Solid, well-priced food. BYOB always makes it better in my eyes. Service is friendly, if a little slow. Love the bharta, samosas are good, Pani Puri meh. Dosas are good too although I miss me some coconut chutney. Still, solid place, one where I will return. read more

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Love this place and love the food - fresh and meat free. We usually order a bread that is very long (can't recall the name but it is about two feet). Anything you order would be fine. We went there without a reservation on a Saturday night at around 6:00. There was no wait. I noticed people came after us had to wait a bit. Though I couldn't remember all of the names of the dishes we ordered, I managed to remember how many dishes we ordered. My entree never made to our table. I told about it to our waitress and she took it off from our bill without any difficulties. read more

Sometimes I go up to Northwestern's campus to check out co-eds and do a little studying. (Did I say that out loud?). I usually am starving on the drive back (when I drive), so I figure I'll get in touch with my inner brown and stop by Devon sometimes. This time I only intended to pick up some samosas at Kandar Market across the street but I eyed Uru-Swati across the street, saw that they had a takeout counter in the back, and stepped in. Anyways, this place has a the ambience of a coffee shop that serves Indian food.. this is a VERY good thing, by the way. Its a casual place that shows bollywood songs on their plasmas and has a very bright, professional (you might think you're in a chain) interior/menus. I ordered a $6 dosa at the counter (which is a rolled pancake filled with potatoes and other stuff) and walked out with my dosa, its dipping sauce and veggie soup ten minutes later. It was good and very filling, but not paper thin as I had expected (there are 'paper' dosas on the menu). Side note: It was such a slick place I even used my default "takeout" name of "Bob" (I use this because "Pinaki" usually confuses everyone), forgetting that I was in an Indian restaurant. The cashier asked me what my real name is, since Bob isn't really a popular Indian name. Go figure. read more

Honest review: really good the best things were the samosa chat and the malai kofta i would recommend ordering either the paratha or the dosa not both because then u end up with alot of bread n to many potato dishes could be a lil heavy still delish but i feel other vegtables absorb all the spices better then potatoes. i would order items off the entree portion of the menu. The set up of this restaurant is really awkward n confusing nobody knows what their doing. Like literly youll be confused the whole time u eat there. When u walk in u sit down where ever u want no hostess or direction of where to go or what to do. Then u go up to counter n order n anything else u need it is easier to go to the counter n get it like togo boxes n the bill. Regarding the service nobody knows what their doing at all its not that their bad employees just everybody needs proper training i wasnt mad when things kept getting messed up i felt bad because that means bad tips and angry customers who probably wont go back. They really need to fix the service Samosa chat: omg so fucking good! Its a samosa with all the toppings on top!! The samosa was really cruncy without being greasy n the potatoe filling was really flavorful. The sauces on top have so many wonderful spices. Like picture the best thing u ever had that was fried this is a hundred times better i was blown away i was literly licking the plate i would order this in a heart beat Malai kofta: this was the best thing of the night. It was so rich and flavorful there was so much depth in the sauce like to the point where im licking the bowl. The vegtable dumpling was actually really good i was surprised! I would come back just for this dish! Paneer roll: picture like a flatbread burrito with vegetables inside. This wasnt my favorite. Its very tasty buy theres no sauce to really make it over the top. Like out of everything we tried this dish was lacking in taste Alu paratha: its like a crispy flat bread with filling in it. It has good flavor. Then it comes with 3 sides a spicy sour pickle. Yogurt and like this lentil thing which is really flavorful make sure u eat everything together for the perfect bite Mysore Masala dosa: its like a very crispy crepe. I really liked the texture of the crepe its really crunchy. The masala sauce was really flavorful just i wish it was thicker it was really soupy n wish it had more flavor n it comes With the dairy sauce to which was really interesting and flavorful idk what it was but it tasted really good . U have to eat everything together for the perfect bite because if u eat everything seperate its not going to taste good read more

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Uru-Swati is so easy to like. The menu is very safe for a person with my particular peccadillos, which is to say it's vegetarian, mostly healthy (not as much fried fare and less oil than average) and there is very little heat in the dishes. In fact, I feel like I could handle more than what they throw at me, which makes me feel proud in a weird way. My go-to Indian dish is channa masala, because the chick pea is my all-time favorite bean. Their masala is mellow and thus I can eat a lot more than I could at, say, Hema's Kitchen. The dish sings to you in a easy listening kind of way, rather than raging and kicking around on your tongue. I've also had their samosa chat, which is great simply because, again, I've never met a chick pea I didn't like. I try not to order appetizers/snacks though, just because I don't want too much food competing for stomach space I've already reserved for channa masala. Again, my own peccadillo. That said, I have tried the paper masala dosa - the huge (huge!) rolled spongy bread wrapped around a filling. I forgo the filling and just dip that dosa in the sambar for a tasty munchie. The sambar looks kind of nondescript, but it's a nice savory dip made from dal and vegetables. Service is okay, not overly super. The atmosphere is very casual but there is a flat screen with Bollywood videos that are fun. I've never had to wait but they are always bustling. Which is good because I want Uru-Swati to stick around for a long time to tame my chick pea beasty. read more

Yelp says this place is god's vagina or whatever, but I didn't think it was all that. There are very few places in this city with a 4.5 star average over so many reviews, but I don't get it. Maybe it was an off day, but I found the food rather bland and not really what I was looking for. I fear that many of these reviews may have been written by vegetarians or people that aren't sick and hopped up on Wal-tussin, like me. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fdYJPKM1FuZt4zErtS11ig?select=uaXBGvHEyUpU6NhzmCfBpA Note the sad look on my face, despite the comically large paper dosa masala. The fried onion things were nowhere in the same ballpark as the standard against which all fried non-tubor vegetables are judged: the Bloomin Onion. Yeah, I just said that. I probably just lost all credibility with that comparison, but come on, you know it's true. The samosa chat and mango lassi were pretty good though. I'll give them that. I wonder, if you had a kitchen where all they made was samosa chat, would it be called a samosa chat room? You can use that one. read more

1. Adorable 2. Great prices 3. All vegetarian 4. Adorable. Oh wait, I already said that! But seriously- the 3D city scape walls make me smile while I wait for my HUGER than huge paper masala dosa! The house ice tea is the perfect complement for my palate (sweet & salty is my way to be!), and the samosas are cute as a button. Totally beyond reasonable prices, and great to share lots with a friend! read more

Hot channa puri, order one of everything. You can probably afford it. The servers are superb and won't look at you funny for ordering so much. Please please- call me to meet you and I swear, I'll only steal bites of the vegan plates. Eventually, someone will come around and ask if you want anything else before the kitchen closes. Get an extra order of iddly sambar, just in case. If it's not inhaled within 10 minutes, it keeps rather well in the fridge. Oh- I will probably beg you to order the coconut water to wash it all down. When you're done sipping, they'll crack that mother open so we can scoop out the tender insides! read more

My daily nap was disturbed- per the norm, by one of my really good friends getting home from work. The phone rings, we agree to walk our canines and head for the elevators. Once we get outside, our normal routine begins. Him- "So- did you do anything today- work at all?, sleep, go to the pool?" Me- " I went to Uru- Swati" Dogs (A combined weight- 2 of them- of 178 lbs) see a 10 lb chiuaua and decide that they must bark like insane, rabid killers to let it know they were present. After we settled them down and cleared the entire sidewalk- we continued our walk. Him- "WHAT/Where?" Me- "Uru- Swati" Him- "What?" Me (feeling that we were never going to get past this point or topic of conversation... ;) "Why are you home from work so early? What, you have nothing to do? " Uru- Swati- What a great place- Do Not let your ignorance or lessor knowledge of this type of cuisine hold you back! It was fantastic. We tried a ton of different foods, ordered way too much! What was really nice was the fact that the waitress happily brought us descriptive menus so we could figure out what to order. We ended up ordering a few things that were kind of similar anyhow, but it all tasted great! Despite our abundance of food, the check was incredibly reasonable. I will definitely be back. read more

Cheap, delicious atypically cute veg indian snack shop. Friendly but stretched service could use a makeover, but it's not terminal. Masala Dosa: Typical indian potato-filled pancake. Theirs was huge and dee-lish. The "paper" version is a 2-footer, sounds scary. We spied on this indian woman at the next table to see how to properly eat it. Rip hunks off and scoop up the potato filling, dip in spicy veg soup. Got it. Samosa Chat: Spicy chick pea stew poured over a few deep-fried samosas (dumplings.) Crunchy mini chickpea noodles sprinkled all over the yogurt chutney topping. Little bit of everything! The seasonings were fresh, lively and unlike the familiar muddy daals we usually love eating on Devon Ave. This is served at room temp which is fine. We would have liked it with a side of basmati rice, which I'm not sure you can even order there, so I recommend you order a side of roti (wheat bread.) It's just kind of wet and rich. It's really delicious though and we'll prob. get it every future visit. potato puck thingies: Sorry forgot the name. Deep fried savory lentil and potato dumplings. Normally I would love this type of thing but they were a little leaden and greezy. Green sauce was mildly spicy, red sauce was sweet and spicy. We'll skip this next time, there are a ton of other things to discover. Everyone else was drinking bevs from these weird trader vic lookin mugs, need to explore that in some more detail. atmosphere, decor, clientele: This place was packed on a dreary sat. afternoon. Well isn't Devon always bustling? Mostly 30-something Indian customers, a few hipster adventurers. Funky and casual decor. A few nice flatscreens were playing funny bollywood music vids and cartoons. Cute hand-painted cityscape on the walls. Nice floor treatment. This place has the coolest look on Devon, much more interesting than somber n stodgy old Tiffin. Service: ahem. Our excitement almost died of thirst and neglect. The waiter took his time coming over to us but was helpful and very friendly when he finally arrived. The food came out promptly. Tried to order a side of roti from the busboy but it never arrived. I don't recall any water refills, one or two checks would have been nice. Speaking of the check, I gather you just walk up to the register when you're ready to pay. Or not, it wasn't clear anybody was really keeping track of that. Anyway we ate beyond full and it cost a crazy low amount, like $13.90 or summat. I tipped light, not b/c I was pissed, just seemed like it was quasi cafeteria style there. Anyway the food's spectacular and the place is cute, I'd just respectfully request they put a little more effort into the service and maybe add some additional descriptions to the the menus to help us semi-ignorant non-indians. Actually Timeout mag translated everything and the manager let us take the translated version home to study. But I had to hunt for that. They might have it on their website by now. If not PM me and I can post it somewhere. read more

Really, really good Indian food. Maybe the best that we've had in Chicago. We were on our way to see a movie in Evanston and called ahead to order. We chose the Samosa Chaat, a Felafel Sandwich, and a Dosa (Mysore Masala). We picked up a few lime sodas to wash it down. Herein lies the challenge. We were planning on eating in the car, but were not given utensils. My wife used two stirs sticks (chopstick style) and I used my fingers (fat hand shovel style). The food was ridiculously good despite our rudimentary transfer from plate to mouth. The samosa chaat was worth a drive to Devon on its own, but the dosa was superb as well. Two things resulted: 1.) We now carry a full 4 piece utensil set in the glove box. 2.) We have a standard go-to Indian place after floating around for many years. Good times. read more

Uma, a friend in Bloomington, IL and I were recently discussing my wife's penchant for Indian food (and mine for Dosa) and various places we'd tried on Devon and elsewhere in and around Chicago. Uma made several suggestions including Uru-Swati. My wife and I rushed out at the first opportunity (the next day) to find the "unusual little appetizer place with GREAT Dosa on 'a corner' somewhere on Devon". Well, we found it (Yelp Help); we were blown away. The menu was extensive; the surroundings unusual - this may have been a coffee shop or a pastry shop sometime in the past. Bollywood was showing on several TV's, which was great because I need an occasional Bollywood fix. And the food? Supposedly appetizers - don't kid yourself. The portions are large, excellent, tasty, fresh, not greasy. After our first trip we realized that sharing plates was the way to go; options are extensive. We've been back three times so far. We've had Mysore Masala Dosa, Samosa Chat, Pani Puri, Dal Vada, Bhel, Paneer Pakoda, Samosa - all very tasty and highly recommended. We have not yet had a "meal" because we've been stuffed on "appetizers" every time. We aren't dessert fans and don't particularly care for Gulab Jamun (ow, the sugar makes my teeth hurt). However we tried the Gajar Halwa (carrot) and Kheer (rice pudding) and give both a double thumbs up. I love Mango Lassi; I must say that Uru-Swati makes one of the best I've ever had. Our only complaint is that the extensive menu has no descriptions. However, while Googling around I stumbled across a PDF from Time Out Chicago that describes everything on the menu in detail. It can be found at: media.timeoutchicago.com/downloads/pdf/UruSwatiTranslation.pdf The last time we were at Uru-Swati we also found copies on the carryout counter for use in the restaurant. We found that having our own copy was helpful because many of the choices were new to us and we could plan and plot our meal ahead of time. Bottom Line: "Good Eats" (my apologies to Alton Brown) read more

I'd say that this restaurant is one of the cooler places on Devon. It just opened and doesn't seem to have attracted a huge clientelle as of yet. The decor is cool and kind of reminds me of some of the projects done on Trading Spaces and Extreme Home Make-over. There are flowers and clouds painted on the walls and ceilings. One wall is devoted to model buildings set as a skyline. It's pretty cool looking coupled with the black, high-back chairs. I also liked the music, I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it was cool world music, which didn't interfere with conversations. However cool or trendy looking this place might appear, the menu is down to earth, extensive and pretty darn cheap. This restaurant serves snacks, sweet and full meals. If you go know that there aren't any descriptions for the menu items...just a name and a price. So, generally know that a "dosa" is a crepe-like, savory pancake, "alu"=potatos, "mutter"=peas, "paneer"=cheese, and "samosa"=delicious! The restaurant is all vegetarian and they also sell sweets and other snacks by the pound. They do take out as well. The food all seemed fresh and was of pretty high quality considering the price. When we went we had the masala dosa to share, two full meals, two mango lassi's and then a to-go order...including tip it was less than $30. Service was friendly, but I do think that they have a few kinks to work out, which is to be expected in a new restaurant. It seems like they were expecting to be busier than they were so the waiters and busboy seemed a little bored and were maybe over-staffed. You should get in there to keep them busy! read more

After tasting sorry food at Mysore Woodlands and Udupi, I finally chanced up on this fast food ( yet they serve at the table). Thanks to other yelpers! Food was much better & made fresh compared to other south indian food spots on Devon. Good that they offer both north and south indian vegetarian choices. Special mention would be for the Sambar and vada! I've not tried the north indian items yet but would definitely report on it next time. Service is courteous, although they would do well to have someone who speaks fluent English taking your order! Overall, Enjoyed it! read more

I can't remember the last time a place in Chicago has blown my mind like this. Definitely the best Indian food I've had on Devon. I've finally found that perfect place I'd been looking for, and I want to take all of my friends here, order EVERYTHING and share it with them. I came here based on yelp-reviews and expected it to be good, but it was even better. This place is perfect for a sunny afternoon, when the sun shines into the window front and onto the colorful, amazingly decorated wall, Devon street bustling outside. I much prefer this over those restaurants in the neighborhood that try so hard to be fancy, but leave something lacking with their stiff atmosphere and mediocre food. Speaking of the food. The yellow lentil dish here nearly made me pass out (I don't care for yellow lentils, my friend ordered it, but it was amazing), especially with garlic naan dipped into it. We wanted ALL of the appetizers because they sounded so good, but settled for samosas in a yoghurt sauce with chutneys and chickpeas and crispy fried noodles on top (disgustingly delicious). Or something. It was amazing. The food was affordable and plenty and the main dishes came with lots of rice and yoghurt sauce. My friend and I spent the entire time talking about how much we were enjoying our food, that's how good it was. Oh, and the service was abysmal, but then, whatever. Get up, walk three steps, ask for what you need. It's still worth it. read more

I love this place. When I want a great "mini meal," this place is great. My husband and I like to order a few things to share. You know, he's not even that enthusiastic about Indian food, but he'll often say, "Hey, you wanna go to that one place with the, you know, what's it-- the potato thing with the-- you know what I'm talking about, right?" See, that's the kind of relationship we share: communicating without real, um, what's it called? You know, sentences. So. Uru-Swati is pretty cute. They've got buildings on their walls, for one. And they've got an American translation menu for folks who have no idea what pav bhaji means. But the main reason I come is this: they serve all the best snacky, mini meal foods I love! If you are looking for a palak paneer-mattar paneer-malai kofta-with-rice-whatever, tons of restaurants can offer that. But not everyone serves pav bhaji, wada pav, pani puri, idli and dosa. (And why the heck not?! This is the food of champions!) Everything is vegetarian. But if you've got a person in your group who's anything like my husband (wary of meatless dishes), this place can surely still deliver. It's called alu paratha, ok. Just put one of those on their plate and they'll forget all about that one thing, you know, with the, um, the black angus, you know, what's it called, um, a burger? read more

Why did I only give uru swati 4 stars? It's my favorite vegetarian restaurant. 5 stars!! I mean, check out the photo of the food. Oh my god. PS, they're closed on tuesdays. read more

Ordered for delivery, came hot in 30 minutes. Fabulous light samosa. Great birani and paneer. Really nicely prepared, great authentic Indian taste. Highly recommended. Good value very generous servings. Nice delivery driver too. read more

Great place; came here with friends who found it on Yelp. We got a bunch of smaller dishes (if you can call their enormous dosas "small") and loved all of them. Cute, hip decor. Super nice waitstaff. They also gave us free samples of sugary treats by the counter (mango, coconut, blueberry, chocolate--yum!) I'd definitely come back for more! read more

Uru Swati - Indian Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I have enough complications in my life to begin with: The deluxe bhel puri is the best in the city. It is, without question, one of the best bites of food you will get anywhere in these parts. Everything else is a blur of competent-but-hardly-memorable frying, biryani-ing, curry-ing, dosai-ing, etc. You can't go wrong; you won't really go right, however. If you "get" the decor, let me know, k? read more

Wow. This place is great - reminds of me of India - Delicious, inexpensive, and lots of choices. We had one of their 2 foot dosa - just like i've had in mysore - plus a samosa chat, some other chat and the eggplant entree dish. A samosa chat is a samosa (fried pastry stuffed with potatoes, peas, etc) covered with yogurt, chickpea masala, cilantro, etc. And the Baingan Bartha (eggplant) entree was awesome - green peas mixed with eggplant pureed with tomatoes, onions, and spices. Naan was perfectly done, not too chewy nor too crispy, with a bit of butter. And finish it off with a mango lasse. Brilliant. The atmosphere and service are good, but feels somewhere between a fast food restaurant and a normal restaurant. I kinda like that. You can't beat the price and its hard to beat the quality at any price. read more

This was such a big surprise to me. Everything is vegetarian, right? But there is wide and tasty variety among the dishes. The food really is so, so good. I wish I would be up in the neighborhood more often to take advantage of this. Oh, and it wasn't expensive at all. Sometimes, when the food gets this tasty, you find yourself paying a little more. Not here. read more

Groupon deal or not....this is a solid place. I am a non-vegetarien South Indian. I grew up on iddly, dosas, sambar, rasam, chutneys and vadas and lots of non-veg curries. If the sambar isn't good, I won't go back to a place. The sambar here is far better than Woodlands across the street. Additionally, i felt the food is far less greasy. I ordered chana bhatrua which came with 2 oddly less greasy but tasty fried pieces of bread and chana (chickpeas). The pav bhaji was comforting...took me back to when i was a little girl in Chennai. the masala dosa was good too. My one gripe, which i have with most south indian restaurants, is that they need to serve more than just coconut chutney. why not have onion, tomato, coconut-peanut, or coriander chutney.....mmmm. They should just have a chutney buffet. read more

As a vegetarian, it's sometimes hard to find good options on the menu that fit my needs. Not here, because EVERYTHING IS VEGETARIAN! WOOOO HOOOO My friend, SJ, and I order the following Samosa Chat (two triangle filled "dumplings" filled with spiced peas and potatoes) topped with all this other stuff -delicious! We also tried the Dal Makhani (spiced chick pea paste over rice) and the Shrikhand Puri (w/Undhiyu), another spiced potato / pea mixture served with fried bread. Everything we had was delicious! The service was excellent, as our waitress patiently described everything and offered us suggestions. It was great food, fast service and really convenient to where I live in Rogers Park so I will definitely be back! They do take out and catering which is a nice touch! read more

After seeing this on a Chicago PBS review show I knew I had to try US. I was so right. A friend and I decided to have the Devon Street experience and enjoyed every moment of it! We stopped by US during a week night and there was no wait. The staff was friendly and I appreciated the slight language barrier because it lent to the authenticity and legitimacy of the place. Being vegan wasn't an issue and I was guided through the menu for the plethora of delicious food I could have. Did I mention plethora of food? Yeah, we had enough for four meals - for two people!!! We ordered two apps and two mains and a stuffed dosa...too much food but I loved the left overs! I will be back and I recommend US to anyone who loves authentic Indian food. read more

All the great Yelp reviews gave me high expectations, and sure enough, Uru-Swati met them! It's hard to pick an Indian place on this hopping street with so many options, but you can't go wrong with Uru-Swati. I dined with a group of 3 and we got an appetizer and 3 entrees to share. It was plenty of food and super reasonably priced (BYOB doesn't hurt!). The absolute standout was the Samosa Chat. OMG, all samosa should be like this. Don't skip it. Otherwise all of the entrees we tried were good, and we all had different favorites. I'd definitely recommend going with a group and sharing so that you can try more. They initially gave us a menu with no descriptions, but then brought over a nice Americanized version, which is helpful just so that you get some variety in dish types. read more

Firstly, I don't think I was ever going to give a Devon restaurant 4 stars. That being said, my high rating for this place may also have to do with the fact that they are brand new and all aspects of it are fresh. In this review, I want to compare it to some of the other places on Devon that serve the same type of food. This place falls into the category of "Indian fast food." You can also call it "Indian Vegetarian fast food." You will almost never find non-vegetarian Indian fast food, just because there probably isn't any. Us Indians have always stuck to the vegetarian when it comes to our ethnic snack foods. Firstly, as the other reviewer mentioned, and I agreed with completely, the decor is probably the best on Devon. I honestly could care less about the decor in any restaurant because it says nothing about the kind of food I'll eat, which is what I'm there for. That being said, I still want to recognize this place. It has that coffee-shop look that a lot of their non-Indian customers will most likely enjoy. Therefore, I anticipate that it will cut into that niche of non-Indians who I think typically eat at full fledged restaurants. I mean, I'll see a lot of non-Indians in the restaurants such as Mysore Woodlands, but never any in a sucky place like Sukhadia's. More on that later. As far as the food, I think it was excellent. I will only comment on the "Pani Puri" and the "Chana Bhatura," because that is all I had so far. Pani Puri is basically hollow hard wheat balls that you need to break off the top, fill it with the vegetable filling that comes with it, fill it with the spicy water and put the whole thing into your mouth before the water runs out of the ball. It's an awesome experience. If you're ever there and see a guy doing that, it's probably me. As far as the Chana bhatura, it's a fried bread served with a chickpea curry which is very popular on the street in India. It was honestly very good and reminded me a little of my much younger days in India. Finally, I want to compare Swati to the other major in the area - Sukhadia's. Sukhadia's is just a place that is always crowded and the service is crazy slow. It honestly doesn't take that much time to prepare an Indian snack if it's being cooked in the back. It really is just fast-food. Yet, Sukhadia's still manages to have annoying wait times and a very lunchroom looking atmosphere. At Swati, I was able to sit down in a nice clean, well decorated eatery. I don't mind leaving a little tip if I can sit down and get my fast food brought to me. The quality of the food was also much better. Overall, a place like Sukhadia's does not seem to attract non-Indian clientele because everyone can see from the window that the place looks like a cafeteria. The Indians that go there seem to be fine with it, but I'm not. Maybe, it's the American side of me that made me want to yell at them about this everytime I ordered from there. Swati on the other hand will definitely attract the coffee-shop crowd. That's also how it seems, a nice little coffee shop, except with cool Indian food. read more

This place is great. I checked it out because of yelp reviews, and I figured it would be good to go into a place that was easier for n00bz to Indian food like myself to figure out. Judging by the translation menu courtesy of Time Out Chicago, I am not the only one. In any event, the food is good, hot, and quick. There was a slight mishap with my food being given to another table, but more pillows of golden goodness (Samosas) were conjured up quickly from the back and all was good again. The Samosas were really good and I also got the Pav Bhaji, a bread and curry dish, which was awesome. The concept of having appetizers, "mini-meals", regular meals, and desserts is great. Not only can you figure out what you like by trying more things (especially at the reasonable $3-5 price tag), but you have an excuse to eat here even if you're not that hungry. In total, I spent about $8 something before tip, which was very fair considering all the food I got. Bonus: the TV is playing Indian music videos, which are entertaining on so many levels. read more

I'm not going to lie. I'm a meat-eater, a damn good one at that too. I was a little hesitant to eat there. I made a reservation for six and we were seated right away. Honestly, I have no idea what we ordered. We talked to a lady there who seemed like the owner and told her to pick out her favorite dishes. She was ultra-nice and very helpful. We ended up with way more food than we could handy. The appetizers were fantastic and the entries were great. I almost forgot I wasn't eating meat.. ALMOST. read more

I went here with a big group of yelpers, including Nikki. Most of us weren't very familiar with Indian cuisine. We asked for some recommendations from our waitress, who was very helpful and patient. They were more than willing to serve up the food family style, so we could all sample each of the dishes. I thought the food was outstanding, but honestly I think it was only the 5th time I've had Indian food. (so I guess I don't have much to compare). The prices were very affordable, I believe that the 7 of us ate for less than $70, including tip. If I lived closer to Uru-Swati I know I'd eat there more often. read more

I don't know anything about the service or decor, as we are lucky enough to be in the delivery zone. We've ordered at least a dozen time. They always get the order correct. My favorite is the Paneer Makhani; a cheese and curry dish that is spicy and delicious. You can't go wrong with any curry dish. I also dig their samosas and paneer makhani appetizers. If you're a meat lover like me, you might hesitate to try a vegetarian place like this, but don't stress about it. You'll dig it. read more

This was my first venture to devon st...and I will def be back. Not only is it fun to see different cultural pockets throughout the city, but the food was fab. It's byob, (plastic cups) which is hilarious and adds to the experience, not to mention its super cheap. This place is vegetarian which thrills me no end, so didnt have to worry about ordering some mysterious meat by accident. Thankfully time out chicago translated their menu, otherwise we'd have been SOL. Everyone that worked there was really nice, accommodating, and friendly. We had a chick pea dish, dal, dosa, eggplant...I honestly couldn't tell you what the names are, but I dont think you could really go wrong w/anything on the menu. Of course the evil parking meter people found devon, so make sure to bring plenty of quarters. read more

I'll keep this short. Uru-Swati is amazing. Best south Indian in Chicago. The only place where I've had better is India itself. You'll never miss the meat. A few of my faves: veg. biryani, masala dosa, samosas, bhel, salted lime soda. I'm getting hungry just thinking about this place! Message me when you're going because I'm coming along, like it or not. read more

Totally bummed out. I've been here a few times and both service and food are inconsistent. After a truly subpar Wednesday night 7:15pm visit with five friends, I am writing this place off and in search of greener pastures. With a group of six you get to try many different dishes and they were out of quite of few dishes that we ordered. Mildly irritating when you order and they tell you that they don't have this and that, but truly irritating when they come back 5 minutes later to tell you that don't have something. We had to ask for plates and serving utensils, and most importantly the food just wasn't very good. This was surprising since I've been here before and the same dishes tasted much better. No sure if they had a pinch hitter in the kitchen but they were definitely having an off night. read more

Today is a sad day for me....last night I forgot my take-away containers at Uru and now I am not enjoying the delicious, vegetarian, Indian food leftovers that I could be..........:( Besides that tale of woe, this place is great. A good smattering of the local crowd, families, randoms in a casual-no frills atmosphere. The space is cozy, but clean and bright all the same. Food = awesome. I had a dal dish, the Mysore masala dosa (which I loved and the dipping sauce/cocunut chutney was to DIE for) and some naan. I like how the raita/rice/pickle are included in the price of the meal so you don't have to order overpriced sides to complete your meal like at some of the "nicer" Devon spots. I really wish I had remembered to grab those leftovers.................. read more

Probably the worst Indian food I have eaten. Places like these are a disgrace in the name of Indian food. Add to it the service was poor and the ambience was like a funeral home. It's a complete rip off for people who are not aware of how good Indian food can taste. The chef needs to stay as far away as possible from any kitchen. Save yourself and pleas don't go there. One star is not intentional it's default. read more

SO GOOD. Better than Udupi Palace, for sure. I had an order of masala dosa and samosa chat for myself. Oh, my gluttony. YUM YUM YUM. I took home half of each ... that's another two meals right there! I can't wait to come back here with friends and order the two-foot long dosa. I also love that they have the translated menu. It helps out a lot (at least for me). If you're looking for excellent, cheap, vegetarian Indian food ... this is the place to be. And then I go down the street to get my eyebrows threaded! read more

I am so ashamed. I have lived here all of my life and yet I've never actually been to Devon. Luckily, a friend took me here for my first (but not last) visit. We came at about 6pm on a Sat night, which was the perfect time as only 30 min later they were packed. We ordered the Bhindi Masala (Okra), Palak Peneer (Spinach and cheese), Veg Jalfrezie (mixed veggies in curry), and garlic naan. The Bhindi Masala was my favorite, but everything was so good. For all that was ordered, we had more than enough for dinner, leftovers for each of us and it was $16 each with a good tip. Uru-Swati is also BYOB -- which makes it a really cheap night! read more

Meh. Not sure why this place gets such a good rating. Went there yesterday and was not impressed. Nothing we ordered stood out to be 4 stars, nor the service spectacular, nor the decor amazing. Usually, this would garner a solid 3 stars - average, nothing worthy or nothing abysmal. But on Devon, where just a few doors down you can get average to good (3-4 stars), its not worth your time it to eat here. First, decor was okay - I liked the 3D murals on the wall. It was interesting and compared to many places, kinda fun. However, the ceilings were high, tables weren't spaced comfy, and lighting was sterile. You can't savor the food with the vibe. There are two TVs there playing bollywood music videos.... very distracting. But that's okay, because the food isn't savory for you to linger here. We ordered samosas, vada, eggplant curry (baingan bartha), matar paneer, onion kulcha, naan and poori. The Good: poori was puffy and tasty, vada had a acceptable taste, the samosas tasted like samosas any indian place (worth their salt) go to. Matar Paneer was acceptable, but taste was muddled. The Bad: Both onion kulcha and naan really didn't stand out, if anything, it was filler. The Baingan Bartha was too salty and flavorless. Now the Ugly: Service. Not welcoming at all. We sat down, were giving water. We said we were waiting for 2 more people. When they came, they got water, but in disposable cup, one which had a insect floating. Then we ordered, and got the food pretty quickly. But besides filling water in our cups, we weren't asked anything nor was given the check until we asked for it. You want good food at good price? Go to Udipi or Mysore (or even Tiffin). They all have food that you want to come back to, hey, its not like my mom's cooking, but each of these will placate me (and reward my tastebuds) until I go home. read more

A little piece of cheap vegetarian heaven tucked away on Devon- that is Uru-Swati! Ah the joys of a vegetarian restaurant with TONS of dishes- so many you will have difficulty deciding. I am a huge fan of the channa masala as well as the roti. Ginger D. just adores the garlic naan with every fiber in her being. I love the Uru-Swati gives you a "translation booklet" describing all the dishes in detail for those unfamiliar with Indian cuisine. For 2 people leaving very stuffed our bill is about $25- not bad at all. The service is good, not great, but the servers are warm and pleasant. It is a very laid back, family friendly type atmosphere. Oh Uru-Swati why must you be so far away! read more