy. She added a random stuff on our check. When we pointed out, she did not even apologize and she returned to correct the check. Come on! Just bad service.
Purchased a Groupon deal and used for take out. Â First of all, the service definitely could have been better. Â Also, and more importantly, the food was not good. Â The appetizer sampler was thrown together in a container like they were feeding an animal. Â No way to identify anything! Â The naan was burned badly, not lightly charred, burned! Â The curried lobster was terrible; so tough it was inedible. Â
I sent the manager an email and she offered to make it right. Â The second time around she at least put the apps in separate containers, the naan was not burned but the lobster was still a hot mess! Â I give up, but at least she tried to correct the problem. Â
I won't be returning, however.
I've been to my fair share of Indian buffets (yes I'm one of those) and I absolutely love the variety, the spice, the ice cold water, everything about it. I was a bit disappointed with the experience here though. The service is fantastic - everyone is smiling, the ambience is expected, albeit a little stodgy and clunky. There is a great variety of foods, but it's more vegetarian-friendly than I'm used to. I would say there were more vegetarian dishes than there were meat dishes, which is great except that the flavors were just missing some. The desserts tasted off, like spoiled milk, and for the prices they charge for a lunch buffet, I think I may try this place one more time but won't be returning frequently.
However, take this review with a grain of salt, because my Indian compadres that I went with love this place more than other Indian buffets they've been to in Chicago. As vegetarians, they really appreciate the number of dishes and the flavor more than anywhere else. The only thing they complained about were the desserts. Although they were really looking forward to them, they also noticed the spoiled milk taste.
Horrible lunch buffet. I am a regular Indian restaurant guy and by far the worst Indian food in Chicago. It spoilt my Sunday afternoon real bad.
Buffet on sunday costs 16 bucks. Normally I do not paying much more than that for decent food. But here, NOT worth it. The water was the best thing I kept having during lunch. Oh, gosh and the smells ghastly too.
Mediocre food. Piss poor service. If that's your thing India garden is the place for you! Â
I've been here two times. Â First time was good. A solid 4 stars. Went there tonight since I was in the neighborhood and was pretty much offended at how bad it was. Â
Let me start with the food quality. it's ok. Like half a step up on a lunch time Indian buffet. Â The service, however, is completely terrible. I'll just leave it at that. For the price you can easily do much better.
Yes, the pricing is a little bit on the high side, but as compared with the other buffets in town, the food quality is far better.
First, it doesn't feel like a cobbled together location, but rather a real restaurant. Â For starters, the selection of options for lunch is WIDE, not the typical two or three options. Â Additionally, the lamb was meat instead of bones with a little bit of gristle as experienced elsewhere. Â Chicken tikka masala was large pieces of chicken with no bones either.
Each dish seemed well spiced and fresh. Â A much better alternative to the $8 buffets on Devon.
LOVE this place! Â My husband and I went here almost every week for five years while living in Chicago. Â They have a great special menu on Valentine's Day, which made this our go-to romantic dinner for 2/14 three years in a row. Â The service is friendly and helpful (albeit at a slower pace - which allows to build anticipation at the beginning, and aids in digestion after the meal - so relax!). Â
The first time we went, I had recently been to an Indian wedding and loved the food, but didn't know what anything was called. Â The owner happily came by and helped to determine my favorite dish (Mattar Paneer) and to suggest the other dishes we tried. Â
Parking can be a pain, but we could usually find a spot on Ontario, East of the restaurant. Â
We have since moved to Los Angeles, but ensure we stop by the restaurant for amazing Indian food whenever we get back to Chicago. Â This was our go-to spot for whenever we had guests in town, or wanted to take a group out. Â Can't wait to find an equivalent atmosphere in LA.
I was hesitant to make the inevitable trip to Indian Garden. Many moons ago, I visited my friend and her family where her mother made the best Indian food of my life. I'd watch in amazement as she whizzed around with all of her kitchen accoutrements and arsenal of spices. It was at first bite that she was to be my Indian mama and I to be her Oriental daughter.
It was to my dismay to return to find that I had a groupon collecting dust, soon to expire.
From the get-go we were met by an indifferent and confused maitre'de. We were told a twenty-five minute wait, while ten minutes later, a fellow was told it was an hour. I'm sure our wait would've been substantially longer if people hadn't walked out in frustration. Once we were finally seated, our server was MIA after nibbling through all of our papadum.
The only reason why this place gets bumped up to 3 stars is the food. My favorites were the murg sagwala and garlic naan. The tandoori chicken was a little too dry for my liking.
If I have a hankering for Indian, I'll do carry-out. Don't think I'd want to go through another 2.5 hr slow dinner experience. If you choose to dine-in, get a reservation or find yourself in waiting area limbo.
This is by far my favorite new Indian food restaurant in Chicago. When the itch to consume the spices and entrees' of the East set, we went out of our comfort zone of familiarity, hit up the buffet, and did not regret one moment. Each plate was mixed to perfection with the flavors and compliments one would expect in high-end cuisine such as this. My wife, being Indian, states the cooking style is more Punjabi. I'm not 100% sure what this means - but da*n it's good!
The atmosphere is great as well as it is splashed in authentic decor coupled with the harmonic sounds of the Sitar and drums.
People seem to love this place. Â Despite return trips, I'm not sold.
Even with a groupon, this place is pricey. Â Especially for Indian food!
I have only been for dinner, so have not tried the buffet, which might change my mind, but I digress.
I'm of the opinion that Indian doesn't need to be super fancy. Â It's origins are from hundreds of years of cooking, and I don't need crazy fancy decorations and presentation.
Hopefully I find a worthy Indian place in Chicago soon, but I can't see myself paying full price for what seems like overpriced mediocre indian food.
The basmati rice dishes are amazing! I've tried several different lamb dishes and they are all so YUMMY! The prices are a little high for lunch but their portions make up for it. I have yet to try the lunch buffet but I hear its super yummy!
If you are a naan bread lover like myself you will like theirs. I always buy an extra order because I can't eat just one. Most entrees come with a piece. I am always raving about this place and I have made 3 people fans as well.
Still love the entrees and the atmosphere of the room. Â But on my most recent visit my wife and I didn't get seated until 30 minutes after our OpenTable reservation slot. Â Either you're making too many tables available via OpenTable or you let too many people in ahead of us. Â But 30 minutes past reservation time seems too much for a table of two. Â Then once were were seated it was another 10 - 15 minutes before our server checked in with us. Â Rough start. Â
All that said, I still think this is the best overall Indian restaurant experience in Chicago. Â Easy valet parking compares favorably to the parking circus up on Devon. Â And the well appointed room always seems to have a good buzz going.
I hate writing this, because the food was good and the service was actually polite and quick. However, one thing I cannot stand is dishonesty. Â I call this dishonesty stealing. Â Our waiter was nice to add sodas that we did not drink, added an extra side that we did not order and was nice enough to upgrade our rice to the more expensive order.
I agreed to the rice, but not knowing that it was $4 more and after he took the menu. Â Would you really question the difference and look cheap by asking? Â Most people won't...that's what they bank on. I take part blame for that and recognize that I fell for the slick move to upgrade. Â I didn't bring up the Naan because we ate it thinking that it was just a bigger order of bread. Â So the total of the bill was added/padded by $8.50. Â It's not the amount, it's the principle. Â I asked another person that worked there and could hear this person say under her breath "Again?!?! I wish he'd stop doing thing." Â I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I did. Â Meaning, it happens more often than one thinks. Â
I don't know what the guy's name is that took our order, but he is what you call "a thief." Â Thank you for ruining our dinner and the experience. Â I liked the food enough that I would have gone back several more times. Â However, their padding the bill equates to stealing in my books.
I ate here for lunch buffet as well as dinner. Both are excellent - although the quality of an a la carte dinner was so much better than the buffet. I reserve giving it a 5-star because buffet was not quite 5-star quality - unless it's exceptional to a point that its like the normal high quality restaurant food, I wouldn't give it a 5-star.
$13.95 for all you can eat is not shabby.
The restaurant entrance can be easy to miss. It's next to Pot Belly's. Go upstairs and you'll find the actual restaurant entrance.
I am pretty surprised by the bad reviews on here. My family and I stopped into Indian Garden on a whim when hunger struck and we didn't feel like wasting time looking for a restaurant we knew. Good choice!!
They had a buffet lunch on offer which had all the classics and then some. The only thing that briefly scared us was when all we saw were veggies and desserts -- then we discovered meats tucked away around the corner.. phew! It was all delicious, though, and the naan bread was the best I've ever had.
I normally find Indian food in America to fall short of the UK (much less India itself), but this place was great. We all enjoyed my meal.
I have never been here, but after an attempt to organize a lunch for my job here, I am now positive that I will never eat at this restaurant.
I called the restaurant to ask for more information about their lunch buffet since I needed to organize a lunch for about 50 students. I have read reviews, and also been to their website, which is poorly designed but did mention that their lunch buffet is 13.95/person. Pretty cheap for the area, I thought. And the location would be perfect, since I was looking for a more downtown/central place.
After talking to the manager or whoever picked up the phone, he assured that they had enough space for more than 50 people - actually he mentioned something about their facility can hold 100 people. To confirm, I asked him how much is the buffet. Before I could even finish my sentence, he said:
"It's 20 dollars per person."
"Oh, ok. But on your website it says the buffet is only 13.95"
"Yeah yeah but you have a big group. I have to hold the table for you."
"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit confused. What do you mean hold the table?
"We HAVE TO hold the tables for you. We can't use the table for other customers."
"Uhmmm sure, but we'll make a reservation and show up on time. And I'm not sure why it says 13.95 online?"
"That is for walk in customers only. If you have a big group we will have to hold the tables for you and can't use it for other people."
"Yes, I understand, but we will pay for everyone in our group."
At this point, I wasn't even sure it was worth it arguing with him. I might not understand this correctly, but I've planned many lunches before, and never have anyone raised their prices by 6 bucks (that is 50%) because a big group is coming. I wasn't asking him to hold the ENTIRE restaurant for me, and from what he said, we'd most likely be occupy less than half the capacity.
Moreover, he was really rude and short on the phone. I felt like I was bordering him the whole time and he kept cutting me off before I finished my sentences.
So instead of asking him about his experience in the restaurant industry and more importantly, customer service. I simply thanked him, Â and hung up the phone.
This place is above street level so you go up and it's quite spacious. It wasn't very busy and you learn why shortly after.
The service was pleasant enough, seated, menus, water poured soon after you arrive which is great.
The menu is sufficient with plenty of curries to choose from. It may be because I have had my palette spoiled by the excellent Indian cuisine in England available but this place doesn't cut the mustard.
It doesn't even cut paper.
The taste and the creaminess texture of the curry was missing. This part is key for a curry to taste good and work well with the naan and rice. It was a bit too watery for my taste. I haven't tried many Indian foods in Chicago and there are some reasonable places on Devon but this doesn't stack up to that.
My Indian friends also agree that US Indian food isn't up to scratch. It's just not as popular as in the UK where it rivals Chinese food for favourite cuisine.
Are you kidding me? This place is awesome.
It first, I was a little nervous. You have to go up two steep flights of stairs which made me think "this is totally going to be a hole in the wall, but once you get up the stairs you're going to feel like you have to stay and can't turn around." But we could see from the street level it was pretty full, so why not try it.
Now, I never ate Indian food before I moved to NYC. So I have no experience in Chi-town to compare this to...all my comparisons are based on the 20 or so Indian places I've eaten at in Manhattan.
This place is really, really good. The decor is traditional, but not old, stuffy or creepy. We immediately felt comfortable that we weren't going to get Delhi belly :) Plus, there's windows into the kitchen, which I love. My husband watched them making naan in the kilns all night. The greeting when we came and left was so sincere and warm, it could have been the Aunt and Uncle I've always wanted.
Now the food. So, so, so good. And reasonable. We went for dinner, so we didn't get the bargain buffet option. We ordered two apps...the cashewnut rolls are to die for and dahi bhala was pretty darn good too (even for someone that doesn't like lentils). We split the Special Tandoori Mixed Grill, the different chicken dishes were absolutely amazing. My husband said they must marinate them for 5 days they were so tender. This with a couple beers and we were absolutely stuffed for less than $60. We probably could have stopped after the appetizers and called it a day for $40, but what the heck, we were on vacation.
I would actually go out of my way to return here next time I come into town.
Holy smokes, this place has it all. Â Great food, great ambiance and attentive service. Â Oh, and a knock out lunch buffet that leaves nothing to be desired. Â After quite the tour of Indian restaurants near work, Â I am a new regular at Indian Garden.
One thing that stands out from other buffets is that this one separates out the meat dishes from the vegetarian dishes. They are at completely different stations (though both included in the same buffet price). Â I found this extremely helpful as it allowed me to better gauge my options before loading my plate (I love buffets for their variety, but rarely eat more than a single plate). Â I think this would also be very helpful for vegetarians.
The food itself was very flavorful. Â There were plenty of the standard dishes as well as a few unique things, such as a tandoori chicken and mango salad. The veg and meat dishes had a very nice amount of spice- plenty to provide heat but not enough to require me to engage in over-active carb consumption to counteract their powers. Â I was in heaven.
The decor is also wonderful. Â It wasn't your standard hole in the wall, nor was it your standard nondescript white linens restaurant. Â The decor was vibrant and rich, a perfect setting for a date night, meal with friends or simple escape from the office.
And, because I am a penny pincher...$2 or $3 cheaper than the buffet at India House a few blocks away makes this a winner with no loss in flavor or options as compared to its competitor! Â I will return again and again for sure.
Since moving to Chicago in 2006, I've probably had 200 meals from the Indian Garden. Â Not kidding. Â When I get married, I'll probably invite Papi, the delivery guy, to my wedding.
The IG is convenient, not terribly expensive, and they put crack in their paneer. Â They also deliver, which is key-- of the 200 times I've eaten IG, only a handful of those times was I physically in the restaurant.
If you haven't been before, go for the weekend lunch buffet-- you'll get to try a little of everything, and it's all-you-can-eat.
If you're ordering at home for the first time, get the paneer makhani, an order of chicken tikka masala, and a side of garlic naan. Â And then take a moment to clarify that you're not actually me, because they know my "usual" order and Papi will probably show up on my doorstep with your dinner.
And I'll eat it.
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