Curried

The new owners have changed the food and changed their service. They got rid of their «bowl» that was a deal, and they serve MUCH less food now. The cashier is also so concerned about making profit that her customer service is terrible (I can’t explain without being wordy, but trust me on this one).
Oh Curried. I will still visit when I have an Indian craving, but I will not longer be a regular.

Tried Curried Today, I haven’t had Indian style food in as long as I would care to remember, but this place sparked my interest. I ordered both the «Steak Vindaloo» and «Chicken Achari», both known for their spicy taste. Both of them are well worth trying and I go back, I could presumably see myself as a regular customer, not too spicy not too bland. Excellent flavor.
x

This is a better place to order out from, wouldn’t really trust this type of food sold on the street. It’s decent quality for delivery though and I like their different rolls (Kati rolls) and their dinner plates go well with their porottha+/naan bread.
Don’t really understand what their chicken pizzas are about, and It is mildly over-​priced after delivery.
*Their Seamless/​delivery service has been frustrating at times, but it’s within the hour and it really hits the spot for a filling lunch.

I came to Curried because of a Groupon, and likely won’t be coming back. Mostly, this location isn’t convenient for me. Yet the experience I had here wouldn’t necessarily encourage me to return either.
PROs…
There is some good stuff going on here. I’m sure this would be a good lunch as they’re fast and casual. I was very impressed by the quantity of food I got if not the quality. An $ 8 entrée plate includes two different curries (vegetarian or meat), rice, and naan. The counter service was super friendly and informative.
CONs…
First and foremost, I felt sick after eating here. I’m a regular to Indian food, I know it sometimes makes my stomach rumble, but this was worse. The store was also remarkably plain. There was no decoration, resulting in very little personality. Finally, I wasn’t super impressed with the cleanliness of the restaurant. One table had some tools sitting out on it, and the bathrooms were quite dirty.
So I won’t be coming back and don’t necessarily recommend the place. Again, it might make for an okay lunch if you’re in the area, but ultimately I’d recommend just about any Indian restaurant over this one.

I bought the groupon for this place and forgot I had it until it was about to expire. So the gf and I made our way out to this place for dinner.
As Gorden Ramsey would say… the lighting and décor of the place is «ghastly”(in British accent). The room is as narrow as can be with sweat shop lighting. But never the less, I’m not here for the ambiance or décor. Let’s get down to the food.
We ordered 2 combo plates where you can select 2 entrees and a rice. We got the chicken tika masala, chicken in cashew/​onion sauce, a spicy beef, and the spinach with cheese. All of the dishes tasted some what watered down in my opinion. I’ve eaten at many places on Devon and the spices are usually a lot stronger and aromatic. However, this place is located in the loop so I’m sure it is tweaked a bit to cater more to the power lunch group. Nobody wants to go back to the office wreaking of spices and curry.
Though the spices and flavors were not in full bloom, I still say it was enjoyable. The beef was spicy, the chickens were mild, and the spinach was as good as anywhere else. The garlic naan is perfect for dipping the sauces and a samosa to make the meal feel complete. The food is nothing to tell my grandchildren about but it has the potential to be something I tell a coworker about.

Been to this place a couple times now, courtesy of Messieur Groupon. The store itself is a bit of a hole in the wall with a terribly small and cheap dining area. The food is a different story: very cheap, filling, well done, and plentiful, and SPICY — if you like to sweat this is the place to go. My friends and I sampled a few different things and one of them was so hot I could not even finish a bite. Some other tourists who were stopping by from another country must have spend 20 minutes at the counter trying to find something that they could eat without crying and I am not sure they were successful. One of the few places open late in this area of the loop, would be great for takeout.

So, I finally got to eat some Curried vittles after the ill-​fated attempt at their food truck during the Revolution party. I bought the Groupon shortly after that, then held it in my sweaty paw until poof! the Lakeview location up and closed. Two strikes, Curried. Luckily I have a hearty adventuremate who was willing to travel downtown to try the Wells location on a weekend.
The good news:
It’s pretty cheap, and with the Groupon, we were like «king in the castle, king in the castle.»
It’s pretty good — the chana masala and tandoori chicken bites were spicy-​hot and hot-​hot, respectively.
They have four types of iced tea! All fountain, and none masala or chai, but still, that’s kind of cool.
The employee we met was very friendly and helpful.
The other news:
The menu needs work. Not what’s on it, but how it’s organized and presented. Some items didn’t have prices, some are not listed at all (cue the helpful employee) and there’s a lot left to the imagination (what’s the difference between entrees and bowls? what’s the spiced rice?). Their online menu is much, much better.
The tables were not clean and there is nothing to make you want to stay there to eat your monster feast. If I worked nearby, it would be a 100% to-​go option. It also happened to be cold the day we came — both outside and inside.
So, I’m glad there’s an option for fast Indian food, and I’d go again if I were nearby, but it’s not going to be a destination for moi.

If you bought the $ 20 Groupon, don’t come with only one partner. Or at least, don’t come here with only one partner as the first stop on a long afternoon itinerary. Because $ 20 gets you A LOT of food, so you will either stuff yourself insensible or have to carry around your leftovers all day. A good problem to have, I suppose.
Indian fast food is a great concept that I have never seen executed well; some places are downright dreadful (e.g. Chutney Joe’s). Curried comes pretty close to nailing it, at least from the food angle. The menu is chaotic and vague, but the helpful counter dude explained the various formats. We ended up with a bowl of dal makhani over basmati rice with a side of paratha, a bowl of chana masala over the spiced rice with a side of naan, a 3-​piece order of samosas, an order of chicken tandoori bites, and two fountain drinks… all for just under $ 20. Damn.
I would classify most of it as «pretty good for fast food.» While the dal and chana were not quite Devon-​quality, I heartily enjoyed both. I found that the «spiced» rice didn’t add anything special, though. The paratha was good but the naan too dry. The tandoori bites were very flavorful, but WAY too dry. The samosas were a-​okay, but the watery cilantro chutney was terrible. So all in all, not great, but pretty good for fast food.
Like I mentioned, the counter guy was very pleasant, helpful, and patient (explaining the menu, getting us started on our entrees while the rest of the food cooked, offering a bag and a lid for our leftovers), but I wish that someone back there had taken the time to bus and wipe the tables. I’m sure that the dine-​in customer is not their main focus, especially during the workweek, but it hardly takes half a minute.
This is really a 3.5 but I’m rounding up because of the overall value, especially in context of the Groupon, and because the guy was so unexpectedly nice.

Okay, I left my review at 4 stars last time around, even though you downsized the portions (to HALF the size!) but left the prices the same, because the food was still consistently good. (it should also be noted that the samosas are now about half the size they once were) But as much as we frequent this place, after months of disappointing experiences, I had to make it known that Curried just is NOT the place it once was. and it saddens me.
I don’t know what went wrong (new employees? I have no idea), but I never know what I’m going to get when we come here anymore. I would always get the channa masala. It always tasted and looked the same. Now some days it looks drastically different, has a different consistency, and is wayyyy spicier than usual (like, i-​wish-​i-​would-​have-​ordered-​another-​piece-​of-​naan spicy). Some days there are more onions than chickpeas in it — WTF? Do you not use the same recipe every day? Are you getting this stuff pre-​made from different suppliers? What the hell is going on? And yes, the other reviewers are totally right about the whopping THREE pieces of chicken they are now giving when you get Chicken Tikka in your curry plate.(but really, they can’t fit much more than that in micro-​sized plates they switched to).
It’s never tasted *bad*, but it would be nice to know what I’m ordering. Consistency is what keeps people coming back, and creates loyal customers.
As a result of the curry unpredictability, I started going for the pizzas. I fell in love with the samosa pizza. SO GOOD. And the fact that they often run specials for them is awesome. Something about the Tikka Masala sauce just makes the pizza SO unique and delicious.
Then came the time when I got my samosa pizza, and it tasted like it had Channa Masala sauce on it instead of the Tikka Masala it’s supposed to have. It wasn’t right, and it made me hesitant to order it again (you’re breaking my heart, here, Curried). We ordered the pizzas one or two other times, and they were okay, but still not as good as they once were (overloaded with cheese one time, samosas that were still almost fully intact another — basically had to just pick them off and eat them separately).
Oh, and there’s also the fact that when you order online, they won’t let you complete your order unless you choose a chutney, but THEY NEVER GIVE YOU THE CHUTNEY. Seriously, we’ve had the pizza around 6 times (possibly more). I’ve actually gotten the chutney TWICE. Why are you forcing people to add something to their order if you’re not even going to give it to them?
And then came last week. A PIZZA WITH *NO* SAUCE, Curried? REALLY?
NO SAUCE. NONE. Not on either of the two pizzas we ordered. So we basically just ate cheese covered samosas on some crust. Don’t get me wrong, samosas are good. Cheese is good. But that’s not what I ordered. I ordered 2 samosa pizzas w/​Tikka Masala sauce (which isn’t a special order, it’s the description of the damn pizza on the site). And mango chutney, which I also didn’t get.
I have noticed that there are new people working there every time we go now, as opposed to when we first started going, and it was always the same 2 or 3 guys. Maybe this is the problem? Maybe they don’t train people properly? Maybe everyone is free to put together whatever the hell recipe they want? IDK, but it’s not good for business. Like I said, consistency is what gets you loyal customers. No one wants to order from a restaurant when it’s basically a crap shoot as to whether you’re going to get the food you’re used to getting or not.
I’m about to just give up at this point. My husband and I have been going to Curried since they first opened, and as you can see from my previous reviews (and a couple other people’s reviews), it’s gone terribly downhill. And it pisses me off, because goddammit, there aren’t any other fast, cheap Indian places around. And the food is good, but they cut the portions in half, can’t stick with a damn recipe, or even be bothered to put sauce on a fucking pizza.
I read on their FB page yesterday that their long-​awaited Lakeview location has already closed it’s doors (after only being open for a couple months). I can only hope this means things can get back to normal at the loop location. *fingers crossed*

When Curried first opened up in the loop I had high hopes for it. well I wouldn’t even say «high», I was genuinely excited to have a fast food Indian place nearby for lunch cuz Chutney Joe’s was a bit of a hike away and the food really left much to be desired.
Unfortunately the food sucked and I never went back. A few months down the road they opened up a location by my apartment and I figured okay. maybe they fixed their mistakes and the foods gotten a little better. So I tried a variety of menu items again and it was worse than the last time around!
I’ll start with the good just to help them out: The samosas and tamarind chutney is by far one of the best this side of town. Samosas are just as easy to screw up as they are to make, so it’s always a hit or miss. For Curried I’d say it’s definitely a hit. The chutney is the right flavor and consistency and the samosas are flaky and well seasoned.
The mango lassi is the same as you would find anywhere, but I like that they serve it chilled in a large cup– definitely a plus for a quick cooling drink on the go.
Here are a few of the problems Chutney faces:
Lack of Indian pallets in the kitchen– It’s simple rule of thumb, if no one cooking the food knows what the food is supposed to taste like it will never taste right. What they sell as «Chicken Tikka» is a mix of tomato sauce and butter chicken in all the wrong flavor profiles. Chicken tikka is very easy to cook, find a good recipe and sell it as what you’re advertising it as.
The «paratha» they use for their Katti Rolls (said Cut-​tea not Cat-​ty) is the wrong bread to use with any «wet» dish because it’s very buttery and flaky and absorbs the «curry/​wet» portion of the meat very quickly making it difficult to eat. Katti rolls should be made with either Naans (which is an option on the menu) or Chapati /​Roti (the indian tortilla) It’s lighter, drier and holds its own when filled with curries and chutneys.
The biryani is over seasoned, again biryani is a one pot dish that’s very easy to make or screw up… try out a few different recipes until you get it right. the curry portion of the Biryani that is steamed between the rice shouldn’t be overly seasoned or over saturated… Curried’s biryani missed the mark.
Desserts: Please try to spell the dish correctly at least. It’s Kheer not Kherr (said Kheer like Cheese, feel not Care or Cure)
And it’s Gulab jamun is a dried milk dumpling soaked in syrup, GULAM JAMUN is nothing. it literally translates to Slave dumpling. Gulam — slave. see the problem there?
Given the fact that there are atleast 3 – 4 other indian restaurants in a 3 mile radius from Curried, 1 just up the street on belmont with a buffett I’d expect Curried to be a little more aggressive about their research but it’s fallen flat with their lack of appreciation for authenticity or fusion… i could appreciate either. But if you’re going to sell yourself for your authentic Indian food then get it right.

Cheap, fast, and good — Chicken Tikka Cati Roll, barbecued chicken with onions rolled up in a naan paired with their mango chutney makes for a good snack when you are in between meals.
At around $ 3.50, Curried is a good place to stop at if you’re in the Loop.

I do think this place deserves five stars! They offer good and generous amounts of real tasty food, nice prices, fast and kind service, what else can you expect paying less than 10bucks for an Indian plate that you can have for lunch and save some for dinner and find it in the Loop?! At least that is what I do when I go there! I am totally aware you can find better Indian food spots in Chicago, but regarding the Curried’s concept, I think they’re definitely doing a good job!
Update:
what happened??? the quality of the food has decreased significantly, as well as the amount, anyone who had been there in the first moths of curried can notice it. Not a 5 stars place anymore.

Move over Italian. Step aside Mexican. It seems that Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine has taken over, especially in Chicago. Being a huge culinary fan of Indian food, I was rather happy to stumble upon Curried in the Loop. It’s not dine-​in and that’s fine. Often, something quick will do the trick.
Choley. Tikka masala chicken. Samosas. Mango lassi.
I started with two samosas that ended with me buying six more for later before I left. Doused with tamarind chutney and cilantro chutney, I was having my way rather nicely with those snacks. The choley reminded me of the chana masala that I have had at Udupi Palace, although not as spicy. Not a problem. The tikka masala chicken, granted it was tasty, did have a bit of a tough texture. I think that may have been because the chicken had been swimming in the awesome gravy for some time. Seriously, I could have purchased a jar of that gravy alone for my tilapia, whiting, and shrimp dishes. Armed with some warm tandoori naan and basmati rice, I ate the dish the way I gnarled on many Indian dishes I sated myself with in London.

People expect a lot from Indian food. MUST TASTE LIKE REAL INDIAN FOOD IN INDIA. MUST BE CHEAP. MUST BE PERFECT.
Look, I don’t know what Indian food in India tastes like. I bet it’s amazing, right? But see, we’re not there right now, and if you said, I have this place that serves amazing authentic Indian food, I’d go there with you. But what’s in this neighborhood? Not much, since Star of India closed oh those years ago. And listen, I like Americanized Indian food, because you know, that’s what I’ve been eating. That’s what’s served in lots of Indian restaurants in Chicago, because it just is.
So here’s what I have to say about Curried: their saag paneer is as good as any I’ve tried in the city. I haven’t tried all that much, so don’t kill me for that (I prefer mutter paneer, frankly). It’s spicy and spinacy and lovely with rice. Their samosa isn’t the best, but it might be the best in the neighborhood (prove me wrong without mentioning Standard India and I’ll love you forever). The cilantro chutney is RIGHT. It tastes right.
The paneer tikka masala wasn’t my favorite, but it’s good. It’s solid. And lastly, the chicken quality is top-​notch. No gross tendon-​y, fatty pieces. Just tasty chicken. (We’ve tried korma and tikka masala, and the korma is a really nice antidote to the spice of the tikka masala.)
The naan isn’t great. It’s not very good, even. And I didn’t care for the aloo mutter. It would be better if they’d get the potato skins out of it, first of all.
Lastly, I don’t know who is crying about value, here. I think the value is quite good. It’s a lot of food for a fast food price, frankly.
Is this fast food? Yes, undoubtedly. Do you judge all fast food restaurants this harshly, or only Indian ones?

Due to the cheesy-​style sign that I didnt care for very much, this place was never an option for me to try.
A co-worker’s workspace was smelling delicious last Thursday and I asked what the hell is that! He told me that it was from Curried!
I bit the bullet and waltzed on over. The nice girl at the front was very helpful in accomodating my tastes.
I got the curry plate with chicken tikka marsala & chana masala (Chickpeas stewed in tomato/​onion gravy with a blend of spices)…simply delicious!!!
I loved it so much, I went back the next day to do it all over again.
Another excellent lunch option in the loop!

I love their paratha kati rolls soooo much!!! They’re nice and small for a light lunch or dinner… and I love the mango chutney on the side. Love the cute guys who work there too… especially when they give me free mango lassi while I’m waiting on my food ;)
Unfortunately, I don’t think I would order anything else from here… Their biryani was nothing close to real biryani and their tandoori chicken mac and cheese was actually rotini with some sort of whitish sauce lol… whatever, at least they tried. was a good concept… now just get the right type of pasta for it!
Despite all the negatives, I like this place– for their kati rolls only :)

I miss Indian Food from the Bay Area. I tried the shrimp Vindaloo and the Saag chicken. I got some rice and a garlic Naan for good measure. The shrimp Vindaloo was tasty. The chicken sucked.
:(

Went there for the first time and it was just okay. I had the chicken tika masala and chick peas plate which comes with rice and naan. Curried is set up similar to Chutney Joe’s, cafeteria style. The chicken and naan weren’t hot enough and the meat portion were much smaller than you get at Chutney Joe’s.
It’s nice to have a quick Indian option closer to work but if time isn’t a consideration, I’d pick Chutney Joe’s.

No dice

This place is OK. I just had dinner from here delivered to my place. Overall, I’d say the food was kind of average, but they did a great job on the delivery. Prices are fine. In the end… I think the food outweighs the other fringe benefits, though.
The Delivery:
I ordered through GrubHub, which I’m liking more and more these days. So the ordering was convenient. Unfortunately, Curried has a $ 20 order minimum and a $ 3 delivery fee. So had to order like WAY more than I needed. But it will come in for leftovers on another meal.
The deliver itself was pretty good. The email estimated 1 hour for delivery, but they showed up in about 30 minutes. The food was warm and they included TONS of napkins, plastic ware, and all of that stuff.
The Food:
I ordered the veggie curry plate, a small Indian pizza, and the small samosas. In the plate, I had the paneer makhani and dal makhani. I think the dal was kind of fine, but the paneer… well… the actual paneer was fine, but the gravy tasted like it had ketchup in it. IDK… I guess that’s what you get for «fast-​food» type Indian food. But actually no, not at another nearby Indian fast-​food place. For the pizza… so far I’ve just tasted it, it was fine. Different… I’ll give them that. The samosa was fine and probably the best thing they provided. Oh… the naan was very average; definitely in line with a fast-​food as opposed to a full-​fledged restaurant.
I’m wondering if I’m making an unfair comparison, because I recently just ordered delivery from a high-​end Indian place and maybe that’s just too fresh in my mind… Oh well… it is what it is.
The Quantity:
Quantity was aplenty. Well, like I said, I was «forced» to buy a ton of food, but whatever I ordered there was plenty of it.

Saw a four star review a block away from the office and had to try it out. So glad I did. The main menu is small, four meat dishes, four veggie dishes, I had Saag Chicken and Aloo Mutter and both were excellent. The flavors were rich and well developed. The Chicken had that gorgeous bright pink outside and was moist and delicious inside. My coworker Nikki had the Tikka Masala and said it was excellent.
I will certainly be going back.