India House

Chicago is one of the worst cities in the U.S., I am convinced for Indian food. And India House is just another example to illustrate the point. This is boring, uninspired cuisine that lacks depth of flavor. I strongly urge the owners of India house to buy round trip tickets to New Delhi, India, and visit Swagath Restaurant in Defense Colony. This is Indian cuisine executed at its finest. It's time for Indian restaurant owners to break away from the typical, overdone, and simplistic versions of Indian food served all over Chicago. Do something different and give Indian food the respect it deserves! Visit Swagath, I beg you... and you will see how far you fall short of greatness.

Pros: nice space

Cons: Average, uninventive cuisine

Posted 11/17/09

If you really want to experience great Indian cusine and knowledgeable service go to the Indian Garden on Devon St. (north side); a way better, flavorful food than in Indian House

Pros: pelite service

Posted 03/05/09

We gave a party to a group of 25 people. Now let me tell you how horrible the service was.

When they started to serve appetizers the guy serving them was just throwing the food on table with no civility or professionalism. Everybody was looking at his face but he kept on doing it throughout the dinner. Maybe he had a fight at home or was piss*d off at the manager but this is not the way to deal with customers.

We had specially asked them to keep spices low in all the dishes(they ask for this when you order food - low/high spice) but they did the opposite. Some people had to repeatedly go to restroom for that. When we asked them that why they did that, the foolish manager smilingly said that the chef forgot.

Then I asked one server to bring a sweet mouth freshener which is usually lying on one table near the bar because we were a group of 25 people and everybody was asking for it. I did a mistake - I asked the same 'mad' server to do this. You wont imagine what he told me "Please go and grab the dish yourself and serve it yourself". I was like what the heck. My colleague sitting next to me was so mad that he was about to h*t that server. That server spoiled the whole fun in the party. I got up and took that server on side and said dude what's your problem. He said the most absurd explanation "Sir this is America I do what I do". I talked to the manager he was just saying sorry for everything. The impression I got is about that mad server was that he was a fresh immigrant from India and might be a cousin or nephew of the restaurant owner because the manager was not taking any action even after noticing such BS going on.

The whole service was like they were doing a favor on us. No smiles on faces of servers, messed up food.... I would say this to all the people who wrote good reviews about this restaurant - stop writing reviews about your own restaurant because your place s*cks and stop defrauding people.

Pros: None, maybe good ambinece

Cons: terrible food, foolish servers

Posted 03/03/09

Was the first time that I ever been at India House and I can tell you that the staff was very nice and polite, the food was in the perfect point of cook and spicy, they gave me the table that I wanted, not like the other restaurats where you don?t have chance. The quality, the attention and all made India House one of my favorite restaurants. I completely recommend it.

Pros: Great service and food

Cons: The chicken smoke

Posted 02/11/09

first i hade a salid it was wilted and brown ,the tomatoes were spotted like the king u through away . i had some swordfish it was great the non was good also but it was butterd very unhealthy but good unhelthy the chicken was dry and the lamb was smelly .
food -1 star needs to use better quality
sevice -4.5 stars great
aviaounce- 4 stars very nice
location -5 stars great
price -3 stars good

Pros: great sevice and locaton

Cons: needs work on food

Posted 02/04/09

Just had to write a review after seeing someone put a negative comment down. Trust me, I live downtown Chicago and I have been to many, many Indian restaurants. India house is one of the very best and my personal favorite in the city. The buffet is outstanding and I have never had a bad experience and I eat here multiple times throughout the year. The negative review must be someone with a grudge for some reason or another. Thanks for reading.

Posted 02/02/09

We were a group of 6 that was seating promptly. Service was quick, attentive, and pleasant. The food was fantastic!!

Pros: great service

Cons: it is a little dark

Posted 10/31/08

I had lunch at India House recently and the buffet seems to be going from bad to worse. The food tasted stale and every person I had lunch with was feeling not-so-good post-lunch. The service was average and there wasn't a good variety of drinks. I have ordered off the menu in the past and found that to be a better way to eat here. Also, the cost of the buffet is not justified by the quality of food served. There are a couple of restaurants in Chicago that serve better Indian food than India House.

Pros: Ambience, Proximity to downtown

Cons: Buffet average

Posted 10/11/08

Hi Guys,
I have been to the lunch buffett on the weekends twice. Pretty good. I don't have any clue why some people are rating it one. I think they expect too much. I feel the correct rating would be 4. I may not be the best buffett I had. But decent seating. The buffet is almost full on sundays. Lot of indian as other people. They provide a tandoori chicken as soon as u enter, which is nice. You can ask for more, if you like it. Then there are 4 vegetable and 4 non vegetarian items. Reasonably good. Then you get mango icecream and jamoons to finish. So I think it is a good try. 90% of u will like it. Thanks and bye

Posted 05/24/08

Food is not good.. Service is awful.. not a good choice to go here.... Keep looking for another restaurant

Posted 05/10/08

I've has take out here twice. In general the food is average at best. I had vegetable pakora last night which was not good at all. I had lamb rogan josh which was also not very good. The prices are somewhat expensive for what you get. I think I'll keep searching for good indian food in Chicago.

Cons: Expensive, not very good

Posted 04/02/08

While the food is just ok, the worst thing regarding Indian Garden is their delivery and poor service. Worse, the restaurant is down to the level of cheating its customers. I order two entrees for around 15 dollars apiece (20 with tax and everything), not inexpensive by any means, and two things happened:
1) The delivery guy got lost twice and had the address wrong. They do not speak English too well over there. Very poor service and poor communication at the counter. I speak their language and English fluently. Wonder how others deal with this!
2) The containers were half full! They have those tiny 16 ounce containers which were loaded till only the half level. Now when I pay 20 bucks for an ordinary vegetarian dish, I expect those small containers to be at least full. Sadly, this place has gone down as one that just expects customers to keep paying for bad service.

As far as the actual food is concerned, the Goan fish curry is horrible and the food really does not even taste Indian. It is either too spicey or sometimes fake. Very bad experience, not recommended!

Pros: Food is ok, location is good

Cons: Bad value, horrible service!

Posted 02/15/08

You will like this place if you really like Indian food and you're looking for a downtown location next to all the action. But you will be completely direspected by the staff. I rated it as not recommended because the poor service overshadows the good qualities of the restaurant.

Posted 12/08/07

This was the worst of my Chicago dining experience. The service was terrible (servers had to be called over to take order, kept asking why we weren't ordering more food, disappeared at bill time) and the food was mediocre.
The food wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good enough to ever go again. The Naan bread was delicious, though. That was the highlight of the meal!
I think they need to lose their Zagat rating, they really don't deserve it.

Posted 11/15/07

Dropped in for a quick lunch and enjoyed their buffet a lot. I found that they had a larger selection of dishes than I am accustomed to and they were all good. The atmosphere is better than most and the service was very good and attentive, especially for a buffet. I will go back for certain and would recommend to anyone in the River North area looking for some Indian fare. Yummy!

Pros: Nice selection of dishes on the buffet and variety

Cons: Be careful not to over-eat

Posted 11/12/07

I travel frequently for business and tonight I tried this Indian place, I was made to wait for sometime to be seated then I was told that I will have wait longer unless I sit at the bar, the waitress at the bar was very professional and helpful though, but there was a bunch of creepy waiters lurching around giving dirty looks to the customers (which is funny in a way). The food was very ordinary and environment was making me uncomfortable, I would never recommend this to anyone. The waiters were not willing to recommend or explain anything on the menu :)

Pros: One waitress who was actually from Chicago was professional

Cons: All the other waiters were creepy and the environment was exceptionally weird

Posted 10/09/07

For my first time...I fell in love with the food. It was my birthday (May 10) and I could not have chosen a better place for dinner. The Chicken Chat was excellent. It comes with chutney ( 4 condiments) which I found exhilarating and tasty. The bread and reddish orange sauce was light but flavorful. I truly enjoyed the Mango and Yogurt drink. The Byriani with Lamb dish was so delicious. For dessert, my date and I shared the frozen Mango Kulari. Out of this world!!! The lighting was cozy and we had a booth in the back of the room. I plan to make this one of my routine dining spots. Briana Jones

Pros: Outstanding food, portions and cleanliness. The servers were also nice and helpful.

Cons: I have no complaints.

Posted 05/15/07

I travel a lot for business, & often use Citysearch to find a good Indian restaurant in various cities. I have to admit I was a little disapointed with this one.
First, I went for dinner... and other reviewers have raved about the lunch buffet, so maybe THAT deserves a 9+ rating but I wouldn't know.
The atmosphere was great, & there was a nice selection of wines-by-the-glass. The food, however was just okay. Service was good, presentation was nice, but something was a little lacking in the flavor department.
It wasn't "bad"... I might go back again (maybe for the buffet)... but it was not nearly as good as other Indian restaurants I've visited recently in other cities.

Pros: Ambience, Wine List, Lots on the menu

Cons: food was nothing to write home about

Posted 02/28/07

I am from Atlanta where there are not that many great Indian restaurants to choose from and when I came to India House in Chicago, I was very impressed with their lunch buffet. The food was kept hot and our waiter always made sure that we had everything we needed. In my book, India House is the best for authentic Indian cuisine. I highly recommend dining there whether with a small or large party.

Pros: lunch buffet

Cons: nothing

Posted 11/06/06

Good food, variety and ambience was nice too... crowded on a saturday which was impressive.
Service was good... naans served at table along with tandori chicken..Don't go after 2:00pm as the food gets over and is not refilled... so ur left with few choices...
Pricey for $14.00 per person....

Pros: variety

Cons: parking, chairs were dirty... watch where u sit... expensive $$$

Posted 11/04/06

The service in the hotel is really poor. We as a group of around 30 went to india house. Evrything was pre-booked. Inspite of all that, the service was slow. And the food has strange levels of spice. Also the waiters had so much attitude, as if they were doing us a favour by we paying and eating in their restaurant. It was such a let down, as we went for a corporate party there. I wont recomment any one to visit the place.

Pros: ambience

Cons: food, service

Posted 11/03/06

if you're looking for an authentic variety of indian food, this weekend buffet is unbeatable. the food is far better than any brunch on devon street or any other overly-priced indian restaurants in the city.

Posted 12/23/05

Great food, great service and great storefront! You have to stop by, especially for the lunch buffet so you can try a variety of things.

Pros: Amazing Food, Central Location, Great Variety of Food

Posted 07/13/05

Celebrated Valentines Day here. It was romantic, and the service was great. the hot towels was a nice added touch. The food was excellent, and the ambience was wonderful. Would recommend and would go back myself.

Pros: service, atmosphere, romantic

Posted 02/13/05

Went there with some American and German colleagues to celebrate a Birthday. For many it was their first experience with Indian food. They all loved the food, the service and the atmosphere. The waiters were polite, friendly and attentive.

Pros: Huge variety, Ample portions

Cons: , Elite

Posted 08/12/04

Hi,
One of my friend has suggested this place and now I am thanking him. I had taken my inlaws for lunch this past weekend. We had taken the lunch buffet. The buffet had quite a few varities. Food was good and quite authentic. The best was... at the end the waiter brought some hot towels for everyone to clean their messy fingers and hand.

Posted 07/05/04

My first visit was during the first two weeks of operation. The chef gave us a tour of the kitchen, which, according to my Indian friend, is a rather unusual occurrence in Indian restaurants. The food was incredible and my date loved the lamb in yogurt sauce. I've been back twice since then and haven't been disappointed.

Pros: Authentic cuisine, Excellent service, Extensive menu

Posted 07/03/04