Tandoor Restaurant

We had a wonderful time.......the breads are perfect and the curries so truly Indian. The samosas are some of the best I've ever had, with a wonderfully different sauce. I like good, wholesome Indian food in a warm, friendly environment...and that's what we always get.

Pros: authentic food

Cons: too far

Posted 11/03/09

went for lunch buffet. tandoori chicken was dry and perhaps old? everything else was ok. i highly recommend Surhabi in Bloomington. also leave the kiddos home-they charge $5 for 3 year olds.

Posted 05/28/09

I am in MSP about two weeks a month for business and Tandoor has become one of my weekly must-visit stops. Food is moderately priced, staff is exceptionally friendly and the product is amazing. I'm nut for some chicken makhani and there isnt any better in any of the dozens of Indian restaurants I've been to across the U.S. I know naan is pretty basic type of food, but somehow Tandoor's seems fresher and more lively than other places.

While I always go with the makhani, my colleagues also praise the tikki masala, and, of course, the tandoori chicken.

Overall A+

Pros: The Food!

Cons: They don't let you buy the artwork!

Posted 02/25/09

Having tried many different Indian Cuisines around the world, nothing comes close to matching the quality of the Tandoor in Bloomington. Its curry is the freshest I have tired and the Garlic Nan is enough to knock you out of your seat. I highly recommend the Chicken Tikka Masala which clearly uses the freshest ingredients around. If you are in Minneapolis, or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter, make sure you stop by the Tandoor.

Posted 02/19/09

Tandoor Restaurant served the best Indian food I have ever tasted. Everything was absolutely perfect and the staff was extremely helpful and pleasant to talk with.

Posted 02/18/09

I work for the Discovery Channel and have ventured to India many times for filming. Through my voyages I have become addicted to curry. Whenever I am in town I make it a point to visit Tandoor. The food is incredible. Even better then what you get in India. There is no other restaurant like it. I have read the reviews and they make no sense. If you want real Indian food this is the place. Trust me.

The Chicken Makhani is a must. Creamy and spiced the way you like it. Nan is fresh and soft. The restaurant prides itself in their old recipes. The food should speak, not the service.

If you get a chance, check it out. You won?t be sorry.

Pros: None

Cons: None

Posted 02/18/09

I grew up in Minneapolis but now live in Chicago. Anytime I make it back to the Twin Cities I have to make sure I swing by here for the best Indian food around!!!

Pros: Family Oriented, Good Beer, Great Friendly Owners, Amazing Food, Reasonable Prices

Cons: None

Posted 02/18/09

Whether you love Indian food or you're just checking it out for the first time...you'll lovee the food here!!!!!! Menu is easy to sift thru and there's something for every taste...& as an added bonus there are great vegetarian options. Management & staff are extremely warm and inviting - making it feel like you're own "neighborhood" spot. Great place to step away for lunch or a nice evening out. Highly, highly recommend!!!

Pros: Great service, amazing food

Posted 02/18/09

Food is quite tasty in this place but u cant enjoy it--the manager guy is so rude and hostile that u will feel like getting out of this place.
He is taking orders saying"next,next,next!!!"
It surprises me how they still get customers--may be indians are OK with ill behaviour.

Posted 11/26/08

This restaurant has a good atmosphere and great food. From my experience the staff has always been attentive and pretty friendly. My friends and I really like this restaurant and I definitely recommend it.

Pros: Great Indian Food

Cons: None

Posted 10/31/08

I do like the food and so does my husband however the man behind the counter was extremely unfriendly. I almost felt as if he was doing me a favor by serving me. Additionally, when I've ordered over the phone, after picking up the food and getting home, I checked the bill and the charges did not tally. There seemed to be some phantom additional charges which just didn't add up. Since this happened twice...I've decided not to go back.

Pros: Food is yummy

Cons: Feeling unwelcomed

Posted 10/28/08

If you are looking for tasty, authentic Indian food with the BEST naan anywhere, go to Tandoor. We just went there for the first time last night, purely based on reviews from CitySearch and friends. It was everything we were looking for--(we had actually gone to Namaste, which is right by our house, looked at the menu, saw nothing that we liked, and drove to Bloomington just for this place!) The food was delish, and the ambience was awesome. Lots of couples on dates. Friendly service.

Pros: Great food, Ambience,

Cons: Not in my neighborhood!

Posted 08/09/08

My family visited this places several times for a lunch buffet. To be honest, I'm not big on Indian food. But growing up in Uzbekistan, a lovely country in Central Asia, I realize the difference between food baked in a tandoor or some other way. I don't know whether many people know that a tandoor is an ethnic oven, which used not only in India. It's probably more used in Uzbekistan than in India. Our favorites are naan, chicken tandoori and goat. Just wait when it's coming right from the tandoor rather the one that's been sitting in a casserole. Even just 15-20 minutes make a huge difference. The service is very informal, that we like, prices are reasonable. I don't know yet any other place in Twin Cities that has a tandoor. So we'll come again when our stomachs are feeling like "a tandoor is calling".

Pros: Food coming right from a tandoor.

Cons: Too far away from my place.

Posted 04/01/08

A local Minneapolis business associate told me that Tandoor is a good Indian restaurant. It has a high CitySearch 4.5 rating. That rating is undeserved in my opinion.

While not the worst of the worst, it leaves a lot to be desired. I travel a lot and eat at many restaurants all over the country. Indian food is one of my favorites.

Food - Vindaloo Lamb was mostly aloo (potatoes). Kulfi was mostly condensed milk, not much pistachios and almonds. Naan was quite undercooked. Even the papadam was burnt and it took a long time to get it served. Mango lassi was colorful but not very mango.

Service - poor and slow. Once I ordered, the waiter never stopped by to ask if I want another Lassi (I did). It took at least five minutes to get more green mint chutney for the papadum. And it was not so crowded to warrant the slow service.

Summary: I won't be back to Tandoor in Bloomington, MN ever again.

Cons: slowwwww service, poor value (skimping on ingredients)

Posted 03/25/08

I have been waiting to write this review for quite sometime and today is the day. Tandoor Indian restaurant in Bloomington (Minneapolis) is OK as far as food is concerned but their customer service is horrible. We were a group of 5 who entered the place at 9:45 P.M. The timings outside said the restaurant was open upto 10:30. So we walked in without hesitation. The manager immediately on seeing us, in a rude manner said that we had to order quickly and they cannot take orders after 10 PM. He said the kitchen closed at 10. Fine...That may be their policy but there is a nicer and polite way to say things to customers !!! We walked out and went to Don Pablos where they greeted us with a smile !!!
This was not the first time that I faced this. On 2 previous occassions, I was told the same in a rude fashion when we walked in for a lunch buffet. The owner said we had to take all we wanted because he was going to take out the food as it was 2:15 PM.
So this place is good if you want to eat some decent Indian food in Bloomington/Edina/Richfield area but do not expect courteous service one bit. Hope the management reads all these reviews and corrects themselves.

Pros: Decent Indian food

Cons: Horrible service, Rude manager, pathetic timing policies

Posted 02/29/08

very bad service and rude behaviour fro the Restaurant in charge...He mentioned that we need to mention the count of additional spoons and plates that i need during my order to go....I doono if i need to specific about all these things during my order...morepver he will show a face as if he is paying for taking food from there

Pros: YET to Discover

Cons: Restrauant Incharge

Posted 01/21/08

I went to this ?Tandoor? restaurant in Minneapolis. It was mentioned as very popular and good restaurant with tasty food.
But my experience with Tandoor restaurant is worst specifically the way the ?Tandoor? restaurant in-charge acted with me and other customers. He being old and showed a non friendly with customer and rude words against all people that he came across.
In some restaurant like Tandoor?,We would sometimes compensate with good food for these kind of rude activities But the food is not tasty and very raw.
In some restaurant like Tandoor?, we would feel better if the food is fresh. But all the food is old and stayed in the buffet as place to get rid off old food.
Even after everything, if food is healthy, we might have tolerated all the above facts. But by the next day, it was pretty clear that I had food pois oning. After speaking with my friends and apparently, I wasn't the only one that got sick. I'm just now getting over it. ... hell.

Pros: You can escape next time defintely

Cons: ALL and the restuarant in charge take the top position here

Posted 01/21/08

Called for delivery...told delivery in 30minutes. made me wait 40min and called to tell me that they would only deliver my order if I paid an aditional 20 dollars on the bill!!!

Posted 12/14/07

I've heard nothing but rave reviews for Tandoor. In fact, I've been told that it's THE place to go in the Twin Cities for authentic Punjabi food; being Punjabi myself, I had to try it out. We were seated promptly with plenty of smiles and exceptionally friendly service. Our water glasses were never empty, we were waited on by an attentive waitress, and they humored our indecisiveness. The samosas we ordered seemed fresh, the crust had just the right amount of salt, and the filling was tasty. The Tandoori Chicken was the best I've had in the Twin Cities, hands down, and the Chicken Tikka was nicely spiced. However, the masalas and curries left something to be desired on every count. The cream based dishes (malai kofta, chicken tikka masala) were all too sweet for my liking, and lacked any real kick of savory spices. The saag was sub-par...and we Punjabis know our saag. The kebab we had in the Tandoori platter (I couldn't tell what kind it was) didn't really taste Indian at all, almost like there was taco seasoning in the meat. After the satisfying samosas and amazing Tandoori Chicken, the entrees were unfortunately disappointing.

The service though, as described, was wonderful. You can tell it's a family run operation, and they really put themselves into the restaurant. MUCH BETTER service than places with (unfortunately) tastier food, like Bombay Bistro. The staff was so friendly and courteous, and the host so warm, I will come back for the samosas and Tandoori Chicken, and might even give the entrees a second chance.

Pros: SERVICE!!!! Tandoori Chicken, Samosas

Cons: Lackluster entrees

Posted 10/19/07

What a treat! We stopped in for take out and really enjoyed a tasty supper. The lamb korma was very good and the 'cheese and peas' was perhaps the best yet. Excellent and quick service.

Pros: Hot, yummy food NOW!

Cons: No plastic ware included.

Posted 07/28/07

This is one of my favorite Indian Restaurants in the Twin Cities. I go here for the buffet during lunch and it's great! I've gone for dinner, and it's great! The service is satisfactory. The food is delicious here.

Pros: Food, Service

Cons: Ambience

Posted 07/05/07

We just moved from NYC and were worried we were not going to find a good Indian restaurant, since we love this food so much. But after having gone to Tandoor we feel so much better - the food was very good! We went for the lunch buffet and can't wait to go for dinner, since the buffet didn't have Tikka Masala, which is our favorite.

Pros: Great food

Cons: Ambience

Posted 06/28/07

Apparently Tandoor must be doing so well that they find customer service to
be optional these days and being rude completely acceptable behavior (see review 11.11.2006 by nkt82 - looks like we're not the only ones!) We have been to Tandoor twice - the first time we found the food to be above average - worthy of a return visit! At the end of the meal, the owner even came out and introduced himself and was extremely pleasant. However, in retrospect, I think that was the effect of the large tip my husband had left after the first dinner.

This evening, we walked in, hoping to have another decent Indian meal on an otherwise cold night. The very same owner came to the entrance to seat us. Their review claims that they strive for a kid-friendly and family environment. He seemed to be a completely different man from the person we met during our last visit. He acted completely put out that we had two small children (1 and 2 years old) for whom he had to get high chairs. Then when I brought out some food that I had brought for the children (we tried to feed them Indian food during our last visit, which they refused to eat due to the spices), - he told us "No outside food!" in his continued rude demeanor. I was completely appalled.

Needless to say, we walked out of the restaurant immediately. Looks like I will have to find my Indian food fix elsewhere! I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone, unless you enjoy being abused.

Pros: Indian food is decent

Cons: Absolutely not kid-friendly as they claim

Posted 03/02/07

The crappiest service i have ever had. They try to be polite and nice but are way off. The lady at the front desk is so rude, she doesnt even know how to say thanks. i have had good experience there too but i think they shud imporve on their customer service.

Posted 11/10/06

My husband and I ate at Tandoor and loved it. The atmosphere was nice...the service was good (water glass was always full!)...and the food was great! I had chicken tikka masala and my husband had chicken mikhana. We also had naan. It was great and we will be back!

Pros: good food!, good service!

Cons: none on our 1st visit

Posted 05/07/06

I found Tandoor's website to be promising but once I got to the restaurant the first thing I noticed was the old stained carpets... the servers were nice... but i found some of the food to be burned and some dry (the naan was absolutely blackened on the bottom) and the rice pudding was the worst i have ever had... it is usually my favorite.. but this stuff had the consistancy of jelly and had a very peculiar flavor... almost seemed like it might have been "instant pudding".... later they brought out some new nan that wasn't burned.

Pros: Good Parking, Good Chai, Friendly Service

Cons: Burned Naan, Dirty Carpets, Smelled Funny

Posted 04/05/06

On a recent visit to Minneapolis we happened to stumble on this rare gem of a restaurant tucked away in a mini-mall near I-494 and I-35W. We were pleasantly surprised by the tasteful decor and ambience, but not quite prepared to find what must be one of the best Indian restaurants in all of North America. But that is exactly what this place is, at least for north Indian cuisine (which is all they serve). Very noteworthy are the naan breads, plus everything else we tried from the menu. The service was was prompt and friendly, and the prices very modest. We will be dining at the Tandoor often on future trips to the twin cities, because it has one of the best N. Indian chefs anywhere.

Pros: The food

Cons: Not where we live :(

Posted 11/27/05

Eating at Tandoor is a delight to all your senses. The flavorful aromas of the dishes, the sounds of Indian music lightly playing through the restaurant, the bright and decorative surrounding all enhance your dining experience. Plus, Tandoor is a family-owned/operated restaurant that retains its emphasis on the diner's experience, unlike many of the chains out there today. I recommend you go soon and often. Check out the Tandoori chicken, garlic naan, daal maakni, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Also, savor their special brew of Indian tea as the perfect end to a perfect meal.

Posted 03/29/05

Tandoor is well worth a trip off the beaten path. The food is terrific, best indian food in Minneapolis.

Posted 03/22/05

This is a great place to have some authentic indian food that is backed by good service and a fun atmosphere. I've been to india and this is the only restaurant in the twin cities that is IDENTICAL to the rich flavors and varied dishes as india itself. Great for a date or a quick lunch at thier buffett. This is a don't miss restaurant that you'll enjoy for a longtime.

Pros: smoke free, parking , staff

Posted 03/19/05

I love Indian food! I've eaten Indian curry dishes at many restaurants in US and in Twin Cities. Food at Tandoor stands out the best in taste. Each of their dishes have unique flavors. I enjoy their Garlic Nan and Chicken Tikka Masala the most! My daughter loves their Tandoori Chicken.....

Posted 03/15/05

I live in California where there are more Indian Restaurants than anywhere else in the country and I am yet to have a better tasting Indian meal than I had at the Tandoor. I guarantee that the next time I go to Minnesota, my first meal will be at the Tandoor. The management is so friendly and the chefs are amazing, I would challenge anyone to find better. All this talk about the Tandoor makes me wish that they could pack a meal in dry ice and ship it out to me. AAA rating on food, camaraderie and value. I highly recommend!

Posted 03/15/05

I have been to this resteraunt a number of times. The food, the people the ambience are just fantastic and I highly reccomend this place. Definitely AAA place to go.

Posted 03/15/05

I've been to many Indian restaurants in my day; this one is by far the best in Minneapolis. It makes sense that this place was the first Indian Restaurant in Minneapolis (1982). Great family service, truly authentic atmosphere, and superb service. Oh yeah, the foods not too bad either. By far the best authentic Indian Cuisine in Minneapolis. Try the Butter Chicken with a Nan, you won't be disappointed!

Pros: THE FOOD!, Atmosphere, Service

Posted 11/23/04

The Tandoor is the only place I go for Indian food in the Twin Cities. Their food is great and service is excellent too - often times the owner is cooking in the kitchen or visiting with his guests. The lunch buffet is a great value. Dinner entrees are more expensive with the breads (nan & roti) being ala carte. Perfect for a date with someone that enjoys fine Indian cuisine.

Pros: Lunch Buffet, Romantic Setting

Posted 11/23/03

THE best place for Indian cuisine in the Twin Cities. Tandoor's menu offers something for everyone: first-time diners, seasoned veterans, vegetarians, meat & seafood lovers. Try the naan and butter chicken-- my personal favorites!

Pros: Huge variety, Great lunches, Convenient

Posted 11/23/03

This review is based on 6 dinner time meals and 2 lunch time meals. The food is well above average but not into the fine dining category. The artwork is a nice touch however the architecture of the space and of the building are what you'd expect from a strip-mall restaurant. The service is very polite and knowledgeable about the menu items and can give good recommendations for those that need assistance. The prices are fair however can be high for some menu items as compared to other similar cuisines (chinese, thai, middle eastern). Overall 4 out of 5 for good food, good service and good bang for your buck.

Pros: Broad Menu, fast friendly service, quality food

Cons: Ambience, Privacy/Intimacy, Lack of exposure

Posted 11/23/03

I have travelled all around India, Europe and the USA and yet to find a better Indian Restaurant than Tandoor. Very authentic, Nice place, Owners are great and they will make you feel at home. Great beer that you can find at other places!!! GO TRY IT!

Pros: Authentic, Made the way you like, Flavorful

Cons: None

Posted 11/17/03

Once you find Tandoor, you'll scurry back on a regular basis. Lunch buffet is one of the best in town. Dinner entrees just plain kick-ass. I've been eating at Tandoor since they used to be in downtown Mpls (building was demo'ed by the city and forced Tandoor to move). Flat bread is excellent.

Pros: free parking

Cons: get fat fast

Posted 01/12/03

i have been to the tandor many times and never had a bad meal or experience. from food to service to ambience everything is a 10 + for me!
i recomend it when ever i can and encourage people not familiar with indian food to try it - but be sure to let the owners know it is your first time so they can suggest some 'first timer' dishes.

Posted 10/13/02

My husband and I love the food @ Tandoor....!!its one of the best indian restaurants i know....i love their "Spinach Paneer"...its something i order everytime i go there...i love their Mango MilkShake!..overall the food is authentic indian food. Their "Naan's" are their speciality!! Since they make it in the "tandoor"....i think everyone who likes Indian or Pakistani food should try it...Vegetarians will love it too!

Pros: prompt seating

Cons: comfortable seating

Posted 09/30/02

My wife and I have eaten at a number of Indian restaurants in the U.S. and abroad, and this one ranks among our favorites. The atmosphere is intimate, the wait staff friendly (the owner even occasionally stops by to chat), and the food excellent. I highly recommend the Chicken Makhani - a real delight -- and the naan (flatbread) is some of the best I've had.

Pros: Food, Service, Never busy

Posted 09/27/02