So basically right, I ordered a dosa, and I shit you not I received a wig with sauce poured all over it, later the owner came running and panting with both of his hands covering his head. He was sweating and was screamin, "my VIG", and he saw it straight in my plate, and jumped, not walked, jumped right on top of my plate and broke the table, never coming back ever again. read more

Their food is tasty, authentic. I am not a fan of spicy food but I enjoy their food a lot.

Definitely worth the $11.99 per person price for a weekend buffet. Mainland India Restaurant has its own parking lot behind the restaurant and once my daughter and I walked in at 11:30am on a Sunday, there were already a few tables occupied. The host was very friendly and welcoming and he talked us through the buffet set up. There was a separate table for the dishes, utensils, condiments, chai tea and other spices that you might like to add to the dishes. There were a lot of choices for the main dishes and my favorites were the Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken and the Chicken Dum Biryani. My daughter and I tried every single item on the trays and the three chicken dishes were the ones that we kept going back for. They also had mutton and fish curries, naan, and a couple other different kinds of rice. For dessert, we enjoyed the coconut ladoo and kheer. The dishes were all flavorful and delicious but they were lukewarm and the mutton was tough and not the easiest to chew. It would also be nice if the lighting was a little brighter so it is easier for customers like me (who did not know all of the dishes on the trays) to see what is in each dish. There was one dish that was cold (not lukewarm) but it was beside the supposedly hot dishes so I was confused what the temperature of that specific dish was supposed to be at. I also hope that they will add at least one beef dish. The service was great. Our dirty plates were taken away as soon as we put them on the side of the table, our drinks were filled, and they were consistent in checking on all the customers, making sure that everybody was happy. I will definitely come back here for their weekend buffets and maybe for a regular dinner. We enjoyed our first time dining at Mainland India and it won't be the last. read more

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3.5 stars. I really like most of the food, but there is one major factor holding them back from #1 Indian restaurant status in our household. Simply put, their online pickup orders take a long time. On a Sunday night, when I started the order, they quoted 30-40 minutes. After I submitted the order, the email confirmation said 70-80 minutes. This was too long to wait in that instance (factoring in kid bedtimes), so I cancelled the order. The following week, I ordered Wednesday lunch and it still took 60 minutes. I am happy that they are staying busy during tough times, but this seems like a long time to wait for takeout. Another time I ordered one dish "mild" and another dish "medium" and it seems like they may have swapped them. It's an honest mistake but was unfortunately a deal breaker for one member of our household. In general, as I said, the food is generally really good and fresh-tasting, and the value is pretty high given that one dish might cover three meals. I'll order again sometime when it's just me, and I remember to do it far enough in advance. read more

Outstanding Indian lunch buffet. This was our first time here. We've been to numerous Indian lunch buffets, but this is my new favorite. The service is outstanding. Sam and Jaxter took care of our table. Attentive, incredibly friendly and prompt. As soon as we entered the restaurant, a gentleman named Sam, led us to our table. When we approached the buffet he asked if this was our first visit to this restaurant. When we replied, "Yes", he offered to walk us down the buffet line. Sam's guidance was appreciated and informative. My husband and I have never experienced this level of customer service and graciousness at a buffet. If you zoom-in on my photos you'll be able to see all of the buffet items labels. They had the usual raita, mint chutney, and tamarind, but they also had 2 mango condiments, plus a pickled vegetable condiment. I've had the 1st 3 numerous times over the years. However, I have never noticed the mango ones and the pickled veggies. I would never have taken these 3 condiments, but because Sam explained what they were, I did and absolutely loved them. Delish! My husband and I sampled every item on the buffet and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Sam recommended items on the buffet that would pair well with our wine choice, a Gamay Noir (onion pakora/pagoda and chicken 65) which was appreciated. One of my favorite aspects of Mainland India is the Indian music videos they have playing on 3 screens. The music and visuals create a festive atmosphere that for us was so enjoyable and complimentary of ethnic cuisine. For me, this sets this restaurant apart from the others. I highly recommend you try out Mainland India Restaurant. I have no doubt you'll be very happy you did. read more

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This was my first visit here, and was blindly stumbled upon. Lucky me! A close friend and I ordered 3 main dishes from the menu: Mutton Curry, Lamb Curry, and Lamb Tikka Masala. For sides we ordered both butter Naan and garlic Naan bread plus 2 vegetable samosas. We both drank water. My favorites were the garlic Naan bread with lots of FRESH garlic, the Mutton curry. And vegetable samosas. The spices of the curry perfectly complemented the Mutton and was amazing to eat with the bread. The vegetable samosas were spicy, piping hot and served with tamarind and mint chutney. It really helps mellow out the heat. Amazing. read more

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Excellent food and service! Also, really delicious Kerala dishes! We had the Chicken 65, beef cutlets, and chili paneer to start. All very good! Then, masala dosa, butter chicken, Kerala beef with coconut, and malai kofta. Perfect spice. Will be back for sure and look forward to the full bar. read more

The best Chicken Tikka Masala I've ever had, so creamy and with the perfect amount of spice/heat. I also had the fried cauliflower app, really well made food. I highly recommend this restaurant. read more

Mainland India - Chicken Tikka masala - Indian Near Me - Niles, Illinois

My mother in law is from Kerala and highly recommends this place. We have ordered the Pompano fish on a weekly basis now. You can order online via Beyond app if you want. Garlic Naan is amazing here and the fish dishes are just incredible. Got the Red Snapper tonight thanks to the manager and I will order this all the time now!!! If you love Paneer then try the Paneer Tikka Masala. Nice amount of spice if you're a novice. read more

Mainland India - Paneer Tikka - Indian Near Me - Niles, Illinois

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Delicious food! Food came out fresh, and they let you select the level of spicy you want. They were under staffed but the waiter really made sure everything was taken care of in a timely manner. cant wait to go back to try more dishes! read more

Excellent meal....very nice curbside service....most authentic meals I've had outside of India. I highly recommend...well priced (huge portions) My Meals: Butter Chicken - mild Chicken Tikka Masala - mild Neyy Mathi -mild Sagg Paneer - mild Paneer Tikka -mild Murgh Tikka - mild Vegetable Dum Biryani -mild Butter and Garlic Naan Pulissery Sambar Thank you for an amazing meal read more

I found this restaurant on Yelp while traveling and left the restaurant baffled in regards to the 4 star review/ranking. Food was not "Indian flavorful" and not remotely close to a "Level 10 spicy" as requested. Disappointing***** read more

My family is from Kerala, India. This food was a close to going home as I have ever had. The food is authentic, perfectly seasoned, delivered still hot and utterly satisfying. If you do not like this good, then you don't like Indian food, and that's your problem, not theirs! Highly recommend Mainland. Delicious! Asha read more

One of the best butter chicken dishes I have had. The samosas were delicious as well although the sweet sauce was watery. It was different to order from the phone when you are dining in, but it wasn't bad. We also got saag lamb and there was plenty boneless lamb in it, which was nice. We got garlic naan and it was perfect with the butter chicken. The carrot dessert was delicious. The other special dessert listed first on the menu was not that good to me. Service was decent. I may come back for the butter chicken. read more

Mainland India - Samosas - Indian Near Me - Niles, Illinois

Quality ok. Pricing ridiculous. Ordered just an appetizer and main item and $50 for delivery.

I was not prepared for this food to be this great. I had a gathering and I ordered at least 9 different dishes for delivery. The food was delivered downtown Chicago and it was still piping hot. I've enjoyed a lot of Indian food but this place is the best Indian food place in Chicago! I can't wait to go there in person. Every item I tried was perfection! You won't be disappointed, order, dine in or take it to go. read more

Being a Niles resident had been passing by the place regularly, but never realized it has been open for business for a few months until today. In fact, my wife was craving Indian food so we were on our way to Himalayan, but got stuck in traffic at the crossing of Dempster and Milwaukee Ave. As I glanced to my left I noticed the open sign for the restaurant so fighting traffic I took a U-turn and headed back towards it. Mainland India has taken up the erstwhile place of a few successful former Italian restaurants in Niles. For those who maybe new to the area there is ample parking in the back, which can also be accessed going westbound on Dempster Ave. The interior still reminds very strongly of being a former Italian eatery. It is well lighted, spacious and clean, so no knocking elbows like in a typical cramped Indian eatery. By the way their sound system is fantastic, I could sit and just listen to the music and eat all day there. Which brings me to the food. FANTASTIC! I have never gone to a place and ordered seconds of the same dish which I did - The Mysore Masala Dosa. The texture of the Dosa, the filling, sambhar, was just Great! The coconut Chutney was the piece de resistance! Everything was just superb! Cooked to perfection, flavorful and with the right amount of spiciness and ZING! Maybe a tad more spicy for most Americans, but nowhere near bland tasteless food, that most places pass off for "authentic Indian food"! The Tamatar Shorba was fresh and quite good. We also had some Chicken Tikka Masala and a few naans packed for carryout, which will be rated by my son later. So I guess quite a variety of food vegetarians like the wifey to omnivores like myself. The service was friendly, discreet and helpful. Everything seemed to have been cooked fresh, the portions were ample, food was flavorful, and prices seemed very reasonable. Got talking to one of the owner-partners George, who made us aware of the specials during the week. All in all a place I look forward to going back to and sampling some of their other offerings. BTW, they also have separate bar area which could become a nice watering hole. My best wishes to George and his partner for success with their endeavor! read more

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Great place to get South Indian Kerala cuisine. Service was rushed because they only had 1 wait staff for the whole place for Saturday lunch. The food was all pretty good. The chettinad mutton, chicken curry, jackfruit dish were all very good. Must get the matta red rice for these dishes since was very fluffy, perfect for the curries ( skip the basmati rice that it comes with). The chicken 65 was tasty but just too battered and deep fried - felt like something was missing. We were not impressed with the para fish fry which was too fishy and the spices were not sufficient. read more

One of our favorites! We mostly order lamb dishes and we are never disappointed. Staff is great and order is ready in a timely manner. Their naan options are endless and all taste amazing! read more

I am incredibly impressed by you guys!!!!!! The food was amazingly delicious!! And thank you for packing the food for delivery in such way that showed true care and love for your customer. I'm a customer for life!!! read more

Mainland does this tricky thing where they created a virtual storefront on Grubhub named "Plant-Based Indian" which features their vegan dishes. This was very helpful. Food is great and they have Gobi Manchurian! (it's labeled "Cauliflower Chinatown") read more

Ordered for the first time. The food was delicious. Large orders , lots of flavor. The samosas were huge. The buttered chicken was to die for. Very good customer service and packed very nicely. Will definitely be going back, next time will eat in. read more

Expensive, tasteless, greasy food. Their prices are like high end restaurants but food quality is nowhere near to a good restaurant

Omg incredible food! I've had a lot of Indian food in a lot of states/cities because of traveling for work and I've got to say this is now my #1! You've got to try it cause their food is absolutely delicious! read more

Went here with my brother and his wife. We had the Gobi Manchurian, Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Panneer and Tandoori Shrimp. All were well prepared and not greasy. Service was excellent. While the Tandoori shrimp was very good, we preferred the other three. We ordered the Masala and Gobi medium and the others mild. All the entrees were excellent. My brother felt this was some of the best Indian food he has had. I will definitely return to this restaurant when in town again. read more

Best.Butter.Chicken. EVER! The drivers are so quick and friendly, and the food always comes hot. They package everything so well and everything always tastes amazing! read more

It's always exciting when a new restaurant pops up in your neck of the woods, especially an Indian restaurant! My family and I ventured in on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. Mainland India has occupied the space of a former Italian restaurant and you can tell because some of the decor is still synonymous with what you would see in an Italian restaurant (artwork). It would be cool if they gave it more of an Indian touch on the inside! The restaurant is spacious, seemed pretty clean, has a huge large screen projection tv, and has dim lighting. Mainland serves a buffet lunch everyday and the price is always $9.99, weekends included. We were seated right away and went up to the buffet to start grabbing our food. On weekends, we were told that they offer more meat options and on weekdays it's more veggie options. The spread did not disappoint! They had what they called a dosa, but it seemed more like an uttapum (savory crepe), sambar (a veggie stew/soup that you typically dip the dosa in), butter chicken, chicken curry, goat curry, chicken biryani, tandoori chicken, goat curry, dal makhani, fish curry, etc. The uttapum/dosa was not bad. I would like to try their real dosa...I saw others at a table had ordered it off the menu. All 3 types of chicken were really good. The flavors were tasty and they were the perfect spice level. The tandoori chicken was perfectly tender and not dry. The biryani was yummy as well! I skipped the dal makhani (it looked super liquidy) and the fish curry. I may try them next time. For dessert, they had mango kulfi (ice cream) and tea. The mango kulfi was good. It had more of a sorbet type of consistency than a rich creamy kulfi...nonetheless, it was decent. It would be cool if they could add another dessert like gulab jamun. Then again, the cost of the buffet is only $9.99...so, I shouldn't get greedy! Haha! My critiques: - Naan is a key item when dining at an Indian buffet that serves a variety of curries. And the naan here was lacking in quantity. As I served myself my first plate, they were out of naan. So, I had to wait for it (10 minutes or so), which made my food cold. I feel like you shouldn't run out of naan! Or, change up the method and serve naan at the tables instead of leaving it at the buffet station. When I saw the naan come out, I rushed up and grabbed some for my table. However, when I went back up for my second serving of food, there was no more naan left...super frustrating!!!! - The lighting above the burners is a bit too dim, you couldn't really see the food in the serving dishes. - The food wasn't really hot. Indian food doesn't taste good cold or lukewarm. And the food was just barely warm. Maybe they can get some better burners or remedy the issue, if there is one. Considering that the buffet is $9.99...you can't go wrong! The food is tasty! It just needs to be warmer! And the naan issue NEEDS to be fixed!!! Will I go back? Absolutely! They have a great variety of items in the buffet...I was impressed! Service was good as well! Definitely check out the place! read more

Mainland India - Dining area - Indian Near Me - Niles, Illinois

Great place to enjoy authentic kerala cuisine. Their fish recipes are delicious. Easy parking and convenient timings. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to try kerala cuisine in the Chicago area. read more

We ate here twice. The 1st time was on a Saturday lunch when only the buffet was on offer. Although it was about 1:45, the burners had already been turned off and the hot food got progressively colder plus none of it was that interesting. They ran out of the only dessert on offer. The second time we ate dinner on a Sunday night mainly to use up the coupon I'd bought. The two lamb curries we ate were OK although the meat seemed as though it had been cooked days ago and was just heated up in the sauce. For dessert, my wife had good mango ice-cream (kulfi) while I had the rice pudding (kheer). The latter was really strange - there was no rice just what looked like bits of fideo in a rice pudding sauce. On both occasions, service was pretty inept and disorganized. We won't come back. read more

Decided to try something new for our family dinner and this place did not disappoint. Food was so amazing the flavors and taste was beyond amazing. The server was very friendly and patient with answering all our questions For the people in my party that had never been to an Indian restaurant. His suggestions ended up being my new favorite dish. It was so good my niece decided to order take out just two days later. I highly recommend this place read more

Excellent Kerala cuisine! The food from tropical Kerala is unique. It's your typical Indian fare. Lots of vegetables, grated coconuts and coconut oil in their preparations. And beef! Yes beef!! Unlike the rest of India, Kerala has a strong Christian population. Hence beef dishes are common. read more

The food was very tasty and prices were decent, but they noticeably put little protein in the dish. For example, for a chicken tikka masala, there were maybe 6 small pieces of chicken and the rest was sauce. It was like this for the several dishes we ordered, hence one star docked. Perhaps that's why the price is a little lower than other places, but it still left us feeling in want. Establishment seems nice and friendly though and we'd give it amobee try. read more

One of the worst experiences. We ordered butter chicken but received butter fish. The owner/server refused to accept it. He even took a piece out of our ordered food I'm front of us and ate it in front of us at our table. Absolutely RUDE. Don't bother with this place. read more

The best garlic naan the best butter chicken an dthe best lamb biyani in Chicago . Nothing to compare with the taste and freshness and tenderness and the flavor and spices it's all amazing an unbelievable so delicious read more

I highly recommend the Kerala chicken curry. The chicken curry is not boneless but still

If you're looking for good Indian food, lively entertainment, and low key place then this describes the restaurant for you. As expressed, this place used to be a Italian restaurant so there's some remnants of that. Coming in I felt like I was treated with respect which is something most restaurants don't do nowadays. The food I ordered (garlic naan and curries) turned out pretty great as mild medium or hot which is rare for a restaurant to get just right. I was greeted by the owner (I presume) and asked about my experience which was pretty great. Everything seems clean and proper and then have several TVs playing various modern Indian cultural pop music (I'm not familiar but that's what it seems like) which provided entertainment. TL;DR: tasty Indian restaurant where it feels like they treat you with respect. Only thing is that they play Indian pop music on large TVs which older folks might dislike. read more

Excellent food! I usually love extra spicy but they accommodated the spice level in my shrimp Curry & Chili fish due to health issues. Delicious shrimp Curry was so flavorful just the sauce alone on rice is great, then with the shrimp fantastic!! read more

I've been a great fan of their Kerala menu until today. I picked up Kerala Parotta late on Sunday evening & got shredded tiny pieces (see pic). For someone who has had this all my life (incl. from the same restaurant), this is not what you call a parotta. The guy i spoke on phone said that is how its made! The other items were good. read more

Mainland India - Kerala Parotta - Indian Near Me - Niles, Illinois

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We wanted to treat ourselves and decided to try take-out (curbside) from Mainland India Restaurant. What a delicious choice we made! On going over their menu I learned that they have what they call "family packs" available if they are given 1 hr notice. That made their pricing quite attractive for our family. We ordered & paid online directly from the restaurant so they did not lose money to a 3rd party. Especially with COVID causing hardship for restaurants, I suggest you do the same at https://www.mainlandindia.us/ We selected 1/2 tray butter chicken, 1/4 tray jasmine rice, some garlic naan and vegetable samosas. They let the customer select the level of spice. Everything was hot and extremely well packaged when we arrived an hour after ordering. They followed every precaution when bringing it out to our car. Very friendly, courteous staff. A nice parking lot to pull into and they came right out when we called to say we had arrived. Phone= 1 (847) 257-7918 Unboxing & serving the food at home was a joy. Steaming hot, so aromatic... and very tasty. We love, love, loved it. Highly recommended. We will return and will try som other of their dishes. I should have snapped photos. That will have to wait for next time. read more

Very good food very nice clean and relaxed place will come back for sure and recommend when people are looking for indian food