Ooh Tahoora. You spoil me so!
My friend and I were doing a Pakistani and Indian food crawl when we finished at Tahoora. She said, "My mom raves about this place everytime we are in Chicago."
Chicagoans generally have it pretty good. Their desi restaurants have a higher quality than we would ever expect in Jackson Heights, New York City 's little India.
Tahoora's chai was by far the most disappointing cuppa, I've ever tried. Especially, considering they have a dedicated chai line. You'll think they make the best chai this side of the Mississippi.
But they definitely shine with the habshi halwa, which are milk cakes sweetened with honey and nuts and kalakand, milk cooked down to a cake.
They have a huge variety of these.
I'm from Texas but have family in the Chicago area. We almost always make a trip out to Devon for great Indian and Pakistani food and clothes. We've been going to Tahoora for years because it has some of the best Indian and Pakistani desserts in the area.
If you're new to south Asian sweets, beware that the desserts are extremely sweet. I recommend trying the kalakand and habshi halwa. Their chai isn't great, so don't feel bad if you skip it.
This is a pretty convenient place to get some sweets, cookies, and pastries. i think the selection here is pretty large, encompassing middle eastern and south asian flavors. We got two different kinds of baklava, and neither were very crispy. they have all their items sitting on shelves, so freshness if probably compromised by the end of the day. The almond fingers were not terrible as were the chocolate cookies. Everything we got was decent, although nothing very special. By the way, the hot tea is a soothing after dinner indian dark chai-ish tea with milk, and is a nice digestive after a heavy meal on Devon.
Review Source:I stop by this place almost every time I visit Devon St., but every place has good and bad points. Â The food is good at this place, but the bad points make me hate every moment inside Tahoora's walls. Â
The good (the food):
- Their sweets are good, I have come here time and time again to get sweets for various occasions. Â So far it still remains my go-to place. Â
- Their Pista and Mango kulfi are good, not to mention a good deal
- Their snacks are pretty good (I mainly get veggie samosas here, though sometimes get beef ones). Â
The bad (service, pricing/shortchanging):
- In summary, everything sold by weight should be weighed before buying. Â Do not pay for items unless you have them weighed (for ex, preweighed items, or "fixed prices" for sweets). Â Again, ASK FOR EVERYTHING TO BE WEIGHED. Â Below are a few examples:
- Sweets are sold by weight; each type has a price per pound, and mixed sweets have a different rate. Â So, if you buy one piece, or 30, they are all sold by weight. Â Fair enough. Â The only exception is if you buy a 4 piece gift box. Â In these cases, they charge you a set price (versus weighing it as they do if you buy 4 pieces in a plastic container). Â The problem is, in this situation you are paying a fairly significant amount more for the 4 pieces of sweets than if you were to purchase these 4 pieces in a plastic container and ask for a 4 piece gift box and box it yourself. Â This is especially irritating when you are buying a large quantity, where the difference adds up quite a bit. Â
- Next to each cashier is a stack of 3-4 boxes of spiced cashews. Â While waiting for my large order to be boxed (see bullet point above), I saw the cashier open the top box, grab a handful of cashews, and start eating. Â He noticed that I saw, and even offered me some! Â I am certan that he will sell this very box of cashews for the price on the sticker (initial weighing), not after he ate 1/4 of it. Â So, if you are buying these pre-weighed items, ASK FOR IT TO BE WEIGHED AGAIN.
Â
- Went once for the weekend-only breakfast item (halwa puri) with a friend. Â Overpriced and low quantities. Â I received maybe 1.5 tablespoons of halwa (a sweetened farina based dish), 1.5 tablespoons of fried potatoes, some picked vegetables, and then two large puri's (fried bread). Â The cost of these items in total is MAYBE 1/8 of what you pay, at most. Â At least give me a decent amount of halwa when I am buying halwa puri, sheesh. Â Never again. Â
- The minimum amount required for credit card seems to depend on which cashier you see. Â One time I wanted to purchase $8 with of food with my credit card (which I have done before here) and the cashier told me I need to buy $20 worth to use my card. Â Ask for the manager you say? Â On Devon st? Â Yeah right. Â
I still go to Tahoora whenever I need to get sweets, and still like their snacks. Â The main reason I have given them 3 stars is because of the overpricing/shortchanging going on when you purchase by-weight items. Â Be vigilant when you go there so that you don't pay more than you have to.
We came here after eating some great pakistani food. We were all too full, but I managed to squeeze in some kalakand and a couple of other sweets. They were excellent. The tea on the other hand was rather insipid, it was weak in flavor and not very hot. We were a little disappointed. But I'm coming back here for the mitai.
Review Source:I love Falooda and thought they did it well until recently. Â
They don't anymore. Â
Instead of pista ice cream, they use some sort of heavy whipped concoction. Â
The problem is...falooda is supposed to be cold. Â And they're serving it luke warm now. Â The only cold part is the milk. Â
I think King Sweets has better falooda.
Their sweets are exceptional though, drumsticks are good and their fried foods are also great. Â THey also do great gift packages.
This place is loud and ALWAYS has a lot of people, but it also has some of the best South Asian sweets in the Midwest, if not the U.S. Â Yes, quality has dropped a bit over the years, but the pista falooda, ras malayi, and kalay gulab jamun are GREAT! Â Patisa, balushahi, and ajmeri kalakand are awesome too.
But I never leave Devon without a Pista falooda--never!
A friend recommended this place. So my wife and I went there for dessert and brunch the next morning.
The Mitai (Indian Sweets) did not disappoint from expectations. They literally melted in your mouth. They are known for the gulab jamun and it was great. We also tried the kalakand and they were so soft, they would break in your hand.
We went there the next day for brunch because the Halwa Puri looked great in the picture. The puri was a bit oily but the food was very good. The potato samosa was good.
There were things I did not care much for though. The falooda was mostly whip cream. I don't care of whip cream much so I wasn't the biggest fan. Also they are known for their chai (tea) but when I had it, I thought mine at home tasted better. Maybe it was because you had to add your own sugar, but it wasn't that good. Â
I would probably come here again but not for the food, just for the mitai.
I love their potato samosas. Â The pastry is crisp, not too thick or heavy, and not too greasy. Â The spiced potato filling is creamy without being mealy, and I like the pieces of cubed potato and peas throughout. Â The tamarind sauce and cilantro chutney served with it are just ok (I think they're from a jar), but I like the samosas plain anyway. Â The meat samosas aren't as good as the potato samosas. Â The spicy meat filling is wrapped in spring roll-like wrappers and fried. Â They're a bit too greasy for me. Â I prefer the pastry used in the potato samosas. Â
In the dessert section, the cream gulab jamun are excellent. Â They're obviously very sweet, but there's never a puddle of syrup at the bottom of the container. Â If you're looking for something not cloyingly sweet, get the pista katli. Â It's similar to marzipan, made with ground pistachios. Â There are countless other desserts to check out, too. Â This is definitely the place to stop by after lunch to grab samosas/sweets to go. Â And don't make the mistake of just getting 1 or 2 samosas, you'll regret not having enough at home to snack on!
Tahoora started off amazing, but as they've grown in size the taste and quality of food has gone down.
Sweets are terrible. Nothing like the stuff you get back in Lahore or elsewhere. Samosa chaat is good... better than anything else on Devon anyways. Gulab jamun is delicious.
That's about it. Nothing special.
It was my first time at Tahoora and I was completely lost as to what to order. The staff was kind and they let me taste a bunch of stuff from kalakand to halwa to some other delicious sweets whose names I can't pronounce. I ended up getting a pound of them! They taste good but some of the texture could be improved. I'll be back to try other sweets.
Review Source:If you're desi, then you know about this place. This is one of the go to spots on Devon. They have IMO, the best sweets on Devon ave. I've never been there for breakfast, but I hear its very good. I did also get a falooda this past weekend and wasn't overly impressed. Will come back for sure for sure.
Review Source:I might as well tell you guys what's up. Because I know. I know everything. So let's get started shall we.
Their barfis are meh. Which is too bad because you want them to be something they are not. The barfis are screaming, "We don't even look good! Please! Do not hold us to such high expectations!"
But your soul craves the sweet confection ala the homeland. You bite in and you're immediately dissatisfied. I understand if you want to still give it a go. I totally get it. Of all the barfis they have, the pista katli is probably the only one worth your time. UNFORTUNATELY HAI HAMARI KISMATH, the pista barfi is terrible. I wish it were different but it is not. We are NRI's, what can you do.
Same story re: laddoos. If you want a good laddoo, travel back in time to my bismillah, late 80's. My mom made laddoo that I don't necessarily remember eating, but I have a picture of me, my hands resting on both of them. Big as standard-sized basketballs... you don't need memory to know how good those puppies must have tasted.
Where Tahoora shines is their bengali mithai selection. Speed past the cham chams (I wouldn't even present those to my worst enemies) and get ALLLLLLLLL UP on the gulab jamun parade. You wanna get fat? I got your solution. Cream cutlets, cream gulab jamuns, cream kala jamun, kala jamum, gulab jamun giiiirl they all good. And I'm not even joking around. They are really, REALLY freakin good.
They've got some halwas that straight up make me vomit. The Bombay halwa is sick. So is the Habshi halwa. Yeck! Their khalakhan is aight but I've eaten the best khalakhan in the world from HYD so my opinion is jaded.
I don't know what else to say. Sometimes I'm more of a Sukadias kind of guy. If I'm in a particularly Hindu kind of mood that is. But for the most part, Tahoora is what it is.
Oh they're faluda is decent too.
Disclaimer: This restaurant has been closed down by the city for health violations in the past. That being said, read on.
To a non-Indian or an Indian living outside of Chicago this place will seem great. Paratha rolls (wraps), samosas, fried chicken legs, chai (Indian chai (similar to British tea, not like American chai), and a huge array of desserts can be overwhelming. To an Indian or a food savvy Chicagoan this place is ok at best.
The wait for food (non-prepared like a paratha roll, pizza, or weekend special) is looooooooooong, even if you call it in! For a $4 meal come exactly at 10am on Saturday/Sunday because by 11am/noon this place is packed. Keep that in mind with the wait time factor.
The desserts are pretty good, but not the best and not always the freshest.
The chai is what you'd expect, inexpensive, and they will be happy to microwave it as many of the older adults do.
If you have $5, time to wait, substandard expectations, and are willing to take a risk on the sanitary conditions of the kitchen, then Tahoora is your destination!
Woohoo!! Shut the hell up! I hate living in Boston cause Boston doesn't have Tahoora! Real chai. I repeat: REAL chai. I feel so bad for people who haven't had chai like it's meant to be. Some reviewers might have some minor complaints about the chai here, but really, try living in a dry well for chai like Boston.
Anyway, I lie, I love Boston, but it hurts that we don't have places like this. When I come to Chicago this is on the MUST DO list. I want chai from tahoora or my visit is not complete. I LOVE YOU GUYS.
Oh and tons and tons and tons of yummy mithai and other goodies. Damn, thats stuff we don't have in Boston either (we do but its not worth having). In my dreams I frolic, chai in hand, under Chicago skies which rain down glorious ladoos and gulab jamun. Mmmmmm....
See you soon Tahoora!!
XOXO
-Farrah
I have mixed reviews for Tahoora. Â I've loved their sweets for a long time. Â The cham cham, ras malai, and all are really good.
Today I went and tried some other food there. Â We had the samosa chaat. Â It was not that good to be frank. Â I think we should've stuck to plain samosas. Â I'm not sure how that would've been, because I couldn't even taste the samosa inside all that chaat stuff.
Oh well... I'll stick to what I like next time!
The wife and I went to Tahoora with high expectations for the sweets and chai. Â
The chai had too much of a bitter/burnt taste for my liking, while the gulab jaman and almond burfi were just meh, the milk cake was horrible, and the plain and cashew burfi were good. Â Overall, the mithai didn't taste fresh.
But the kulfi was definitely an unexpected winner. Â Smooth and creamy, cool packaging, and a delicious treat.
I guess that goes to show ya, nothing like high expectations to ruin one's fooding experience.
It's decided. This is a Saturday must.
It was bustling, loud, and -delicious-.
My husband and I were under the impression that the puri were about 3 inches across. Little did we know, they're the size of your head! ...and there's three of them!
The chickpeas were perfectly spicy (especially combined with the yogurt sauce), the potatoes were perfectly cumin-y, and the chutney/hot sauce was perfectly pickle-y! I initially thought (in all of my swedish american-ness) that the halwa was sweet potatoes (albeit with a weird consistency, haha). But my husband told me it was cracked wheat - and then I was much happier about eating it!
The chai was fantastic - certainly the best I've ever had.
We didn't get to try any of the pastries, so we will definitely be back.
I have been to Tahoora many times. Â This time I was extremely disappointed. Â I think the disappointment stemmed from the fact that I visited the place at 10:30 AM on a Monday. Â
I ordered a Samosa chat. Â Could not locate the samosa under a layer or yogurt and green stuff. Â It was a yogurt soup with a sprinkling of cilentro and tons of mutant size, not cut up onions. Â I love samosa chat and did not think anyone can screw it up. Â Tahoora surprised me.
Only good thing was the Chai. May try it again as they have been better before.
I visited Chicago in the end of April. It was cold. After traipsing around the city, freezing to death, I remembered that Chicago's Devon St is rumored to have much better food options than it's Los Angeles counterpart - Pioneer Blvd. So with a few hours before our flight, my friends and I headed over to Devon St and walked into the closest restaurant just to be out of the biting cold.
I was pleasantly surprised. The line is separated into a regular line and an express line for tea only (brilliant.) The staff is super efficient, the samosas are amazing and the chai warmed me right up. I was really excited about also having falooda, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. Also, it was much cheaper than LA. Woot.
Finding street parking kinda sucked, but that could be because we're out of towners and didn't know where to look. Regardless, the next time I'm in Chicago, I will surely return.
This place is nothing fancy, but the food is EXCELLENT! Â I love picking up their delicious samosas for potlucks, and my friends are always very happy with the food from there.
The staff is always very nice, and the service is great. Â I highly recommend Tahoora.
It is self-serve, so if you are on a budget, it is a wonderful place to go and keep your expenses down.
I recently wrote a negative review about the sweets but i am taking it back due to the Owners/Mgmt  were very receptive about taking care of the problem and they were very kind to more than compensate for the mistake.The sweets are as good as they can get.reminds me of back home.
Good job,Mgmt!
If you ever get tired of your Sunday brunch routine, Tahoora is a great alternative...that is, if you don't mind the trek to Devon and if you'd like to give spicy Indian/Pakistani breakfast a shot. Don't fret; there is plenty of free self-serve water to go around in case the spicy kick initiates a scene at your table. Get in when you can because there is a narrow window of opportunity to actually eat breakfast here, as it is only served Saturdays & Sundays from 10am-1pm.
Tahoora gives off nice, friendly, family-oriented vibes. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, while eating and hanging out, sipping hot tea, and just catching up with each other. I've found that most of the sweets/bakery shops at the Devon eat-ins are set up in a cafeteria type fashion. As far as seating goes here, while there is a plethora of tables and open space post-expansion, I've never had to hawk-eye a table for that amount of time since back in my study days at bookstores. It sure took me back except I did not have heavy textbooks on me while at Tahoora. Well, be ready because that's exactly what you have to do here if you have a large group and plan to sit while you eat. It's best to delegate a spotter with really good vision, and someone else who has efficient speed walking ability to maneuver through the room once a table seems to open, while someone waits in the line to order. I am not sure about the ordering process, but the line seemed organized and moved rather quickly. I also did a double take at the separate line like WHOA! just for the chai addicts/lovers; it's an express tea line! I really liked that concept and now feel that more places should incorporate express coffee/tea/hot drink lines.
After they called our number out we picked up our orders and moseyed on over to our lovely claimed table. Each tray of breakfast called, "halwa-puri", comes in a compartmentalized styrofoam platter with small portions and a variety that is just right.
You get 2 different side portions of actual hot temp. food, one is spicy potato called "chana", and the other is spicy chickpeas in a gravy or curry mixture, called "aloo". In the other platter compartments you also get 1 scoop of a condiment called mango pickle (a mixture of spicy pickled green mango) and 1 side portion of yogurt. This yogurt is not plain yogurt, it's like seasoned yogurt, I couldn't tell, carrot pieces, cilantro? not sure what else is in there, but I do know that it came in handy for some of us, in taking the spicy hot level down a notch.
Each platter also includes three soft fried tortilla-like bread called "puri" to eat your potato and chickpeas with, and then the best part--a side of dessert, what?! Very nice...I liike. Well, ok the dessert is nothing fancy, but desserts just excite me and more so if it's already included with my meal.
Damn you McDonald happy meals! Maybe I've been pseudo-conditioned. Ok so anyway, the side of dessert is called halva, or plain cream of wheat that is orange colored (from food dye?) with almond slices. It was quite tempting to eat my sweets first, but you just have to stay strong...so sad, my nephew has more discipline. I successfully fought through saving my dessert so that I can later enjoy it with my hot cup of chai. Although I would say I like halva much better while it's warm.
Ahh, Devon is always a fun and different experience. Tahoora is also my favorite place for samosas, but that green hot sauce is what really completes the samosa for me. Variety of desserts is intimidating when you don't know what it contains or exactly what that ingredient is. Yeah, I'm all for the "don't knock it till you try it", but luckily I've learned which ones to avoid for the most part, and which ones should be ordered by the pound. Barf-wha? ohhh barfff-i. Don't judge. Goody Goody.
Oh Tahoora, what on earth happened to you?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Seriously this was my fave place until we visited it on Tuesday, and we left quite disappointed! Â Service was horrible, Â chicken burger Was awful! Even chai tasted reallllllyyyyy bad!!!!
I've been eating their chicken burger for last 4 years now, and this was the worst! EVER!!!! Â I couldn't even finish 1/2 of it...
On the bright side, their veggie samosa are still the same! Oh So GOOD!!! Â I might come back and take few samosas to go, but other than that I'm now looking for a new place to get my Indo-Pak snack fix :(
Wow, Tahoora makes my favorite tea, ever! You know they're doing something right when they have a long line designated for tea only. I'm not sure what kind of tea it is, but it's creamy and spicy. I also love their vegetable samosas and desserts.
This place makes me happy, because for two bucks you can get a delicious cup of tea and samosa.
Tahoora looks like an upscale fast food restaurant and gets ridiculously crowded on the weekends, but the wait is totally worth it for their rasmalai. Aside from the homemade version that various aunts and cousins make, this is the best that I have ever had.
They have a great selection of sweets, and also some quick meal options, though I have never tried them.
Tahoora is a great place to get a taste of the best part of Indian cuisine--the desserts. If you don't know what you are doing the staff is friendly and helpful and can help you decide what might be best for you. But no matter what, get the rasmalai!
One of my Pakistani friends HIGHLY recommended Tahoora so my husband and I dropped by on a Friday night for a snack. The samosas were by far the best I've ever had...and extremely cheap as well. We also bought a bunch of sweets to take home...all were extremely good, although I couldn't tell you what they were!
The man who took our order was VERY nice, and didn't get irritated with us when we asked what things were ...since aside from samosas we had no idea what any of the other foods were.
For good Indian food, go here. Â Not only are the samosas better than my mother's (sorry, Mom!), but they're ridiculously cheap too. Â For about five bucks, I ate a lunch that kept me full and happy until the next day. Â The place is known for their desserts, and rightly so. Â I recommend the rasmalai, a type of sugar-milk dumpling made with ricotta cheese. Â The only reason I can't give the place five stars is because the atmosphere is reminiscient of a hospital cafeteria crossed with a Wendy's. Â Sure, it's clean and bright, but not the sort of place you'd want to hang out at for hours.
Review Source:Tahoora, one of my favorite hang out and cafe. Their new location is fabulous. Food is as good as it has always been. Samosas are the best. I like their baked chicken kabobs. Service is no doubt is the best. Methai (sweets) I would say the best on Devon for what they have. They serve Halwa Puri ( Breakfast ) on the weekends which is good but I know a better place for that. Prices are just fine. Lassi is the best.  If it comes to shutting down, well, there is not a place on Devon which has never been shut down. If you get offended by people staring at you, well then  you will have to avoid any Desi ( Indian or Pakistani ) cafe/Restaurant. That is what they do, stare. P.S. Avoid traveling to these countries as well or learn to ignore their stares.
Review Source:
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