Udupi Palace Restaurant
2543 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL, 60659
Udupi Palace Restaurant Menu
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Address :
2543 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL, 60659 - Phone (773) 338-2152
- Website https://udupipalacetogo.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:30 am - 10
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : Yes
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Dogs Allowed : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : Yes
Categories
India is the birth place of Chicken Tikka Masala and Curries. Indian foods are prepared with a blend of finely mixed spices quite popular across the region. The spices develop the rich taste in Indian food enough to boggle your mind. The ever-increasing fan base of Indian food around the New York city is steadily increasing because of the large number of Indians who traveled to the land of dreams. The Indians also brought their very own vibrant, colorful, and aromatic authentic dishes for the people in the West. While most of the Indian population is Vegetarian, Indian food is great for people who are looking for vegan or vegetarian food option. If you are a Meat lover, don't get disappointed yet. Indian food also boasts of some popular non-vegetarian dishes too. Few examples are the famous Butter Chicken, Mutton Biryani and Tandoori Chicken are enough to satisfy your taste buds.
Indian food has gained reputation all over the world especially in the United States. You can find many places serving the appetizing Indian food across all major cities in the US. India is a diverse country with different food culture originated from different parts of the country. While the Northern region boasts tandoori dishes and korma offering royal taste, the Western Ghats offers sea foods that is made in naturally sweet tender coconut milk. The South Indian food servers a quality of different dishes made from rice accompanied with spicy chutneys, curries and famous sambhar. Also, the Indian sweets are a delight to relish. If you ever want to have a burst of sugar syrup in mouth, don't forget to try few Bengali Sweets. Be it spicy, tangy, or sweet flavor, you can find everything in the Indian cuisine. Be assured that the melody of spices will surely bring delight to you.
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Vibhor G.
Worst service. Rude waiters.
(1)Dorian B.
If you like average to subpar Indian food and horrible service, this is the place for you. Seriously, the staff are either not attentive or rude, especially the manager. The dish I ordered (can't remember the name) never arrived, so I had to ask someone what the deal was. They basically just didn't make my order for some reason, and I had to wait another 15 minutes to get it. The manager's attitude the whole time was very apathetic; no apology whatsoever. Finally I get my dish and to make things worse, I didn't like it. I did try a friend's meal and it was okay. Some of the appetizers weren't bad either. I would probably try them again if the customer service wasn't so bad, which seems to be a running theme with this place.
(1)Jef B.
For South Indian, I still like Mysore Woodlands slightly better, but Udupi was pretty good. Our party of five was seated and served quickly. We had repeated language difficulty with our server getting our order wrong, but that was quickly rectified. My Mysore Masala Dosai was very good but not as spicy as advertised, which was slightly disappointing. Our chai was excellent, very very good. The restaurant has a somewhat more sophisticated decor and atmosphere than Mysore Woodlands. Both of these restaurants are good choices for Indian. I would have to eat there more often to make a final decision which is better South Indian.
(4)Ryan C.
I didn't know there was much a difference from Northern and Southern Indian restaurants, but now realize there It was recommend from Isla E. that I might want to try a few on Devon. I saw a few and decided I would make my decision by looking to see which one had the most Indian's eating there. I know it's profiling, but I guess it's the easiest way to figure out what is the preference of people that know it best. The first thing I noticed was that it was ALL vegetarian. What? No chicken, lamb or shrimp? No lamb Tikka Masla? No Tandori Chicken? We ordered the Channa Batura, Masal Dosai, Vegatable Uthappam, Vegatable Samosa and a Mango Lassi. WOW! Was it good and the portions were large. I didn't find myself missing the meats, fish or chicken. The waiter was very helpful on explaining some of the dishes and the service was excellent. It is a BYOB restaurant and would recommend bringing a bottle of wine. I don't mind BYOB. I'd rather bring a bottle of Vendage ($9.99 at Jewel) than pay the hefty 300% mark up most restaurant would charge. I know, I'm cheap. The total bill was $34 for everything and there was enough for leftovers. Great place to go for a wonderful dinner without breaking the bank!
(5)Meena V.
You know, after all the Yelp hype and the primo location on Devon street, right next to all these other seriously good Desi places, I was expecting a lot more. Instead, it's just OK -- not bad, really not great -- unoffensive food. One plus is that unlike 80-90% of the average Indian restaurants you run into, Udipi specialises in SOUTH Indian food, which is much harder to find. That said, while this place with give you what you want if you're craving the harder to find flavours, it's not quite knock your socks of sambhar time either. And I'm afraid I suspect some microwave action going down with the wadas/ idlis. Eh, it's OK. If I'm in the area, I'd go back for a masala dosa fix.
(3)Bonnie L.
I checked out Udupi Palace last week for lunch. I called ahead to see if they had a buffet and was told that they do not but that they have lunch specials. So I decided to give it a try. I had never been there before and I knew that the cuisine was Southern Indian and I have been told that it is a bit different from the other restaurants in the area. And I am really glad that I did. As we glanced at the lunch menu I was not sure what the options were and a gentleman (manager?) came over and explained everything to us. We ended up ordering two Dosi, mine was a bit softer and spicier, my friends was really crunchy. Both were filled with a potato mixture and were served with a variety of chutneys. The coconut one was really good. Knowing that I like things a bit spicier, the manager sent me out a spicier sauce to go with my lunch. It was delicious and was not too spicey. And I should mention that before the entree we got the lentil donuts. Those were SO good. I could make a meal out of those by themselves. Afterward we had Indian Coffee which was really good. All in all, I thought that the food and the service were fantastic. And the manager gave us coupons for a return visit. That almost never happens unless you are complaining about something. But here at Udupi Palace, we had nothing to complain about.
(4)Lisa J.
After writing a negative review I got a message on Yelp from John, the owner. He wrote me a nice note apologizing for the bad experience I had and offering to send me a gift certificate for a free meal. I took him up on it and a few days later I got a $30 gift certificate in the mail, which was more than I had expected. Since I was traumatized from my last visit (and mostly just forgot I had the gift certificate) I took forever to actually use it. About a week ago I finally went back in, and it was awesome. The service was very relaxed and the people were polite. The food was really good, much better than I expected. I think last time maybe I just ordered the wrong thing or something, because this time it was amazing. With our $30 gift certificate, we got two curries and two appetizers and still had enough food leftover for breakfast and lunch to take to work the next day. By the way, I was not pressured to change my review at all. I did not accept the gift certificate as a bribe to change my review and if I had a bad experience the second time, I would've kept my review as is. It really was MUCH better this time!
(5)Chicago B.
I'll be brief: Excellent food, excellent service, excellent prices. I love everything about this place, except for the fact that it's not across the street from where I live. I order the channa batura, and it is exquisite. Spicy, creamy, delicious. The batura is twice the size of your head and much tastier.
(5)Jason P.
If you want dosa or other south indian food, this is really the spot to hit up. I took a bunch of people who had never tried south indian food before and exposed them to joys of it. The paper dosa is good for taste as well as shock value. The dosa is basically 3 times longer than the plate it comes on. It is a really thin crepe. They also have a larger pancake like thing that starts with a U and I am unable to spell and too lazy to actually look up. Be careful though, if you order the plain U pancake, and aren't Indian, like the rest of my table, the guy might make you change your order by telling you it has no taste. This was quite comical. I would also recommend the idly, as it will hold you over until your meal gets there.
(4)Robyn T.
I had never had dosai before. How is that possible? It is like an Indian crepe filled with deliciousness. Udupi Palace offers an entire menu of similar warm and filling comfort food. Add a fried appetizer plate (including some sort of fried pepper, cauliflower, samosa and such) a paneer & pea curry, mango lassi and delicious coffee and you've got one full belly. Very happy but insanely full. Clean tables, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.
(4)Krsna V.
This is the place for dosai in Chicago. I have yet to taste a better dosa at any other place. I have eaten all the varieties of dosas and they all are excellent. This is vegetarian heaven......i usually loathe vegetarian food (now, all you vegetarians don't come after me) and I have to have meat everyday....but, I will make an exception to go to Udupi palace. Imagine the look on my partner's face when they brought out the dosa. His eyes popped out of their sockets and he says "what is that?" The dosas are huge....and boy, they are good!! I am not a big fan of the vegetarian curries though. My partner got the saag paneer and it was nothing exciting. The samosas are good, chana masala is OK, and the rasam is perfect. Stick to the dosas.
(4)Christina M.
I eat a lot of Indian food and I will say this place has done it right. Usually when I go to Indian restaurants the vegetables are so over cooked that the meal is just unpleasant. Udupi Palace cooked the vegetables perfectly (so they still had a crunch to them) and I felt the entrees were flavored well; however, I asked for my food very spicy and it wasn't up to my spicy standards. So if you'd like your food very spicy, you may want to strongly emphasize that point.
(4)Ji-In L.
Tasty, but was a tad disappointed because I wasn't expecting it to be vegetarian. I mean, I love the veggie dishes, but lamb curry was what I was craving. Loved the chic peas. Wasn't a huge fan of their dosa and that was a bummer because hadn't been to a South Indian place in a while and I was craving it. It wasn't bad, but just nothing special. Service was fine, but kind of weird. The waiter would come toward the table and ask if everything was all right but never quite stopped so was already gone by the time we started to reply that we wanted something. It was actually pretty comical.
(3)Jackie F.
Pros: Food was flavorful, the server was helpful for suggestions Cons: I love hot and spicy south Indian food and I cannot find anything spicy in Chicago. I was hoping this place was spicy but it wasn't (ok it was probably spicy to most people who haven't tried south Indian.) To me, it catered to the typical bland diet of Chicago than more authentic flavors. I can't blame them. Just because I'm not Indian doesn't mean I don't want the spice..and trust me I asked for it to be hot!! Service wasn't always there. It wasn't even that crowded when I went and I ran out of my drink for a while before I had to ask someone else for my waiter. My dosai wasn't very fresh and crispy. I think this place is certainly very favorable and I recommend to people who are newer to this style of food. Oh yes, do try their Lhassi-very delicious drink.
(3)Kairo C.
YUM YUM YUM!!! by far one of my absolute FAVORITE places to get indian food! i went with a large group and we shared an array of dishes ALL of which were soooooo good. byob! bring a bottle of wine to dine with. ;) for appetizers, the veggie samosas are a healthy size! one will do. i had never had the iddly before this but it is now a fave! i couldn't stop eatin' 'em. yowser! i tried the potato dosai (thin rice crepe filled w potatoes & co.) and while it was a good divergence from my staple curries, i still adore the curries. i think it was the paneer dosai w red peppers that reminded me of a mexican quesadilla - good but not quite the traditional fare at the table that won most of my attention. AS FOR THE CURRIES: i was tempted to get the avial (coconut based veggies) but i went for the bhaigan bharta (eggplant roasted) - while i thought it was great most of all the other curries were devoured by everyone leaving some of this leftover to take home. the classic palak paneer (spinach/cheese) was irresistable. the best of the night was a split between the malai kofta (cheese croquettes in tangy tomato sauce) and the paneer makhni (cheese in cream sauce). the curries come with rice but next time i may skimp on some of that rice and get an indian bread to dip. i love how veggie friendly this place is. there is so much flavor and so many options that you'd easily forget about meat for a night or two. i went home happily full and with some leftovers in tow. 5 stars minus a quarter - just for the meer fact that my water needed to be refilled (but wasn't tended to enough) with all the spicy foods on my plate.
(5)Amanda A.
Well, that was tasty. A friend and I had dinner here the other night, and left feeling like well-satiated discount-dining pros---thanks to the 20% off provided to Yelpers. We shared everything: vegetable samosas, masala dosai, chana masala (I'm always down for anything with chickpeas), dal makhani, and batura. Hmmm...listing all of that out makes me realize just how much we ate. The portions are great for sharing. We had more than enough of everything left over for at least another meal or two (or three!), and everything was well-flavored, though I do prefer my dal makhani spicier. I also found the samosas a little too greasy...but to be fair, this is my usual reaction to all except my friend's mom's samosas---which are crispy perfection.
(3)Kamila T.
Ah, how I enjoy the food at Udupi Palace (mainly their lunch buffet). Where else can you try a little bit of everything for a fair price? Ah, I endulged in everything from curry dishes to their rice pudding dessert and coconut icecream. I can't even begin to name all the different food dishes I tried but if you're new to indian food I'd start with the buffet here! Fresh tasty and well seasoned.
(4)Thomas N.
Everyone keeps talking about Tiffin, but fortunately for me, they weren't open at 2 p.m. on a weekday. So I kept looking around and found Udupi Palace. Udupi Palace does south Indian cuisine, unlike Tiffin, which does north Indian. So instead of chicken tandoori and naan, this is the place to get idlys ("ID-lee"), dosais ("DOH-sah"), and sambhar ("SAHM-bar"). I ordered samosas and a dosai (which comes with sambhar). The samosas were an awesome crispy crunchiness on the outside and full of piping hot flavor on the inside. The Mysore Masala dosai was the mindblower. Dosai is kind of like a crepe, but many places make dosai so that it comes out too soft, sticky, and mushy. You begin to wonder if they were really trying to make uthappam. Udupi does it perfectly. They achieved the perfect balance of softness and crispness. And the spicy chutney, potato, and onion filling... oh mouthgasm! Within 15 minutes, my fingers on my right hand had torn up the entire dosai and deposited it into my digestive system.
(5)Jessica G.
I went here once and loved it. I had great service and a great meal. Unfortunately, the quality of food and the service is not dependable. My second visit was a disaster. We went at an off hour and I would say there were only a couple of other seated tables. Yet it took about 15-20 min to get our order in. Our waiter was completely unattentive and obnoxious. Our vegetable uthappam was lacking flavor and depth. I recommend sticking to their dosai. We came back to order the sweet and sour eggplant curry with pickled lemon. It was that memorable of a dish the first time around. The second time it was slimy and oily. Too bad. We never had anyone check in on us to ask about our meal and never got the ticket. We had to go to the front to pay and were met with some attitude that we didn't pay at our table. Unacceptable. I won't be back.
(2)Kwoky L.
It was my first time at Devon and I was excited to have some great south Indian food. With such a good rating at Yelp, naturally, I chose to go to Udupi Palace. I saw their paper masala dosai on their menu and I remembered how good it looked on Yelp. So I ordered that along with a glass of mango lassi and some papad. I really thought that the paper masala dosai was just OK. The dosai was a little chewy for me and the potato filling was lukewarm. Not the best I've ever had. Even the papad was kinda soft, perhaps left out in the kitchen for too long. If you can screw up papad, I am not sure about the rest of the food. I would probably come back for the thali next time but I think I'll wait until I try out other restaurants like Uru Swati and Usmania.
(3)Tiffany D.
Lentil Donuts!!! :D Ok, i heard good things about this place.. but after getting the mix of appetizers in the beginning... TOO MUCH FRIED FOOD.. everything started tasting the same :T It was pretty tasty tho... but don't start off with the mixed appetizers dish unless you're a big fried food fan..... I tried the sweet and sour eggplant dish and it was pretty tasty.. but I couldn't get my mind off of the whole americanized chinese feeling of it (haha the sauce) I really want to try those giant giant crispy crepe like breads next time (if) i come back!
(3)David K.
I don't claim to know anything about Indian food. I don't know anything about vegetarian cooking. But, I do know when I enjoy what I'm eating and I know when I have great service. My friend and I knew we wanted to eat some Indian food and we decided (after looking on yelp and asking friends) to go here. I just picked what sounded good on the menu. We got the panner and masala dosai and the baigan bharta and palak paneer, and all of it was delicious. It was the perfect portions where we were incredibly full and had some to take home to eat later. When we went it was pretty slow but that just meant we had almost everyone making sure that we were taken care of and our food was great. I'll definitely be back to try other things!
(4)Stephen P.
I was with some guests from Delhi tonight - in fact they've been here since Sunday, but tonight was dinner host night. "We haven't had Indian food for three days!", he said. So I looked up good spots on Yelp. And it didn't let me down. One reviewer said, "Not as good as Devon Ave.", I looked up restaurants in that area. I wanted to go to Mysore Woodlands (named after an area in southern India). But as soon as we got to Devons Ave. we asked some locals and they said to try this spot. For $15 we ordered the Royal Thali which was three-courses of glorious vegetarian food. Too much. I added mango lassi. Too much ;-) The service isn't the best and they add 15% service for parties of 5+, but it was worth the 11 miles drive from our hotel downtown. I think my guests were impressed that we took them to this place as they'd checked with the concierge about Indian food places and he said "Devon Ave. but it's far..."
(4)Dessy D.
My vegetarian friends absolutely love this place. Me thinks not. Its not that great and everything is kinda ok. Dosas are OK. but the chutneys and sambar are nothing great . I would prefer Mysore Woodlands.
(3)Duncan S.
Udupi Palace is a safe bet for someone wanting to delve into Indian food in a comfortable environment. The restaurant has nice table settings, nice decor and clean bathrooms. Efficient service without being overly friendly. We both went the lunch set meal $10.99 which featured a first course of idly (delicious) with sambar (nice and spicy) and coconut chutney. Followed with a rava masala dosa, with another serve of sambar and coconut chutney - great! The dosa was really good; crispy, delicious fillings and equal to any that we had experienced in Southern India. I am sure there are cheaper cafe options on Devon, but you cannot go past the good food and restaurant ambiance. On the second visit we had; Uttapam which were pretty good and my wife had the thali which she said was pretty solid without being spectacular.
(4)Louise M.
UPDATE: in my last review I said "most of their dishes seem to be veg-friendly!" I would now like to correct this statement with new information. All of the dishes are vegetarian. COOL!
(4)Benjamin H.
I love me some Indian vegetarian and often times i've considered myself an expert on all things paper-masala-dosa-related. This is definitely a great spot for your Indian vegetarian fix. I came with a 4-top last night and we really got some nice stuff. The eggplant curry was delightful, as were the samosas. We ordered pani bread and chapati and they were both very good. Now, the paper masala dosa were quite good. My only problem was that they really skimped on the potato-curry filling. Whenever I go to get a masa dosa, I always like to have it rolled up in a phatty-stylee....this definitely was not. Also, is it just me or is service at Indian restaurants really awkward?! The waiters hover over your, snatch your plates up immediately, fuck your order up and act really sketchy...they're either up your ass or non-existent and never the inbetween.
(3)Alice S.
I'd been craving dosai since it came up on a Yelp talk thread. I was imagining eating one of those wonderful packages of yummy goodness....and needed to eat one! Not long afterwards, my guy and I stopped in at Udupi Palace because I'd heard good things about it from friends on Yelp who know good Indian food. We were not disappointed in the least! My guy, who has a big appetite, ordered the thali, which is a tantalizing assortment of vegetable curries, with pickles, rice, and bread. Everything was delicious, but he just couldn't finish it all! He normally loves his meat, but was so happy that he is looking forward to trying more of the veggie dishes here. I had the Mysore masala dosai, very spicy and very satisfying as well. Every bite was full of spice and flavor; plenty of heat, but not overwhelming, so I could still taste the filling and the lovely crepe it was rolled in as well. My mouth is watering just from the memory of that dosai! The service was just fine; they were friendly and just attentive enough without being obtrusive. Definitely worth many more visits to try their other options, Udupi Palace will be on our list of restaurants we will be visiting regularly. I can't wait to go again!
(4)Alyce C.
Uthappam and Dosai are delish. Friendly service. They are very accomodating to groups. Most importantly for some, staff were really helpful explaining dishes and warning about what sauces were going to be really spicy to the newbies amongst us. Satisfying to even non-vegetarians.
(4)Jake K.
I have been here several times now. As an avid traveler, I have had Indian all over Florida, Bangkok, and now Chicago. I must say, the taste at Udipi is excellent, the best I have yet to have in Chicago. The aloo gobhi and the bhindi masala are both fantastic. I sometimes get a chapati potatoes, peas, and spices. The chapati tends to be a bit greasy, but I think that's just how the dish is made anywhere you go. The mango lassi is the best I've had in the States, I only wish the drink size was larger! Once I take the first sip I can't put the drink down. I definitely recommend this place to all my friends!
(5)Joe T.
Thinking that this might be the last winter I spend in Chicago, I resolved to visit Devon for some authentic Indian food before parting ways with the Windy City. I took my girlfriend here for our Tuesday date night on the recommendation of her co-worker. I found the service uneven and the food bland. I would recommend trying another restaurant in the vicinity. I love Indian food but was not very familiar with the southern Indian dishes on their menu. No matter, I'll try anything. We attempted ask for recommendations, but our server did not speak English very well and didn't understand what we were asking. We ordered a couple samosas and labored over what to order for entrees while our server put in the appetizer order. Another server came over to our table. We hastily made up our minds. This server spoke English slightly better, and warned that one of the curries we had ordered was "very spicy." Spicy? At an Indian restaurant? Uhm, yes. Bring it on, please. Alas, the food was not spicy at all. It was in fact rather bland. The paneer makhni was particularly bland, but the aloo gobi masala (the purportedly "spicy" dish) barely had any kick whatsover. The decision to visit this restaurant was admittedly poorly planned. If I'd had time to check Yelp reviews I might have ordered differently. However, having no knowledge of what to order, it would have been helpful to have a server who could answer some basic questions. And when a waiter in an Indian restaurant warns that a dish is spicy, I expect to taste some spice.
(2)Kim J.
CHOMP! I love me some Indian food, and I was wanting to try something new. Enter Udupi Palace and its delectable southern Indian cuisine. The result? One full, happy tummy. The boyfriend and I stopped by on a random Friday night where we were craving Indian food. We didn't know it was BYOB but will surely remember next time. We started out with Iddly, which came with a delightful mint sauce. For our main meal, we spit a mysore dosai and a paneer dish, both of which were awesome! I love Indian places that don't skimp on the spice, and Udupi certainly did not. Service was friendly, although the waiter didn't seem to understand enough of what we were asking when we had a couple of questions. Parking is a bit tough. We'll definitely be back!
(4)Flee Q.
Veggie restaurant with tasty dishes! Friendly staff. I'm not an indian food expert, but it was definitely a place I would return to. We ordered the dinner specials so we could get a variety for our family.
(4)Mark S.
My favorite Devon spot. Food here is truly amazing and great value. Go here Today and love it.
(5)Eric S.
Imagine my surprise when I moved from Takoma Park, MD, and found this gem here in Chicago. I felt cheated that I missed out on this food for years as they have another location near my old home. Alas, that's the way things go. This place is my old stand-by. If I am not sure where to go, I go here and am rarely disappointed. People have made negative comments about the service here, but the food is outstanding. The Special Rava Masala Dosai is a personal favorite, as is the Bhendi Masala. When you order food spicy, that's the way it comes, so you may want a side order of raita to cool your tingling palate. Hungry? Get a thali that will quench the biggest of appetites.
(5)Bridg G.
I dream of the mysore madala dosai. It is crispy and light and filled with pure deliciousness. It is hot but with the coconut chutney to cool it down it is just perfect. The waiter talked us into the mango lassi instead of cokes and we are glad he did, it was perfect complement to the hot and spicey food. We always get the mixed appetizer platter it is heaven. The reason I give it 5 stars is for the way they treat my 1 year old daughter. 4 of the waiters periodically came over to entertain her and she was loving it, one even played peek-a-boo with her! She sat in her high chair the entire time totally content - which rarely happens. One of the waiters brought her a little (complementary) cup of mango juice and she couldn't get enough. She also loved the Iddly dipped in the veg soup, it is perfect for babies soft and not too spicy. Overall we just had such a great experience, great food, really nice people, and no dead animals! What more can a vegetarian ask for!
(5)Mr. T.
I love Udupi Palace. The food here is incredibly good -- and their sauces rock. Try an Uttapam (kinda like Indian pizza), or the ever popular Dosa -- a thin, crispy crepe with various fillings. AND BE SURE TO ASK FOR SOME ONION CHUTNEY! It's great. They also make their own "pickle" -- a pungent Indian relish made from lemons and spices. It's an acquired taste, but theirs is some of the best I've had. The Thali meals (a sort of pre-fixed individual buffet) are great here too. The service is okay, not the best you'll ever get -- but the manager/owner is especially nice. They do try. The only thing I wish Udupi had was Coke in a can. Their "fountain" Coke is a bit small -- so if you ask for a lot of ice, you get like an ounce of liquid. I like my Coke really cold, so this is always a problem for me here. I also don't like the taste of their fountain Coke. But the food... the food is GREAT! GO!
(5)Kedar D.
This place is a solid vegetarian South Indian restaurant and a bit of an institution on Devon Avenue. You can't go wrong with anything you order. Service is friendly. That said, I wish they indicated which dishes are vegan on their menu; it's no big deal to ask the waiter, but I think South Indian restaurants should get the message that more and more vegans would eat there if they better knew the ingredients of some dishes. Still, Udupi is a classic and serves great (South Indian) comfort food.
(4)Jacob K.
For once I decided against my usual masala dosi here and opted for something else as did my friends. We ordered the aloo gobi masala curry (potato and cauliflower, the khate mithe baingan (sweet and sour eggplant), the mattar paneer (homemade cheese and green peas, the tomatoes and peas uthappam (pancake) and the batura (large fluffy bread). Everything was very good, the cauliflower dish and the bread were my favorites. This is a fairly large restaurant so it is good for parties. The atmosphere is good, the waiter are friendly. However, from the menu descriptions and the explanations by the servers it may be a bit intimidating for those unfamiliar with Indian food. This place is also all vegetarian and I just learned that the owners also own Tiffen.
(4)Emily U.
You can't swing a cat on Devon Avenue without hitting some awesome food. Udupi is one of the places your kitty'd hit if you were standing somewhere in the 2500 block of W. Devon. We wanted to try everything so we ordered the two lunchtime thalis--a personal buffet. The spices were delightful and, of course, everything is vegetarian. We waited a bit long for our check and I didn't get a refill on my tiny Diet Coke, but that gave an excuse for a post-brunch caffeine-seeking adventure.
(4)David B.
Wow, this is easily one of my favorite restaurants now. I went on Saturday night and the restaurant was pretty crowded. I made a reservation about 2 hours prior to arrival and was seated promptly. The menu here is just awesome. I ended up getting 2 appetizers (iddly combo), sharing 2 entrees (dosai and a curry) and a bread order (aloo paratha). Everything was absolutely fantastic! We ended up in serious food comatose as food portions are generous (and at a good price!). Another great part of this place is that its a BYOB.
(5)Michael H.
Solid vegetarian-style indian food. I haven't been in a while, but the food was tasty. The wait staff was slow and not that friendly. The ambiance was meh. The food was good though.
(4)R M.
I really love it when a menu says something is spicy, and then when you get it, it burns your face off. When something says spicy this is what I expect! Quite possibly the best Indian food I have ever eaten.
(5)Mike K.
This is a really solid all veg Indian restaurant. The service is great, and the food quality is top-notch. Be sure to order the Papri Chaat appetizer. It's yogurty and tamarindy and spicy all together. Their samosas are also well spiced. Nearly every time I've gone to Udupi, I've ordered the Dosa. I got the really spicy mysore dosai today. Odd, but the review below is correct: their soft drinks come out flat and weird-tasting. Today they took my Coke off the tab when I called their attention to it. Great staff, great chutney, great dosai, great everything. Make this place your go-to Indian spot on Devon. And by the way, can we get a shout out for Devon and Rogers Park's diversity? Awesome!
(4)Jose T.
Vegetarian food just how I like it - savory, spicy & lots of it. I wont name a favorite menu item just yet as I am still working my way through trying EVERYTHING on it. However, a must have for me every time I go there is the Chilly Pakora, HOT & DELICIOUS! This place is BYOB so don't be shy about bringing in your favorite beer to help cool you palate from the many spicy items that they offer - a beautiful combo! Open your mind & check this place out, you wont be disappointed. Oh yeah, the staff is very friendly & accommodating as well!
(4)Amy J.
Absolutely fantastic Indian food. A close friend of mine initially took me here - she's from Calcutta and highly recommended this place. The food is absolutely wonderful - just the right amount of spiciness for me and my boyfriend, great combination of flavors and high quality of food. The dosa are particularly tasty. I also had the mutter paneer - by far the best I've ever had. I would have given this place 5 stars except for the service. It was generally very polite, prompt and courteous with one exception. One of the wait staff got a little too close for comfort when my date noticed him trying to look down my shirt. I could do without the creepiness factor when I'm trying to eat.
(4)Kelly J.
I went to Udupi for the first time two weeks ago after hearing about it on Check Please and Yelp and was not disappointed! I do not eat Indian food very often but will definitely be coming back here. The four of us shared everything with each other - many of the items that have been recommended here on Yelp. My favorites were the Masala Iddly with both if the chutneys, the Vegetable Uthappan, and the Palak Paneer. My husband and I shared a Mango Lassi to help with some of the awesome spiciness. Yum!! We went on a weekday, and it was not very busy at all. Our service was really good and I really appreciated the man (seemed like a manager/owner type but didn't introduce himself) who explained many if the menu items to us. He even gave us a few extra dishes that he wanted us to try. We were very happy about the price and there were no dirty looks when we asked if we could split the bill in half.
(5)Virag K.
Good food, pleasant service. We had a bit of an issue with redeeming our yelp certificate since I thought you could use more than 1 per table but they were quite accommodating. They said they could not help us with that but were willing to give us a store credit in exchange for the certificate. All in all a good experience.
(4)Jyoti P.
great food!
(5)Doe L.
I went here randomly because I was craving some Indian food. To my surprise, it was a vegetarian place! I can see now that Yelp says so but I had no clue just standing outside the restaurant. I had no idea even as I searched the menu for some sort of meat samosa. When I finally figured out there was NO meat on the menu, I was shocked. I would think that they would advertise vegetarian, at least on their menu! Well, despite being incredibly carnivorous, I tried some random things out. The rice crepe was very interesting although I would like to try it with a filling next time. I'm not very educated on Indian food so I wish i had someone there to help me out... i'm sure i missed out on a lot but it was good eats!
(3)amish s.
OK, as an Indian, I really thought this place had good food, for South Indian cuisine, I was genuinely happy with not only the portions but the quality of the food. I ordered the plain paper dosa, and it was typical as if you were in India style, meaning absolutely huge, it came with the typical coconut chutney, sambhar, and pickle. I loved it, and its as if I was back in India. The price was right and food came out pretty quick, especially when your busy eying up other peoples food around you =) The food wasn't spicy at all, and was better than I expected, definately will go back here, and do recommend it to anyone.
(4)Victor V.
it seems like every review of this place has a line "the waiter talked us into..." It can very well be a good thing: my server suggested the so-called CB ( I believe standing for Chana Batura), by far the best thing I've ever eaten in any Indian joints. However, when I go dine, especially with a lady friend, I like to feel like a boss and be treated as such, with a certain air of respect or even reverence. I strongly believe that a big part of a tip as an appreciation we give to waiters for treating us just so. Many indian restaurants feature male waiters who behave as if they own those places. My guy walked and looked like a Yale or Oxford graduate. Other than that, a great place to enjoy fantastic Indian fares for bargain prices, not to mention bringing your own booze in any shape or form (I happened to have a half gallon of Star David cheap Jewish wine in a honey jar).
(4)Leyla A.
I got your goat and I liked it. I thought that mutton biryani would be lamb, but the waiter informed me while I was salivating over this dish that I was in fact dining on goat. It tastes nothing like chicken.
(4)Rehana M.
Udupi is amazing! This is a vegetarian, South-Indian restaurant, which is a bit of a departure from typical Indian restaurants in the States. House specialties include, of course, about a billion different types of dosa, a thin, crepe-like pancake made with lentil/rice/mung bean flour and rolled around various fillings. My family has been going to the Udupi Palace in D.C. for years, and I was surprised and delighted to find one when I moved out here to Chicago. In fact, I think the Devon St. location is even better than the other one! My boyfriend and I have been here a few times now. I ALWAYS get the idli to start; they are steamed dumplings made with rice and lentil flour (kind of tangy), served with sambar, and Udupi's are to die for! They are fluffy instead of dense and glutinous, and they are always served right out of the steamer. The dosas are huge; more than enough for me, and perfectly cooked. Trust me, I've had my share of crappy dosas. Everything is just so simply and elegantly prepared. The best part is their ras malai. Probably a good 90% of the ras malai I've had in restaurants here was just not great. Udupi's is light-textured, very fresh, and the sauce is creamy without being sludgy, and flavored perfectly with rose water and cardamom. This place is definitely on my Chicago Top Ten! Woot!
(5)chad n.
Big props for BYOB and handling a 18-person table with good South Indian food at decent prices. Food was good - not great. Yes, we had 18 people in one big table on a saturday night. We all shared tons of dishes, my favorites included any of the fried breads, vegetable Korma (unusually green cream sauce), samosas (not above average for devon, but good), and the paper thin Dosa's (2 feet long). Service needs work - they wanted us to write down our orders on paper, which sucked cuz most people wanted to ask questions about the food. We wanted to get samosa's going right away, which they did, but then brought out a second batch which we did not need. And then they would bring out food and ask where they should set it down by announcing item, like "onion pancake". Clearly this leads to food ending up randomly up and down the table. I would also watch the different servers argue with each other by our table, in what appeared to be a "why did you bump me? I did not bump you. Yes you did. You are in the way. You are in the way" type of time-wasting interaction. The did keep the water flowing, which is very important with spicy south indian food. Overall it was a good spot, good food, decent prices ($17 each) but I've had better food and service on Devon street for same prices or less. I appreciated the decor, which was a bit nicer than those in this price range.
(3)P W.
I love having a totally vegetarian option, and the food is very good. I've eaten here many times over the years and always enjoyed the dishes, but I wavered here between 3-4 stars. Most recently we ordered an appetizer sampler, a paper masala dosai, and mateer paneer, and the two of us were full and happy. I'd say this is a better place to go for lunch -vs- dinner/date on a Saturday night, and here is why. . . very loud and bright on a Saturday night, lots of children running amok, no alcohol choices on the menu. I'm a big fan of ambience and sorry but this place has none. The waitstaff is efficient but they are busy and they do not fawn over you. It works. PS - this place is super affordable (probably because I'm not drinking a bottle of wine!)
(4)Jonathan W.
This place is good but I remember it being better. I've been spoiled by the South Indian places in NYC. I had the royal thali and it was good - the dal vada was a little cold and in general the food lacked that special oomph. I prefer Mysore Woodlands but this place is solid.
(3)Quantas G.
WARNING: This place is all vegetarian. Great Indian Food. Flavorful, well-priced. Try the Palak Paneer. Nice tray ceiling design. This place actually made me think about being a vegetarian...at least until I walked outside.
(4)Melissa S.
This place is really great. I've ordered from all over the menu, and I've always been happy with my dishes. It's also a comfort to look at a menu and know that it's all vegetarian and I can just go crazy. I eat meat, but most of my friends don't, and we like to share everything when we go out to eat. The service here is very prompt, almost to a fault -- sometimes the servers can be a little abrupt (but always with a smile). But I'm not complaining, I think that's just their no-nonsense style. I'd rather they be fast then slow! Of course the BYOB is a plus, but it's the great food at reasonable prices that keeps me coming back.
(4)John M.
Used to go to Udupi every now and again with friends when I lived in Chicago. I was used to North Indian food and this was my first experience with South Indian style cuisine. I have to say, I was quite pleased. My fiance and I went together this past Christmas, and it was very good. The Uttapam had lots of veggies and of course came with the lovely coconut chutney. The dosa was very good as well, and the spicy soup here is the bomb! Makes you sweat just a little tiny bit, and a nice counter to the chutney. Service is a little spotty, but overall a very nice experience this time as others in the past. The special tea was not fabulous, but other than Ajanta here in Dayton I make the best (next to my friend Sumir's mom of course). I'll have to try Mysore next time we're up this way and compare.
(4)Emily K.
We usually trek up to Devon for Bhabi's Palace but were looking for something different- there's too many restaurants to choose from. I had a coupon for Udupi Palace in my Entertainment Book and my girlfriend is vegan, so the vegetarian-only menu was super appealing. Our impression: BYOB, very friendly and prompt service, really great food at reasonable prices. Next time I go I'll try that huge burrito-like thing that looks delicious. About 15 minutes before we were done a HUGE rush came (9pm on a Wednesday?) and it took awhile for us to get our check, but I forgive the staff because they seemed seriously overwhelmed. We'll definitely be back.
(4)Aaron K.
When I first went, we either hit up a slow night or business has really picked up since then. Regardless, it's great to see this place packing it in! Every table was filled when we got there (except for the one that seemed to be waiting for us), and by the time we were finished eating there were people waiting. As always, the food was killer. Had to take my Lent-observing girlfriend out somewhere good and filling, and Udupi did just the trick. Why only four stars? Because with the increase in customers comes a decrease in service times. Things were a bit slow, and it seemed the manager/owner was running around trying to keep the sluggish wait staff moving. Still... man. These guys could feed a lumberjack.
(4)Lindsay D.
On a trip to Devon to stock up on dal and some spices, my husband and I decided to try out a southern Indian restaurant. To qualify my comments, we are very familiar with northern Indian, and cook it a lot at home. I love every northern Indian vegetarian dish that I've ever eaten . . . so it was hard for me to break away from that. But, we ventured into Udupi and weren't disappointed, I just wasn't particularly impressed either. The service was brusque, the food was affordable and solid, and byob always makes me think favorably upon a restaurant. My dosai had delicious bread, and my potatoes were flavorful, although pretty greasy. The chutney's were tasty, especially my coconut one. Maybe it's not Udupi's fault, and I just like my tomato-based northern Indian dishes better. Quality for the Cost: 7 Service: 5
(3)Izabella d.
just finished a solid meal at udupi palace :) some definite favorites : the masala iddly, which were smaller and fried and then sprinkled with a spicy spice blend. super perfect little bites for dipping into coconut chutney heaven. any and all dosai - we had the mysore masala and as usual were blown away. its thin but cripsy but not overly crispy or greasy - and inside you find all sorts of tasty curried potatoes. super yum. lastly - the most favorite entree by all was the malai kofta. the mustard colored sauce that these veggie treats are submerged in is seriously addictive.
(4)Tate B.
I enjoy giving patronage to any restaurant that omits dead animals from its menu, so when I had an Indian craving, Udupi Palace seemed like the logical choice. I got the Punjab Thali and - at $14 - it was probably enough food to feed the entire table. It came on one of those giant plates, a big serving of rice in the center, surrounded by various curries and sauces and covered with two kinds of bread. Everything was delicious. I loved that they had a "soya aloo" with mock meat and the spinach number was also real yummy. I was feeling gluttonous so I also ordered a side of poori - one of the only Indian dishes my ignorant ass knows by name because it's deep fried, carby goodness is too dreamy to forget. Oil + flour = love forever. Additionally, the service was good and friendly, and the place was a classy joint. The waiter took the time to explain the menu to a bunch of white kids who could only offer a vague "I like... Indian food" as a directive. Thanks!
(4)israa k.
I was really disappointed with Udupi Palace Restaurant :( I wasn't expecting stellar dosas, vadas or sambar like they have on the streets of metropolitan Chennai-- but come on, I've experienced better South Indian food in North America (read my review on Nalapak in Minneapolis). Both of my parents were raised in South India and I have traveled there numerous times- I know what authentic South Indian food should taste like. I also visited Udupi Palace Restaurant with my mum and if she were a Yelper, she would probably be much more harsh than I am going to be in this review: 1) We got our Vadas not even 2 minutes after placing our order. They were obviously previously frozen and zapped in the microwave just before serving. Piping hot and soggy on the outside, stone cold in the middle. Vadas need to be crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the middle! 2) My Mysore masala dosa was flimsy- the potato on the inside was bland and lacked any kind of spice or even salt for heaven's sake. 2b) The coconut chutney on the side had a watery consistency. 3) Where is that spicy kick in my sambar when I dip my dosa in it? None. The sambar was also too watery and void of any flavor. 4) My mum received her entree about 5-10 minutes after I did--this was after the waiter brought her food to the wrong table across the dining room. The service was mediocre, but I was expecting that. I was not expecting such sad, tired food. The only reason why I have given this place two stars is because of the Madras filter coffee. The flavor was rich and bold and reminded me of Chennai. I haven't tried their North Indian-esque dishes (i.e. palak paneer)-- this review is mainly on the South Indian stuff, which it should be known for! I have plans to visit Mysore Woodlands and see where they stand in comparison. Stay tuned!
(2)t.n. t.
RACISM IN 2009! I WILL NEVER GO HERE AGAIN!!!! I have been going to Udupi for years. I take all my out of town guests here and I refer so man people to them. However, when I took my dark skinned black friend there, I was appalled by the treatment we received. As soon as we walked through the door, a man (darker than her) ran up to us and asked us, "you want meat?" in his very broken english. He didn't ask us, how may I help you or any other proper greeting. Instead, he kept repeating himself and getting agitated because I was not giving him the response he was hoping for. So, instead of seating us, he ran and got someone else that spoke english a bit better and proceeded to ask us the same thing. He then, started saying, 'you want chicken....chicken... you want chicken right?!?'. It was at that point that I became livid. I tried to dismiss their discrimination as lost in translation, but then it became pretty apparent . I asked him if he asked all his customers that, and he said that "you americans" like chicken... He then proceeded to ignore us for 15 minutes and served 2 tables that came in after us. After I spoke with the manager, he lied and said that the man wasn't a waiter blah blah blah. Although, the manager was very nice and apologized, I am just not satisfied. The waiter should have been fired, or at least sent home right then. Instead, he was allowed to continue to serve as if the manager had not just lied about his position. IF YOU ARE AT ALL SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS, FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT. THIS IS JUST UNACCEPTABLE!! I have told all my friends to find another south indian restaurant and I advice that you all do the same. If they can't accept that this country is a melting pot, then I can't understand why any of us would patronize their establishment. We are all americans regardless of color and I am sorry, but without black people, there would be no USA as we know it today. Their ancestors, although under unfortunate and forced circumstances, are the ones who built this country as we know it today and they deserve just as must respect and equality as everyone else!! **UPDATE** The owner has contacted me and is handling the matter. He has apologized profusely. Although, it has not completely diffused the problem, his gesture should be acknowledged. I truly appreciate his effort.
(1)Richard H.
There are many mouth-watering items on the menu. As far as I can tell, it's all phenomenal.
(5)Steve P.
Best vegetarian Indian in the City. The Nana and Chana Marsala are fantastic. I used to live in this neighborhood and there is no better in the area. Don't miss it.
(5)Amy S.
I have been going here for over 10 years now and I just love this place. My favorite dishes are the Vegetable Samosa and Channa Batura. I vary dishes but I always get these 2 for sure. Great prices, great food, great service.
(5)Lindsee R.
I basically went 30 minutes before closing, so I'm cutting them some slack and not reviewing their service. My Masala dosa ( potato and onion filled lentil crepe) was as good as it gets. It was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The Sambar was just a touch spicy, just the way I like it. I'd like to give them 5, but I'll wait til I see what service is usually like.
(4)Nandini H.
Yummy greasy south indian food more like the good food you get in Chennai rather than some of the more Americanized Indian food. Check it out if whether you are american or desi.
(5)Greco R.
Solid South Indian cuisine. This is the reason to go here, because most Indian restaurants in most cities do not speciailize in South Indian food. Good spice!
(4)N. Mary I.
Went here the other night with my bf. We're both vegetarian at the moment. We really loved the food here and I would recommend it to anyone looking for spicy, flavorful Indian cuisine. We both grew up in the area and love Indian food but found that we are not as experienced with southern Indian cuisine as we thought. That being said the waiter kindly explained all the dishes we ordered. We ended up getting the Udupi Special for him and the Mysore Royal Thali for me. We also ordered the Alu Paratha because we love them. Let me just say that this place isn't exactly cheap but they do give you a good amount of food for the price. The Udupi Special came with the Idly or Dosai, we got the Paper Masala Dosai (awesome!) and the MRT is basically a smorgasbord of curries, chutney and rice. That is my kind of meal. The soups and sahmbar was great. I tried the Rasam which is very spicy and sour and delicious. Not everyone would like it but I loved it. It was too much for us and we got to take the rest home, I even took some of the soup because it was so good. One less star for the rating is due to service. They filled water promptly and checked on us but it seemed like the guy hated his life (or just serving us) and at times had a rude attitude.
(4)Rahul S.
Allright. This is a south Indian restaurant for those who aren't familiar with this place. I've been a bunch of times with the parentals, and this place is just amazing. The dosas are about 12inches long, and it's really tough to finish it by yourself. That's the only thing I get here...I don't know about anything else. Clogging my arteries is good once in a while. If you're willing to try out different types of foods, I'd say come here. Also, if you don't like fried food, don't come here. Otherwise, the next time I go to Devon, I'm going to come here.
(4)turn p.
My favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant in Chicago. The menu is fantastic. I went there with my friends and colleagues and we were all satisfied with what we had and it's BYOB too. This would be the restaurant I'm confident that my friends who are lovers of delicious spicy no meat food.
(5)Slu S.
We did some takeout from Udupi and were very pleased. One of my favorites on Devon. One must have that we tried was the Mysore Masala Dosai. I may have embarrassed myself ordering it (or trying to), but it was worth every blushed cheek. It was a crepe like wrap around chutney, potato and onion. It was fantastic.
(4)Terri M.
Udupi or Mysore Woodlands? It's so hard to say which is better of the two big South Indian restaurants on Devon...guess I'll have to sample each one several more times. I love both. I love South Indian food. My last meal here consisted of: -potato bonda--like samosas but round. yummy. -masala dosa, perfectly crisp, though it's possible their filling is not the best I've had--it is on the bland side; but the coconut chutney and sambar (that always comes with dosas) were quite tasty. -pongol avial (a rich rice and lentil dish often served at weddings--like a risotto with cracked black peper and ghee--accompanied by a vegetable stew cooked in yogurt and spices)--delicious! -dhal mahkhani--black lentils in a cream sauce--awesome! one of the best versions I've had. I think sometimes the contest between South Indian restaurants come down to which has the best condiments. Last time I was at Mysore Woodlands they served an onion chutney that I could not stop eating, it was that good. At this meal at Udupi, we got mango pickle, which might have been good but was not special. Service at Udupi has always been good in my experience, whereas I have had to wait long lengths of time for the waitstaff's attention at Woodlands. One time, the owner of Udupi went as far as to drive my friend to the liquor store because we forgot to byob!
(5)Yumm y.
I am a happy camper! I finally found a GREAT Indian sport in Chicago. (a nice change after my less than mediocre experience at Hema's Kitchen). I was slightly disheartened since they didn't have my typical saag dish but I took it as an opportunity to try something new. I am always comforted by menus that are completely vegetarian--there are no guessing games or 20 questions that often lead to awkward evenings. My friend and I split the sweet and sour eggplant (holy deliciousness!) and the daal tikku (or something like that). Both were awesome. I thought the rice was sort of strange. It looked like steamed white rice to me and I can't get over the fact that you have to order condiments separately. The Mulligatwany Soup was also incredible. My experiences at Indian restaurants prior to my move to Chicago has been that you get a basket of pappadam with chutney and the "green stuff". I have since altered my expectations. Although there was no pappadam and condiments to begin the meal, Udupi Palace exceeded my expectations. I will be back!
(5)Cristina V.
As of right now it's okay in my eyes. It looks kind of up scale for my liking. All I ordered was samosas and gulab jamun. It was tastey but pricey
(3)Kerri C.
Went to Udupi on Friday night after having a great previous experience. My friend ordered a dish with lentils and there were zero. I've had tons of Indian food growing up and was not impressed by anything here this visit unfortunately. Our server was not very helpful or friendly and I got short changed...Will not be going back. There are too many other fantastic places in Chicago.
(2)AC Z.
This was my first experience with South Indian food and it was yummy, yummy, yummy. I went with a large group so I got to see a wide variety of foods. The dishes that stood out were: - The chickpeas+puffy bread (can't remember what it's called but it was by far the best dish of the night...the bread had the consistency of funnel cake but was not sickeningly sweet at all, and the chickpeas complemented it perfectly) - Any of the dosais - and onions and potato wrapped in a crepe-like thing (again, can't remember what it was called) - the 1st item on the dessert menu was also yummy as well, as were the fried vegetable tempura things (not sure what they're called, but we got the deep-fried mixed vegetables appetizer...watch out for the long thin peppers, they are HOT). One remark: stay AWAY from the CURRIES at this place. They are dull and overpriced compared to everything else on the menu. And also, we found the service pleasant. I don't know if that's because we went late, so it was relatively slow, or whether the management has caught on that their service is less than satisfactory, but our waiter was always very attentive and even brought us complimentary dishes.
(4)Ross R.
I am a huge fan of Udupi Palace, the food is great, and the service is SO FRUSTRATING, in a good way. I always go with the Udupi Thali, which is easily the best bang for your buck, and is a good way to explore the "other half" of indian cuisine. You get an appetizer (steamed lentil flour patties, or fried lentil doughnuts...you can never have too many lentils), you get soup (get the rasam, it is wickedly spicy and addictive), you get your choice of Dosa (enormous crepe) or uddapham (slightly less enormous pancake) with sambar and coconut chutney, and you get dessert (go with the rasmalai), and you get coffee or masala tea. All for like $14. Back to my original statement about the service. Part of the fun of eating at this restaurant is figuring out: 1. how to make sure the waiter took your order down correctly, 2. understanding the servers, 3. getting the servers' attention, and 4. not letting the servers' seemingly unpleasant attitude ruin your night. Its hard to explain but worth experiencing.
(5)Joanna A.
I love this place. The food is extremely spicy, but so delicious. You can't go wrong with any of the dosais. My favorite dishes are the channa batura, which are spicy chickpeas with a puffy pita like bread, and the palak paneer, a mix of spinach and cheese. My husband loves the mango lassi. Unfortunately there is very little my children can eat at this place, just the bread. The service is mediocre. The staff does come around and refill ur water, but they are kind of standoffish. That said, I've been there with a friend (who first took me here), and they are super friendly with her. She and an ex used to go here often, and the staff absolutely love both of them. I guess I'm just not that much of a regular. Go 4 a new food experience. Even if your not crazy about Indian food, this place will change your mind!
(4)Isla E.
I don't know how I haven't written a review for this place yet...I've been several times, both dine-in and carry out. Always great. The wait for a table is a little long at peak times, especially considering Mysore Woodlands under construction. But well worth it. I hope someone at Udupi reads this and seriously considers my suggestion to add pani puri to the appetizer menu. I think pani puri should be added to all menus, but my best bet is to request here I think.
(5)S T.
Yummm. fried foods stuffed with potatoes and chic peas.. One of the best places for Indian food I have been to in Chicago. It was pretty buys on a Saturday night but we had no problems getting seating for 4. I thought the dinning room was lack luster and loud for a romantic date, but just fine if you're just going for the food. The chana masala and aloo gobi curry were both great. The other two at my table had great dishes as well, but I just don't know what it the dishes were called. The appetizer assortment was very good, but a little heavy on the fried side. Everything in the basket was fried but was good and came with 4 different sauces. Our waiter was merely sufficient, but any of the passing staff was willing to help you or take empty plates. great food. ok service. eh atmosphere.
(4)Andy S.
My second visit turned out far more rewarding than the first. The food is excellent, very filling and tasty. I did not get sick at all the second time, so I'd like to assume my first experience was a fluke. This is a very affordable lunch spot on Devon if you like vegetarian-only Indian fare.
(4)Molly B.
This place was good, but the eggplant curry was so effing spicy that I could only eat about 1/2 cup on some jasmine rice before I had to quit. I DOWNED about 3 glasses of water after that and a bottle of Amstel Light. I should explain that this was my first time eating Indian food and I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. I'm still giving the place four stars, though, because the samosas and some sort of fried bread/pancakes were awesome. The curry tasted great, too, before I realized it was burning a hole in the roof of my mouth that may have eaten away portions of my brain and skull. Seriously, hot stuff! Because of other reviews, my date and I tried an experiment where I ordered for both of us and asked for the bill. The older gentleman was definitely not happy and kept looking to my date to do the ordering and asking, but I'm not sure if his excessive unfriendliness was due to sexism or just cultural differences. The man who greeted us at the door, by contrast, gave us a smile and was polite. By the way, parking was a bit difficult on a Saturday night, but we only had to walk about 4 blocks through a good neighborhood to get to the restaurant. Keep an eye out for the sticker parking signs, though! Some of the areas have no parking until after 8 or 9, even on a Saturday!
(4)Bill G.
I had to decide between 3 and 4 stars. The first time I went it was great, we had a big group and they seemed to put up with us just fine. The last time I went, it was a small group of 4, and the entire staff was unseasonably rude. There were very few others in the restaurant. I don't expect fast service, especially in ethnic restaurants because Americans are usually the only ones that want to stuff their faces and get out quickly. Slower service usually is a sign of authenticity, so I don't mind that at all. But if you rudely tell someone who is allergic to milk that there's no milk in a dish, there probably shouldn't be milk in that dish. Yet they served me something with a yogurt sauce. Fortunately it was separate and I could eat the dish without it. So that's why I went with three stars. The food was great, the service was peppered with hilarious rude attitude, which was fine, but they tried to serve me something that could kill me and lied to me about it. That takes at least one star off in my book.
(3)Imran P.
Dosai's are really decent...not the best that I've ever had, though. I can't really speak for the other things that they have. Service is totally sub-par but standard for the south Asian restaurant business model...I always suspect that the tips never make it to the employees...but then again, with sub-par service they're not missing much anyway. The dosais totally make it worth the while. Eat there if you like south Indian food.
(4)Young D.
My fella is a vegetarian, so this place is perfect. Very reasonably priced, the service is attentive and everything I've ever ordered is amazing. The Mattar Paneer is completely addictive. It's also a great stop if you live along Western and want to do dinner and a movie. BYOB, eat some Indian and then head up to Evanston to the multiplex with free parking and you've got a fun cheap date night. We probably go here once a week/every other and are never disappointed.
(5)L M.
I went back this summer after a long absence and it was, once again, delicious. I had my favorite special rava masala dosai and it was very, very good. I hope that it will be consistently so here!
(4)Jeff L.
Good food and cheap! The food itself was authentic, smelled great(as Indian restaurants usually do), and was served be a friendly waitstaff. The taste of the food was pretty good, but nothing great. I went here on a warm spring day, but I am convinced that the heat was on. The restaurant felt like it was about 85 degrees inside. My friend had actually started sweating before our appetizers arrived. All in all a good meal though...
(3)Liz P.
One of my prouder college moments was convincing my very responsible friend to cut class with me and take two buses and the el for 2 1/2 hours each way in the middle of the Chicago winter to satisfy my Indian craving and go to Udupi. Yes, we are pretty dumb. Yes, it was totally worth it. My recommendation: the malai kofta.
(5)Sneha R.
Decent Dosa and Idli. Coffee was decent too. They channa batura was good, although the batura tasted more like fried sweet bread. Definitely had yeast in it, and that's not how batura is made. Their coconut chutney left for much to be desired but service was quick and efficient.
(3)Tracy K.
This is the perfect place to go for a big bowl of comfort food on a cold & rainy day. Service was attentive and pretty quick, and I had to laugh at the white girl treatment I received after ordering something spicy. Yes, I really did want it spicy. The restaurant is much bigger inside than I was expecting from the street. It seemed very clean and well laid out. It was fairly crowded when we went, but they seated us right away. The bathrooms were very clean too. My kadai paneer was very good and I was happy that rice was included with my entree. I'm looking forward to going back to try something new.
(4)WorkHard F.
I really do not get the high ratings for this place. The poor service I can understand, most of the wait staff are generally very new to the US, and continue to maintain their Indian attitude to customer service. The food sucks. Nothing is spicy, the chutney if basically water with a few grains of coconut, and the fried dishes are way to greasy. Listen folks the masal part of the masal dosa is the potato filling. Their version of masala is nothing more than boiled potatoes with some turmeric sprinkled on top, that is not masala! There are about 12 ingredient that go into making a good potato masala, this place does not have a clue. If you want a decent masala dosa go to the Hindu Temple in Lemont on Saturday or Sunday morning and give it a try. The restaurants on Devon are just scamming white people who have no clue on real India food, the other Indians that you see in this places are Indian IT workers that have no other choice in getting a Indian meal, and Indians that live in rural cities around Chicago and are on a day trip for groceries.
(1)Ben E.
This is my favorite south Indian vegetarian restaurant on Devon, although Mysore Woodlands, located just across the street, is almost as good. While everything I've ever ordered off the menu is excellent, I'd especially recommend the Channa Batura (chickpea curry accompanied by a large round of fried bread) and whatever dosa strikes you as most appealing. The uthappam are also good, and I really wish I were able to go there more frequently with a large group of friends so that we could all order more items off the fairly extensive menu. If you're feeling a little adventurous, try the Chaat Papri, a combination of cold potatoes, chickpeas, bits of vada (a savory donut made from lentil flour), fried rice crisps, cilantro, yoghurt, and both tamarind and mint chutney. Udupi Palace proves that vegetarian food is not necessarily light or healthy. My guess is that they add quite a bit of ghee to most dishes, and the emphasis on starchy foods means you'll leave the restaurant in desperate need of a nap. But really, who cares? Udupi Palace is fantastic and I find myself returning there every chance I get.
(5)Seth P.
This place is the BOMB! I love the peas utthapam.
(5)ER S.
I like it but I don't love it. It's not the lack of meat (that's actually a plus), but it's so starchy & heavy I felt sick afterward. I like the taste of the dosai with onions, but it's basically a pancake stuffed with potatoes. Definitely not a place for those who are not on a carb binge.
(3)Jade T.
Udupi Palace can be a little pricey for a casual lunch. However, the $10.99 Thalis are extremely delicious and filling. A Thali consists of several metal bowls of rice and various curry dishes and breads for one person. The full menu is still available for those who aren't interested. The service is nothing to rave about. They were extremely hard to hear and understand sometimes.
(4)ed s.
great service (very friendly waiters, do ask them their name), quick, great food. Always a favorite for Devon.
(4)FM G.
Great to find a different type of Indian food from the standard curries. I love the dosas, and if you go with the Udupi special, you get your choice of soup and either iddly or vada with chutney and sambar. Didn't care for the iddly at all, but the vada made a nice appetizer. They also do nice samosas. The first time you see a dosa, your eyes pop out at the enormity but then thankfully the whole thing is not packed with the filling. I like this place a lot more than Mysore across the street. They are definitely a LOT more sexist across the street and the food, though practically the same menu and slightly cheaper, is not as good as at Udupi. Service can be a bit slow at Udupi, but you can also do a bit of people watching and take in the Indian vibe. And having now been to India I can say hey, the service is just like in India!! :-)
(4)Michael D.
Whenever I am at devon, I typically eat at Udupi Palace. My grandma is also from the Udupi town, so whenever she is in town we stop there. My meal typically is a masala dosai and a falooda. The masala dosai is really good, and the falooda is typically a dessert but I drink/eat it with my dosai. Falooda has milk, a rose syrup, vermicelli, tapioca seeds and icecream. The assortment appetizers are also pretty good if you have more than 2 people eating. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys Indian food or wants to try it. If you go there enjoy!!!
(5)David J.
Udupi is a clandestine little gem in the sprawling dystopia known as Devon Avenue. It was pleasing to discover that they had incorporated the text 'vegetarian' into their neon sign. Otherwise, one may become distressed at the challenge of finding such cuisine among disheveled rug stores, electronic shops selling electronics with european voltage, and shops that sell robot dogs exclusively. Though, once you step inside Udupi, you get an indication of the delightful sensation that awaits you. A dense fog of curry envelopes you. My companion and I were thrilled by the extensive menu choices, yet opted for the old standbys : Chana Masala, Samosas, and Jeel Aroo. All were delectable, although we found the samosas to be slightly dry. They are BYOB, but this was not advertised. I also must mention that the waiter served all the dishes to myself, the dominant male at the table, which raised some suspicions as to what sort of indoctrinations surrounding gender he may have subscribed.
(4)Rohit B.
Small, casual Indian restaurant. Although the items on the menu are pure vegetarian, if you enjoy spicy food, this is the place for you! The staff is very friendly and prompt. That along with the prices make this a winner. Located in "little india", you can get your daily shot of culture by just walking around and taking in the site. I tried a few things on the menu, and being indian myself... they definitely seemed authentic! I recommend the Channa Batura, or the Dosai. Cant go wrong with any of the desserts, but I prefer the Gulab Jammun In all, great place to go for an awesome vegetarian indian dinner :o)
(4)Anpan W.
When we visited, it was pretty empty. Came with vegetarian friends. They loved it. The food was very bland. Service was okay.
(2)Brad S.
This is very good southern Indian food. My family and I went and walked around Devon for sights, sounds and of course smells. After the mandatory stop at Petel Brothers we were all set to go to our south Indian standby of Mysore. We had our trusty relies and the yelp app to guide us across the street to not only a higher rates restaurant but also a 20% off discount. The staff and management upon entering were gracious and inviting. We have had Indian food from all regions many times but their suggestions were presented helpfully and not pushy. The food came quickly but before the kids could get kid-like the waited came over with pens and paper and was wonderful even though his section was full. All this said and I have not even mentioned the wonderful food. When we ordered we were told we ordered enough but the waiter showed up with a few dishes we didn't order to try. Overall the food is very good but the service is what made it exceptional. The manager a very nice man on the way out the door stopped me to invite us back and offer us the same discount next time and he would send over some other things to try.
(4)Casia J.
PLEASE NOTE I've gone with three stars because: FOOD: 5 STARS SERVICE: ONE STAR WOULD BE GENEROUS The food is SO good, the best dosais & chutney ever. All my out-of-town "foodie friends" are taken here and they love it. I could eat here every day. My husband is from India, picky, so we know our food and this is truly outstanding. And cheap, for what you get. Howwwwwevah...the clowns that run the place, holy smokes! Sexist, as another reviewer said--and I am not one to notice or harp about stuff like that--and just plain rude! I call the head dude the Samosa Nazi. Once, we ordered an appetizer sampler for the 2of us--not large, like a $6 thing, and he told us NOT to order it, it was too much food for us! Ha! Oh well, it's better than a cheeseball at Chili's trying to "upsell" ya on the apps, huh? Then, we see the sampler going to a table of 4. The people look confused. It sits there for a good 10 min. before he returns. The group let him know that it wasn't theirs, he literally tosses it on our table and says, huffing and puffing, "I was confused because two people never order so much food!" Mmmm, cold pakoras served with a grimace. Anyway, if you get a kick out of fools like this guy, and you love love love south Indian, give it a try! I think it is far better than Mysoore.
(3)Karen L.
I would recommend Udupi Palace for something a little bit different from the typical Indian Cuisine. It is southern Indian cuisine and had a lot of these things called dosais, which is like a crepe or pancake wrapped around curry vegetables. I am not super familiar with the whole menu, but do know that the paper masala dosai was super tasty! It is this HUGE crepe rolled around curried potatos and onions. And you dip it in chutney. Yum! And Udupi Palace is SO reasonably priced. And it is BYOB. Definitely check it out!!!
(4)Daniel H.
Though I am much more of fan of mughlai food, I do like this place. Good sambar, a savory flavor with a hint of sourness, which goes very well with their idlis and dosas. My favorite place for food from the south of the subcontinent...
(4)C C.
Udupi Palace can best be compared to an American pancake house. Carb overload, comforting, lack of atmosphere (but clean), and lots of butter (or in this case, ghee). My husband and I went to this place because ever since I saw it on "Check, Please," I was convinced I needed to go. I reviewed the menu beforehand partly because I enjoy reading menus and partly because on the show the reviewers warned that the wait staff doesn't speak English and doesn't offer recommendations (difficult when the menu is in Indian with only short English descriptions). We ordered: Iddly- Steamed little rice and lentil patties to be dipped in the included coconut chutney and sambar (moderately spicy lentil and vegetable) soup. Paper Masala Dosai- This is the entrée that the restaurant is known for and what everyone orders. A large (rolled up and literally 2.5 feet long) crispy, thin crepe pancake with slightly spicy potatoes, peas, and onions inside. Vegetable Uthappam- An Indian 'pizza' (no cheese). A large, medium-thickness pancake with peas, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. Everything was tasty and enjoyable, if a little guilt-inducing with all the carbs and butter. I had read the Yelp reviews that the portions were large and filling but didn't totally believe it, especially after getting the iddly appetizer, which was small. But once the entrees came, the Yelp reviews proved correct. The two of us together were able to finish less than half of each entrée. We ended the meal with Indian ice cream which was... interesting. It didn't seem to have cream or milk in it; it was more like frozen water and butter. Hmmm...
(3)- chicagobiker -.
The potato and onion dosa was huge, with a mild but tasty flavor. I also had the okra and the soy curry. Both were very spicy (though the menu didn't say so) and delicious. The okra had a slightly sweet flavor to it, and the soy "meatballs" were a take on lamb curry. This place didn't blow me away and make me say WOW! but I did enjoy it and will be back.
(4)Luan N.
In my opinion, the only place to go for South Indian cuisine in Chicago. Can't go wrong with the paper masala dosa. I gave the malai kofta a chance, but I really couldn't tell the difference between the $2 frozen food kofta and the koftas here. So stick to the dosas.
(4)Toshi B.
The best samosa and other fried appetizers that I have ever had...hot, crispy, juicy, and yummy. Not sure if it is how they make it or if it is b/c it comes out really fresh but it was great. Tried a satan dish (looks like beef but tastes like a mini sponge) and it was not bad but I would skip it next time and try something different. The waiters were really nice but were kind of confused and slow to come around. Better to go when it is a slow weekday I guess?
(3)Cassie B.
As a vegetarian, I was immensely pleased with tasty options! I enjoyed the Mysore Masala Dosai. It's been a few months since I first had it - can't wait to go back!
(5)Sam G.
Good. Very good.
(4)Shawn L.
I love this place. The service is always good and they've got an expansive, vegetarian menu that, in my opinion, can't be beat. My favorite menu items are palak paneer, chana batura and dosais. The only two soups I've had here, mulligatawny and rassam, and outstanding. It depresses me to now live in a town that doesn't have Udupi Palace. I cannot wait to move back - Udupi will be one of my first stops.
(5)L V.
Not the best food I've had. I had one of the combination platters. A few of the things on it were bland. Some were ok to somewhat tasty. Overall I've had better South Indian food. The service was rather rude and unhelpful. I felt they were just trying to push us out. Will not go back.
(2)Andrea G.
Udupi is in fierce competition with Uru Swati for being my favorite Indian restaurant... but I think Udupi may have Uru Swati beat by a slight margin! We tried this place with Indian friends and all of us loved it! The food has amazing flavor, fresh ingredients, and great selection. I ordered a combination plate that came with soup (I had mulligatawny, which I traded with my husband for rassam--which was sour, spicy, and delicious), idli (not my favorite, but I think I just don't like it that much in general--nothing specific to Udupi), and a dosa. I picked the spring vegetable dosa, which was filled with cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and other veggies. Mmmm it was good! And really good for lunch the next day too. My husband got some sort of vegetable curry, which was delicious, but a little bit greasy. We ordered pistachio ice cream for dessert which was soooo good and did a nice job of cooling down the palate. The service was fine, not overly nice but they got the job done. I can't wait to go back!
(5)Tom A.
From ten until three years ago, I went to Udupi all the time. I really liked it and eventually grew tired of the consistantly good food. The last few years I've been visiting other establishments, and tonight I made my return to the Palace, and it was good. 5 of us ordered 2 dosais, 6 curries, and some apps. Everything was very good. paper masala dosai, Malai kofta, saag panneer, dhal makani-- great. BYOB is excellent. Don't be one of the fools drinking wine with Indian food. Drink a beer-- IPA, Scotch ale, and sour ales are all recommended. Or lassai. cool, refreshing. The decor could use a little love. Is the wallpaper vinyl? It is very clean. Service friendly. parking annoying but usually possible.
(4)James M.
Wait staff was friendly, almost too friendly, but the food was good. They only serve vegetarian dishes, but the flavors are so amazing that, even as a carnivore, I was blown away. Tried a number of dishes I cannot pronounce, and they were all good. I would definitely recommend.
(4)Maria L.
Went there last night with the marvelous Mesum and while the food was yummy- a nice Chana Masala- this veggie dish was $10 for a small portion! If I'd had a bigger appetite last night, I would've been hungry after finishing this off! Boo!!!! Way to pricey for no meat! Otherwise, acceptable South Indian food.
(3)Hari S.
The food was rotten, it smelt bad and we sent it back to the owner. And the owner had the nerve to say that he will deduct 10% for the dish because of one dish being bad in an assortment of 6 other things. Not once did he apologize. Dont ever go there. Food Quality, Service, Attitude was all bad, what else do you goto a restaurant for? Go there if you want to get sick but get 10% off of your food.
(1)Cristin M.
This is probably one of my favorite Indian restaurants in Chicago. They serve up excellent south Indian food, at okay prices. Everything that I've tried here stacks up pretty well against what I've had in India. The chaat papri, chana batura and rava masala dosa are staples of mine, and I ventured out to try the uttapham with mixed veggies last time, and wasn't disappointed. You must get the mango juice on a hot day, so refreshing! The prices are a little higher than I would have expected, but I guess that goes for a lot of places on Devon. Or maybe I can't stop comparing them to the prices for the same stuff in India, which is no contest when it comes to a bargain. A great place to take your vegetarian friends.
(4)Og B.
there was a hair on jiffys plate and watched the bus boy stick his finger in our chutney, but other than that, it was incredible service. descent food. bad naan. nice place. they have these crepe type things... very good. i never had them before.
(3)v m.
for authentic south indian food this far from south india, i like it. the dosas and the paneer makhani are absolutely great (esp as a combo). my non-indian friends also like it and they tailor the tastes/spices well.
(4)Jen M.
I'm a little behind on my reviews but I visited Udupi in early December with a group of six friends. I had heard wonderful things on Check Please and can't pass up a BYOB so we decided to check it out. We were not disappointed. I love Indian food; however, I am not familiar with south Indian food. We ordered the sample platter for an appetizer which was filled with samosas and pakora - can't go wrong with anything fried. For an entree, I ordered a Coimbatore Dosai, which is like a crepe filled with variety of vegetables and spicy chutney. I would recommend trying it. Everyone at my table ordered something different and it was all delicious. We were so full that we definitely had leftovers which made a great lunch the next day!
(4)R M.
The dosas are excellent. The service is good, too - very friendly staff.
(4)a w.
Not a good option for meat lovers, cuz there's not meat on the menu. But some of the food is so tasty that you might not miss the meat. My personal favorite is dosa.
(3)G G.
A great place for vegetarians. I ate here with a party of 15 and the staff was very accomidating.
(4)jason t.
excellent south indian vegetarian cuisine. i had the chili pakora and the cauliflower curry and it was delicious.
(5)Sheila Y.
Ahh Udupi Palace. I went here with high hopes that I could recreate the wonderful South Indian vegetarian fare I had become accustomed to in Boulder but to no avail. Walking down Devon with my little sister, passing by Indian groceries and stores selling Sari's and other wonderful wares made me think this could be the place. The actual restaurant is just an open room with tables and chairs set up; nothing fancy, but nothing shady either. The guy who greeted us at the door asked if we wanted vegetarian food...it was quite strange, but I suppose he wanted to warn the white folks (btw...not really white...i'm persian/german so go figure). I decided we were going to order a full array in order to really get a feel so here goes. One vegetable Uthappam, an order of Samosas, an order of Poori, Alu Gobi, Bhaigan Bharta, and a Mango Lassi for me. The Uthappam had no flavor (no sour like kick). The samosa filling was pasty and the outside was not crisped all the way. The poori was great but oil was literally dripping out of it. The Alu Gobi and Bhaigan Bharta were decent with a fair amount of spice. Overall, very underwhelming. I think I will try some of the other recommendations but I hope they are leaps and bounds better than this place.
(3)Kali A.
My mother is the best cook I know...no bias here..but, the only competition she seems to have with Dosa's is THIS place. Their Dosa's are soooooo yummy!! Their service and pricing is good. Yum yum!
(5)Laura R.
SPICY! Holy crap this food was spicy. Now I love spicy food but out of the 3 spicy food lovers I was with there was one item in the appetizer sampler we got that no one could handle. It was some kind of breaded hot pepper. Even the aloo naan we ordered had hot peppers in it, which I had never seen before. The food we had was delicious, just wanted to warn everyone that your nose will be running while you eat it. Next time I go I would split a curry with someone, getting 3 curries plus the appetizer sampler plus the naan was waaay too much food. I do like that they include the rice with the price of the curry instead of having you order it extra as many indian places do.
(4)Mrjustice ..
Great vegetarian Indian Food at great prices -- and, it's BYOB. Service was attentive, friendly and helpful. Somewhat limited choices, because only vegetarian but what they have is wonderful, homecooking.
(4)Monica G.
We live off of Devon and have made it our goal to try every restaurant on the strip. I sent Udupi Palace an email after seeing the deal on Yelp and received a 20% off coupon right away. We went that evening and ordered all the dishes that were recommended to us in the email and they were all delicious!! The waiter/owner? was extremely nice and welcoming and even gave us a bunch of coupons at the end of our meal for both Udupi and Tiffin! We will definitely be back!
(5)Isha S.
We went for lunch after reading reviews from yelp and expected decent south Indian food. But it turned out that besides spinach dosai everything else was disaster. I was particularly upset with sambhar which had hardly any vegetables and was very much like water, same with coconut chutney. In any case if you go there, please do not order gulab jamun, they were the worst!
(1)Hayden J.
My wife and I were craving some Indian food after just moving to Chicago from Memphis. Surprisingly, there were several great Indian restaurants back home so we were anxious to find out what the famous Devon street had to offer. When we arrived, we were the only people in the place (though a few others ventured in while we ate). Now I am no expert on Indian food, but I know what I like so I ordered one of my favorites Vegetable Korma. My wife ordered the Palak Panner and asked for it mild. I don't believe this place serves dishes mild because my wife's panner was a medium at best. It was good but full of heat. My dish, the vegetable korma, was different than the ones I have had in the past. Here the sauce was almost green in color. All the korma I have had is a creamy orange or yellow. I don't know if we will try this one out again. The most anxious we got the entire night was just trying to get through the insane traffic on Devon. When we were leaving we witnessed a wreck right in front of us! There has got to be a good Indian restaurant closer to Bucktown worth checking out...
(3)Andrew P.
My favorite veg Indian restaurant on the Devon drag. Addicted to the fried lentil donuts, amazing naans, and just about every entree on the menu. Spicy and rich, but tolerable you know? Always look forward to eating here, and everyone I've brought here loves it. Meat eaters beware (and vegetarians rejoice!): All vegetarian menu!
(4)Hiker Chicka e.
I ordered the lunch special and it came on a pretty tray with several ramekins filled with different dishes. Some of the dishes were a bit greasier than I like, but the food was tasty. My friend ordered the dosai which is a huge crispy crepe. I ended up eating her food which was very good. The service was excellent. In this day and age of homone fed cows and bird flu, this is a good place for almost guilt free (and good karma) meal. My friend who picked up the tab left a large tip by mistake, and the owner (I think) ran to the door to return it. If I go there again, I will have a dosai instead of a rice entree.
(3)Kathryn O.
This is the best Indian place in Chicago! My roommate and I make the long trip out to little India at least a couple times a month just to eat here. It's out of this world. Service is a little buggy, but its part of the atmosphere. The waiter refuses to take more than 2 cards and the manager comes over and takes them anyway and gives you coupons-- just part of the experience.
(5)Richard O.
Based on the other reviews perhaps I should try this place again. I don't know. I thought the atmosphere was unpleasant. The service was dreadful. The food was completely unremarkable. I was worried that Chicago was a bad place for Indian food despite the reputation of these seedy looking Devon restaurants but we did actually have a pretty decent meal at some place I can't seem to relocate and I really loved India House on Grand. Perhaps the three of us were there on an off day? I don't know. I think it was a Wednesday evening. Wasn't all that busy. But clearly the staff had something better to do than wait tables. And again. the food was so incredibly generic. It was a stupefying and frustrating experience. I remember the three of us walking out laughing about how bad it'd been and how that was the last time we were eating somewhere because someone pulled some good reviews off some vegetarian website. It's been over a year and typing this I'm beginning to finally feel cleansed of my irritation. It was an awful experience.
(1)kelly l.
the rasam soup was delicious, but so spicy it made my lips hurt. the mulighatany (I'm sure i'm spelling that sooo wrong) was bland. i ordered individual items from the menu, but husband, julie and neal ordered combo platters. they were a bargain at $15 each. julie's combo got her a soup, an app, a dosai, a dessert. neal and husband got a combo that gave them a soup, a sample of 3 apps, a sample plate of entrees, and a dessert. the best. i had a masala dosai, a big old pancake thing with potato and spices inside. it was lovely. julie got the mysore masala dosai, same thing, just spicier. i was warned off of that one cause of the spice, but mine was almost bland without a little kick. next time, mysore. the apps were lovely. the veggie samosa was the best. next came a tender chickpea kind of round cake. my least favorite was the lentil flour donut. but it worked well to soak up the 3 different sauces given to compliment the apps, including a coconut chutney. jeremy and neal's round combo plates included a bunch of little samples. There was some rasam soup on there, as well as some other veggie soup. Honestly, the soups were extraneous. There was a basmati rice, a biryani with raisins in it. There was some sort of noodle dish that appeared to have meat in it, though it couldn't have been. There was a cauliflower dish that the starbirds liked more than we did. The stars were the lentils (dal) and the chickpeas (chana masala). Oh, and there was a little bit of some sort of lime/pickle/spicy chutney that was lovely and weird. Dessert was a little donut in honey, or some cheese in sweet milk. Meh. The restaurant itself is really clean and comfortable. The staff attempted to be helpful, and were friendly, but there was some confusion due to miscommunication. We just went with it. I'd definitely go back. Delicious.
(4)Sati V.
I can't believe how once excellent restaurant turned into. I always loved eating dosa, uttapam, besi bela bath, curd rice etc in this restaurant. But on my latest visit (Dec 26th, 2008), my view on this one turned upside down. The food was a crap. Even I could make better dishes than what we tasted there. The management also is a joke. The restaurant is empty but no one came to our table to fill our empty glasses with water. The waiters are not professional. I am not sure if the management changed but this one is the one to avoid on Devon Avenue.
(1)Jose T.
Vegetarian food just how I like it - savory, spicy & lots of it. I wont name a favorite menu item just yet as I am still working my way through trying EVERYTHING on it. However, a must have for me every time I go there is the Chilly Pakora, HOT & DELICIOUS! This place is BYOB so don't be shy about bringing in your favorite beer to help cool you palate from the many spicy items that they offer - a beautiful combo! Open your mind & check this place out, you wont be disappointed. Oh yeah, the staff is very friendly & accommodating as well!
(4)Amy J.
Absolutely fantastic Indian food. A close friend of mine initially took me here - she's from Calcutta and highly recommended this place. The food is absolutely wonderful - just the right amount of spiciness for me and my boyfriend, great combination of flavors and high quality of food. The dosa are particularly tasty. I also had the mutter paneer - by far the best I've ever had. I would have given this place 5 stars except for the service. It was generally very polite, prompt and courteous with one exception. One of the wait staff got a little too close for comfort when my date noticed him trying to look down my shirt. I could do without the creepiness factor when I'm trying to eat.
(4)Kelly J.
I went to Udupi for the first time two weeks ago after hearing about it on Check Please and Yelp and was not disappointed! I do not eat Indian food very often but will definitely be coming back here. The four of us shared everything with each other - many of the items that have been recommended here on Yelp. My favorites were the Masala Iddly with both if the chutneys, the Vegetable Uthappan, and the Palak Paneer. My husband and I shared a Mango Lassi to help with some of the awesome spiciness. Yum!! We went on a weekday, and it was not very busy at all. Our service was really good and I really appreciated the man (seemed like a manager/owner type but didn't introduce himself) who explained many if the menu items to us. He even gave us a few extra dishes that he wanted us to try. We were very happy about the price and there were no dirty looks when we asked if we could split the bill in half.
(5)Virag K.
Good food, pleasant service. We had a bit of an issue with redeeming our yelp certificate since I thought you could use more than 1 per table but they were quite accommodating. They said they could not help us with that but were willing to give us a store credit in exchange for the certificate. All in all a good experience.
(4)Jyoti P.
great food!
(5)Doe L.
I went here randomly because I was craving some Indian food. To my surprise, it was a vegetarian place! I can see now that Yelp says so but I had no clue just standing outside the restaurant. I had no idea even as I searched the menu for some sort of meat samosa. When I finally figured out there was NO meat on the menu, I was shocked. I would think that they would advertise vegetarian, at least on their menu! Well, despite being incredibly carnivorous, I tried some random things out. The rice crepe was very interesting although I would like to try it with a filling next time. I'm not very educated on Indian food so I wish i had someone there to help me out... i'm sure i missed out on a lot but it was good eats!
(3)amish s.
OK, as an Indian, I really thought this place had good food, for South Indian cuisine, I was genuinely happy with not only the portions but the quality of the food. I ordered the plain paper dosa, and it was typical as if you were in India style, meaning absolutely huge, it came with the typical coconut chutney, sambhar, and pickle. I loved it, and its as if I was back in India. The price was right and food came out pretty quick, especially when your busy eying up other peoples food around you =) The food wasn't spicy at all, and was better than I expected, definately will go back here, and do recommend it to anyone.
(4)Victor V.
it seems like every review of this place has a line "the waiter talked us into..." It can very well be a good thing: my server suggested the so-called CB ( I believe standing for Chana Batura), by far the best thing I've ever eaten in any Indian joints. However, when I go dine, especially with a lady friend, I like to feel like a boss and be treated as such, with a certain air of respect or even reverence. I strongly believe that a big part of a tip as an appreciation we give to waiters for treating us just so. Many indian restaurants feature male waiters who behave as if they own those places. My guy walked and looked like a Yale or Oxford graduate. Other than that, a great place to enjoy fantastic Indian fares for bargain prices, not to mention bringing your own booze in any shape or form (I happened to have a half gallon of Star David cheap Jewish wine in a honey jar).
(4)Leyla A.
I got your goat and I liked it. I thought that mutton biryani would be lamb, but the waiter informed me while I was salivating over this dish that I was in fact dining on goat. It tastes nothing like chicken.
(4)Rehana M.
Udupi is amazing! This is a vegetarian, South-Indian restaurant, which is a bit of a departure from typical Indian restaurants in the States. House specialties include, of course, about a billion different types of dosa, a thin, crepe-like pancake made with lentil/rice/mung bean flour and rolled around various fillings. My family has been going to the Udupi Palace in D.C. for years, and I was surprised and delighted to find one when I moved out here to Chicago. In fact, I think the Devon St. location is even better than the other one! My boyfriend and I have been here a few times now. I ALWAYS get the idli to start; they are steamed dumplings made with rice and lentil flour (kind of tangy), served with sambar, and Udupi's are to die for! They are fluffy instead of dense and glutinous, and they are always served right out of the steamer. The dosas are huge; more than enough for me, and perfectly cooked. Trust me, I've had my share of crappy dosas. Everything is just so simply and elegantly prepared. The best part is their ras malai. Probably a good 90% of the ras malai I've had in restaurants here was just not great. Udupi's is light-textured, very fresh, and the sauce is creamy without being sludgy, and flavored perfectly with rose water and cardamom. This place is definitely on my Chicago Top Ten! Woot!
(5)Izabella d.
just finished a solid meal at udupi palace :) some definite favorites : the masala iddly, which were smaller and fried and then sprinkled with a spicy spice blend. super perfect little bites for dipping into coconut chutney heaven. any and all dosai - we had the mysore masala and as usual were blown away. its thin but cripsy but not overly crispy or greasy - and inside you find all sorts of tasty curried potatoes. super yum. lastly - the most favorite entree by all was the malai kofta. the mustard colored sauce that these veggie treats are submerged in is seriously addictive.
(4)chad n.
Big props for BYOB and handling a 18-person table with good South Indian food at decent prices. Food was good - not great. Yes, we had 18 people in one big table on a saturday night. We all shared tons of dishes, my favorites included any of the fried breads, vegetable Korma (unusually green cream sauce), samosas (not above average for devon, but good), and the paper thin Dosa's (2 feet long). Service needs work - they wanted us to write down our orders on paper, which sucked cuz most people wanted to ask questions about the food. We wanted to get samosa's going right away, which they did, but then brought out a second batch which we did not need. And then they would bring out food and ask where they should set it down by announcing item, like "onion pancake". Clearly this leads to food ending up randomly up and down the table. I would also watch the different servers argue with each other by our table, in what appeared to be a "why did you bump me? I did not bump you. Yes you did. You are in the way. You are in the way" type of time-wasting interaction. The did keep the water flowing, which is very important with spicy south indian food. Overall it was a good spot, good food, decent prices ($17 each) but I've had better food and service on Devon street for same prices or less. I appreciated the decor, which was a bit nicer than those in this price range.
(3)P W.
I love having a totally vegetarian option, and the food is very good. I've eaten here many times over the years and always enjoyed the dishes, but I wavered here between 3-4 stars. Most recently we ordered an appetizer sampler, a paper masala dosai, and mateer paneer, and the two of us were full and happy. I'd say this is a better place to go for lunch -vs- dinner/date on a Saturday night, and here is why. . . very loud and bright on a Saturday night, lots of children running amok, no alcohol choices on the menu. I'm a big fan of ambience and sorry but this place has none. The waitstaff is efficient but they are busy and they do not fawn over you. It works. PS - this place is super affordable (probably because I'm not drinking a bottle of wine!)
(4)Jonathan W.
This place is good but I remember it being better. I've been spoiled by the South Indian places in NYC. I had the royal thali and it was good - the dal vada was a little cold and in general the food lacked that special oomph. I prefer Mysore Woodlands but this place is solid.
(3)Quantas G.
WARNING: This place is all vegetarian. Great Indian Food. Flavorful, well-priced. Try the Palak Paneer. Nice tray ceiling design. This place actually made me think about being a vegetarian...at least until I walked outside.
(4)Melissa S.
This place is really great. I've ordered from all over the menu, and I've always been happy with my dishes. It's also a comfort to look at a menu and know that it's all vegetarian and I can just go crazy. I eat meat, but most of my friends don't, and we like to share everything when we go out to eat. The service here is very prompt, almost to a fault -- sometimes the servers can be a little abrupt (but always with a smile). But I'm not complaining, I think that's just their no-nonsense style. I'd rather they be fast then slow! Of course the BYOB is a plus, but it's the great food at reasonable prices that keeps me coming back.
(4)John M.
Used to go to Udupi every now and again with friends when I lived in Chicago. I was used to North Indian food and this was my first experience with South Indian style cuisine. I have to say, I was quite pleased. My fiance and I went together this past Christmas, and it was very good. The Uttapam had lots of veggies and of course came with the lovely coconut chutney. The dosa was very good as well, and the spicy soup here is the bomb! Makes you sweat just a little tiny bit, and a nice counter to the chutney. Service is a little spotty, but overall a very nice experience this time as others in the past. The special tea was not fabulous, but other than Ajanta here in Dayton I make the best (next to my friend Sumir's mom of course). I'll have to try Mysore next time we're up this way and compare.
(4)Emily K.
We usually trek up to Devon for Bhabi's Palace but were looking for something different- there's too many restaurants to choose from. I had a coupon for Udupi Palace in my Entertainment Book and my girlfriend is vegan, so the vegetarian-only menu was super appealing. Our impression: BYOB, very friendly and prompt service, really great food at reasonable prices. Next time I go I'll try that huge burrito-like thing that looks delicious. About 15 minutes before we were done a HUGE rush came (9pm on a Wednesday?) and it took awhile for us to get our check, but I forgive the staff because they seemed seriously overwhelmed. We'll definitely be back.
(4)Aaron K.
When I first went, we either hit up a slow night or business has really picked up since then. Regardless, it's great to see this place packing it in! Every table was filled when we got there (except for the one that seemed to be waiting for us), and by the time we were finished eating there were people waiting. As always, the food was killer. Had to take my Lent-observing girlfriend out somewhere good and filling, and Udupi did just the trick. Why only four stars? Because with the increase in customers comes a decrease in service times. Things were a bit slow, and it seemed the manager/owner was running around trying to keep the sluggish wait staff moving. Still... man. These guys could feed a lumberjack.
(4)Lindsay D.
On a trip to Devon to stock up on dal and some spices, my husband and I decided to try out a southern Indian restaurant. To qualify my comments, we are very familiar with northern Indian, and cook it a lot at home. I love every northern Indian vegetarian dish that I've ever eaten . . . so it was hard for me to break away from that. But, we ventured into Udupi and weren't disappointed, I just wasn't particularly impressed either. The service was brusque, the food was affordable and solid, and byob always makes me think favorably upon a restaurant. My dosai had delicious bread, and my potatoes were flavorful, although pretty greasy. The chutney's were tasty, especially my coconut one. Maybe it's not Udupi's fault, and I just like my tomato-based northern Indian dishes better. Quality for the Cost: 7 Service: 5
(3)Tate B.
I enjoy giving patronage to any restaurant that omits dead animals from its menu, so when I had an Indian craving, Udupi Palace seemed like the logical choice. I got the Punjab Thali and - at $14 - it was probably enough food to feed the entire table. It came on one of those giant plates, a big serving of rice in the center, surrounded by various curries and sauces and covered with two kinds of bread. Everything was delicious. I loved that they had a "soya aloo" with mock meat and the spinach number was also real yummy. I was feeling gluttonous so I also ordered a side of poori - one of the only Indian dishes my ignorant ass knows by name because it's deep fried, carby goodness is too dreamy to forget. Oil + flour = love forever. Additionally, the service was good and friendly, and the place was a classy joint. The waiter took the time to explain the menu to a bunch of white kids who could only offer a vague "I like... Indian food" as a directive. Thanks!
(4)t.n. t.
RACISM IN 2009! I WILL NEVER GO HERE AGAIN!!!! I have been going to Udupi for years. I take all my out of town guests here and I refer so man people to them. However, when I took my dark skinned black friend there, I was appalled by the treatment we received. As soon as we walked through the door, a man (darker than her) ran up to us and asked us, "you want meat?" in his very broken english. He didn't ask us, how may I help you or any other proper greeting. Instead, he kept repeating himself and getting agitated because I was not giving him the response he was hoping for. So, instead of seating us, he ran and got someone else that spoke english a bit better and proceeded to ask us the same thing. He then, started saying, 'you want chicken....chicken... you want chicken right?!?'. It was at that point that I became livid. I tried to dismiss their discrimination as lost in translation, but then it became pretty apparent . I asked him if he asked all his customers that, and he said that "you americans" like chicken... He then proceeded to ignore us for 15 minutes and served 2 tables that came in after us. After I spoke with the manager, he lied and said that the man wasn't a waiter blah blah blah. Although, the manager was very nice and apologized, I am just not satisfied. The waiter should have been fired, or at least sent home right then. Instead, he was allowed to continue to serve as if the manager had not just lied about his position. IF YOU ARE AT ALL SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS, FIND ANOTHER RESTAURANT. THIS IS JUST UNACCEPTABLE!! I have told all my friends to find another south indian restaurant and I advice that you all do the same. If they can't accept that this country is a melting pot, then I can't understand why any of us would patronize their establishment. We are all americans regardless of color and I am sorry, but without black people, there would be no USA as we know it today. Their ancestors, although under unfortunate and forced circumstances, are the ones who built this country as we know it today and they deserve just as must respect and equality as everyone else!! **UPDATE** The owner has contacted me and is handling the matter. He has apologized profusely. Although, it has not completely diffused the problem, his gesture should be acknowledged. I truly appreciate his effort.
(1)Richard H.
There are many mouth-watering items on the menu. As far as I can tell, it's all phenomenal.
(5)israa k.
I was really disappointed with Udupi Palace Restaurant :( I wasn't expecting stellar dosas, vadas or sambar like they have on the streets of metropolitan Chennai-- but come on, I've experienced better South Indian food in North America (read my review on Nalapak in Minneapolis). Both of my parents were raised in South India and I have traveled there numerous times- I know what authentic South Indian food should taste like. I also visited Udupi Palace Restaurant with my mum and if she were a Yelper, she would probably be much more harsh than I am going to be in this review: 1) We got our Vadas not even 2 minutes after placing our order. They were obviously previously frozen and zapped in the microwave just before serving. Piping hot and soggy on the outside, stone cold in the middle. Vadas need to be crunchy on the outside and fluffy in the middle! 2) My Mysore masala dosa was flimsy- the potato on the inside was bland and lacked any kind of spice or even salt for heaven's sake. 2b) The coconut chutney on the side had a watery consistency. 3) Where is that spicy kick in my sambar when I dip my dosa in it? None. The sambar was also too watery and void of any flavor. 4) My mum received her entree about 5-10 minutes after I did--this was after the waiter brought her food to the wrong table across the dining room. The service was mediocre, but I was expecting that. I was not expecting such sad, tired food. The only reason why I have given this place two stars is because of the Madras filter coffee. The flavor was rich and bold and reminded me of Chennai. I haven't tried their North Indian-esque dishes (i.e. palak paneer)-- this review is mainly on the South Indian stuff, which it should be known for! I have plans to visit Mysore Woodlands and see where they stand in comparison. Stay tuned!
(2)Steve P.
Best vegetarian Indian in the City. The Nana and Chana Marsala are fantastic. I used to live in this neighborhood and there is no better in the area. Don't miss it.
(5)Amy S.
I have been going here for over 10 years now and I just love this place. My favorite dishes are the Vegetable Samosa and Channa Batura. I vary dishes but I always get these 2 for sure. Great prices, great food, great service.
(5)Lindsee R.
I basically went 30 minutes before closing, so I'm cutting them some slack and not reviewing their service. My Masala dosa ( potato and onion filled lentil crepe) was as good as it gets. It was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The Sambar was just a touch spicy, just the way I like it. I'd like to give them 5, but I'll wait til I see what service is usually like.
(4)Nandini H.
Yummy greasy south indian food more like the good food you get in Chennai rather than some of the more Americanized Indian food. Check it out if whether you are american or desi.
(5)Greco R.
Solid South Indian cuisine. This is the reason to go here, because most Indian restaurants in most cities do not speciailize in South Indian food. Good spice!
(4)N. Mary I.
Went here the other night with my bf. We're both vegetarian at the moment. We really loved the food here and I would recommend it to anyone looking for spicy, flavorful Indian cuisine. We both grew up in the area and love Indian food but found that we are not as experienced with southern Indian cuisine as we thought. That being said the waiter kindly explained all the dishes we ordered. We ended up getting the Udupi Special for him and the Mysore Royal Thali for me. We also ordered the Alu Paratha because we love them. Let me just say that this place isn't exactly cheap but they do give you a good amount of food for the price. The Udupi Special came with the Idly or Dosai, we got the Paper Masala Dosai (awesome!) and the MRT is basically a smorgasbord of curries, chutney and rice. That is my kind of meal. The soups and sahmbar was great. I tried the Rasam which is very spicy and sour and delicious. Not everyone would like it but I loved it. It was too much for us and we got to take the rest home, I even took some of the soup because it was so good. One less star for the rating is due to service. They filled water promptly and checked on us but it seemed like the guy hated his life (or just serving us) and at times had a rude attitude.
(4)Rahul S.
Allright. This is a south Indian restaurant for those who aren't familiar with this place. I've been a bunch of times with the parentals, and this place is just amazing. The dosas are about 12inches long, and it's really tough to finish it by yourself. That's the only thing I get here...I don't know about anything else. Clogging my arteries is good once in a while. If you're willing to try out different types of foods, I'd say come here. Also, if you don't like fried food, don't come here. Otherwise, the next time I go to Devon, I'm going to come here.
(4)Terri M.
Udupi or Mysore Woodlands? It's so hard to say which is better of the two big South Indian restaurants on Devon...guess I'll have to sample each one several more times. I love both. I love South Indian food. My last meal here consisted of: -potato bonda--like samosas but round. yummy. -masala dosa, perfectly crisp, though it's possible their filling is not the best I've had--it is on the bland side; but the coconut chutney and sambar (that always comes with dosas) were quite tasty. -pongol avial (a rich rice and lentil dish often served at weddings--like a risotto with cracked black peper and ghee--accompanied by a vegetable stew cooked in yogurt and spices)--delicious! -dhal mahkhani--black lentils in a cream sauce--awesome! one of the best versions I've had. I think sometimes the contest between South Indian restaurants come down to which has the best condiments. Last time I was at Mysore Woodlands they served an onion chutney that I could not stop eating, it was that good. At this meal at Udupi, we got mango pickle, which might have been good but was not special. Service at Udupi has always been good in my experience, whereas I have had to wait long lengths of time for the waitstaff's attention at Woodlands. One time, the owner of Udupi went as far as to drive my friend to the liquor store because we forgot to byob!
(5)Yumm y.
I am a happy camper! I finally found a GREAT Indian sport in Chicago. (a nice change after my less than mediocre experience at Hema's Kitchen). I was slightly disheartened since they didn't have my typical saag dish but I took it as an opportunity to try something new. I am always comforted by menus that are completely vegetarian--there are no guessing games or 20 questions that often lead to awkward evenings. My friend and I split the sweet and sour eggplant (holy deliciousness!) and the daal tikku (or something like that). Both were awesome. I thought the rice was sort of strange. It looked like steamed white rice to me and I can't get over the fact that you have to order condiments separately. The Mulligatwany Soup was also incredible. My experiences at Indian restaurants prior to my move to Chicago has been that you get a basket of pappadam with chutney and the "green stuff". I have since altered my expectations. Although there was no pappadam and condiments to begin the meal, Udupi Palace exceeded my expectations. I will be back!
(5)Cristina V.
As of right now it's okay in my eyes. It looks kind of up scale for my liking. All I ordered was samosas and gulab jamun. It was tastey but pricey
(3)Kerri C.
Went to Udupi on Friday night after having a great previous experience. My friend ordered a dish with lentils and there were zero. I've had tons of Indian food growing up and was not impressed by anything here this visit unfortunately. Our server was not very helpful or friendly and I got short changed...Will not be going back. There are too many other fantastic places in Chicago.
(2)AC Z.
This was my first experience with South Indian food and it was yummy, yummy, yummy. I went with a large group so I got to see a wide variety of foods. The dishes that stood out were: - The chickpeas+puffy bread (can't remember what it's called but it was by far the best dish of the night...the bread had the consistency of funnel cake but was not sickeningly sweet at all, and the chickpeas complemented it perfectly) - Any of the dosais - and onions and potato wrapped in a crepe-like thing (again, can't remember what it was called) - the 1st item on the dessert menu was also yummy as well, as were the fried vegetable tempura things (not sure what they're called, but we got the deep-fried mixed vegetables appetizer...watch out for the long thin peppers, they are HOT). One remark: stay AWAY from the CURRIES at this place. They are dull and overpriced compared to everything else on the menu. And also, we found the service pleasant. I don't know if that's because we went late, so it was relatively slow, or whether the management has caught on that their service is less than satisfactory, but our waiter was always very attentive and even brought us complimentary dishes.
(4)Ross R.
I am a huge fan of Udupi Palace, the food is great, and the service is SO FRUSTRATING, in a good way. I always go with the Udupi Thali, which is easily the best bang for your buck, and is a good way to explore the "other half" of indian cuisine. You get an appetizer (steamed lentil flour patties, or fried lentil doughnuts...you can never have too many lentils), you get soup (get the rasam, it is wickedly spicy and addictive), you get your choice of Dosa (enormous crepe) or uddapham (slightly less enormous pancake) with sambar and coconut chutney, and you get dessert (go with the rasmalai), and you get coffee or masala tea. All for like $14. Back to my original statement about the service. Part of the fun of eating at this restaurant is figuring out: 1. how to make sure the waiter took your order down correctly, 2. understanding the servers, 3. getting the servers' attention, and 4. not letting the servers' seemingly unpleasant attitude ruin your night. Its hard to explain but worth experiencing.
(5)Joanna A.
I love this place. The food is extremely spicy, but so delicious. You can't go wrong with any of the dosais. My favorite dishes are the channa batura, which are spicy chickpeas with a puffy pita like bread, and the palak paneer, a mix of spinach and cheese. My husband loves the mango lassi. Unfortunately there is very little my children can eat at this place, just the bread. The service is mediocre. The staff does come around and refill ur water, but they are kind of standoffish. That said, I've been there with a friend (who first took me here), and they are super friendly with her. She and an ex used to go here often, and the staff absolutely love both of them. I guess I'm just not that much of a regular. Go 4 a new food experience. Even if your not crazy about Indian food, this place will change your mind!
(4)Isla E.
I don't know how I haven't written a review for this place yet...I've been several times, both dine-in and carry out. Always great. The wait for a table is a little long at peak times, especially considering Mysore Woodlands under construction. But well worth it. I hope someone at Udupi reads this and seriously considers my suggestion to add pani puri to the appetizer menu. I think pani puri should be added to all menus, but my best bet is to request here I think.
(5)turn p.
My favorite vegetarian Indian restaurant in Chicago. The menu is fantastic. I went there with my friends and colleagues and we were all satisfied with what we had and it's BYOB too. This would be the restaurant I'm confident that my friends who are lovers of delicious spicy no meat food.
(5)Slu S.
We did some takeout from Udupi and were very pleased. One of my favorites on Devon. One must have that we tried was the Mysore Masala Dosai. I may have embarrassed myself ordering it (or trying to), but it was worth every blushed cheek. It was a crepe like wrap around chutney, potato and onion. It was fantastic.
(4)S T.
Yummm. fried foods stuffed with potatoes and chic peas.. One of the best places for Indian food I have been to in Chicago. It was pretty buys on a Saturday night but we had no problems getting seating for 4. I thought the dinning room was lack luster and loud for a romantic date, but just fine if you're just going for the food. The chana masala and aloo gobi curry were both great. The other two at my table had great dishes as well, but I just don't know what it the dishes were called. The appetizer assortment was very good, but a little heavy on the fried side. Everything in the basket was fried but was good and came with 4 different sauces. Our waiter was merely sufficient, but any of the passing staff was willing to help you or take empty plates. great food. ok service. eh atmosphere.
(4)Andy S.
My second visit turned out far more rewarding than the first. The food is excellent, very filling and tasty. I did not get sick at all the second time, so I'd like to assume my first experience was a fluke. This is a very affordable lunch spot on Devon if you like vegetarian-only Indian fare.
(4)Molly B.
This place was good, but the eggplant curry was so effing spicy that I could only eat about 1/2 cup on some jasmine rice before I had to quit. I DOWNED about 3 glasses of water after that and a bottle of Amstel Light. I should explain that this was my first time eating Indian food and I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. I'm still giving the place four stars, though, because the samosas and some sort of fried bread/pancakes were awesome. The curry tasted great, too, before I realized it was burning a hole in the roof of my mouth that may have eaten away portions of my brain and skull. Seriously, hot stuff! Because of other reviews, my date and I tried an experiment where I ordered for both of us and asked for the bill. The older gentleman was definitely not happy and kept looking to my date to do the ordering and asking, but I'm not sure if his excessive unfriendliness was due to sexism or just cultural differences. The man who greeted us at the door, by contrast, gave us a smile and was polite. By the way, parking was a bit difficult on a Saturday night, but we only had to walk about 4 blocks through a good neighborhood to get to the restaurant. Keep an eye out for the sticker parking signs, though! Some of the areas have no parking until after 8 or 9, even on a Saturday!
(4)Bill G.
I had to decide between 3 and 4 stars. The first time I went it was great, we had a big group and they seemed to put up with us just fine. The last time I went, it was a small group of 4, and the entire staff was unseasonably rude. There were very few others in the restaurant. I don't expect fast service, especially in ethnic restaurants because Americans are usually the only ones that want to stuff their faces and get out quickly. Slower service usually is a sign of authenticity, so I don't mind that at all. But if you rudely tell someone who is allergic to milk that there's no milk in a dish, there probably shouldn't be milk in that dish. Yet they served me something with a yogurt sauce. Fortunately it was separate and I could eat the dish without it. So that's why I went with three stars. The food was great, the service was peppered with hilarious rude attitude, which was fine, but they tried to serve me something that could kill me and lied to me about it. That takes at least one star off in my book.
(3)Imran P.
Dosai's are really decent...not the best that I've ever had, though. I can't really speak for the other things that they have. Service is totally sub-par but standard for the south Asian restaurant business model...I always suspect that the tips never make it to the employees...but then again, with sub-par service they're not missing much anyway. The dosais totally make it worth the while. Eat there if you like south Indian food.
(4)Young D.
My fella is a vegetarian, so this place is perfect. Very reasonably priced, the service is attentive and everything I've ever ordered is amazing. The Mattar Paneer is completely addictive. It's also a great stop if you live along Western and want to do dinner and a movie. BYOB, eat some Indian and then head up to Evanston to the multiplex with free parking and you've got a fun cheap date night. We probably go here once a week/every other and are never disappointed.
(5)L M.
I went back this summer after a long absence and it was, once again, delicious. I had my favorite special rava masala dosai and it was very, very good. I hope that it will be consistently so here!
(4)Jeff L.
Good food and cheap! The food itself was authentic, smelled great(as Indian restaurants usually do), and was served be a friendly waitstaff. The taste of the food was pretty good, but nothing great. I went here on a warm spring day, but I am convinced that the heat was on. The restaurant felt like it was about 85 degrees inside. My friend had actually started sweating before our appetizers arrived. All in all a good meal though...
(3)Liz P.
One of my prouder college moments was convincing my very responsible friend to cut class with me and take two buses and the el for 2 1/2 hours each way in the middle of the Chicago winter to satisfy my Indian craving and go to Udupi. Yes, we are pretty dumb. Yes, it was totally worth it. My recommendation: the malai kofta.
(5)Sneha R.
Decent Dosa and Idli. Coffee was decent too. They channa batura was good, although the batura tasted more like fried sweet bread. Definitely had yeast in it, and that's not how batura is made. Their coconut chutney left for much to be desired but service was quick and efficient.
(3)Rohit B.
Small, casual Indian restaurant. Although the items on the menu are pure vegetarian, if you enjoy spicy food, this is the place for you! The staff is very friendly and prompt. That along with the prices make this a winner. Located in "little india", you can get your daily shot of culture by just walking around and taking in the site. I tried a few things on the menu, and being indian myself... they definitely seemed authentic! I recommend the Channa Batura, or the Dosai. Cant go wrong with any of the desserts, but I prefer the Gulab Jammun In all, great place to go for an awesome vegetarian indian dinner :o)
(4)Anpan W.
When we visited, it was pretty empty. Came with vegetarian friends. They loved it. The food was very bland. Service was okay.
(2)WorkHard F.
I really do not get the high ratings for this place. The poor service I can understand, most of the wait staff are generally very new to the US, and continue to maintain their Indian attitude to customer service. The food sucks. Nothing is spicy, the chutney if basically water with a few grains of coconut, and the fried dishes are way to greasy. Listen folks the masal part of the masal dosa is the potato filling. Their version of masala is nothing more than boiled potatoes with some turmeric sprinkled on top, that is not masala! There are about 12 ingredient that go into making a good potato masala, this place does not have a clue. If you want a decent masala dosa go to the Hindu Temple in Lemont on Saturday or Sunday morning and give it a try. The restaurants on Devon are just scamming white people who have no clue on real India food, the other Indians that you see in this places are Indian IT workers that have no other choice in getting a Indian meal, and Indians that live in rural cities around Chicago and are on a day trip for groceries.
(1)Ben E.
This is my favorite south Indian vegetarian restaurant on Devon, although Mysore Woodlands, located just across the street, is almost as good. While everything I've ever ordered off the menu is excellent, I'd especially recommend the Channa Batura (chickpea curry accompanied by a large round of fried bread) and whatever dosa strikes you as most appealing. The uthappam are also good, and I really wish I were able to go there more frequently with a large group of friends so that we could all order more items off the fairly extensive menu. If you're feeling a little adventurous, try the Chaat Papri, a combination of cold potatoes, chickpeas, bits of vada (a savory donut made from lentil flour), fried rice crisps, cilantro, yoghurt, and both tamarind and mint chutney. Udupi Palace proves that vegetarian food is not necessarily light or healthy. My guess is that they add quite a bit of ghee to most dishes, and the emphasis on starchy foods means you'll leave the restaurant in desperate need of a nap. But really, who cares? Udupi Palace is fantastic and I find myself returning there every chance I get.
(5)Seth P.
This place is the BOMB! I love the peas utthapam.
(5)ER S.
I like it but I don't love it. It's not the lack of meat (that's actually a plus), but it's so starchy & heavy I felt sick afterward. I like the taste of the dosai with onions, but it's basically a pancake stuffed with potatoes. Definitely not a place for those who are not on a carb binge.
(3)Jade T.
Udupi Palace can be a little pricey for a casual lunch. However, the $10.99 Thalis are extremely delicious and filling. A Thali consists of several metal bowls of rice and various curry dishes and breads for one person. The full menu is still available for those who aren't interested. The service is nothing to rave about. They were extremely hard to hear and understand sometimes.
(4)ed s.
great service (very friendly waiters, do ask them their name), quick, great food. Always a favorite for Devon.
(4)FM G.
Great to find a different type of Indian food from the standard curries. I love the dosas, and if you go with the Udupi special, you get your choice of soup and either iddly or vada with chutney and sambar. Didn't care for the iddly at all, but the vada made a nice appetizer. They also do nice samosas. The first time you see a dosa, your eyes pop out at the enormity but then thankfully the whole thing is not packed with the filling. I like this place a lot more than Mysore across the street. They are definitely a LOT more sexist across the street and the food, though practically the same menu and slightly cheaper, is not as good as at Udupi. Service can be a bit slow at Udupi, but you can also do a bit of people watching and take in the Indian vibe. And having now been to India I can say hey, the service is just like in India!! :-)
(4)Michael D.
Whenever I am at devon, I typically eat at Udupi Palace. My grandma is also from the Udupi town, so whenever she is in town we stop there. My meal typically is a masala dosai and a falooda. The masala dosai is really good, and the falooda is typically a dessert but I drink/eat it with my dosai. Falooda has milk, a rose syrup, vermicelli, tapioca seeds and icecream. The assortment appetizers are also pretty good if you have more than 2 people eating. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys Indian food or wants to try it. If you go there enjoy!!!
(5)David J.
Udupi is a clandestine little gem in the sprawling dystopia known as Devon Avenue. It was pleasing to discover that they had incorporated the text 'vegetarian' into their neon sign. Otherwise, one may become distressed at the challenge of finding such cuisine among disheveled rug stores, electronic shops selling electronics with european voltage, and shops that sell robot dogs exclusively. Though, once you step inside Udupi, you get an indication of the delightful sensation that awaits you. A dense fog of curry envelopes you. My companion and I were thrilled by the extensive menu choices, yet opted for the old standbys : Chana Masala, Samosas, and Jeel Aroo. All were delectable, although we found the samosas to be slightly dry. They are BYOB, but this was not advertised. I also must mention that the waiter served all the dishes to myself, the dominant male at the table, which raised some suspicions as to what sort of indoctrinations surrounding gender he may have subscribed.
(4)Tracy K.
This is the perfect place to go for a big bowl of comfort food on a cold & rainy day. Service was attentive and pretty quick, and I had to laugh at the white girl treatment I received after ordering something spicy. Yes, I really did want it spicy. The restaurant is much bigger inside than I was expecting from the street. It seemed very clean and well laid out. It was fairly crowded when we went, but they seated us right away. The bathrooms were very clean too. My kadai paneer was very good and I was happy that rice was included with my entree. I'm looking forward to going back to try something new.
(4)Brad S.
This is very good southern Indian food. My family and I went and walked around Devon for sights, sounds and of course smells. After the mandatory stop at Petel Brothers we were all set to go to our south Indian standby of Mysore. We had our trusty relies and the yelp app to guide us across the street to not only a higher rates restaurant but also a 20% off discount. The staff and management upon entering were gracious and inviting. We have had Indian food from all regions many times but their suggestions were presented helpfully and not pushy. The food came quickly but before the kids could get kid-like the waited came over with pens and paper and was wonderful even though his section was full. All this said and I have not even mentioned the wonderful food. When we ordered we were told we ordered enough but the waiter showed up with a few dishes we didn't order to try. Overall the food is very good but the service is what made it exceptional. The manager a very nice man on the way out the door stopped me to invite us back and offer us the same discount next time and he would send over some other things to try.
(4)Casia J.
PLEASE NOTE I've gone with three stars because: FOOD: 5 STARS SERVICE: ONE STAR WOULD BE GENEROUS The food is SO good, the best dosais & chutney ever. All my out-of-town "foodie friends" are taken here and they love it. I could eat here every day. My husband is from India, picky, so we know our food and this is truly outstanding. And cheap, for what you get. Howwwwwevah...the clowns that run the place, holy smokes! Sexist, as another reviewer said--and I am not one to notice or harp about stuff like that--and just plain rude! I call the head dude the Samosa Nazi. Once, we ordered an appetizer sampler for the 2of us--not large, like a $6 thing, and he told us NOT to order it, it was too much food for us! Ha! Oh well, it's better than a cheeseball at Chili's trying to "upsell" ya on the apps, huh? Then, we see the sampler going to a table of 4. The people look confused. It sits there for a good 10 min. before he returns. The group let him know that it wasn't theirs, he literally tosses it on our table and says, huffing and puffing, "I was confused because two people never order so much food!" Mmmm, cold pakoras served with a grimace. Anyway, if you get a kick out of fools like this guy, and you love love love south Indian, give it a try! I think it is far better than Mysoore.
(3)Karen L.
I would recommend Udupi Palace for something a little bit different from the typical Indian Cuisine. It is southern Indian cuisine and had a lot of these things called dosais, which is like a crepe or pancake wrapped around curry vegetables. I am not super familiar with the whole menu, but do know that the paper masala dosai was super tasty! It is this HUGE crepe rolled around curried potatos and onions. And you dip it in chutney. Yum! And Udupi Palace is SO reasonably priced. And it is BYOB. Definitely check it out!!!
(4)Daniel H.
Though I am much more of fan of mughlai food, I do like this place. Good sambar, a savory flavor with a hint of sourness, which goes very well with their idlis and dosas. My favorite place for food from the south of the subcontinent...
(4)C C.
Udupi Palace can best be compared to an American pancake house. Carb overload, comforting, lack of atmosphere (but clean), and lots of butter (or in this case, ghee). My husband and I went to this place because ever since I saw it on "Check, Please," I was convinced I needed to go. I reviewed the menu beforehand partly because I enjoy reading menus and partly because on the show the reviewers warned that the wait staff doesn't speak English and doesn't offer recommendations (difficult when the menu is in Indian with only short English descriptions). We ordered: Iddly- Steamed little rice and lentil patties to be dipped in the included coconut chutney and sambar (moderately spicy lentil and vegetable) soup. Paper Masala Dosai- This is the entrée that the restaurant is known for and what everyone orders. A large (rolled up and literally 2.5 feet long) crispy, thin crepe pancake with slightly spicy potatoes, peas, and onions inside. Vegetable Uthappam- An Indian 'pizza' (no cheese). A large, medium-thickness pancake with peas, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. Everything was tasty and enjoyable, if a little guilt-inducing with all the carbs and butter. I had read the Yelp reviews that the portions were large and filling but didn't totally believe it, especially after getting the iddly appetizer, which was small. But once the entrees came, the Yelp reviews proved correct. The two of us together were able to finish less than half of each entrée. We ended the meal with Indian ice cream which was... interesting. It didn't seem to have cream or milk in it; it was more like frozen water and butter. Hmmm...
(3)- chicagobiker -.
The potato and onion dosa was huge, with a mild but tasty flavor. I also had the okra and the soy curry. Both were very spicy (though the menu didn't say so) and delicious. The okra had a slightly sweet flavor to it, and the soy "meatballs" were a take on lamb curry. This place didn't blow me away and make me say WOW! but I did enjoy it and will be back.
(4)Luan N.
In my opinion, the only place to go for South Indian cuisine in Chicago. Can't go wrong with the paper masala dosa. I gave the malai kofta a chance, but I really couldn't tell the difference between the $2 frozen food kofta and the koftas here. So stick to the dosas.
(4)Toshi B.
The best samosa and other fried appetizers that I have ever had...hot, crispy, juicy, and yummy. Not sure if it is how they make it or if it is b/c it comes out really fresh but it was great. Tried a satan dish (looks like beef but tastes like a mini sponge) and it was not bad but I would skip it next time and try something different. The waiters were really nice but were kind of confused and slow to come around. Better to go when it is a slow weekday I guess?
(3)Cassie B.
As a vegetarian, I was immensely pleased with tasty options! I enjoyed the Mysore Masala Dosai. It's been a few months since I first had it - can't wait to go back!
(5)Sam G.
Good. Very good.
(4)Shawn L.
I love this place. The service is always good and they've got an expansive, vegetarian menu that, in my opinion, can't be beat. My favorite menu items are palak paneer, chana batura and dosais. The only two soups I've had here, mulligatawny and rassam, and outstanding. It depresses me to now live in a town that doesn't have Udupi Palace. I cannot wait to move back - Udupi will be one of my first stops.
(5)L V.
Not the best food I've had. I had one of the combination platters. A few of the things on it were bland. Some were ok to somewhat tasty. Overall I've had better South Indian food. The service was rather rude and unhelpful. I felt they were just trying to push us out. Will not go back.
(2)Andrea G.
Udupi is in fierce competition with Uru Swati for being my favorite Indian restaurant... but I think Udupi may have Uru Swati beat by a slight margin! We tried this place with Indian friends and all of us loved it! The food has amazing flavor, fresh ingredients, and great selection. I ordered a combination plate that came with soup (I had mulligatawny, which I traded with my husband for rassam--which was sour, spicy, and delicious), idli (not my favorite, but I think I just don't like it that much in general--nothing specific to Udupi), and a dosa. I picked the spring vegetable dosa, which was filled with cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and other veggies. Mmmm it was good! And really good for lunch the next day too. My husband got some sort of vegetable curry, which was delicious, but a little bit greasy. We ordered pistachio ice cream for dessert which was soooo good and did a nice job of cooling down the palate. The service was fine, not overly nice but they got the job done. I can't wait to go back!
(5)Tom A.
From ten until three years ago, I went to Udupi all the time. I really liked it and eventually grew tired of the consistantly good food. The last few years I've been visiting other establishments, and tonight I made my return to the Palace, and it was good. 5 of us ordered 2 dosais, 6 curries, and some apps. Everything was very good. paper masala dosai, Malai kofta, saag panneer, dhal makani-- great. BYOB is excellent. Don't be one of the fools drinking wine with Indian food. Drink a beer-- IPA, Scotch ale, and sour ales are all recommended. Or lassai. cool, refreshing. The decor could use a little love. Is the wallpaper vinyl? It is very clean. Service friendly. parking annoying but usually possible.
(4)James M.
Wait staff was friendly, almost too friendly, but the food was good. They only serve vegetarian dishes, but the flavors are so amazing that, even as a carnivore, I was blown away. Tried a number of dishes I cannot pronounce, and they were all good. I would definitely recommend.
(4)Maria L.
Went there last night with the marvelous Mesum and while the food was yummy- a nice Chana Masala- this veggie dish was $10 for a small portion! If I'd had a bigger appetite last night, I would've been hungry after finishing this off! Boo!!!! Way to pricey for no meat! Otherwise, acceptable South Indian food.
(3)Hari S.
The food was rotten, it smelt bad and we sent it back to the owner. And the owner had the nerve to say that he will deduct 10% for the dish because of one dish being bad in an assortment of 6 other things. Not once did he apologize. Dont ever go there. Food Quality, Service, Attitude was all bad, what else do you goto a restaurant for? Go there if you want to get sick but get 10% off of your food.
(1)Cristin M.
This is probably one of my favorite Indian restaurants in Chicago. They serve up excellent south Indian food, at okay prices. Everything that I've tried here stacks up pretty well against what I've had in India. The chaat papri, chana batura and rava masala dosa are staples of mine, and I ventured out to try the uttapham with mixed veggies last time, and wasn't disappointed. You must get the mango juice on a hot day, so refreshing! The prices are a little higher than I would have expected, but I guess that goes for a lot of places on Devon. Or maybe I can't stop comparing them to the prices for the same stuff in India, which is no contest when it comes to a bargain. A great place to take your vegetarian friends.
(4)Og B.
there was a hair on jiffys plate and watched the bus boy stick his finger in our chutney, but other than that, it was incredible service. descent food. bad naan. nice place. they have these crepe type things... very good. i never had them before.
(3)v m.
for authentic south indian food this far from south india, i like it. the dosas and the paneer makhani are absolutely great (esp as a combo). my non-indian friends also like it and they tailor the tastes/spices well.
(4)Jen M.
I'm a little behind on my reviews but I visited Udupi in early December with a group of six friends. I had heard wonderful things on Check Please and can't pass up a BYOB so we decided to check it out. We were not disappointed. I love Indian food; however, I am not familiar with south Indian food. We ordered the sample platter for an appetizer which was filled with samosas and pakora - can't go wrong with anything fried. For an entree, I ordered a Coimbatore Dosai, which is like a crepe filled with variety of vegetables and spicy chutney. I would recommend trying it. Everyone at my table ordered something different and it was all delicious. We were so full that we definitely had leftovers which made a great lunch the next day!
(4)Sheila Y.
Ahh Udupi Palace. I went here with high hopes that I could recreate the wonderful South Indian vegetarian fare I had become accustomed to in Boulder but to no avail. Walking down Devon with my little sister, passing by Indian groceries and stores selling Sari's and other wonderful wares made me think this could be the place. The actual restaurant is just an open room with tables and chairs set up; nothing fancy, but nothing shady either. The guy who greeted us at the door asked if we wanted vegetarian food...it was quite strange, but I suppose he wanted to warn the white folks (btw...not really white...i'm persian/german so go figure). I decided we were going to order a full array in order to really get a feel so here goes. One vegetable Uthappam, an order of Samosas, an order of Poori, Alu Gobi, Bhaigan Bharta, and a Mango Lassi for me. The Uthappam had no flavor (no sour like kick). The samosa filling was pasty and the outside was not crisped all the way. The poori was great but oil was literally dripping out of it. The Alu Gobi and Bhaigan Bharta were decent with a fair amount of spice. Overall, very underwhelming. I think I will try some of the other recommendations but I hope they are leaps and bounds better than this place.
(3)Kali A.
My mother is the best cook I know...no bias here..but, the only competition she seems to have with Dosa's is THIS place. Their Dosa's are soooooo yummy!! Their service and pricing is good. Yum yum!
(5)Laura R.
SPICY! Holy crap this food was spicy. Now I love spicy food but out of the 3 spicy food lovers I was with there was one item in the appetizer sampler we got that no one could handle. It was some kind of breaded hot pepper. Even the aloo naan we ordered had hot peppers in it, which I had never seen before. The food we had was delicious, just wanted to warn everyone that your nose will be running while you eat it. Next time I go I would split a curry with someone, getting 3 curries plus the appetizer sampler plus the naan was waaay too much food. I do like that they include the rice with the price of the curry instead of having you order it extra as many indian places do.
(4)Mrjustice ..
Great vegetarian Indian Food at great prices -- and, it's BYOB. Service was attentive, friendly and helpful. Somewhat limited choices, because only vegetarian but what they have is wonderful, homecooking.
(4)Monica G.
We live off of Devon and have made it our goal to try every restaurant on the strip. I sent Udupi Palace an email after seeing the deal on Yelp and received a 20% off coupon right away. We went that evening and ordered all the dishes that were recommended to us in the email and they were all delicious!! The waiter/owner? was extremely nice and welcoming and even gave us a bunch of coupons at the end of our meal for both Udupi and Tiffin! We will definitely be back!
(5)Isha S.
We went for lunch after reading reviews from yelp and expected decent south Indian food. But it turned out that besides spinach dosai everything else was disaster. I was particularly upset with sambhar which had hardly any vegetables and was very much like water, same with coconut chutney. In any case if you go there, please do not order gulab jamun, they were the worst!
(1)Hayden J.
My wife and I were craving some Indian food after just moving to Chicago from Memphis. Surprisingly, there were several great Indian restaurants back home so we were anxious to find out what the famous Devon street had to offer. When we arrived, we were the only people in the place (though a few others ventured in while we ate). Now I am no expert on Indian food, but I know what I like so I ordered one of my favorites Vegetable Korma. My wife ordered the Palak Panner and asked for it mild. I don't believe this place serves dishes mild because my wife's panner was a medium at best. It was good but full of heat. My dish, the vegetable korma, was different than the ones I have had in the past. Here the sauce was almost green in color. All the korma I have had is a creamy orange or yellow. I don't know if we will try this one out again. The most anxious we got the entire night was just trying to get through the insane traffic on Devon. When we were leaving we witnessed a wreck right in front of us! There has got to be a good Indian restaurant closer to Bucktown worth checking out...
(3)Andrew P.
My favorite veg Indian restaurant on the Devon drag. Addicted to the fried lentil donuts, amazing naans, and just about every entree on the menu. Spicy and rich, but tolerable you know? Always look forward to eating here, and everyone I've brought here loves it. Meat eaters beware (and vegetarians rejoice!): All vegetarian menu!
(4)Hiker Chicka e.
I ordered the lunch special and it came on a pretty tray with several ramekins filled with different dishes. Some of the dishes were a bit greasier than I like, but the food was tasty. My friend ordered the dosai which is a huge crispy crepe. I ended up eating her food which was very good. The service was excellent. In this day and age of homone fed cows and bird flu, this is a good place for almost guilt free (and good karma) meal. My friend who picked up the tab left a large tip by mistake, and the owner (I think) ran to the door to return it. If I go there again, I will have a dosai instead of a rice entree.
(3)Kathryn O.
This is the best Indian place in Chicago! My roommate and I make the long trip out to little India at least a couple times a month just to eat here. It's out of this world. Service is a little buggy, but its part of the atmosphere. The waiter refuses to take more than 2 cards and the manager comes over and takes them anyway and gives you coupons-- just part of the experience.
(5)R M.
The dosas are excellent. The service is good, too - very friendly staff.
(4)a w.
Not a good option for meat lovers, cuz there's not meat on the menu. But some of the food is so tasty that you might not miss the meat. My personal favorite is dosa.
(3)G G.
A great place for vegetarians. I ate here with a party of 15 and the staff was very accomidating.
(4)jason t.
excellent south indian vegetarian cuisine. i had the chili pakora and the cauliflower curry and it was delicious.
(5)Richard O.
Based on the other reviews perhaps I should try this place again. I don't know. I thought the atmosphere was unpleasant. The service was dreadful. The food was completely unremarkable. I was worried that Chicago was a bad place for Indian food despite the reputation of these seedy looking Devon restaurants but we did actually have a pretty decent meal at some place I can't seem to relocate and I really loved India House on Grand. Perhaps the three of us were there on an off day? I don't know. I think it was a Wednesday evening. Wasn't all that busy. But clearly the staff had something better to do than wait tables. And again. the food was so incredibly generic. It was a stupefying and frustrating experience. I remember the three of us walking out laughing about how bad it'd been and how that was the last time we were eating somewhere because someone pulled some good reviews off some vegetarian website. It's been over a year and typing this I'm beginning to finally feel cleansed of my irritation. It was an awful experience.
(1)kelly l.
the rasam soup was delicious, but so spicy it made my lips hurt. the mulighatany (I'm sure i'm spelling that sooo wrong) was bland. i ordered individual items from the menu, but husband, julie and neal ordered combo platters. they were a bargain at $15 each. julie's combo got her a soup, an app, a dosai, a dessert. neal and husband got a combo that gave them a soup, a sample of 3 apps, a sample plate of entrees, and a dessert. the best. i had a masala dosai, a big old pancake thing with potato and spices inside. it was lovely. julie got the mysore masala dosai, same thing, just spicier. i was warned off of that one cause of the spice, but mine was almost bland without a little kick. next time, mysore. the apps were lovely. the veggie samosa was the best. next came a tender chickpea kind of round cake. my least favorite was the lentil flour donut. but it worked well to soak up the 3 different sauces given to compliment the apps, including a coconut chutney. jeremy and neal's round combo plates included a bunch of little samples. There was some rasam soup on there, as well as some other veggie soup. Honestly, the soups were extraneous. There was a basmati rice, a biryani with raisins in it. There was some sort of noodle dish that appeared to have meat in it, though it couldn't have been. There was a cauliflower dish that the starbirds liked more than we did. The stars were the lentils (dal) and the chickpeas (chana masala). Oh, and there was a little bit of some sort of lime/pickle/spicy chutney that was lovely and weird. Dessert was a little donut in honey, or some cheese in sweet milk. Meh. The restaurant itself is really clean and comfortable. The staff attempted to be helpful, and were friendly, but there was some confusion due to miscommunication. We just went with it. I'd definitely go back. Delicious.
(4)Sati V.
I can't believe how once excellent restaurant turned into. I always loved eating dosa, uttapam, besi bela bath, curd rice etc in this restaurant. But on my latest visit (Dec 26th, 2008), my view on this one turned upside down. The food was a crap. Even I could make better dishes than what we tasted there. The management also is a joke. The restaurant is empty but no one came to our table to fill our empty glasses with water. The waiters are not professional. I am not sure if the management changed but this one is the one to avoid on Devon Avenue.
(1)Kamila T.
Ah, how I enjoy the food at Udupi Palace (mainly their lunch buffet). Where else can you try a little bit of everything for a fair price? Ah, I endulged in everything from curry dishes to their rice pudding dessert and coconut icecream. I can't even begin to name all the different food dishes I tried but if you're new to indian food I'd start with the buffet here! Fresh tasty and well seasoned.
(4)Vibhor G.
Worst service. Rude waiters.
(1)Dorian B.
If you like average to subpar Indian food and horrible service, this is the place for you. Seriously, the staff are either not attentive or rude, especially the manager. The dish I ordered (can't remember the name) never arrived, so I had to ask someone what the deal was. They basically just didn't make my order for some reason, and I had to wait another 15 minutes to get it. The manager's attitude the whole time was very apathetic; no apology whatsoever. Finally I get my dish and to make things worse, I didn't like it. I did try a friend's meal and it was okay. Some of the appetizers weren't bad either. I would probably try them again if the customer service wasn't so bad, which seems to be a running theme with this place.
(1)Jef B.
For South Indian, I still like Mysore Woodlands slightly better, but Udupi was pretty good. Our party of five was seated and served quickly. We had repeated language difficulty with our server getting our order wrong, but that was quickly rectified. My Mysore Masala Dosai was very good but not as spicy as advertised, which was slightly disappointing. Our chai was excellent, very very good. The restaurant has a somewhat more sophisticated decor and atmosphere than Mysore Woodlands. Both of these restaurants are good choices for Indian. I would have to eat there more often to make a final decision which is better South Indian.
(4)Ryan C.
I didn't know there was much a difference from Northern and Southern Indian restaurants, but now realize there It was recommend from Isla E. that I might want to try a few on Devon. I saw a few and decided I would make my decision by looking to see which one had the most Indian's eating there. I know it's profiling, but I guess it's the easiest way to figure out what is the preference of people that know it best. The first thing I noticed was that it was ALL vegetarian. What? No chicken, lamb or shrimp? No lamb Tikka Masla? No Tandori Chicken? We ordered the Channa Batura, Masal Dosai, Vegatable Uthappam, Vegatable Samosa and a Mango Lassi. WOW! Was it good and the portions were large. I didn't find myself missing the meats, fish or chicken. The waiter was very helpful on explaining some of the dishes and the service was excellent. It is a BYOB restaurant and would recommend bringing a bottle of wine. I don't mind BYOB. I'd rather bring a bottle of Vendage ($9.99 at Jewel) than pay the hefty 300% mark up most restaurant would charge. I know, I'm cheap. The total bill was $34 for everything and there was enough for leftovers. Great place to go for a wonderful dinner without breaking the bank!
(5)Meena V.
You know, after all the Yelp hype and the primo location on Devon street, right next to all these other seriously good Desi places, I was expecting a lot more. Instead, it's just OK -- not bad, really not great -- unoffensive food. One plus is that unlike 80-90% of the average Indian restaurants you run into, Udipi specialises in SOUTH Indian food, which is much harder to find. That said, while this place with give you what you want if you're craving the harder to find flavours, it's not quite knock your socks of sambhar time either. And I'm afraid I suspect some microwave action going down with the wadas/ idlis. Eh, it's OK. If I'm in the area, I'd go back for a masala dosa fix.
(3)Bonnie L.
I checked out Udupi Palace last week for lunch. I called ahead to see if they had a buffet and was told that they do not but that they have lunch specials. So I decided to give it a try. I had never been there before and I knew that the cuisine was Southern Indian and I have been told that it is a bit different from the other restaurants in the area. And I am really glad that I did. As we glanced at the lunch menu I was not sure what the options were and a gentleman (manager?) came over and explained everything to us. We ended up ordering two Dosi, mine was a bit softer and spicier, my friends was really crunchy. Both were filled with a potato mixture and were served with a variety of chutneys. The coconut one was really good. Knowing that I like things a bit spicier, the manager sent me out a spicier sauce to go with my lunch. It was delicious and was not too spicey. And I should mention that before the entree we got the lentil donuts. Those were SO good. I could make a meal out of those by themselves. Afterward we had Indian Coffee which was really good. All in all, I thought that the food and the service were fantastic. And the manager gave us coupons for a return visit. That almost never happens unless you are complaining about something. But here at Udupi Palace, we had nothing to complain about.
(4)Lisa J.
After writing a negative review I got a message on Yelp from John, the owner. He wrote me a nice note apologizing for the bad experience I had and offering to send me a gift certificate for a free meal. I took him up on it and a few days later I got a $30 gift certificate in the mail, which was more than I had expected. Since I was traumatized from my last visit (and mostly just forgot I had the gift certificate) I took forever to actually use it. About a week ago I finally went back in, and it was awesome. The service was very relaxed and the people were polite. The food was really good, much better than I expected. I think last time maybe I just ordered the wrong thing or something, because this time it was amazing. With our $30 gift certificate, we got two curries and two appetizers and still had enough food leftover for breakfast and lunch to take to work the next day. By the way, I was not pressured to change my review at all. I did not accept the gift certificate as a bribe to change my review and if I had a bad experience the second time, I would've kept my review as is. It really was MUCH better this time!
(5)Chicago B.
I'll be brief: Excellent food, excellent service, excellent prices. I love everything about this place, except for the fact that it's not across the street from where I live. I order the channa batura, and it is exquisite. Spicy, creamy, delicious. The batura is twice the size of your head and much tastier.
(5)Emily U.
You can't swing a cat on Devon Avenue without hitting some awesome food. Udupi is one of the places your kitty'd hit if you were standing somewhere in the 2500 block of W. Devon. We wanted to try everything so we ordered the two lunchtime thalis--a personal buffet. The spices were delightful and, of course, everything is vegetarian. We waited a bit long for our check and I didn't get a refill on my tiny Diet Coke, but that gave an excuse for a post-brunch caffeine-seeking adventure.
(4)Jason P.
If you want dosa or other south indian food, this is really the spot to hit up. I took a bunch of people who had never tried south indian food before and exposed them to joys of it. The paper dosa is good for taste as well as shock value. The dosa is basically 3 times longer than the plate it comes on. It is a really thin crepe. They also have a larger pancake like thing that starts with a U and I am unable to spell and too lazy to actually look up. Be careful though, if you order the plain U pancake, and aren't Indian, like the rest of my table, the guy might make you change your order by telling you it has no taste. This was quite comical. I would also recommend the idly, as it will hold you over until your meal gets there.
(4)Robyn T.
I had never had dosai before. How is that possible? It is like an Indian crepe filled with deliciousness. Udupi Palace offers an entire menu of similar warm and filling comfort food. Add a fried appetizer plate (including some sort of fried pepper, cauliflower, samosa and such) a paneer & pea curry, mango lassi and delicious coffee and you've got one full belly. Very happy but insanely full. Clean tables, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.
(4)Krsna V.
This is the place for dosai in Chicago. I have yet to taste a better dosa at any other place. I have eaten all the varieties of dosas and they all are excellent. This is vegetarian heaven......i usually loathe vegetarian food (now, all you vegetarians don't come after me) and I have to have meat everyday....but, I will make an exception to go to Udupi palace. Imagine the look on my partner's face when they brought out the dosa. His eyes popped out of their sockets and he says "what is that?" The dosas are huge....and boy, they are good!! I am not a big fan of the vegetarian curries though. My partner got the saag paneer and it was nothing exciting. The samosas are good, chana masala is OK, and the rasam is perfect. Stick to the dosas.
(4)Christina M.
I eat a lot of Indian food and I will say this place has done it right. Usually when I go to Indian restaurants the vegetables are so over cooked that the meal is just unpleasant. Udupi Palace cooked the vegetables perfectly (so they still had a crunch to them) and I felt the entrees were flavored well; however, I asked for my food very spicy and it wasn't up to my spicy standards. So if you'd like your food very spicy, you may want to strongly emphasize that point.
(4)Ji-In L.
Tasty, but was a tad disappointed because I wasn't expecting it to be vegetarian. I mean, I love the veggie dishes, but lamb curry was what I was craving. Loved the chic peas. Wasn't a huge fan of their dosa and that was a bummer because hadn't been to a South Indian place in a while and I was craving it. It wasn't bad, but just nothing special. Service was fine, but kind of weird. The waiter would come toward the table and ask if everything was all right but never quite stopped so was already gone by the time we started to reply that we wanted something. It was actually pretty comical.
(3)Jackie F.
Pros: Food was flavorful, the server was helpful for suggestions Cons: I love hot and spicy south Indian food and I cannot find anything spicy in Chicago. I was hoping this place was spicy but it wasn't (ok it was probably spicy to most people who haven't tried south Indian.) To me, it catered to the typical bland diet of Chicago than more authentic flavors. I can't blame them. Just because I'm not Indian doesn't mean I don't want the spice..and trust me I asked for it to be hot!! Service wasn't always there. It wasn't even that crowded when I went and I ran out of my drink for a while before I had to ask someone else for my waiter. My dosai wasn't very fresh and crispy. I think this place is certainly very favorable and I recommend to people who are newer to this style of food. Oh yes, do try their Lhassi-very delicious drink.
(3)Kairo C.
YUM YUM YUM!!! by far one of my absolute FAVORITE places to get indian food! i went with a large group and we shared an array of dishes ALL of which were soooooo good. byob! bring a bottle of wine to dine with. ;) for appetizers, the veggie samosas are a healthy size! one will do. i had never had the iddly before this but it is now a fave! i couldn't stop eatin' 'em. yowser! i tried the potato dosai (thin rice crepe filled w potatoes & co.) and while it was a good divergence from my staple curries, i still adore the curries. i think it was the paneer dosai w red peppers that reminded me of a mexican quesadilla - good but not quite the traditional fare at the table that won most of my attention. AS FOR THE CURRIES: i was tempted to get the avial (coconut based veggies) but i went for the bhaigan bharta (eggplant roasted) - while i thought it was great most of all the other curries were devoured by everyone leaving some of this leftover to take home. the classic palak paneer (spinach/cheese) was irresistable. the best of the night was a split between the malai kofta (cheese croquettes in tangy tomato sauce) and the paneer makhni (cheese in cream sauce). the curries come with rice but next time i may skimp on some of that rice and get an indian bread to dip. i love how veggie friendly this place is. there is so much flavor and so many options that you'd easily forget about meat for a night or two. i went home happily full and with some leftovers in tow. 5 stars minus a quarter - just for the meer fact that my water needed to be refilled (but wasn't tended to enough) with all the spicy foods on my plate.
(5)Amanda A.
Well, that was tasty. A friend and I had dinner here the other night, and left feeling like well-satiated discount-dining pros---thanks to the 20% off provided to Yelpers. We shared everything: vegetable samosas, masala dosai, chana masala (I'm always down for anything with chickpeas), dal makhani, and batura. Hmmm...listing all of that out makes me realize just how much we ate. The portions are great for sharing. We had more than enough of everything left over for at least another meal or two (or three!), and everything was well-flavored, though I do prefer my dal makhani spicier. I also found the samosas a little too greasy...but to be fair, this is my usual reaction to all except my friend's mom's samosas---which are crispy perfection.
(3)Thomas N.
Everyone keeps talking about Tiffin, but fortunately for me, they weren't open at 2 p.m. on a weekday. So I kept looking around and found Udupi Palace. Udupi Palace does south Indian cuisine, unlike Tiffin, which does north Indian. So instead of chicken tandoori and naan, this is the place to get idlys ("ID-lee"), dosais ("DOH-sah"), and sambhar ("SAHM-bar"). I ordered samosas and a dosai (which comes with sambhar). The samosas were an awesome crispy crunchiness on the outside and full of piping hot flavor on the inside. The Mysore Masala dosai was the mindblower. Dosai is kind of like a crepe, but many places make dosai so that it comes out too soft, sticky, and mushy. You begin to wonder if they were really trying to make uthappam. Udupi does it perfectly. They achieved the perfect balance of softness and crispness. And the spicy chutney, potato, and onion filling... oh mouthgasm! Within 15 minutes, my fingers on my right hand had torn up the entire dosai and deposited it into my digestive system.
(5)Jessica G.
I went here once and loved it. I had great service and a great meal. Unfortunately, the quality of food and the service is not dependable. My second visit was a disaster. We went at an off hour and I would say there were only a couple of other seated tables. Yet it took about 15-20 min to get our order in. Our waiter was completely unattentive and obnoxious. Our vegetable uthappam was lacking flavor and depth. I recommend sticking to their dosai. We came back to order the sweet and sour eggplant curry with pickled lemon. It was that memorable of a dish the first time around. The second time it was slimy and oily. Too bad. We never had anyone check in on us to ask about our meal and never got the ticket. We had to go to the front to pay and were met with some attitude that we didn't pay at our table. Unacceptable. I won't be back.
(2)Kwoky L.
It was my first time at Devon and I was excited to have some great south Indian food. With such a good rating at Yelp, naturally, I chose to go to Udupi Palace. I saw their paper masala dosai on their menu and I remembered how good it looked on Yelp. So I ordered that along with a glass of mango lassi and some papad. I really thought that the paper masala dosai was just OK. The dosai was a little chewy for me and the potato filling was lukewarm. Not the best I've ever had. Even the papad was kinda soft, perhaps left out in the kitchen for too long. If you can screw up papad, I am not sure about the rest of the food. I would probably come back for the thali next time but I think I'll wait until I try out other restaurants like Uru Swati and Usmania.
(3)Tiffany D.
Lentil Donuts!!! :D Ok, i heard good things about this place.. but after getting the mix of appetizers in the beginning... TOO MUCH FRIED FOOD.. everything started tasting the same :T It was pretty tasty tho... but don't start off with the mixed appetizers dish unless you're a big fried food fan..... I tried the sweet and sour eggplant dish and it was pretty tasty.. but I couldn't get my mind off of the whole americanized chinese feeling of it (haha the sauce) I really want to try those giant giant crispy crepe like breads next time (if) i come back!
(3)David K.
I don't claim to know anything about Indian food. I don't know anything about vegetarian cooking. But, I do know when I enjoy what I'm eating and I know when I have great service. My friend and I knew we wanted to eat some Indian food and we decided (after looking on yelp and asking friends) to go here. I just picked what sounded good on the menu. We got the panner and masala dosai and the baigan bharta and palak paneer, and all of it was delicious. It was the perfect portions where we were incredibly full and had some to take home to eat later. When we went it was pretty slow but that just meant we had almost everyone making sure that we were taken care of and our food was great. I'll definitely be back to try other things!
(4)Stephen P.
I was with some guests from Delhi tonight - in fact they've been here since Sunday, but tonight was dinner host night. "We haven't had Indian food for three days!", he said. So I looked up good spots on Yelp. And it didn't let me down. One reviewer said, "Not as good as Devon Ave.", I looked up restaurants in that area. I wanted to go to Mysore Woodlands (named after an area in southern India). But as soon as we got to Devons Ave. we asked some locals and they said to try this spot. For $15 we ordered the Royal Thali which was three-courses of glorious vegetarian food. Too much. I added mango lassi. Too much ;-) The service isn't the best and they add 15% service for parties of 5+, but it was worth the 11 miles drive from our hotel downtown. I think my guests were impressed that we took them to this place as they'd checked with the concierge about Indian food places and he said "Devon Ave. but it's far..."
(4)Dessy D.
My vegetarian friends absolutely love this place. Me thinks not. Its not that great and everything is kinda ok. Dosas are OK. but the chutneys and sambar are nothing great . I would prefer Mysore Woodlands.
(3)Duncan S.
Udupi Palace is a safe bet for someone wanting to delve into Indian food in a comfortable environment. The restaurant has nice table settings, nice decor and clean bathrooms. Efficient service without being overly friendly. We both went the lunch set meal $10.99 which featured a first course of idly (delicious) with sambar (nice and spicy) and coconut chutney. Followed with a rava masala dosa, with another serve of sambar and coconut chutney - great! The dosa was really good; crispy, delicious fillings and equal to any that we had experienced in Southern India. I am sure there are cheaper cafe options on Devon, but you cannot go past the good food and restaurant ambiance. On the second visit we had; Uttapam which were pretty good and my wife had the thali which she said was pretty solid without being spectacular.
(4)Louise M.
UPDATE: in my last review I said "most of their dishes seem to be veg-friendly!" I would now like to correct this statement with new information. All of the dishes are vegetarian. COOL!
(4)Benjamin H.
I love me some Indian vegetarian and often times i've considered myself an expert on all things paper-masala-dosa-related. This is definitely a great spot for your Indian vegetarian fix. I came with a 4-top last night and we really got some nice stuff. The eggplant curry was delightful, as were the samosas. We ordered pani bread and chapati and they were both very good. Now, the paper masala dosa were quite good. My only problem was that they really skimped on the potato-curry filling. Whenever I go to get a masa dosa, I always like to have it rolled up in a phatty-stylee....this definitely was not. Also, is it just me or is service at Indian restaurants really awkward?! The waiters hover over your, snatch your plates up immediately, fuck your order up and act really sketchy...they're either up your ass or non-existent and never the inbetween.
(3)Alice S.
I'd been craving dosai since it came up on a Yelp talk thread. I was imagining eating one of those wonderful packages of yummy goodness....and needed to eat one! Not long afterwards, my guy and I stopped in at Udupi Palace because I'd heard good things about it from friends on Yelp who know good Indian food. We were not disappointed in the least! My guy, who has a big appetite, ordered the thali, which is a tantalizing assortment of vegetable curries, with pickles, rice, and bread. Everything was delicious, but he just couldn't finish it all! He normally loves his meat, but was so happy that he is looking forward to trying more of the veggie dishes here. I had the Mysore masala dosai, very spicy and very satisfying as well. Every bite was full of spice and flavor; plenty of heat, but not overwhelming, so I could still taste the filling and the lovely crepe it was rolled in as well. My mouth is watering just from the memory of that dosai! The service was just fine; they were friendly and just attentive enough without being obtrusive. Definitely worth many more visits to try their other options, Udupi Palace will be on our list of restaurants we will be visiting regularly. I can't wait to go again!
(4)Joe T.
Thinking that this might be the last winter I spend in Chicago, I resolved to visit Devon for some authentic Indian food before parting ways with the Windy City. I took my girlfriend here for our Tuesday date night on the recommendation of her co-worker. I found the service uneven and the food bland. I would recommend trying another restaurant in the vicinity. I love Indian food but was not very familiar with the southern Indian dishes on their menu. No matter, I'll try anything. We attempted ask for recommendations, but our server did not speak English very well and didn't understand what we were asking. We ordered a couple samosas and labored over what to order for entrees while our server put in the appetizer order. Another server came over to our table. We hastily made up our minds. This server spoke English slightly better, and warned that one of the curries we had ordered was "very spicy." Spicy? At an Indian restaurant? Uhm, yes. Bring it on, please. Alas, the food was not spicy at all. It was in fact rather bland. The paneer makhni was particularly bland, but the aloo gobi masala (the purportedly "spicy" dish) barely had any kick whatsover. The decision to visit this restaurant was admittedly poorly planned. If I'd had time to check Yelp reviews I might have ordered differently. However, having no knowledge of what to order, it would have been helpful to have a server who could answer some basic questions. And when a waiter in an Indian restaurant warns that a dish is spicy, I expect to taste some spice.
(2)Kim J.
CHOMP! I love me some Indian food, and I was wanting to try something new. Enter Udupi Palace and its delectable southern Indian cuisine. The result? One full, happy tummy. The boyfriend and I stopped by on a random Friday night where we were craving Indian food. We didn't know it was BYOB but will surely remember next time. We started out with Iddly, which came with a delightful mint sauce. For our main meal, we spit a mysore dosai and a paneer dish, both of which were awesome! I love Indian places that don't skimp on the spice, and Udupi certainly did not. Service was friendly, although the waiter didn't seem to understand enough of what we were asking when we had a couple of questions. Parking is a bit tough. We'll definitely be back!
(4)Flee Q.
Veggie restaurant with tasty dishes! Friendly staff. I'm not an indian food expert, but it was definitely a place I would return to. We ordered the dinner specials so we could get a variety for our family.
(4)Mark S.
My favorite Devon spot. Food here is truly amazing and great value. Go here Today and love it.
(5)Eric S.
Imagine my surprise when I moved from Takoma Park, MD, and found this gem here in Chicago. I felt cheated that I missed out on this food for years as they have another location near my old home. Alas, that's the way things go. This place is my old stand-by. If I am not sure where to go, I go here and am rarely disappointed. People have made negative comments about the service here, but the food is outstanding. The Special Rava Masala Dosai is a personal favorite, as is the Bhendi Masala. When you order food spicy, that's the way it comes, so you may want a side order of raita to cool your tingling palate. Hungry? Get a thali that will quench the biggest of appetites.
(5)Bridg G.
I dream of the mysore madala dosai. It is crispy and light and filled with pure deliciousness. It is hot but with the coconut chutney to cool it down it is just perfect. The waiter talked us into the mango lassi instead of cokes and we are glad he did, it was perfect complement to the hot and spicey food. We always get the mixed appetizer platter it is heaven. The reason I give it 5 stars is for the way they treat my 1 year old daughter. 4 of the waiters periodically came over to entertain her and she was loving it, one even played peek-a-boo with her! She sat in her high chair the entire time totally content - which rarely happens. One of the waiters brought her a little (complementary) cup of mango juice and she couldn't get enough. She also loved the Iddly dipped in the veg soup, it is perfect for babies soft and not too spicy. Overall we just had such a great experience, great food, really nice people, and no dead animals! What more can a vegetarian ask for!
(5)Mr. T.
I love Udupi Palace. The food here is incredibly good -- and their sauces rock. Try an Uttapam (kinda like Indian pizza), or the ever popular Dosa -- a thin, crispy crepe with various fillings. AND BE SURE TO ASK FOR SOME ONION CHUTNEY! It's great. They also make their own "pickle" -- a pungent Indian relish made from lemons and spices. It's an acquired taste, but theirs is some of the best I've had. The Thali meals (a sort of pre-fixed individual buffet) are great here too. The service is okay, not the best you'll ever get -- but the manager/owner is especially nice. They do try. The only thing I wish Udupi had was Coke in a can. Their "fountain" Coke is a bit small -- so if you ask for a lot of ice, you get like an ounce of liquid. I like my Coke really cold, so this is always a problem for me here. I also don't like the taste of their fountain Coke. But the food... the food is GREAT! GO!
(5)Kedar D.
This place is a solid vegetarian South Indian restaurant and a bit of an institution on Devon Avenue. You can't go wrong with anything you order. Service is friendly. That said, I wish they indicated which dishes are vegan on their menu; it's no big deal to ask the waiter, but I think South Indian restaurants should get the message that more and more vegans would eat there if they better knew the ingredients of some dishes. Still, Udupi is a classic and serves great (South Indian) comfort food.
(4)Jacob K.
For once I decided against my usual masala dosi here and opted for something else as did my friends. We ordered the aloo gobi masala curry (potato and cauliflower, the khate mithe baingan (sweet and sour eggplant), the mattar paneer (homemade cheese and green peas, the tomatoes and peas uthappam (pancake) and the batura (large fluffy bread). Everything was very good, the cauliflower dish and the bread were my favorites. This is a fairly large restaurant so it is good for parties. The atmosphere is good, the waiter are friendly. However, from the menu descriptions and the explanations by the servers it may be a bit intimidating for those unfamiliar with Indian food. This place is also all vegetarian and I just learned that the owners also own Tiffen.
(4)Alyce C.
Uthappam and Dosai are delish. Friendly service. They are very accomodating to groups. Most importantly for some, staff were really helpful explaining dishes and warning about what sauces were going to be really spicy to the newbies amongst us. Satisfying to even non-vegetarians.
(4)Jake K.
I have been here several times now. As an avid traveler, I have had Indian all over Florida, Bangkok, and now Chicago. I must say, the taste at Udipi is excellent, the best I have yet to have in Chicago. The aloo gobhi and the bhindi masala are both fantastic. I sometimes get a chapati potatoes, peas, and spices. The chapati tends to be a bit greasy, but I think that's just how the dish is made anywhere you go. The mango lassi is the best I've had in the States, I only wish the drink size was larger! Once I take the first sip I can't put the drink down. I definitely recommend this place to all my friends!
(5)David B.
Wow, this is easily one of my favorite restaurants now. I went on Saturday night and the restaurant was pretty crowded. I made a reservation about 2 hours prior to arrival and was seated promptly. The menu here is just awesome. I ended up getting 2 appetizers (iddly combo), sharing 2 entrees (dosai and a curry) and a bread order (aloo paratha). Everything was absolutely fantastic! We ended up in serious food comatose as food portions are generous (and at a good price!). Another great part of this place is that its a BYOB.
(5)Michael H.
Solid vegetarian-style indian food. I haven't been in a while, but the food was tasty. The wait staff was slow and not that friendly. The ambiance was meh. The food was good though.
(4)R M.
I really love it when a menu says something is spicy, and then when you get it, it burns your face off. When something says spicy this is what I expect! Quite possibly the best Indian food I have ever eaten.
(5)Mike K.
This is a really solid all veg Indian restaurant. The service is great, and the food quality is top-notch. Be sure to order the Papri Chaat appetizer. It's yogurty and tamarindy and spicy all together. Their samosas are also well spiced. Nearly every time I've gone to Udupi, I've ordered the Dosa. I got the really spicy mysore dosai today. Odd, but the review below is correct: their soft drinks come out flat and weird-tasting. Today they took my Coke off the tab when I called their attention to it. Great staff, great chutney, great dosai, great everything. Make this place your go-to Indian spot on Devon. And by the way, can we get a shout out for Devon and Rogers Park's diversity? Awesome!
(4)Dheeraj K.
Had a visit to this restaurant last week. Food is very tasty. Ordered pongal and dosas, every item tasted wonderful. I would recommend this to all of the visitors of Dewan street.
(5)Eric C.
Jagdish, thanks for responding. You had a tall, thin host working that day. He was extremely nice, and friendly. I came on July 4th, just before I wrote the review. I wrote it in the car on the way home. It was about 8pm. We drove 30 minutes strictly to eat dinner at your restaurant, based on what my girlfriend had said about previous experience. She had been talking about how great your food at this vegetarian location was for a long time. We both enjoy Indian food as one of our favorite cuisines, and she worked at an Indian restaurant for several years. We both left not even eating half of the food we ordered, and we were STARVING on our way to Udupi. We made a meal when we got back home. We both love to eat. I cannot remember a time we have left a meal uneaten. This was an exceptionally bad meal.
(1)Vaishnavi S.
A trip to Devon, the little Indo-Pak of Illinois would not be complete for hubby without having his fair share of south indian food at one of the many restaurants out here. Super famished and hungry we walked into Udupi Palace to gorge on some Idly and Dosa. The Mini Idly - soft idlies, spicy & tangy sambhar with coconut chutney was a good way to start off. Equally good was the Rava Masala Dosa which we ordered based on our waiters recommendation. Crispy, soft and lacey dosas... Gently spiced potato masala... Wish we had space for one more :) To finish our meal we ordered the Mysore Coffee which was good but nothing great. All in all a totally enjoyable meal.
(4)Shruthi R.
Food tasted okay... The dosas and channa batura were good but the sambar vadai I wouldn't wish upon anyone with a taste for good south Indian food. Whatever they served as bisi bele bath, is not how its traditionally made but still tasted okay. As for the service, it was so pathetic. They don't care to keep silverware before serving us something to eat. The waiter frowned since he had to repeat our order an extra time. Talk about bad experiences!!! Overall, I wouldn't recommend someone I knew to this place for any meal.
(1)Rahul W.
I don't generally write reviews but this place deserved my attention. Firstly being Indian I do know my food and I expect a lot from places that serve Indian food. My entire experience and the 5 stars stems mainly from the Stellar service I received from this restaurant . From the time we walked in we were attended to with great detail and our server was amazing. We got Mysore dosa and the idly , if I had to complain about anything at all it would be the medu vada which lacked the crispy texture I so adore. However I will definitely be back
(5)Philip M.
Split a combo appetizer and two dosai dishes with my friend. I loved everything! Great place for many tasty veg options.
(5)Akhil C.
Best place to eat a dosa in Chicago after Aurora temple. Its my favourite for the last 5 yrs
(5)Emily B.
I stumbled upon Udupi when I was looking for Indian on grub hub... And couldn't have been more pleased with the results! I ordered samosas and two dishes and had enough to eat three meals of leftovers - and never got tired of it. The spice level is perfect - spicy enough to make my nose a little runny but not so spicy that you can't taste all of the other flavors.
(5)Bina P.
We came in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Everyone from the host to the server to the cleanup crew, all were friendly and helpful! The falooda was refreshing! The rasam, sambhar and chutneys were all good! The idlis were soft as pillows! My Dosa was nice and crisp! This meal was worth a trip to Devon!
(4)Shambavi K.
In hopes to try a different south indian place, I thought I'd give this a try. The idli was undercooked in the idli vada combo. After showing the waiter, they brought back only 1 Idli separately. ..the dish has 2. I guess they assumed the other Idli was ok which wasn't but I hoped they would have replaced the whole plate. The fresh idli was light and tasted right. The vada was chewy and small..not fresh. Sambar was tasty but they don't give you a lot initially. But they will provide if you ask for it. The chana in the chana batura was greasy and not tasty. The rava masala dosa was sloppy and the potato masala was very underspiced. I thought I was eating home fries from an American diner. Overall not a great night for dinner. We were trying to show our Bengaladeshi friend some south indian food but this was a let down. Also note: try not to order chaats at a south indian place....this isn't the place. I'll probably have to go back to my tried and true Uru-swati for south indian and Sukadia for chaats.
(2)Subramanian S.
The ambience is a little lacking, but they more than made up for that with service and the quality of the dishes - both South Indian and North Indian fare. I had been to one other Indian food establishment in Devon street, and was (very) pleasantly surprised with the quality of service at Udipi. We were a group of ten people, and did not have to wait for our food at all, even with a lot of items being ordered. Actually the items even came out so fast that we had trouble accommodating it all on the table.
(4)Sameena S.
i like south indian food if have to pick hyderabadi bryani and dosa ,vada , i pick south indian food
(4)Vineel A.
This place has the worst waiters. The old guy who took my order for puri did not ask if we wanted aloo curry. And he was overbearing. When the puri was delivered, we were taken by surprise cause there's no aloo curry and he didn't even bother to ask us if we wanted the curry! No wonder the place was almost empty on the 4th of July weekend at lunch time. They will never see us again.
(1)Sam L.
This is our go-to south indian joint. Great owner, great food. Chai and mango lassi are great. Chai made with freshly ground spices. The paper dosa is huge and hilarious, i get it with the potatoes usually. Idli is also delicious. Kid friendly
(5)Jake L.
I wouldnt give this place even 1 star if i could. Its dirty. Taste is oK and over priced. Dishes i and friends ordered. Paneer roll Special dosa. Kadai Paneer. Dahi puri. Mango lassi. Don't even try this one. All in all less then average taste. Other restaurant around this area are much better. This is the most over priced veg restaurant in devon. $9 for a paneer roll which doesn't even fill me up half way. And then over the top. The glasses were dirty. Well the last thing that hit me was the owner or manager went to all the tables to ask them how were they doing. All other tables were families with kids. I was with my friend and his wife and we are young. Late 20s. No one and i mean no once came to even ask if we were doing ok. Not even the waiter. Well i guess they didn't care. Not ever going here not just because of the behavior but food is below average. I recommend a veg restaurant just few blocks down.
(1)Laura L.
The mulligatwany was probably my fave. All really good. Highly recommend. Vegetarian wonderland.
(5)Vinay S.
It is so expensive for the horrible food. I had idli vada combo. Idli was cold and vada was cold not even close to crispy. Chutney was kinda stale. Never going back again. Shame for the name of udupi.
(1)Christopher M.
The most delicious 3 star meal ever. The food is fantastic. Amazing flavors and quality - for sure some of the best Indian food I have ever had. The service, however, was some of the worst we have ever had. We tried to order but the waiter said it was too much food and we didn't need it all. Ok, we'll trust you, and we were impressed he would save us money. Fast forward to food being served ... Um, no way. There's no way this is feeding three people. It was only enough food for one. So we had to order more food, which wouldn't be a big deal if the waiter didn't somehow go missing, and when he did reappear for our order forget to put it in. It stinks to be served 20 minutes before everyone else and feel guilty about eating in front of everyone. The food is awesome, but know going in the service will be very lacking. 158/365
(3)Anna K.
Been coming here for years but the quality of the food is slipping They must have a new chef who doesn't know how to cook this food The sambhar is watery and we need to fish for any sign of lentils ;) It used to be my favorite udipi place now I need to find a. Better alternative
(3)SAUD G.
Extremely bad experience, the owner / manager did not wanted to serve a hijabi family and told them we have only idli, vada during dinner time. i advise him to be more tolerant against all customers. who in the world says they serve only idli vada for dinner.
(1)U J.
Very bad service, had to wait about 45 minutes for our food and that too when it was not a busy time, barely half the place was occupied. Neither the food nor the coffee tasted any good.
(1)Kunal D.
My waiter was in angry mood. No one came to ask us about the food. Paneer wrap is waste of money. For $9 it was just a small roti with vegetable in it with no taste. We also orders kadhai paneer it tasted like paneer with turmeric on it. The paneer was big cubes and they were hard. There was also big cubes of tomato in it. Also the water glass we got had food on it from outside as if it was reused from someone else, without washing it. My whole meal was wasted I am never going back to this palace. If there was 0 rating I would have given that. This Owner should have knowledge about customer service and taste of his food.
(1)Krishna T.
BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The management has changed so dont look at the previous reviews and save yourself from a bad experience . This is the worst restaurant I have been to in the recent times. The food was bad and the dosa stuck to the plate. When asked about it , the waiter replied that dosa is generally sticks to the plate so its not a big deal.
(1)Jamsaheb ..
Best goto place... Best dosas in Chicago (especially if u like them crispy).. Paper dosa Awesum.. Mysore dosa - phenomenal and my fav... Spinach dosa (minus onion) good too... Green chutney, onion chutney.. I can go on.. Its the best
(5)Usha R.
We visited udipi last week and restaurent is offering regional cooking at its finest .they have all casual eatery South Indian tiffens as well as North Indian Dishes I ordered a Royal Udipi Thali and it's definitely delicious .. We felt its little expensive than usual .. But it has many varieties included .. This is our first visit and we are quite pleased ..
(4)Divya S.
Food was not fresh... Rude service...they don't even bother about customer's Tip: If u happen to go there,Never ever order Thalis
(1)Anusha P.
I will definitely not recommend this place for south Indian meals. First of all, their coffee tasted nothing like south Indian filter coffee and left me very disappointed. In their madras meals all the items were very okay okay. Nothing too good. As a personal preference, I wouldn't go to a south Indian restaurant looking for mushrooms for lunch. Slightly bad menu style too. Overall, not good definitely not one of the best. If you want good Indian food I would tell you to try something else.
(2)Karen R.
Brought my in-laws to Udipi Palace for breakfast after a 5 year hiatus. Was unpleasantly surprised at how much the quality had gone down since my last visit. My family is South Indian so we do have pretty high expectations but really folks the food is just lousy. Management has cut corners across the board skimping on spices, veggies and seasoning. The poori/puri were incredibly greasy, the masala potatoes used for the dosa and puri were virtually flavorless. Their idli's were hard and also flavorless. Was shocked at how watery and tasteless the sambar and coconut chutney had become. Couple the bad food with less than friendly service and it was all around a disappointing visit. Will not be going back.
(1)Danielle K.
I was hoping to direct this message to Udupi Palace via email, but since I've been unable to locate an email address I'll leave this on Yelp; maybe this experience would be of interest to others, as well, anyway. I am of South Indian descent, and after moving to Chicago last year I was so thrilled to discover the abundance of excellent South Indian restaurants in the area; I've enjoyed yours in particular. However, after a dining experience this past Monday in which I was treating some family friends to lunch, I will not be returning to your restaurant, and I suppose I would be remiss if I did not let you know why. The food, of course, was excellent, as it always is, and I thank you for that. The trouble came when I politely asked if we could have the check whenever our server had a chance to bring it; our server regarded my request with a sort of befuddled confusion, which I overlooked until I realized that it was apparently not my place to ask for the check--even though I made the request, the check was presented to the eldest man at the table. I (the youngest woman in our group of four) had agreed in advance to treat the group to lunch, so it was quite awkward when, despite my gestures to please hand the check to me, I was ignored. I had to stand and reach across the table to retrieve the check from our server's hand. At this point, it seems it would have been quite obvious who was paying for the meal (I positioned the check beside my seating area after putting my credit card in the folder), but apparently not so--as when our server collected the check and then returned, he presented the check to the eldest man at the table. Once again, I had to stand, reach across the table, and retrieve my credit card. I don't know why I left a tip in excess of 20%--I'm a creature of habit, I guess--but I did, and really in retrospect I don't know that I should have left even half that. I placed the signed receipt by my table seating, once again, and when the server came to retrieve the receipt, he made eye contact with the eldest man in our group and asked if it was alright to take the check at this point. I said "yes," and still he waited for confirmation from the eldest man. I am aware that social change has this unfortunate tendency to occur at a snail's pace, but your staff behaved with absurd disrespect toward me during our meal a few days ago. Since it seems inconceivable to your staff that a woman might pay for a meal (with money she earned working or something!), I'll relieve you of any further confusion by not patronizing your restaurant again. I sincerely hope you can resolve this atrociously outdated attitude, as I really have enjoyed your food.
(2)Sim K.
DON'T GO! Please wait for a new management to take over. Cute couple Krishna and Radha look awesome though.
(1)Aswinikumar A.
Good service with simple food taste would be an apt description for this place. But that said, quantity of food is certainly not worth for the cost paid. I took a Royal thali that made me feel royal until my food arrived. On asking for an extra cup of rice and sambar, i was charged a whopping $5 over and above my $11 thali. Due to depleting south indian food options in Chicago, this restaurant probably still holds its might and so does my wife who sort of loves their Sambar rice which is named as Bisibela bath, on their menu. For heavy hitters & hungry folks, you cannot settle for anything less than 2 entree's that would pinch your pocket heavy. My kudos to those who are brave enough to try their Dahi wada.
(3)Paddu P.
Food is always on point! Especially the dosa with its caramelized potatoes and onions. Just to dieeee for!!!!! The only reason I'm giving this place 3 stars is because the servers are moody and the bathroom is always clogged. Sometimes I've gotten the most jolly/sweetest waiter and other times just cold, eye rolling jerks. Hit or miss here.
(3)Manasa R.
I honestly don't know why everyone's given a 4/5 star rating for this restaurant.. I know for sure that I'm NEVER stepping back into this restaurant... Sambar is hot water, Coconut chutney is stale and sour - when asked why, they stated everyone loves and we were the only ones being picky!! We're South Indians and we know better than anyone how sambar should be... Ordered idly and dosa which were stone cold and a cloth!!! If you're hungry don't ever step, it's just going to fill your appetite!!
(1)Swetha K.
Best Mysore Masala Dosa !! I visit this place from Michigan just to eat Mysore Masala Dosa :) I love how the owner/manager(the gentleman with cap) walks around the restaurant to make sure everything is going fine. Respect for him !
(5)Anh N.
I tried the vegetable curry, paneer curry, and manchurian stirfry of broccoli and mushrooms. The food was decent, but wasn't memorable. Don't bother with the stirfry, not worth it for the price. Paneer curry had these round balls in it, but no paneer in sight. I was totally looking forward to the paneer, too. I felt bad that I dragged my friends here since it was just okay and not great as expected.
(2)iftekhar K.
Food quality have changed big time due to Higher Illinois property tax therefore higher rent ! They are cutting expense by cutting quality Its sad food was so bad I had to threw it literally
(1)Amna A.
My all-time favorite veg resto on Devon ave. They do the best paper dosa / masala dosa.. my mouth is watering as I'm writing this review so you can just imagine. Always go here with my mom! It's our fav dosa place. Their sambar, coconut chutney ..divine. The perfect South Indian experience. make sure to order the lassi too, quite a treat
(5)Mira S.
It was good, but about average for South Indian places. I'd go back, but it's one of a few places on Devon I'd be equally happy to go to. I'm giving it 4 stars because I'd definitely recommend it, and would be happy to go back when I want South Indian. The paper masala dosa is my usual for gauging a place, and it was good here, but again, not amazing. I'm used to having several dipping sauces, and there were fewer here, so the dosa was good, but the sauce situation was less good. The service was very friendly and quick, in taking orders, serving, and refilling. My friend liked his eggplant curry. Our app was good, too. The chai after dinner was average, not bad. It was almost empty when we sat down around 7pm, but it actaully filled up over the next hour or so. There's adequate parking around, free if you're willing to walk a few blocks.
(4)Sid P.
Friendly, courteous service, a wide variety for a vegetarian-only menu, and a decent, comfortable atmosphere. Recommended for the slightly adventurous or even those trying to eat out as vegetarian. The special rava masala dosai is not to be missed and goes with everything. Their spicy broth, rasam, is a bit strong for some but recommended if you can handle a little heat. Their potato and pea samosas is always a tasty appetizer, hot and flaky. A new entry, from their Indian-Chinese menu, is the Manchurian Broccoli & Mushrooms; it has become a favorite of mine. There's always a manager available to help select a well-balanced meal. They are first and foremost ready to help you enjoy your visit. Don't forget to order a masala chai (tea) or coffee, perhaps with the meal, not just after it, as you may decide that one cup is not enough.
(4)Vignesh T.
We tried pongal aviyal, Madras meal, and dosa vada meal. Neither the waiter nor the hotel manager greeted us or welcomed us. None even smiled. I was missing Indian food, particularly south Indian. The excitement to have south Indian thali after long time was shattered after going to this place ( I flew from Columbus ). The food was totally bland, No spice, lacked salt, and was greasy. I don't want to critique individual elements of food, as it would require more than two pages. Go to this place only if you don't have better choice.
(2)Katherine I.
I recommend this spot to anyone looking for divine Indian food. Vegetarian dishes were spectacular and spicy. Something that I really enjoyed was the hospitality of the owner- he brought my boyfriend and I dishes/appetizers to try because he didn't want us to miss out. A friend recommended this spot and I will continue eating here in the future!
(5)Sneha P.
Good masala dosa and idli. Very authentic, decent prices for the dosa/idli. I wanted to try the chole batura, but it was $11 and I refuse to pay that much for it. I can make it myself for a few cents. Authentic service, atmosphere, and food. It was empty when we went in, and we saw Mysore Woodlands had a lot of Indians later in the evening. So, I may stop by there next time to check out the competition since they seem so popular. But Udupi did good, and management was very nice too.
(5)Joseph J.
Awesome South Indian food. I usually order for delivery, they go to most of the north side and they're quick. The onion chili uthapam with the coconut chutney is fantastic. The dosai are unbelievably huge and delicious. They have the best channa masala I've ever tasted... It's hella spicy, like it should be. I'm not a vegetarian but if I were I'd be eating here every other night. Highly recommend
(4)Sara A.
The food has great flavor and the price is right. But... I found a hair and a piece of plastic in my food. This went from a favorite place, to a place I will never go back to. There are plenty of Indian places to choose from.
(1)Vivek M.
Trust me. The place was good until a while back. But now its a big no. Ordered dahi vada and they served couple of days old ones from the refrigerator.
(1)Keshav R.
Nothing memorable about this place ! The dosa was ok and the indian chinese terrible. The only good thing is it is BYOB place.
(2)Jacob A.
This place has some great veg food! Food is great, the service is excellent and they are reasonably priced! The dosa here is amazing! We've been coming here for a number of years and they have consistently kept food and and service as a top priority.
(5)Robert K.
Disappointing. Service poor, totally missed one entree order. Food was bland compared to what you would expect from authentic indian cooking.
(2)Shwetha K.
Food is not so tasty and the place is unhygienic. I am sure, any body would fall ill if had food in those dirty silver ware. Sambar was just hot water, idli were stones, dosa was cold cloth here. There are lot many options in Gandhi marg like Sukhadias, Annapurna, Vice roy of India instead of this restaurant.
(2)eric f.
maybe udipi palace has treated me well in the past but things seemed to have changed. it might be time to find another vegetarian go-to place on devon since my last trip disappointing across the board: they didn't have any nan (even though it was on the menu ); the samosa+medhu vata were both a little off; some of the cheese in the kadai paneer had a weird consistency and tasted rubbery; with our aloo gobi the cauliflower pieces were really huge and a little undercooked while there was barely any potato in the curry; and to top it off there was no music playing in the dining rom so we got to sit and eat in awkward silence since the dining room was relatively empty.
(3)Adrian Q.
Vintage Bollywood songs in the background. Tasty veg dosas. Awesome idly. What more can I ask?
(4)Vaidehi T.
This place has deteriorated quite a lot! I ordered the idli/vada combo - they have named themselves Udupi palace - making good idli/vada should be a no-brainer for a south indian restaurant. The idlis were hard and vada was cold. I am usually not a picky eater, but don't sell this kind of food to a person who grew up eating idlis. I had to send it back. Ordered the regular dosa and the others in the group ordered the rava masala dosa and aloo poori. The dosas were decent but the sambhar was completely meh - no flavor, but just brown looking liquid... which probably had been diluted multiple times. The chutney was cold. Poked the poori in the aloo poori dish, and a pool of hot oil drained out of it. I have been to this place multiple times before, but maybe their cook has changed. The food is of terrible quality - am not going to this place anymore.
(2)Erin H.
I don't care if it does take me an hour to get to work; living within Udupi's delivery zone is the best thing on earth. I've never had anything from here that wasn't indescribably delicious. It's not easy to eat healthy and still feel like you're indulging yourself, but Udupi makes it possible - like, so possible that I'm grateful I can get it at home, where nobody can judge me for licking my plate!
(5)Matt M.
The chickpeas here are great. The portion sizes are also very nice. I am not disappointed by this restaurant, but I feel as if yelpers had led me astray. The competition for Indian food in this neighborhood is stiff and I just think this place is not up to snuff for the area. There are two types of places in this neighborhood that standout. The places where the locals eat that are no-bells-and-whistles delicious food only, and high end Indian food. This really does not fall into either category and neither disappoints or "wows" you.
(3)Azra H.
I've been here two times and each time almost everything was insanely spicey. I really like Indian food and I like some heat, but the restaurant and its clients would really benefit if there were some sort of indicator of the spice level of the entrees. The first time we went, we got an appetizer that was like some sort of puff potato rolled in a suspiciously spicy-looking red powder.. I couldn't take a bite of half of one without it making me regret it. It was tasty but seriously.. so spicy. I got a rice/lentil pancake as an entree that was a good spice level, so that was ok. The second time, two of us got an eggplant curry and okra curry dish that were both soooo spicy we were unable to finish them. And of course they felt even spicier with the actual heat of the dish ahh :/ ironically, the one person who tolerated spice the most from our group on visit 2, got the least spicy dish! It was a chickpea dish with a big puffy bread.. and it was perfectly seasoned and delicious. So we stole some of his :P All in all, I think the food is very tasty. The service is nice. But there should be a scale of spice levels next to the dishes... a lot of restaurants will put a little jalapeño icon or the like (or 2 or 3) to help people know. But if they are not going to make that adjustment, 100% every time ask for what they believe the spice level is of things. If you like spice but can only handle so much before your tummy (and other parts) make you regret it, err on the side of caution and let them know to make it mild!
(4)Morgan Z.
Get the manchurian AND the masala iddly. Mmmm soooo good. I always leave here satisfied.
(5)San S.
This is my first visit and it's really very bad I ordered Idly -- I can compare it with rubber ball Medhu vada-- okay Sambar -- very bad Palak dosa -- I can't even define how it is Rava dosa -- okay not good Chutney -- waste
(1)Stephen S.
I have to say, I've never been to India but hitting up Devon Avenue made me feel like a got a little taste of it. Udupi Palace is exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to Indian food, good prices, lots of options and all kinds of delicious curries and breads. When we sat down we were greeted with a very thorough walk through the menu. We settled on the appetizer sampler, the okra curry, and the special spring dosa. The appetizer sampler had some hits and misses. I personally loved the chili pakora (deep fried chilis) and wasn't such a fan of the vadas (fried lentil donuts), the samosas and pakoras were also really good. Both the curry and the spring dosa were delicious, and tons of food, we ended up taking about half of the dosa home with us. The service was super friendly all the way around and I loved how attentive they were and helpful in making choices.
(4)Ilana F.
Yummy with lots of food for the price (dinner for 2 w drinks with leftovers for at least another night for $35). My husband says this is the only style in which he thoroughly enjoys and feels full on vegetarian food.
(4)Saurabh K.
One of the best sambhar vada I had in States . Other South Indian foods are also good. Liked Cholle of cholle-bhature too! Service is reasonable, however they can do better.
(4)Lizzy R.
Udupi Palace is an absolute gem, and my favorite restaurant on Devon Avenue (and that's saying something, because I've been eating at various places on Devon Ave since I was in utero). I came here last night with my mother, and we ordered the Udupi Special with Vada, Masala Dosai, and Rasam, as well as the Paneer Malai Kofta (my favorite). Everything was very delicious, especially the malai kofta, and I can never get enough of the coconut chutney that comes with the dosai and the vada. The Gulab Jamun and Masala Tea were a perfect end to a very enjoyable meal. The waitstaff was polite and very attentive. They refilled our water jug whenever it seemed to be getting low, and came by a few times during our meal to check on us. They even gave us an extra Gulab Jamun on the house when we ordered an additional Masala Tea (only one of each item comes with the dinner special)! I will definitely be back the next time I have a craving for Southern Indian food and I would highly recommend this place to anyone!
(5)Vinay K.
Id heard a lot of negatives about the place but still wanted to try it out because the name "Udupi" is a brand and I'm a die hard fan of the food. However the ambiance is decent but the waiters aren't too prompt..even with a thin crowd. (i wonder why there was such a thin crowd on a Sunday afternoon??) We ordered the standard thali and though limited one at @11 it was quite a lot of food one can possibly eat. I obseved the paper dosa served was prettyyyy looong!.. looked yum Good: The cauliflower/Spinach palya (veggie) was awesome! I credited the owner for the sabzi and he got so happy he get me another bowl of it. That's good customer service. Rasam, Pulav, Dal were also very well made. Sambar was bit spicy though Bad: The semia payasa (kheer) was less of that and more of luke warm badam milk with bits of vermicelli floating. i cud make much better :) A let down. Overall a very warm friendly place but with lots of room for improvement. hence 1 star less. A must visit for all veggie food lovers.
(4)Marco H.
This is an excellent vegan Indian restaurant! Super friendly service. The owner? kept checking up on us to make sure we liked the food. Try the fried veggie app (banana peppers, cauliflower and potato) which comes with a sweet and green slightly spicy dipping sauce. The cauliflower and potato curry was really good and flavorful. Udupi Palace doesn't have naan (it's not vegan) but the bread is still tasty. Also you have to try any of the masala dosas,...which are huge.
(4)Yav A.
I have been going to Udupi for years. I highly recommend: The Masala Dosas is a crispy, savory crepe filled with seasoned potatoes, peas and onions. Heaven on a plate. The iddly which are steamed rice patties which are complimented by a delicious, tasty authentic sambar. Samosas are Indian versions of the empanadas and pirogies. Simply and seasoned to perfection which a hint of chillie. Great Place for years!!!
(5)Egan V.
Devon has many vegetarian (and nonveg) restaurants, but don't neglect to try Udupi. Service was superb: Very attentive, helpful, and accommodating, Vegan items are not labelled, but ask for non-dairy and they'll help you out. The food is delicious. I tried the Panjabi thali, so I got a bit of many things. Many very spicy things. All tasty. Let me tell you about what my toddler, who is generally picky at restaurants, thought about the food: He tries something and his face flushes and he grabs the water and guzzles it. Me: "Are you OK?" He: "Yes." Me: "Was it spicy?" He: "Yes." Me: "Was it yummy?" He: "Yes." And he eats some more. Though this time I diluted it with more basmati rice for him. He still drank a gallon of water. So don't be afraid to give Udupi Palace a try.
(5)Ramya P.
Everyone loves the dosas here but the bisi bele bath is the bomb!! Like most places on Devon, don't expect friendly service. The waiters are here to do their job... to bring food out to your table and they won't bother you with a smile. But that's how it works even in India. What you will find though, are authentic south Indian dishes. My husband and I love the dosas, uthappams and hot medhu vadas that are served with coconut chutney and sambar ( a soup). But, our fave dish by far, is their bisi bele bath which takes me back to Karnataka, the place where this dish originated.
(4)Steve r.
We needed a quick snack and some hot coffee during one the many snow days we've had lately. Udupi hit the spot! Excellent Rava Masala Dosa!!!! Tender, spicy potato filling, crisp, fermented dosa, and the coconut chutney and sambar was superb. Sambar was nice and spicy! Spiced Mysore coffee was soothing and braced us for the blowing snow outside. They even gave us a 2nd cup for free! Thank you Udupi! See you soon!
(5)Mia P.
love this place. LOVE this place. sometimes the food comes out at different times where one person gets their food way earlier than another. but the flavors are consistently rocking.
(4)Tulika S.
By its name you will feel to cherish the South Indian delicacies but my frnds it's not true....nt very good South Indian food but chole bhaturey rocks n even the North Indian food is good to eat
(3)Nithin M.
We ordered the Mysore masala dosa and South Indian tali. The food is better than average but the madras coffee is a rip-off. It is nothing other than some instant coffee in milk. The place is reasonably clean and the service is average. I would rate 4 for the food alone, but the other factors bring the rating down to 3.
(3)Sonia S.
Excellent service probably because the owner is present and vigilant. The food is good and this is a quiet restaurant, with traditional cloths on the tables. Some of the other places on Devon are noisy and more like fast food restaurants, but this place is more peaceful. It's probably a bit harder to spot on the street because the front is narrow.
(5)Matt R.
I like this place. I ordered delivery here, and they brought it all the way up to evanston! For sake of "sick tea" I elected to get their masala, which was about the sweetest masala I've ever tasted. a lot of sugar, but fit for what I wanted at the moment. I also got the Rasam Soup, which is something I've absolutely never tried before and would suggest to anyone. It's a sour and spicy soup, which apparently has chilies in it (and thus is a little oily) but basically tastes awesome. I don't know which type of indian cuisine Udupi represents but I like it. I will definitely be ordering here again and probably stopping in sometime. Looks like southern, which is a cuisine I haven't had that often and do like the variation of. The veggie pakoras were a little bit small in quantity (there were like 5? 6) but fried cauliflower turmeric = happy matty. In looking at their dinner specials, maybe I should have done that for today, but overall a very positive first experience with Udupi. Food is a little expensive, but definitely good. Additionally, everything appears to be basically vegetarian, so that means a very simple and great menu given my typical diet (and wifey's).
(5)Nikhil A.
Rasam... Dosa...Vada or Uttapam in short South Indian style food :) This is my go to place and never get disappointed (except once Rasam was too sour). I love their food and when I am craving Dosa, no better place to be. The only other place I go sometime for Dosa is Mysore Woodlands and its also good, but this one is my first preference. The service is good, nice background music and you can get as much sambar and chutni you want. I have tried North Indian food its pretty good too but I prefer some other places for that. As for spice level, its moderate so anyone can enjoy it. Their Mysore coffee is awesome and one of my friend never forgets to order one just like I love rasam here :) Highly recommended and must try :)
(5)Betsy T.
Chicagoans, do you know how lucky you are to have so many options for good South Indian food?! Udupi Palace was the last stop on my Chicago food tour, which was a good thing because I practically had to be rolled out of the restaurant. I love Indian food, but I'm used to Bangladeshi and North Indian cuisine; dosa and sambar are new to me. I still like my plate to be heaped high with fragrant basmati rice and my curry of choice, but I fell in love with some of these amazing South Indian dishes. The highlight of the meal for me was the bowl of mini-iddly. I understand that these are typically larger and steamed, but at Udupi, they were little and crispy on the outside. I cannot emphasize how good they were. I can sit and just consume an entire vat of these, one crispy delicious piece at a time. I also loved the dosa - a big crepe-like thing, possibly folded over stuffing (we picked a potato stuffing). We ended up ordering the dosa and all three of the special combo meals. It was a lot of food. The only thing I was disappointed by was the tea. I typically love tea at Indian restaurants because of the cardamom flavor. Here, they added milk but it was really strong and had an oily sheen on top (ew). I abandoned mine after one sip. Service was perfunctory, but that's okay. The food more than made up for that!
(5)Annie N.
My new favorite Indian spot - if only it wasn't an hour away from home (I don't drive, thus public trans up here is always a bitch). We walked from Clark/Devon to this spot, so by the time I got here, I expected the food to be phenomenon, and it didn't disappoint. The place was nice and clean inside - not overly fancy, i.e. crazy Indian decoration, but still good enough if you're looking for a nicer place. We sat down right away but it took us a while to decide what to order. Since we had a little snack on the way here (please re-direct to my review of Ghareeb Nawaz for further details), we decided to go with one of the special plate to share - it is basically tons of small orders of curries, chutney, rice, and roti, so you get a taste of everything. It also comes with yogurt and a clear sour soup to help you balance out the spices. The special also comes with a soup, appetizer, desert and tea. The ordering process was a little stressful due to language and cultural barrier. The last time I ordered this type of Indian food, I was 1/2 way around the world, and I had an Indian friend with me. So this time, it seemed like the waiter was forcing us to get food and we were utterly confused. I was half amused and half scared of our waiter, but after the confusion has passed, he was very fast, efficient and nice, and came back to inform us about each course of the meal before it was brought out. He still scared me since whenever I asked a question he seemed annoyed, but I think that is just how he is generally. The food came out momentarily and all of it was delicious, and all vegetarian - YAY! The appetizer and soup were perfect for a cold rainy night, and the selections of curries, rice, and roti were all delicious. I especially enjoy the chickpea, dal, and the potato & veggie mix. And being able to taste the variety of them was excellent, since you don't get sick of eating one over and over again. The special came with a small portion of rice, and a roti. Since we were sharing, we ordered 2 extra roti, which honestly was a lot more than we could eat. We only ended up finishing one. For desert, we got the cheeseball in condense milk, and tea, both were absolutely wonderful, and was a perfect way to end our dinner. To our surprise, they didn't charge us for the extra 2 roti, and so the bill came out to be extremely cheap. By this time I was completely in love with the restaurant and I grew to like our waiter a lot more (still a bit scared). Even with a 30% tip, we walked out having spent a little more than $10 per person, and completely full. I was one happy gal, and I'll be coming back here anytime!
(5)Danny K.
Really great service, and amazing food! As a vegetarian, I highly recommend this place. Everything tasted amazing, especially the Baingan Bharta. Incredibly relaxed atmosphere, and the staff provided excellent hospitality.
(5)Janet E.
We ended up ordering an appetizer of samosas, and entree of curry chickpeas with fried flat bread, and another entree of eggplant with rice. Everything was delicious! But beware, the food here is spicy!!! I'm used to Indian food (that is not overly spicy) but here, it was spicy! Maybe its a North Indian cuisine thing? Service was friendly and nice. Prices were reasonable. We came here for dinner, so I'm not sure how their lunch menu is. Everything here is vegetarian, so don't expect any meat! With such flavorful food, you won't miss the meat!
(4)International S.
I got the Udupi Thali Special, with wada and masala tea. I loved it! Especially the sambar and the fact that everything was hot and fresh. However they could do a better job with their ras-malai it was too tough to bite into.I was soo taken by milky haven of the rasmali curd that i was expecting more from just a tough disk in my mouth.Real disappointing! Food is worth a try! if you want a real experience to South Indian cuisine in the Windy city I highly recommend this experience, you'll blow on some interesting kerala flavours.Plus its a good meal if your in the Windy city for some desi flavours. Great coconut chutney!Yum..yum! Negatives: Poor service! Waiters are busy gossiping and you have to drag them out of their hullabaloo to finally give "you" the customer some attention.It's almost like an Indian market, where the merchant is only concerned with selling the product in my opinion "trickster waiters". Would suggest a take-out however that destroys the entire experience of right from the pan goodness. After all its a Dosa! They should definitely improve their interiors, and govern their employees to service the customer promptly!
(4)Yumi L.
If there was a "zero" rating, i'd totally give that. I am a south indian and I know how dosa and chutney should taste. We got here around 8pm and ordered medhu vada which turned out to be microwaved soggy vada. The sambar and chutney are tasteless. Upma in the pesarattu tasted spoilt. This place is outright horrible and the two old men didnt give a damn about it. Try Mysore Woodlands instead for quality and taste!
(1)Hrudaya S.
I would give this place, less than one star, but that is the bare minimum I can give. WORST SERVICE! As a south Indian, (who was missing home), I was really craving some good dosa and vada, and figured this would be a good place, so got here with a friend. I ordered the Tamil Thali with vada and dosa, while my friend ordered the punjabi Thali. I think the warning signs should have gone off when the waiter half heartedly placed the silverware and poured (and spilled) the water. The vada was extremely dry. It felt microwaved. And when we asked them about it, they told us that they checked the temperature before they brought it out, and that they make them earlier in the day and just reheat, and that they wouldn't have time to make them fresh for each order! (What??) According to one of the waiters, he was surprised that we expected some hot, fresh cooked food. When my dosa came it was completely stale! I took one bite and I just put it away. Their sambar was subpar. My friend's punjabi Thali had ONE roti, for 5 curries, and when he asked for me, they just pointed at that roti and told him that was it. And furthermore half the dishes were south Indian in that Thali. And Ofcourse no dessert in it. We barely touched anything, and just had to leave. We will never be going back to this place!
(1)Mo A.
My family loves the dosas from here. I'm not as huge of a fan of dosas or veg meals, but since my folks love dosas from here I will give udupi a rating on their behalf. Enjoy!
(5)Team B.
We visited on a Saturday around 1:30 pm. The dining room was about a quarter full. We were promptly seated. We ordered a Pongal Avial and the Daal Tarkk'a. Though my wife did most of the ordering, the waiter kept addressing questions to "sir," which may be a cultural misunderstanding, but was a bit irritating nonetheless. The dishes arrived at a reasonable serving temperature and included a side of rice. Both dishes, however, were pretty bland. It may be that the regional cuisine is naturally bland, but we were not terribly impressed. The Pongal Avial reminded is of buttery cream of wheat with vegetables. Odd, but interesting. When we tried to use our WBEZ member card, we were turned down with a compromise of using a coupon (which had nowhere near the same level of discount). We've contacted the member card service about the rejection. With all of the competition on Devon, it is not likely that we'll be returning here. The food was a departure from the Indian fare that we normally eat, but the result was pretty bland. The service was brusque bordering on rude, which is another reason not to come back.
(3)Andrew K.
This is my favorite Indian place in the city. Service is about as good as every other Indian place in the city, which isn't saying much, but the food is delicious! I was surprised by how much I liked their mattar paneer, as I usually can take or leave that particular dish, but it's my GFs favorite and it looked so good I had to try it! I like the aloo gobi & soya aloo best, but I've had half a dozen different things here and I haven't been disappointed by any of them! This place is 100% vegetarian, btw, I'm not sure how clear that gets expressed elsewhere.
(5)Ramen D.
Got an order on time. The dip into the mint chutney was like I dropped my peeled banana in sand and picked up and started eating it. I can guarantee that they didn't wash the mint leaves before preparing it. Eventually the whole bowl went into the trash can. Mixed vegetable pakora was not fully cooked. Only thing that we liked was tamarind chutney. Disappointed!!!
(1)Nada R.
Admittedly, Udupi is my back up South Indian spot after two others, which I find to be generally tastier and very much friendlier. Bringing in a large party on a Saturday night -- be sure to make your reservation twice *and* call to remind the staff -- I was terrified at what might unfold. Cold food, rude service, *gasp* NO TABLE? None of those things happened. Against all odds, it was the best UP experience to date, despite the place being completely slammed. There was a line of people through the window seating section, the entryway and all the way out the door for the entire two hours our large party was there. Those at the front hovered directly above our table and stared at us while we ate. While that was awkward, they were probably just jealous of my chilies stuffed with spices and more chilies and honking plate of chaat. Way to make it happen, Udupi Palace.
(4)Anjan R.
On a good day, you could go and have a nice dosa and it would be okay. However the management really goofs up a lot and doesn't have much etiquette. Mysore woodlands is much better.
(2)Renee H.
Paper masala dosa is my favorite. We order other things also and they are good. But nothing compares to the paper masala dosa. We may have to start ordering just several of them each time. Service is par to subpar but it's inconsequential. Will go back no matter what.
(5)Ashouraita K.
I love this place! The people who work here are really helpful and the food is amazing. This is my favourite Indian restaurant. My parents took me here after a breakup because they know how much I love it, haha. My absolute favourite is the Mysore masala dosa. So good. The sambar has such a perfect flavour and I love dipping the dosai in it. I also love getting their assortment of appetizers. Their mango lassi and shake are both really good. Anyway, this is a great restaurant with really good food.
(5)Jaclyn D.
I love this restaurant. Whenever I am up on Devon I always come here. I've never had anything I didn't like here. If you go with one other person and each spend about 25 dollars, you can have a feast with leftovers for both of you. I want to try everything on their menu.
(5)Elizabeth A.
Personally, I thought the food was a 3 but I feel that it's not due to low quality or a bad chef; I just don't do well with Indian food. For some reason, the flavors just don't resonate too well with my taste buds which are usually very interested in trying new and exciting foods. Regardless, the restaurant is very nice, the food was good (more-so than any other Indian food I've had), and the staff was fairly polite. I think they can work on their American pleasantries a bit more but overall, I can't really complain about anything. If unlike me, you enjoy Indian food, I'd definitely give this place a go. ooooh! The coolest thing is that they are totally vegetarian-friendly -- which is part of the reason I wish I could train my damn taste buds to love Indian food!
(4)Gaurav B.
Terrible Food !! Terrible Service !! The food was horrible. Sambar was just water with onions, dosa were not completely cooked, terrible bitter coffee, extremely sweet lassi ,Medu wadas has fish like smell .... The oil used was very bad. I went here twice and i had same bad experience with the waiters. The waiter wasnt even listening to what we were ordering .. we had to repeat order 3-4 times.... Instead of taking order he was looking at the door or outisde. We were told to sit at a table and the table had a broken leg so it was shaking all the time due to which water got spilled on your clothes ....when asked to change the table the waiter made some rude angry faces instead of saying sorry ..... The waiter and the owner are both retarded Crappiest restaurant everrrrrrrrrrrrr
(1)Annie S.
My fiance has been raving about this food and finally this past weekend a whole bunch of our friends and I went to check it out. It did not disappoint. This was my first time experiencing South Indian food and it was AMAZING. Many of my friends are meat eaters and were a bit weary going to a vegetarian restaurant, but they didn't even realize there was no meat. There was alot of "Mmmm good" and fighting for the last pieces of food on the table. The Dosa was out of this world. I can see a return trip in the near future.
(5)R J.
First time in the Devon Avenue area where I actually paid attention to it. It lights up totally different at night vs. day. I had no idea how multicultural and vibrant this one pocket of restaurants really is. Indian, Arab, and Jewish markets, shops and stores change quickly as you walk from one block to the next. It was exciting being an obvious minority race here. I have to get out more and will. A friend visiting from out of town wanted something ethnic, so rather than be safe and possibly disappointed with some of the Americanized Indian restos around Lincoln or Wicker Park, we branched an extra 5 miles North. So following the lead of Yelp reviews, we agreed on Udupi. Even though I had a hankering for something like lamb vindaloo, I compromised since it's not all about me, and we went with the vegetarian menu here. I noted that far less sugar and salt were used, and there seemed to be more emphasis on the natural ingredient and spice, instead. What a welcome change. Enjoyed our wine with Udupi's byob policy, and a very nice and moderately spicy, healthy meal was had by all with a $41 very filling dinner for three. I'll get my meat craving satisfied at another restaurant around here soon enough.. Cool non-touristy neighborhood, old-school servers who know their stuff, and you will be one of the few Caucasians in and around here.
(4)Srini K.
Had Dinner here a month back. Ordered a dosa and vada. The Vada was pathetic. I am originally from South India so I do know a thing or two of how the vada should be made. It was rock solid, deep fried, no taste. Returned it promptly. The dosa was a masala dosa. It was average, nothing to write home about. Definitely will be avoiding this place in the future
(2)Samuel M.
I've heard almost uniformly good things about Udupi palace, and were it not for the long distance between my neighborhood and Devon avenue, I'd likely have been here way sooner. Man, am I sorry I waited so long. Udupi palace serves vegetarian Indian food exclusively, with a relative focus on Dosai, or Indian crepes. Veggie samosas ($4.50) are fried to a perfect crisp, and served with flavorful potato and leek filling - green sauce and sweet sauce are perfect accompaniments. Spicy mysore Dosai ($7.99) is flavorful as advertised - the flaky, thin Dosai pancake makes a perfect accompaniment for the potato and pea filling. Don't let the mundane description of the special vegetable curry ($10) fool you - this dish is extremely spicy by white boy standards. It's refreshing to get served authentically spicy food at an ethnic restaurant for a change. This dish also gets mad props for all of the vegetables being perfectly cooked; in a dish containing eggplant, squash, potatoes, peas, and more, this is no easy task. If you're faint of heart, this comes with cool raita free of charge to ease the burn. Chapati ($1.50) are just okay, but they're sort of meant to sop up the flavor of whatever you're eating, which they do well. Pricing is cheap - $28 for the aforementioned feast for two, all inclusive. Better still, Udupi lacks the aloof/negligent service and dirty interior that plagues most establishments on Devon avenue. All in all, this is my new go-to spot on Devon. Highly recommend!
(5)Ben N.
As a Cincinnati resident, I'm pretty familiar with Northern Indian/Punjabi food, because our town has what seems like a couple of dozen restaurants serving that stuff, and I love it. But I barely know jack about Southern Indian food, except that I had had it a couple of times, including an amazing veggie buffet in Houston that mixed up North & South, and what I had had I thought was really good. So we trekked up to Devon Avenue to give ourselves a vegetarian Southern-Indian crash course for Sunday lunch. Based on Yelp reviews, we chose Udupi Palace, and since there were only two of us ignorant folks, we ordered a couple of combo lunch platters so we could sample a good chunk of the menu. The Indians among you, as well as those who are familiar with this fare, can chuckle to yourselves at my (mis)description(s) of this meal: The medhu vada (fried lentil donuts) was tasty, and the masala dosa (a giant crepe filled with potato and onion) was even better. The bright-and-fresh coriander (?) chutney that accopmanied them was something special as well. But the thali special as something else again: a circle of ramekins filled with curries, soups, chutneys, raita, and more. Just a frickin' symphony of flavors, several of which I was unfamiliar with but almost all of which were delicious and all of which seemed to complement and enhance one another. We also ordered the aloo bonda, which was very similar to, but better than, just about any samosa I've ever had. (Or maybe aloo bonda IS a samosa?) Mango lassi was refreshing and tasty on a hot day. If I'd been physcially capable of going directly across the street to Mysore Woodlands and gorging myself on a second lunch, I'd have done so, because it'll probably be a long time before I get to have this food again. As it was, we had to take some time to walk off this massive meal checking out the shops along Devon Avenue. The prices are quite reasonable and the restaurant is slick and clean, if not very interesting looking. Based on our one experience, Udupi Palace's food was pretty close to five stars, though I have little in my eating background to compare it to. Only reason to ratchet it down a notch is that the service was a little gruff, which seems to be a common complaint in these reviews. But as I'm not one to bitch and moan too much about such service, as long as it's competent (and this was), I highly recommend this place. I leave it to those who actually know about this cuisine to thrash out among themselves which is the best on these blocks....
(4)Ashrut G.
Get the idli. If it's prepared fresh .. it'll be super soft and fluffy!!
(4)Jocelyn H.
Very tasty, service is meh as others have pointed out. For apps, the we got the Udupi`s Special Assortment and was pretty disappointed. The various Vada and Pakoras all seemed like they were made earlier in the day and just reheated - certainly not made to order. However, the Chaat Papri was very good and had a nice kick. Of the entrees we got I would recommend the Masala Dosa and the Bisi Bele Bath and Chana Masala Curry. The restaurant itself was clean enough but saw a live roach in the women's bathroom.
(4)Green T.
I was tempted to avoid writing this smash review, lest the restaurant's popularity grow out of control, leaving me to wait in the cold and watch others bask in hot curry. That temptation, however, has been trumped by my desire to support the people behind the magic at Udupi. Here are the highlights. Very affordable. Busy but not packed. Generous and attentive staff. Family-friendly without kid chaos. Modern decor and comfortable ambiance. Veggielicious. Every carnies don't complain. Flavorful, diverse menu. Many options, though not overwhelming. Great place for a group. Or a birthday when your friends insist on paying. BYOB, with a nice selection of indian beers and wine just down the block. I kind of wish I could turn down the conversation volume a bit (the small room has surprisingly loud acoustics) and turn up the spicy in the dishes (which are largely tailored for the American palate, unfortunately.) But otherwise, Udupi is a win. Hands down. I look forward to returning soon.
(5)CandidRebellion C.
Ududpi place is generally good - though we liked the location in LA better. We had a shy waiter and the manager treated him like crap and we felt bad
(4)Laura B.
This place is so good. Order ANYTHING and it will be good. Sometimes it was so spicy I had to get up and walk around the room to cool off. Now that I'm in Seattle I am considering making a special trip in the next three years just to eat this food again. Parking is a nightmare so I would park illegally and my husband would run in and get the food we had called ahead and ordered. This is one of the best places on EARTH.
(5)Ryan H.
The food here was decent. The chickpeas were good, albeit not great (overly chewy). The major downer was that I felt like I ate a ton here, and yet still walked out feeling unsatisfied and hungry. The service here was very awkward as well. The waiter would come over and ask "how are you?" and someone would say "Good, can I get a refill?" But the waiter already turned and walked away instantly after the "good"...
(3)Charles A.
The entrees are thick, robust. My palak paneer a deep green, tasting as fresh as it looks, I could identify almost every ingredient - no subtleties are lost in the chiles, you can still taste the cumin from the garlic, the spinach from the cheese and oils. Truly fantastic. Every entree, whether dosa or baigan bhartra, was batting a level higher than the other Indian establishments in the city. Seen some complaints on service here from other reviews but it does not appear fellow Yelpers are upset at it being slow or stupid, just at some service staff supposedly being haughty towards Americans. So what. The staff wasn't particularly pleasant or rude with me but had they still brought me my food without delay and spiced their attitude with a bit of "stupid American," wtf would I care? This is a best in class restaurant in Chicago with some of the best food in the city, not to mention it could get away with twice its price. Go here.
(5)Peter M.
Good food at very reasonable prices but the service was lackluster. I think things were a little disorganized and nobody was assigned our table. I had the bhaigan bharta curry which is a pureed eggplant dish. It was tasty and came with FREE rice woo hoo! My entree at Indian Garden across the street, which cost more, didn't include rice. I followed the waiters recommendation and ended up with $8 rice (came with 20 peas and a couple of specks of saffron). But, I digress. . .My GF ordered the paper masala dosai. It's about the size of a rolled up Tribune (daily not Sunday!). Looked very impressive hanging off the end of the plate and she liked the taste, too. We also had the appetizer combo of idly, a rice and lentil patty and dahi voda, a lentil donut. They were just okay to me. Udupi is also BYOB so our cost for 2 entrees and an appetizer, including tax and tip was $30. Free rice and BYOB . . . my cheap ass loves it!
(4)Abhay S.
Solid South Indian restaurant. Excellent masala dosa and sambar. I really enjoyed the food here and would not mind returning in the near future. Excellent, friendly, and fast service!
(4)Alan M.
A totally different style of Indian food than I've ever had before. The wait-staff wasn't overly helpful, when we indicated that we didn't know what to order. Lots of crepe-like pancakes, but we saw much more wonderful food than what we chose, going to other people's tables. I wish we'd know what to order. I need to go back with someone who knows what's good there. The food was excellent... the service was lacking... (they never came back to fill our water... a serious need, since the spices were good... we had to wave them down... not an easy task)... and they never asked if we wanted dessert, they just brought us the bill.
(2)Simir S.
This place is always good, Mysore Masala is a must. Service is always good.
(5)Melinda V.
We really enjoyed our meal here, fresh, fresh, fresh! Delicious! Not oily, well spiced, exactly what I have been looking for... and $9.99 lunch specials?! Yes please!!! I wish I could say the same about the service. It was pouring down rain so my boyfriend dropped me off while he found parking. I was ready to order well before he was and the server kept pressuring us to order. They were acting as though it was because we didn't understand the menu (I have spent a great deal of time in India and have no problem with the menu, thanks). I would ask for another minute or two for my boyfriend to decide and they would tell me I was looking at the wrong part of the menu... since when did menus have wrong parts? They pressured him into ordering after standing up against the table and staring at us for several minutes. Each time we would ask for something additional with our meal we either wouldn't get it or it would seem to be a big deal. More rice?!!! OH NO!!!! Cue eye roll and annoyed sigh... Chutney? Lets pretend we don't understand English... walk away. I will be back due to the delicious food. My tip will continue to reflect the (lacking) quality of service.
(4)N S.
Udupi Palace is the best. Being South Indian, I appreciate a good dosa. this is one of the few places in the city where you can get a quality Dosa for a good price. They also have wonderful thali's and the service is great. Just wear some stretchy pants because you'll probably need it after feasting over here!
(5)Tina C.
I had a wonderful dinner tonight at Udupi Palace! Sure, it was a long trip from work in Hyde Park, but it was a totally worth it meal with LOTS and LOTS of spice! Udupi Palace has such an expansive menu that I forget about why I even eat meat in the first place! We ordered several dishes (there were five of us), but the real standouts were the Baigan Bharta and Aloo Gobi. The service was friendly and prompt! I'd definitely go back, but I don't know when that will be since it's kind of far from where I live :)
(4)Aanchal J.
Just go here for the dosas - much better than Mysore Woodlands across the street. And may be a gulab jamun in the end with filer coffee :)
(4)Dan B.
Udupi never disappoints. Great food, good value and attentive service. All that needs to be said.
(4)Ry O.
I had a Mysore Masala Dosai roughly the size of my fore-arm (you'll just have to go to get an indication of my fore-arm size), a fistfull of iddly, two fistfulls of samosa, and one mouthfull of water. Luckily, it was BYOB, so the surplus of wine slightly made up for the lack of readily available water. The dosai wasn't as spicy as it was advertised, but the bread was very good. The "meat" of the dosai (potato, with a possible 'instant'-vairety-type consistency) lacked flavor, though the chutnies and other sauces did help fill the void. I tried a number of other dishes, from palak paneer to a cheese croquette type dish, all of which were excellent and delicous. Though there was one outlier, a cheese dosai with raw tomato, onion, and i believe jalapeno; it was essentially a Taco Bell Extreme Dosai Wrap, and though i could have done without it, the order-ee loved it. I highly recommend Udupi Palace. For reference, our party of six, which had brought four bottles of wine, ordered six appetizers and an entree each, spent $135. So, not a bad price either.
(4)Gayatri D.
I've only ever eaten the South Indian dishes here so my review is about those only. I go here every time I'm craving fried mini idlis dipped in sambar. They hit the spot and how! Also try the Pesaratu. It's a lentil dosa with upma inside. Waaaaayyy better than your generic masala dosa. The best part is they make your meal exactly like you want it. You ask for extra chillies, you'll get extra chillies! You want your upma without cashews, no problem. The service is hit or miss, depending upon the night. But it doesn't bother me that much because Indian people generally don't get good service at Indian restaurants (we don't tip well apparently)!
(4)Shradha A.
It's hard to figure this place out - I've been here so many times now but still haven't decided whether I like it or not. I used to prefer Mysore Woodlands across the street but last fall their chef left and their new chef is not as good. So Udupi became alternative by default but I don't regret it. Not my favorite but pretty decent. Their curd rice et al is not so good. But just for dosa and uttappam - they don't disappoint if you don't expect much. Also, I've noticed - dinner here seems to be better than lunch (maybe a different chef?)
(4)Mukesh N.
The food was a disaster. Three of us had variations of masala dosas (which by themselves were not too bad - but as my 2 star rating indicates, I've had better). The fourth brave soul decided to go for the Chana Batura. Boy, did he regret it. The batura (deep fried puffed bread) was inedible. The chana tasted as bad as it looked. I grew up on a staple of south Indian food, and so 'tiffin' is my favorite food in the whole world. In a good south Indian restaurant, the sambhar and chutney are as important as the main entree itself. The sambhar at Udupi was bland & tasteless. As for the chutney, the lesser said, the better. Frozen, old chutney. The sad part is that many folks new to south Indian cuisine might be basing their idea of 'authentic' tiffin on the mediocre food being served at Udupi. In Udupi's defense, I must add that it was almost closing time (around 9:30 on a Friday) when we visited. So maybe we didn't receive the best possible food from its regular chef. One of the people in our party had visited Udupi many years ago & remembered that the food wasn't great. If only we had heeded his warning. On this particular visit, he quipped that Udupi had 'maintained its standards' over the 4 years that had passed.
(2)Tracy B.
I've never been to an Indian restaurant, so when my friend who is from India suggested Udupi Palace I had no idea what to expect, but figured it had to be good. We went for lunch and of course had to get an order of samosas to start us off. This is really the only Indian food I've had before, and they were excellent. One thing to note: it's the red sauce that is super hot, or is it the green - shoot I've forgotten already. Well just be careful, one of the sauces is really, really hot and if you are not prepared for that, well... you'll find out. He wanted me to try the Idly appetizer. After having my mouth extinguished and being shown the proper way to eat them, I tentatively dipped some in the accompanying sauce. Now, I'm sorry folks because I have no idea what it was, but the redish veggie sauce was pure comfort food. It reminded me of a veggie stew my mom used to make and I wanted to just skip the Idly and eat the sauce, but I refrained. We split a Masala Dosai which was the biggest crepe I've ever seen. It looked a lot smaller once it was folded and the mixture inside was very tasty. Plus as an added treat - it came with more of that veggie red sauce! We also split an order of Palak Paneer which they accommodated my burnt taste buds by making much less spicy than it normally is. What an interesting dish, chunks of homemade cheese in spinach. My companion told me I was eating it all wrong because I picked out all the yummy cheese and didn't have enough rice, but it tasted good to me and that is all that matters, right? This restaurant was a perfect introduction to Indian food. The wait staff was friendly and attentive and the food was wonderful. They made a point to give us coupons to use in the future and this Indian food novice will definitely be going back.
(4)Ben S.
First, no chance I am going to remember the names of anything I ordered. I can tell you that there was little I did not order. And I am not a vegetarian. Did not really occur to me. Tons of flavor and selection. Place was clean. Service was attentive and helpful.
(4)Angelica M.
I've only ever had 2 things here (and will probably only ever eat these things bc they're excellent): Chola (Chana) Batura: Chickpeas in a masala sauce... Batura is a large fried elephant ear like bread (not sweet though)--DELICIOUS DOSAI- Get it, share it, save some for later... Don't be shy, eat it with your hands!!
(4)Lakshmi R.
Take it from me, a South Indian born in the States and raised on the great cuisine of Tamil Nadu: this place is a winner. I've had their food twice. The first time was takeout for my Diwali Party last year and the second time was last week when my boyfriend and I decided we needed some comfort food to cope with the plummeting temperatures. Both times I ordered samosas and Mysore Masala Dosai; the boy got himself a Paper Rava Masala Dosai. Everything was perfect (honestly, it's going to be hard to refrain from using superlatives to describe this place). The tamarind chutney was ideally sweet and sour, the mint chutney made my nose run. The potatoes and masala chutney in the dosai were really delicious, and the serving sizes were appropriately huge, just as they are in India. The service was also impeccable and the server gave us coupons to use both here and at Tiffin across the street. Just remember, they don't serve alcohol and are completely vegetarian, like a true South Indian restaurant (though they are BYOB). Oh, yum, I'm getting hungry just writing this review. Can't wait to go home for the holidays and eat food just like it...
(5)