This is a no-frills, family-owned, and family-friendly restaurant that serves flavorful south Indian cuisine dishes. I have been once and had a good experience. On the evening I went here, the restaurant was busy. It's a small place but it has a decent amount of sitting space. Their menu had a decent variety and the dishes were reasonably priced. I ordered two dosas and one order of deep fried chili pepper fritters. The food came out after a relative reasonable amount of wait given how busy the restaurant was. The fritters and dosas were freshly prepared. The dipping accompaniments for the dosas, sambar and chutneys, had a decent taste. The cone shaped ghee dosa was nice and crispy and the Podi dosa with a spicy powder mix (masala) inside the dosa as a garnish had a decent flavor. The dosas were bit on the oily side unlike some other restaurants I have eaten but their flavor was pretty decent. The chili fritters were okay. Overall, I had a decent experience. This establishment is definitely a spot to grab authentic flavored foos. Based on its customers and how busy it was, that was evident. Check it out. read more

Well I called this place for a nice South Indian Breakfast and they said that they do not open until 10. The hours listed are completely incorrect. read more

Love the samosa. Service is so poor. I come in no greeting. Just looks at me and walks away to go talk to cooks walks in the back . Takes my order gives me ketchup for dipping sauce with a hole in the packet leaked in to the bag . I asked for the sauce . Gives it to me . No thank you no smile . I've been here a lot but I think I need better service. It would be nice to have a conversation and learn about the food. I'll pay a little more and go to flambé India. read more

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I was attracted by the magical 3.5 star average. For an Asian restaurant, this is almost always a sign of excellent and authentic cuisine. What happens is a place like this gets some low ratings from people who don't appreciate the authentic culture with the authentic food, social values concerning good service vary more than many realize. India is a vast multi ethnic nation, the food here is only vaguely like Anglicized IndoPak food one might be more familiar with. Maybe like how Quebecois cuisine differs from the food of Guadalahara. This place has good service from a South Asian perspective. The second enticing sign was that the place was filled with Desis and South Asian immigrants, the Chief of Staff was the only Gora in the place. That made us all comfortable enough to eat by hand, like we're supposed to. The food isn't just authentic to Southern India, it's also pretty tasty. If you've never had South Indian food, I suggest you come here and try either the dosa or idly and sambar. It's very easy to eat vegetarian in a South Indian restaurant, a little harder to be fully vegan but it's only a matter of avoiding the dairy and eggs. South Indian cuisine includes some herbs and spices unique to the region some of which might have health benefits. When I spent a couple of weeks in Tamil Nadu, my eczema disappeared. At any rate the food is low in cholesterol and high in fiber. The portion sizes are generous. Based on the prices, the Chief of Staff and I ordered a pongal, a Chettinad biryani, egg khottu, an egg bonda, and onion pakora. This turned out to be enough food to feed 6 people and still have leftovers. The appetizers, the pakora (which autocorrect would like to make panoramic) and the egg bonda were excellent. The biryani was also excellent, the khottu, mango lassi, chai, pongal, were all good. The most popular dishes here seem to be the chilli chicken, and the dosa dishes. It's clean, bright, with a few pleasant sidewalk tables. If you bring in your own tiffin and reusable tea cup you can use them, they also use compostable containers instead of polystyrene which made me up the score from 4 to 5 stars. Just remember, most of the entrees are enough food for three people each. read more

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They have authentic south indian menu, but the taste is just average. We ordered the onion bhaji, which was ok. The medu vada sambar was a disaster. read more

I will start by saying the food is great but they need to do a lot to improve service. Food was cold and took forever. We waited over half hour for our food. When we said something we were told to throw the food and they would replace it. To me that seems very careless. The bathrooms were disgusting! Finally the biggest issue is they do not serve water - we are forced to purchase bottled water which is actually against IL law for an establishment that serves food. read more

I forgot how huge Chicago is, that not all Indian restaurants will have the same menu and items. This place is for dosa and snacks. We ordered non veg Thali. There was a massive amount of food and it was spicier than expected. I'd never had these dishes before and they were delicious. I learned a lot and no regrets. read more

Awesome food. Open for breakfast. Great choices of South Indian food. Quick services. Ambience is not greatest. More or less, grab and go type. They have some tables to sit and eat. read more

Very good South Indian food. Tried the Ala Carte breakfast. Pongal was tasty and a generous portion was served for the price. Poori, rava kesari, vada, idli, rava dosa were decent. Poori masala could use more spice. Overall enjoyable food. read more

Onion Pakora , chilli bajji and tea is good. Onion rava dosa was ok and idli was soggy underneath. Must be because of reheating using steam.

Every dish I have tasted here is very good quality and very well thought out, right down to serving them in eco friendly containers. The curries, pakora, and vadhas to go are excellent! The sambhar and chutneys that compliment these dishes are so incredible and complex in flavor. The Masala Dosas are perfect! And the Chai is a must try! Give them a chance... This is the Real Deal! Menu may be smaller right now, but I really look forward to seeing Madhura Cafe grow! One immediate suggestion I would have is that a little music would really add to the ambience. read more

I do pest control here. Super clean restaurant, great service and excellent food quality! I just wish they were in the Chicago! read more

Madhura Cafe - Fooooooood - Indian Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

Decent Dosa and Pongal, ambiance and service. A bit oily dosa and can be requested to go easy. read more

Fast , Great authentic south Indian food in northwest suburbs , you will not go wrong with ordering anything of the me i ar this place

South Indian thali was tasty except for the salt, a little over the limit. Also no variety as displayed on their website. The tea and samosas were good. read more

Please do not get food from Madhura Cafe. We got chicken curry yesterday and guess what? There were only 4 tiny pieces of chicken and had no taste, totally bland, tasteless.. Most of their food is bland. Also, they don't serve water to anyone sitting and eating at the restaurant, so bring your own water , if you happen to be there. Avoid this restaurant if possible.. Horrible.. You will have to swim in the curry to locate the chicken pieces.. read more

Madhura Cafe - Chicken Curry from Madhura Cafe - Indian Near Me - Deerfield, Illinois

A South Indian cafe/restaurant in the northern suburbs is always a welcome addition for the growing population of immigrants and others savvy about regional Indian cuisine. Unfortunately, if not managed professionally, these eateries die an early death. We went there on a rainy early weekday evening, perfect for the chai and fritters that the owners seem passionate about. We ordered a masala dosa, pongal, and chai. The chai was very good (far, far better than the chai latte at Starbucks for 25% of the price!), and the pongal and dosa were passably good. That is the good news. There was no menu (we were told the menu was "online"; what does it cost to have a couple of laminated menu cards two months after opening?). We asked for South Indian filter coffee...a key reason for visiting. We were told that filter coffee was made only on weekends. What a disappointment! The front office staff was trying, but lacked basic communications/selling skills. The dosa took almost 25 minutes at 5pm, when we were pretty much the only customers. (It takes time for the griddle to heat up, Sir!). A restaurant is not just about passion; it is about hard work and execution. The owners, tellingly, were not present. Unfortunate, given the investment and effort to open a new restaurant. read more

Recent visit was okay. Thali is a good option, but can do a little makeover. Less white rice option will be helpful. Food taste was okay and comparable to the other similar restaurants. Place still comes across primarily as a takeout restaurant. The payment counter at the back should be moved near the entrance to improve the feel of the restaurant. Overall an average place. read more

Unavailability of food anytime is the standard response i got 3 times i ordered online and drove up 30 mins to pick up food. Had to change to something else i ordered. Guy who owns restaurant was trying really hard to make it work but unfortunately he was serving chicken in plates with his bare hands to a customer.. I mean common, this is COVID and you need to maintain min. hygiene. Another guy who took order didn't even bother to wish customers , dont think he is interested to work or he is swamped with work... Everyone seems nice , food was OK but customer service and operations part is disappointing. You guys can be a great restaurant if you work on customer service and be consistent in fulfilling orders. Sorry, just not there yet and i wont go back until then. read more

I tried this place for 1st time yesterday. I called to place an order of a dosa. I requested that they don't put chili as my health does not allow me to have chili. The lady taking the order vehemently just declared that the item has no chili at all. I was happy and I also requested that the usual chili dip be replaced by additional coconut dip. I picked up the order. I was shocked to find a lot of chili in the 'masala' ( the potato filling for the dosa). There were seeds of chili visible. Like like requested, they put additional coconut dip. Shockingly their coconut dip also has chili in it. As far as the main dosa (wrap) is concerned it was a little salty. I could not eat because of high chili content. AVOID THIS PLACE UNLESS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH CHILI/SPICED STUFF. read more

I don't know why this place is even open. Been here twice and every time they are out of a lot of things - in the middle of the day! No hi or hello when you enter. I do not recommend this place read more

Food: average. Service: Poor. Ambiance: nothing to write home about but clean. I came for the food so am okay with not great ambiance. But sadly, the food is also average, at best. The predominant flavor in their food is hot and spicy and full of chillies. Other flavors are lacking. The service however is truly pathetic. And don't go by the hours posted on the website. They are wrong. Call first to confirm they are open. read more

Wow. So glad we ignored the poor reviews and went ahead and ordered take out.Best dosa and idli we had in Chicagoland. We also appreciate their usage of paper and environmental friendly compostable containers. It's pricier than cheaper styrofoam we get at a lot of other (Indian) places and for that itself I would have given an extra star in addition to the 5 I gave for food quality and taste at a very reasonable price.They are also very generous with the portion of chutneys and sambar they provide with the Dosa/idli orders. So glad you are in our neighborhood and you definitely got a repeat customer here. I wish you all the success given the challenges the restaurant industry has faced post covid. read more

Excellent food! Friendly staff. We saw this place while driving by a few weeks ago, and coming back to eat was a great decision! My family and I really enjoyed the Mysore Sada dosa, Mysore Masala dosa, the Onion Rava dosa, and the Egg dosa. We will definitely be coming back again! read more

This is the worst restaurant I've been to in America. Rude, disorganized, unhygienic, terrible food. My family and I came here for the advertised Indian breakfast. Out of the extensive menu, they had only about 5 things available. They couldn't even say what they had available so it took FOREVER to order! After that we sat waiting FOR 45 MINUTES for our food, we realized they were serving other people who ordered AFTER us because the kitchen staff didn't keep food tickets in order! We had to ask several times for them just to make our food! After waiting ANOTHER 30 minutes, we finally got SOME food, but it wasn't our full order. We literally had to walk the cook through our food ticket and tell him to make everything we ordered. Lastly, the food was awful. I am certain every positive review for this place is fake, paid, or from friends and family read more

Waste of time. They don't have enough in stock anytime you go. Be in the morning , afternoon or evening, they will keep on saying same dialog. " extremely sorry, we had lot of orders today and ran out of food". I mean seriously. Who does that in the morning 9 am. read more

Great food and fast service! Visited them twice and the taste is very authentic South Indian.

This place is dirty and nasty . I got sick after eating here. The guy who cooked food saw him in back picking his nose and scratching you know what lol. Very dirty and not highly maintained . Avoid this read more

I put my order in for 3 masala dosas which they said would take 15 minutes but ended up taking 50 minutes to get ready while families who ordered 25-30 minutes after me got there food before me. I watched the cook make my Dosa right in front of me 2 mins before I got it so I know it didn't take that long to make. I didn't think this was a restaurant that would give priorities to some over others. read more

New place and quality food with right price.Much needed Indian fast food place in the area. Masala dosa and Samosa were superb.Very humble staff.Go and try it. read more