Indian Express

This place is now closed. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was just bad food made by confused owners who couldn’t decide if they were running an indian or middle eastern place. No that it matters if your food is good but unfortunately their wasn’t. I still believe there is a market for fast indian food in the loop… any takers?

Was once totally excited that they had switched BACK from ‘Med’ to ‘Curry.’ Total and complete train wreck. How Ironic that they use a train in their logo? Well, went with a friend. I was the 1^st to order of 5 people in the place. Biryani was not ready yet even though they opened nearly an hour ago. WTF? Okay. I’ll wait anyway. Friend gets his curry. Friend finishes curry. Couple who ordered AFTER us get their combo platters to go and leave, apologizing as they exit. «Train wreck», I say to them. Hell, even fat guy from Dunkin Donuts gets his food before me. Cousin? Ya think! I get told they are out of Naan. Okay… Could not wait for friend to get overdue Mango Lassi. Gotta go. Biryani sucked. Too little chicken and the totally meatless, ‘dodgy’ parts. Worth the waste of the $ 8? Hell no! Run, don’t walk away from this place! They don’t care. Why should you?

What Indian food??? It’s really more Middle Eastern /​Mediterranian. And not all that good. With Taza only a couple of blocks away, I don’t see how this place stays in business. I’ve tried IE a couple of times, and was wholly unimpressed both times.

I went to Indian Express today for lunch and would not recommend it for many reasons. 1) even the Diet Pepsi was bad– watered down 2) they added $ 1 to all menu prices and 3) didn’t even print new menus 4) tried me to upgrade to chicken rice and it didn’t even have chicken in it 5) I was supposed to get falafel with my meal and they didn’t give it to me. Yuck.

Ok, so sue me. I like Indian Express. I could literally eat there every day for lunch. Mind you– I do not eat meat and when I forced my coworker to eat there with me she did not seem thrilled with the chicken. But I love those veggie samosas. And the green sauce that goes with it. Yum yum yum. I almost never tried Indian Express because it has quite a bad rap– but I liked it.
And where else can I go get a complete lunch for $ 3.40? I mean seriously, that is cheap. @ veggie samosas, 2 falafal and I am good to go.
I must put the disclaimer that I do not eat Indian food rarely ever so i do not have much to compare it against other then the samosas I get from Treasure Island. So that being said– they are the best (and pretty much only) veggie samosas I have ever had at an Indian Restaurant. They also make me want to go other places to try samosas.
Really– it has opened me up to a whole new world of dining choices. And for that I thank Indian Express. $ 3.40 well spent!

Geez you guys are harsh. Two stars for the train mural on the wall. Yeah it’s a goofy train that says «Indian Express»! Now if that doesn’t say great Indian food… well it doesn’t. And the food isn’t. It’s not even cheap. I wish I’d read Unilocal before I went there for lunch today.

Well, the veggie samosas are alright, and pretty cheap.
Now that I have that out of the way, I can tell everyone on the strongest terms not to go here, at all, ever. Pretty much every item on the menu (except the aforementioned samosa) is not good. The meat dishes tend to be bland, dry, and rubbery, the sides just don’t taste right, and the service is inconsistent. I’m pretty sure that I, the gora-​est of the goras, could make better, more flavorful food. I never though Indian food could be bland until I went here.
Indian food is among my favorite types of food, and if there was a place in the Loop that was even semi-​decent, I would probably blow my entire paycheck there. Even as I’m typing, I’m salivating just thinking about the concept of good Indian food for lunch. Damn you Indian Express, you’ve shattered my hopes and dreams!

Please forgive me Taza as I was lured in by promises of Indian food.
I walked by and carefully read the menu which said lamb kabob sandwich — $ 3.95. Oh, perfect portion and price! Yippee! Went in ordered it and got the entrée to which the cashier (I guess its the owner) vehemently denying any existence of lamb kabab sandwich — only entrée. Feeble hungry me paid for it anyways and I walked out to check the door menu: under sandwiches — lamb kabab!!!
I thought this might hold me over for 2 meals at least — usually full entrée from mediterranean does — not this one — I can finish the whole thing. The lamb is ok but i’ve never encountered any restaurant to sufficiently mess up lamb kebabs. (I couldn’t bring myself to try the burnt falafel squares???, no beef schwarma left, and only very little chicken schwarma).
This only reinforces my opinion that Taza is so much better (I rank it much higher than Haifa Café).

I give the place an A for effort in terms of trying to provide Indian food that’s convenient for folks who work in the Loop. That being said, the chicken kabab that I got was very dry and lacked flavor. Plus when I found out that they had ran out of mango lassi (at 1 pm!!!), I didn’t care for the fact that they tried to convince me to buy a mango-​flavored Snapple instead.
It’s too bad because if Indian Express actually served decent food, I’m pretty sure it would make a killing if only because there aren’t really any other alternatives for Indian food in the Loop.