Indienne — Michelin-Starred Indian-French Tasting Experience in River North
Indienne — Michelin-Starred Indian & French Fine Dining in Chicago’s River North
Indienne
★ Michelin Progressive Indian Fine Dining · River North
Chicago's only Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, set in a 19th-century printing warehouse whose converted timber loft Chef-Owner Sujan Sarkar (James Beard Finalist, Best Chef Great Lakes 2024) has fitted with rose-coloured booths, exposed brick, and a dramatic bar. Sarkar grew up in Kolkata, honed his technique in London's Michelin-starred kitchens, and arrived in Chicago with a mission to put Indian cuisine on the global map by blending it with two decades of European fine-dining training. The result is the city's most ambitious desi evening: tasting menus offered in vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and vegan formats, each named with playful parenthetical references to the Indian dish that inspired it — MUSHROOM (GALOUTI) as an éclair, DAHI (BHALLA) as a lentil donut floating in tamarind and raspberry. The cooking earns its star visit after visit, even as reviews remain divided on the atmosphere, which some find transcendent and others find cold. Reservations required. Children under 9 not accommodated.
What to order: Tasting menu — vegetarian, non-veg, or vegan. MUSHROOM (GALOUTI) éclair, LAMB (BURRAH), cocktail pairing (sommelier is excellent)
Pricing: $$$$
Tasting menu ~$115–125pp. Cocktails add up — budget $200+pp with pairings.
Best for: Milestone occasions, food-obsessed dates, tasting-menu enthusiasts, anyone who wants to see Indian fine dining at its most ambitious
Comparable Restaurants: Chicago's finest Indian by credential; rivals NYC's Indian Accent for technique; more experimental than Nadu from the same team; vegetarian tasting menu is the strongest offering
Lilac Tiger / The Coach House — Behind the Curtain
Lilac Tiger / The Coach House — Two Rooms, One Vision
Lilac Tiger / The Coach House
South Asian Cocktail Bar + Tasting Menu · Wicker Park
One address, two very different rooms, one extraordinary chef. At the front: Lilac Tiger, Chicago's best South Asian cocktail bar — the kind of place that Chicago Magazine named one of the city's top 50 restaurants and where beverage director David Mor's mango-spiced margarita has been called the best in the city. The momos filled with beef and crackle of Sichuan peppercorn disappear before anyone thinks about sharing. The poutine with Korean curry sauce and housemade paneer is the item that makes you understand why the word "fusion" doesn't do the menu justice. At the back, through a curtain: The Coach House, a 22-seat fine-dining tasting menu restaurant led by James Beard and Jean Banchet Award-nominated Chef Zubair Mohajir — who then went to Top Chef Season 22 and came back with even more attention. Mohajir was born in Chennai and raised in Doha; his food carries both chapters. The two rooms share an address and a DNA. Visit the front when you want to be surprised; visit the back when you want to be transformed.
What to order: Lilac Tiger: Mango Margarita, Beef Momo, Poutine with Korean Curry + Paneer, Tandoori Honey Chicken Nuggets. Coach House: full tasting menu only, book well in advance
Pricing: Lilac Tiger $$, Coach House $$$$
Lilac Tiger $14–26 per plate; Coach House tasting ~$150+pp
Best for: Lilac Tiger: casual dates, cocktail enthusiasts, creative food groups. Coach House: the most intimate tasting menu experience in Chicago's desi scene
Comparable Restaurants: Lilac Tiger's margarita beats every Indian cocktail bar in the city; Coach House rivals Indienne for ambition but offers a more intimate, personal experience
Roop: Progressive Indian Fine Dining in Chicago
Roop: Modern Indian Dining Redefined
Roop (formerly Rooh)
Progressive Indian · West Loop, Randolph Row
Rooh Chicago — once named one of Chicago's hottest restaurants by Eater and awarded a Michelin Plate in 2020 — reinvented itself in 2024 as Roop, meaning "beauty" in Hindi, launching an 8-course tasting menu conceived in collaboration with Michelin-starred Chef Mike Cornelissen. But the identity behind Roop is more than the name change: Executive Chef Rohit Thaledi's à la carte menu is equally serious, with the deep blue velvet seats and the Malabar Old Fashioned — a bourbon, kokum, and lime creation from the best-regarded bar programme on Randolph Row — providing the visual and liquid framework. The cauliflower koliwada with tempered yogurt and rice mousse is the dish. The Goan crab cakes with Xec Xec sauce show the ambition. The ROOP tasting, available Wednesday to Sunday, is the evening-length argument.
What to order: cROOP Tasting Menu (Wed–Sun); à la carte: Cauliflower Koliwada, Beef Short Rib Curry, Dal Makhani, Malabar Old Fashioned cocktail
Pricing: $$$–$$$$
À la carte $22–42; Tasting ~$110pp.
Best for: West Loop dinner, special occasions, cocktail-forward Indian evenings, tasting menu experience
Comparable Restaurants: Better bar than Indienne; more accessible than Coach House; dal makhani rivals Dishoom London's famous version
Nadu: Michelin-Listed Regional Indian Dining in Chicago
Nadu Brings India’s Regions Together on One Menu
Nadu
Michelin Listed Regional Indian · Lincoln Park
Where most Indian restaurants in Chicago take a microscope to just one part of India — many only focus on the north, a handful of newcomers on the south — Nadu showed up and said: "What about the whole country?" This Lincoln Park spot from the Indienne team impressively crams food from over ten different regions into a thoughtfully curated two-page menu. Named "homeland" in Tamil, the cooking doesn't just list regional dishes — it slingshots you from one part of India to another. The keema reminiscent of Mumbai's famous Britannia version, with sweet-sour tamarind edge and potato straws piled on top. The meen gassi (walleye in a rich, spicy coconut and tamarind curry) is the Mangalorean preparation that makes you question every fish curry you've had before. The nool porotta — flaky, buttery layered flatbread — is non-negotiable with the dal makhani. The Infatuation named it the highest-rated Indian restaurant in Chicago. Named with intention. Cooked with honesty.
What to order: Meen Gassi (Mangalorean walleye curry), Surati Paneer Starter, Bihari Keema, Benne Dosa, Nool Porotta, Dal Makhani, $55 prix fixe (excellent value)
Pricing: $$–$$$
$55 prix fixe or à la carte $14–32.
Best for: Regional Indian food explorers, Lincoln Park dinners, groups who want to try everything, first-timers to the Indienne team's cooking
Comparable Restaurants: The Infatuation's highest-rated Indian in Chicago; more accessible than Indienne; dal makhani rivals Dishoom London's; better for groups than Coach House
Super Khana Turns Indian-American Fusion Into Pure Fun
Super Khana Reinvents Indian Food With Chicago Attitude
Sabri Nihari
Pakistani Institution · Devon Avenue
The name tells you the signature dish and the signature dish tells you everything. Sabri's nihari is the slow-cooked beef stew that Chicago's Pakistani community organises its winter Sundays around — tender, dark, trembling with depth. The Chicken Chargha (whole fried chicken in Lahori spices) is a party unto itself. Parking is famously difficult. The food makes you not care. This is Devon Avenue at its most unapologetic and its most essential.
What to order: Nihari, Chicken Chargha, Karahi Chicken, Frontier Chicken, Haleem
Pricing: $$
$14–24. Community pricing.
Best for: Families, nihari pilgrims, winter Sunday lunches
Comparable Restaurants: Chicago's nihari benchmark; rivals Houston's Aga's for nihari depth; chargha beats Bundoo Khan for whole-chicken drama
Kama Blends Indian Flavors With Modern Americana
Kama Elevates Indian-Influenced Americana in Chicago
Kama
Indian-Influenced Americana · Wicker Park + West Loop
Vikram Singh spent fifteen years refining Kama's ethos in a La Grange suburban location before bringing it to Wicker Park in 2023, and then West Loop in 2025. The family behind it — Vikram's Hall of Fame chef father Manmohan Singh, his wife Agnes Singh who leads the inventive cocktail programme, brother-in-law who handmade the custom European tables — runs a restaurant that feels personal and loved. The menu is "Indian-influenced Americana": rogan josh alongside tamarind-glazed short ribs and lobster bisque brightened with fenugreek; the tandoori Chilean sea bass against a charcoal-grilled prime ribeye. Agnes Singh's cocktail programme is the other star — the Goan Sour (orange black tea-infused whiskey with kokum and coconut foam) and the Purple Rain (Japanese gin, lemongrass, lavender) are cocktails that belong in every Chicago best-of list. Two dramatic 20-foot art installations anchor the West Loop dining room.
What to order: Tandoori Chilean Sea Bass, Paneer Ravioli, Lamb Chops, Goan Sour cocktail, Purple Rain cocktail, Kulfi dessert
Pricing: $$–$$$
$18–42 per dish. Happy hour (3–5pm) is excellent value.
Best for: Date nights, groups who want the cocktail programme as seriously as the food, West Loop evening out
Comparable Restaurants: Best cocktail programme in Chicago's desi scene; sea bass rivals Indienne's fish preparations; more accessible than Coach House or Roop
Thattu Brings Kerala Comfort Food to Chicago’s Avondale
Thattu Serves Kerala Comfort Food with Soul in Avondale
Thattu
Kerala Comfort Food · Avondale
In 2023, the New York Times named Thattu one of the 50 best restaurants in the United States. Eater named it one of the twelve best new restaurants in the country. Both are correct. Before its restaurant incarnation in Avondale, Thattu was a food stall in a food hall, a pop-up, a survival story. Chef-owner Margaret Pak and her husband Vinod Kalathil built it from genuine love for Kerala — the Malabar coast's cuisine of coconut, curry leaves, and the kind of spice depth that builds slowly. There is no other dedicated Kerala restaurant in Chicago. The chicken biryani is, per multiple accounts, the best version in the city. The Naadan Falooda is a dessert that makes you rethink falooda. The warm, neighbourhood room radiates the kind of atmosphere that makes it feel less like dining out and more like being welcomed. Order on a QR code; food comes when it's ready; the servers, who genuinely know the food, will help you time it.
What to order: Kerala Fried Chicken Bites, Chicken Biryani (possibly the best in Chicago), Appam with Chicken Curry, Kadala Curry, Naadan Falooda
Pricing: $$
$18–34 per dish. Service charge included — no additional tip expected.
Best for: Keralite food seekers, vegetarians, South Indian food explorers, anyone who wants a restaurant that feels like a neighbourhood home
Comparable Restaurants: NYT Top 50 USA 2023; best Kerala food in any American city outside the coasts; chicken biryani better than Devon's best; no-tipping model sets it apart
Mirra Blends Indian-Mexican Flavors in Bucktown
Mirra Merges Indian and Mexican Cuisine with Bold Precision
Mirra
Bib Gourmand 2025 Indian-Mexican · Bucktown
Chef Zubair Mohajir (born in Chennai, raised in Doha, Top Chef Season 22) and Chef Rishi Kumar (Indian heritage, grew up in Singapore, worked the Rick Bayless kitchens at Topolobampo and Bar Sótano) met on Instagram, ran a series of pop-ups, and opened Mirra in Bucktown in late 2024 to immediate and serious critical recognition. Esquire's Best New Restaurants in America 2025. Michelin Bib Gourmand 2025. Eater's Best New Restaurants of 2024. Michelin's own words: "This cross-cultural menu weaves Mexican and Indian narratives in a vibrantly convincing manner." The lamb barbacoa biryani has a pastry shell baked over it to keep in the aromatics, then broken tableside. The scallop ceviche is packed into crispy fenugreek roti shells. The chaas aguachile combines hamachi with buttermilk, garlic-serrano achar, nopales, and curry leaves. Hindi and Spanish music mix on the playlist. Indian rosé and Mexican sauvignon blanc sit side by side on the wine list. A young, high-energy crowd fills the room every night; if there's a more interesting restaurant to eat at in Chicago right now, we haven't found it.
What to order: Lamb Barbacoa Biryani (pastry lid broken tableside), Scallop Ceviche in Fenugreek Roti, Chaas Aguachile, Chef's Counter Tasting (7 courses), Corn Whiskey Old Fashioned with Mango and Pasilla Pepper
Pricing: $$–$$$
À la carte $18–42; Chef's Counter prix fixe ~$85. Book 2 months in advance for weekends.
Best for: The most creative date night in Chicago; groups who want a party with their dinner; anyone who thinks they know what an Indian restaurant looks like
Comparable Restaurants: Chicago's most exciting desi restaurant of the moment; Michelin Bib alongside SuperKhana but more focused; Indian-Mexican crossover more convincing than any other city's attempts; same chef as Coach House but way more fun