Maharaja

Order wisely. Too many choices!

Wow, it’s been 4 years since my last visit and review. I heard that there were changes and improvements, so when a friend invited me to join her here for brunch, I thought it was a good time to see for myself.
The first thing I noticed was how bright it was inside. I remember dark lighting and colors on my last visit, so that was already better.
The buffet stations were also different. The free standing stations with canopies have been replaced with tables topped with chafing dishes. Maharaja advertises 20 items for the lunch buffet and 40 for the brunch buffet. I didn’t count them, but there were three large tables filled with soups, salad, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and chutneys.
The food seemed to be at adequate temperatures, but remember that if you put hot food on a cold plate, the food will get cold quickly, so time your visits and portions accordingly. It’s tricky to keep plates warm in the winter, but it would help keep the food warm longer, if they can make that happen. Of course, cold foods should still be on cold plates.
Highlights for me included the Chicken 65, the Chicken Tikka Rolls, which I’ve never seen before, the Fish Pakora, the Chicken Tikka Masala, and the Goat Curry. All were very good!
The veggie biryani and chicken biryani had great flavors, but weren’t spicy at all. I understand that the masses don’t like spicy foods. I don’t like foods that are too spicy either, but biryani is expected to be spicy, so I think it should have at least a little heat to it. Those who do not like spicy foods can enjoy the other items. I was also hoping for samosa, but they were not in the buffet.
The brunch costs $ 18 and includes unlimited Mimosas, Bloody Mary’s, and non-​alcoholic beverages. I ordered the Bloody Mary, which was served with a garnish of lime. The flavor was ok. The texture was a bit watered down, but it was included in the price, so I can’t complain too much. I think it would be best to charge extra for the Bloody Mary and make it a good one.
My friend let me try her Mango Lassi and it was delicious! I would go that route next time, or maybe try the Mimosa.
Our service was excellent from beginning to end! The naan arrived hot and fresh within seconds of us returning from the buffet line, and the server checked on us often. The owners also stopped by to check on us.
Overall, it was a MUCH improved experience over my last visit 4 years ago. I would like to come back for dinner and order off the menu sometime. This visit was certainly worthy of an upgrade to 4 stars.

I was really excited about going to go eat at Maharaja, but I ended up leaving feeling just a bit underwhelmed.
I started off with an order of the cheese pakora. It tasted great but came out just kind of warm, not hot. The initial drink order came quickly, but refills were a bit slow. The server was polite and personable, but seemed a bit slow. My Vindaloo fell a little flat. Like the pakora it came out almost cold and had very little heat to it. It tasted OK, but I wish it came out warm and with a bit more cayenne or whatever is used to make it spicy. The garlic Naan was delicous and warm however.
Overall I’m not sure if I’d go to Maharaja again. The price wasn’t terrible, the Naan was awesome, the service was polite but a bit slow, and the food came out with little heat.

This place used to be my favorite indian restaurant ever, but the last 3 times have been just terrible. It’s not the food, it’s the workers. The restaurant was completely empty the past few times and there was still no wait staff in sight. You have to hunt them down for everything and when you find them their either rude or appear to be brain dead. After waiting for over 15 minutes for out waitor to give us the check we finally said to him were kind of in a hurry can we please have the check now and he said to us «oh your in a hurry… you going to see a movie or something?» I mean really? Just give us the freaking check. They also started this new thing where if you want more of the chutneys and popidon there’s a 2 or 3 dollar charge, awesome. And one more thing, ive noticed that if you leave a bad review anywhere on the Internet for this place the management of maharaja’s basically hunts you down and leaves a long comment harassing you and basically telling you why your a liar and your wrong. Yeah that’ll make people come back. So congratulations Maharaja your completely failing.

One of my favorite restaurants in all of Milwaukee, and hands down my most frequented (it’s dangerous that it is literally one block away from my apartment!!!) oh I could rant and rave about Maharajas. Such genuine hospitality, and the owner is always greeting you at the door and making you feel like a special guest in his home. One time the owner treated me to a free drink at the bar while I was waiting for my take out because he felt bad I had to work on Thanksgiving! It was a much needed treat :-)
Their buffets are AMAZING! Especially if you are not well-​versed on Indian food, it’s fun to try a little bit of everything and figure out what you like! Their lunch buffet Monday-​Friday is only $ 9, what a deal!!! Their brunch buffet on the weekends is pricier but includes more selections as well as complimentary drinks (mimosas and bloody Mary’s, YESSSSS!) I’m in!!!
My personal favorites are the chicken tikka masala and the curry (served with basmati rice, which is TO DIE FOR), and chicken biryani. I always get the naan bread on the side with the three chutneys to spread on. Each entrée you can ask for mild, medium, or hot! So this will please the hot heads out there, myself included.
I admit once I find a favorite dish, it is hard to stray. But I cannot wait to try the buffet more to find some new favorites!!! Highly recommend Maharajas to everyone!!!

Good quality Indian food with decent prices.

I will def be going back. The food and service was great.

Service not great, server forgot an order then forgot to charge us making us late going back to work. Then we had left over naan that she wouldn’t let us take with our to go order and threw it away. At no point offering a discount or even a coupon. The buffet was bland as was the to go order. Very disappointing. Won’t be going back.
As you can see from the comment below, any negative reviews will be met with harassing messages and threats by management. I stand by my honest experience.

My wife and I had dinner at Maharaja this evening. We had not been there since the menu change. Both of our orders were simply excellent.

My favorite Indian restaurant in Milwaukee! The shahi paneer is my all time favorite dish. Will get about 90% of the time. I usually order to go, but have eaten in a few times. Service is great and they are all friendly. Only thing I’d say is they should remodel the place to fit more into 2015.

One of the better Indian places. I have only every tried the buffet which has a large array of options that are all tasty. My favorite was the warm coconut soup with cream, coconut and pistachio. It was a good palate cleanser between different items. Also really liked the chicken biryani.
One annoying thing was the mango lassi and naan bread I ordered still hadn’t come after finishing my first round and I had to remind the waiter to bring it. Was already getting pretty full by the time it came.

My last Sunday trip to Maharaja my family discovered the Sunday buffet has increased to $ 18 for adults. Our server explained this includes several drink option (soda, tea, an alcoholic drink or two), but there is no option for those of us who just to «unbundle» from this and just drink water. So expect $ 20 per person with taxes and tip.
I’m sorry, but $ 18 per person is too high so I won’t be back for another Sunday buffet.
The owner will say it’s because they’re the largest buffet in Milwaukee and offer 40 different unique items. So decide if you want to support the $ 18 per (adult) patron price! You maybe sticker shocked as another reviewer wrote.

Was expecting to spend 25 for lunch. Spent $ 40 instead. A sign with the price increase for the lunch buffet would be nice, but then no one would come in. We won’t be back. Sad too because we used to being groups here.

Looking for authentic Indian food amongst all the brats, cheese and ‘kraut? Maharaja is a great option!
Lamb vindaloo was prepared with precisely the amount of «heat» requested. Only thing lacking was that it could have used a few more potatoes.
Naan was freshly baked as it took ~ 8 minutes per order.
Veg pakora were very tasty.
Pretty nice selection of wines as well. Go figure?!
Well done!

I love Indian food but I was not pleased with this place either of the 2 times I dined there. The service was not great either time.
The first time I went for the lunch buffet. My favorite Indian dish is chicken tikka masala and it wasn’t even out on the buffet. Then after I was done eating, they brought it out. It would have been nice if they told me or if they put some kind of sign up. I mainly wanted that one dish but then I was already full.
The second time I went for dinner. It took forever for the server to even come to our table and get us waters. I ordered the chicken tikka masala. The sauce was delicious but the chicken was dry unfortunately.
The garlic naan and the onion naan are both fantastic! So is the mango lassi!

1. DISHWARE!!! They serve you on Corele plates! WTF!!! The kind my husband and I bought from Walmart while in college. They were cheap and annoyingly light-​weight. They chip around the edges but don’t break «sharply» per se.
2. I ordered the alu puri. I’ve had better and bigger!
3. I ordered the kulfi/​rice pudding. I’d come to believe by that time that all Indian rice puddings taste exactly the same. Like they share a single recipe. Nope! This place managed to deviate terribly from the standard. That happens when one uses stale milk!
4. I forgot which dish my husband got but for ~ $ 13 you CANNOT present a customer with 1.5 cups of curried chickpeas and some flat bread. You just CANNOT justify this price. Perhaps you think we wouldn’t know better but I’m a country where East Indians comprise the largest ethnicity. I know Indian food. I make Indian food every week. I know that the chickpeas and 1 tablespoon (tops) of spices combined with ½ cup of flour, baking powder, and salt for the roti run you about $ 1.00 MAX! Shame on you!
ETA: I stand corrected.
1. You serve food on Corele plates. There is no disputing that. Other reviewers have mentioned it. I have bought these plates myself and I know what they are. Stop using them!
However,
2. It was the aloo paratha that I’ve had better and bigger versions of.
3. It was the kheer/​rice pudding that was stale.
4. It was $ 11, not $ 13, but $ 11 of very little chana masala.
Instead of taking the time to improve your restaurant, you took the time to attack my post. Good job! Don’t invest in quality dishware, invest in rebutting reviewers who call you out. Nice going! Please take every opportunity to attack customers who were left dissatisfied.
Still think I «made up» the review? I’m attaching the screenshots of my debited account. You’ll see 2 separate charges. One for $ 37 and another for $ 6 made on April 23, 2015. The $ 6 charge was because they waiter forgot to charge us for the kheer, which was $ 4, and I left him a $ 2 tip on top of it. Being honest, we went up to the area by the front door, and let him know INSTEAD OF JUST LEAVING THINKING WE GOT A FREE DISH.
Don’t you ever insinuate that I am untruthful again!

Finally, a Biryani I can fully believe in. Since I came back from Hyderabad last year, I’ve been hoping that a place would satisfy my desire for A1 style Biryani. Now, I know there’s no place here cooking the rice in a huge pot over a fire, but it seemed like I could find something close. Anmol was close, but the chicken biryani with double masala came back almost exactly in line with my memory. Sweet taste of tomato, tender chicken, firm long basmati grains– so good.
Thanks!

This restaurant used to be number 1 restaurant in Milwaukee. …
But there new management destroy everything from food to service. …what’s going on Maharaja?
There were no Indian customers, no Indian servers seems like took over by any American person. …
We ordered same food what we used to order before but this time food was not even close to what we usually have. …very low quality, no flavor at all…
Moreover, our bill comes to $ 96 for 2 persons for that bland food, we should rather donate to someone needy. .
I usually don’t put bad reviews but this time I need to… coz we gonna miss those flavors. …and need to find another Indian restaurant… I don’t recommend this place anymore …

I LOVE Indian food! That’s such an understatement. I can’t live without Indian food. And I certainly couldn’t live without Maharaja.
Good sized restaurant with very pretty turmeric yellow walls and a lot of red. I dig the romantic but ethnic vibe. I’ve never had to wait for a table here.
The best: garlic naan, all chutneys, chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, vegetable biryani, samosa, chicken tikka masala, vindaloo, butter chicken, pistachio ice cream, chai tea, plain old iced tea.
Not the best: service. I’ve seen some waitstaff get yelled at pretty mercilessly. Not so fun for customers to witness, and there can never be good service from a disgruntled employee.
Seriously, Maharaja is worth a visit if you enjoy Indian food. It’s probably the best Indian food I’ve had ever!

Looking for a great way to try some Indian cuisine?! Then their lunch buffet is absolutely the way to go.
LOVE this place!
This was my second time here. This time, we stopped in for lunch on a Saturday. To our surprise, they had a lunch buffet. It gives you an opportunity to try a huge assortment of dishes. You can really get a feel for what you like and don’t like.
Their food is full of great flavor! Their buffet was fresh. And the place was absolutely PACKED for lunch on a Saturday — you know you’ve stopped in to a great place.