Pleasantly Surprised In...Lombard? [Desi Grill ]

Been running around in Lombard a lot lately. I'm not unfamiliar with the stretch of Roosevelt Rd from Wheaton to the on ramp for 290, but I rarely go to any of the shops, or restos on that stretch. I will, however, pop into the few Indo-Pak grocery stores to pick up some things on the way home on occasion. So, a few weeks ago, I popped into the Al Wahid grocery, bought a few staples that I had run out of, and then decided to try a few items at the grill counter. I had a chicken bothi in paratha, a dal paratha, along with a few samosa. S/O and I agreed - not bad stuff. Would do in a pinch. Fast forward to Wed night this week. Late getting home (8pm-ish) - driving through the same stretch, I figured, hey - good time to try a few more of the offerings at Al Wahid. Maybe a biryani, a gravy dish, etc. Pulled into the lot, they were just closing. Started heading East on Roosevelt again, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a sign "Desi Grill" and "Open." I see ppl inside. U-TURN!

Ok, this reminded me of Hyderbad House (on s side of Da Bomb,) but a little smaller. Greaseboard with specials, phoenetic spellings of dishes like "Aloo Gobee" (always taken as a sign of possible authenticity in my book) reasonable pricing etc., Im in!

Chicken Kerahi - Tad greasy, but I was digging on this big time. Nice ginger flavor that was popping out in each bite. Good and spicy too.

Aloo Gobi - Nicely done here. Good and spicy as well. This will probably wind up being an "always order this" type of dish from this place for me.

Haleem. would have gotten a ringing endorsement with about half of the salt they used. Good flavor, just way too salty. Won't get it again.

Their paratha is the fluffier, "thick as a pancake" kind which I do not prefer, and I didn't try the naan. S/o heated up the leftovers late last night, after I had already eaten dinner, and I was tempted to dig in again since they smelled so good, so I think this place might just be decent. I will be back to try more next week as I think I'll have another late going home night, and will be driving down the same stretch. I'll definitely be trying their "Chicken Tawa." I saw a Pakistani family eating it, and it looked really good. They were making motions to each other while speaking the language, and I knew the motions + the language meant "try this, it's really good." I'll also probably try their nihari, and/or chili chicken. Decently full menu. Quite surprising.

Any other intel on this place? Maybe some recs on what they do well?
I think it has potential being that it's open until 10pm every day - 10:30 on wknds, and the fact that it's on the way home for me!!!

Desi Grill & Pizza
912 E Roosevelt Rd
Lombard, 60148.

(Just W of Myers on N side of road. Blink, and you'll miss it)

I went back, and tried the Chicken Tawa. This dish was not what I expected it to be. It was more of an Indian version of a sweet and sour chicken. It was not bad at all, I was just expecting a more savory dish. Anyway, I went with the kerahi again. Again, it was pretty good stuff. For a veggie dish, went with bhindi masala. Not inspired at all. Not BAD, just really not remarkable in any way. Next up:
Chicken Boti
Chili Chicken
Nihari

Sounds interesting and tasty, Seebee, I give it a spin sometime. I usually end up stopping at Kappy's for scrambled eggs with lox and onions when I am driving that strip at mealtime. It's the only place I can still find that dish since Grandma Sally's in RF deep sixed it.

Went back for more last night. Fact finding is hard work, but someone's gotta do it.

Chili Chicken.
We liked it. It was decent. They used thighs. Yummm. Thighs make me happy. No seriously tho - this was better than I expected. Chili sauce was not overly salty, and was good enogh to simply enjoy dipping the naan into.

Nehari.
Not good. Sorry to say that this was pretty bad, actually. Flavor was ok, beef was ok, but it was ruined by overuse of cornstarch. The gravy was, in a word, just plain out gross. Even when heated up, it was still like jello.
When it cooled off, and I had to put it away, it was a pile of goo. Not even pleasant to look at. I'm talking waaaaaay too much cornstarch. I took the meat chunks out, and threw the goo away.

Daal.
Yellow daal. Decent flavor. Nothing to write home about.

Oh, and Last time, I forgot to mention that I tried their rasmalai for the first time. Can anyone explain why that stuff exists? As far as I could tell, it was just a ball of really bad dough in simple syrup?

So, for anyone who this might matter to, these have been highlights:
Chicken Kerahi
Chili Chicken
Chicken Tawa was good, but more of a sweet/sour dish
Aloo Gobi
=========

Bhindi, and Daal were just ok
(It seems that the veggie dishes here are mostly an afterthought, and only appear as specials.)

==========
This stuff I would not get again:
Halem
Nehari
==========
Up Next:
Chicken Boti, and maybe their chappli kebob

Do you know what times they are open? It was closed last Saturday at lunch time when I drove by there.

According to their take out menu (I have it in front of me now):
M-F 11am-10pm
Sat, Sun 11am-10:30pm

I think I'll give this a shot on my way to work soon. I'm out in Carol Stream and can take Roosevelt to 83 to get to work. (I work at the Renaissance in Oak Brook.)

Jayz -
Not sure what times your job will be taking you there, but, the menu states that they are "Now offering a lunch special. Introductory price of 4.99 11am-4pm. Free soft drink with a purchase of a lunch box." I've never inquired about it, as it has not fit my schedule. Just remember, this place is your basic dive. No white tablecloths or ambience to speak of here. Also, the Al-Wahid grocery a few blocks west of there on the same side of the street has a "restaurant" of sorts attached to it.

Good luck!

Tonight's installment:

Butter Chicken
Aloo Bejan

I haven't had any Indian food in about two weeks, so, I was kinda jonesin. I went big tonight - in an effort to not be disappointed, I ordered 4 mains, and a few samosa from two different places. From Desi Grill, I wanted to finally try their Chicken Boti, but they had "Butter Chicken" on the specials greaseboard, so, since I have never tried it anywhere, I had to give it a go. I also went with the special of aloo bejan which was my veggie dish.

I scored.
Me and the s/o were digging on the butter chicken big time. Nice and spicy-hot with a good tang. It was in a light creamy sauce with a hint of a tomato color/flavor to it. Kind of like a korma with tomato sauce added? I'm usually not a fan of korma, but this stuff was pretty tasty. Definitely get it again. The aloo bejan was basically just "there." no real anything to it. It was just there. Lacked any real flavor to speak of.

Since I was there, I hopped a few doors down to Al-Wahid grocery and grill to get bread and rice for the meal (I prefer their paratha over Desi Grill, and it's only about a block west.) I wound up trying their Frontier Chicken, and a chicken biryani. I asked for the Frontier chicken to be amped up with chile, and they fell a little short. It was very good, juicy chicken chunks, and the spice was kinda dumbed down, but it was still good. They obviously knew how to cook - the chicken was nice and juicy. It had spice, and a little heat, but if I had this, and didn't know where it was from, I'd guess it was a Middle Eastern dish, and not an Indian dish. Same with the biryani. It was kind of lacking oomph - maybe cardamom? Also got a few of their veg samosa which we both like.

So, +1 for Desi grill. To add to the list of decent eats I've gotten from there:
Chicken Kerahi
Chili Chicken
Chicken Tawa was good, but more of a sweet/sour dish
Aloo Gobi
Butter Chicken

========
This stuff I would not get again:
Haleem
Nehari
Aloo Bejan (bejan=eggplant here)

As far as Al Wahid a block West of Desi Grill, I would recommend their food if anyone out there is in the area. It seems they have some potential. I haven't made it all the way through Desi's menu yet, but when I do, I'll start going through Al-Wahid's. Thew few things that I have had there* were pretty well prepared. Enough that I think they might do most of their menu pretty well whereas Desi Grill has been kind of hit and miss.

*sigh*
Why does Devon have to be so darn far away from me???


*Chicken Boti in Paratha, Veg Samosa, dal paratha, Frontier Chicken, Chicken Biryani.

Well, it had been a while since I was near this stretch of road in Lombard again, but as luck would have it, I was there last night, and thinking ahead, I ordered some takeout specifically for lunch today, as I knew I'd be holed up working on the house all day:

Chicken Kerahi -
read upthread - decent stuff. I like it.

Saag Aloo -
Yum. I really liked this version. Not chile hot, but nice flavor from the spicing they used. I was not expecting this to be as good as it was from here.

Finally tried their version of Chicken Boti! -
Well, I gotta say, I'm a fan. I've had Khan's twice, and I won't say it's as good, but it's definitely good. I'd say the flavor profile here is grilled Tandoori chicken thigh chunks, but with a good amount of extra cumin, and a nice bite of chile heat.

Quick recap of the score here:
"A" list entrees I've had here:
Chicken Kerahi
Chili Chicken
Chicken Boti
Aloo Gobi
Saag Aloo
Butter Chicken

So, I got there right around 10pm, and the place was kinda popping. I'd say there were about four full tables of people, and they were setting up a table for six as I was walking in. I'd say full capacity would have been about 8 more ppl - the joint is tiny, and it's mostly set up for carry out, but if you wanna eat in, it's definitely possible. Again, this is not the greatest stuff ever, but just adding my findings here. If in the area, and looking for Indian takeout at a decent price, this might float your boat.

Thanks for the tip Seebee - I lunched at Desi's today. The full name on the menu and door is actually Desi Grill & Pizza - more on that in a moment.

Let me add to your description. Desi strikes me as very much of an amateur operation started by someone who likes to cook. People tell them that their food is good, so they think they should open a restaurant. Maybe they are between jobs, and it seems like a nice change. So they find a cheap space, usually pretty impractical, spend as little as possible to "fix it up" (hah!), print up a menu and away we go. The menu has a bunch of stuff on it, but really they make up a few dishes every day and you should stick to those specials.

In general these places start out very, very good since they are serving you the food, and the quality that they would serve to guests. Most of them flame out in a year or two since the place does not offer the location, amenities or capacity to support a profitable business, and the owner really has no clue anyway. There are a lot of examples of these places, and Indian spots of this ilk come and go pretty quickly in the Western Burbs (I can think of a number and I am sure I missed a lot of them). There also are some great Mexican spots in this category - for some reason they seem more likely to survive in my experience.

Desi is a tiny place that looks like an abandoned restaurant, or maybe a restaurant equipment storeroom. Tables are arranged haphazardly in the room - total seating for maybe 15 people, but I imagine they would be very challenged to serve that many at once. Someone used the computer to print large, glossy color pictures of food, and that is it for the decor. There are also some racks and cabinets here and there. The exterior says dilapidated and abandoned shack, loudly, as would the interior without its decorations and furniture - okay it still says that with the "improvements."

There is a post in the middle of the room with a sign on one side saying "line up here" and a little bin with carry-out menus. Back and to the left of that is a window with a shade on it behind which is clearly the kitchen. In the back left corner is a small counter with a cash register, a couple of menus and a bell, since all the staff seems to spend their time in the kitchen. Ring the bell and someone will eventually come out; don't ring it, and someone will eventually come. There also is a buzzer on the front door. During my visit I saw both happen, and I cannot say the speed of service differed based on how one approaches them.

The door to the kitchen is a cheap screen door, just like up front. Probably came from the same restaurant salvage place as the rest of the equipment. Most encouragingly, there is a sign above the cash register that says something like: "For carry out orders, expect to wait 15 minutes for food."

Yes, all the signs are good for the best in ethnic dining, prepared just for your order.

I tried the lunch box which was the expected bargain. For $5 one gets a mound of veg rice, a large naan (purchased , reheated and a touch on the rubbery side as noted, Seebee), a large lump of daal that was okay, either chili or Kerali Chicken which I believe to be basically the same dish except that the Chili Chicken has boneless chicken bits and the Kerali used chicken pieces with bone, so it is better, more moist and flavorful, and a little container of tasty yogurt, mint sauce with a good bite. You also get one can of pop. Gourmet? Not by a long shot, but an inexpensive and respectable fast meal.

I love the place and will be going back. I expect that ordering other dishes that are freshly prepared (as I sat there between 130 and 2, the specials board was completely revised so I am sure I was enjoying the last, the dregs if you will, of the lunch dishes) will result in an even better experience.

And I have to try one of those gourmet pizzas - the Gyros, Chicken Tikka and Qeema pizzas have me intrigued, and I am really curious what they will use for crust.

Also noticed a whole lot of other promising places on that stretch of Roosevelt (roughly between Meyers and Main in Lombard). While this may not be Devon, I counted at least 5 different Indian places in a mile or so, plus the various middle eastern spots.

It was a good day

Your description does justice, and mine was plodding. Thanks. Seriously, your description had me thinking I was sitting in the place waiting for my order. One difference for the food, however. Although different cooks may make things differently, I can absolutely assure that the Chili Chicken dish that I had was in a a red sauce - very saucy, and each time I get the chicken kerahi, it's in a brown thick sauce. When I ordered them, they were very much a different dish. I keep telling myself to try one of their pizzas, but haven't brought myself to it yet. Out of the several times I've been there, I have only seen one pizza order. I'm very curious too, and will get one someday. I do wish, however, that they would spruce up the place somehow, someway, so I could bring a group of friends who I know for a fact would not think twice about walking in, and then walking right back out after seeing what it is inside. It would prolly even take some prodding to get them to walk through the door. Oh well. More secret good eats for me. BUT - there is a fancy place little further west on the S side of the road (forgot the name, but I think it's an outpost of one of the bigger names in the city.) I grabbed a take out menu, and the prices are 3 to 4 bux higher, so you pay for the ambience. Please also gve a try to Al-Wahid grocery and grill a block or two west on the same side of street. They have always been plenty friendly, and they have a decent sized menu. Again, it's a DIVE. A grill counter in a grocery store with a few tables, and no ambience to speak of. The few things I've tried there were pretty good.

Glad you had a good day.
I saw the thread was updated and thought..."Uh-Oh. Wonder if someone bashed the joint."

seebee wrote:According to their take out menu (I have it in front of me now):

Hi! Since you have their take out menu, any chance you could scan it and post it here?
I found a website, but unfortunately, all the links lead nowhere. http://desigrillpizza.com/
Does it look that nice inside? Thanks.

I'll try to track one down. I think I took a few on my last visit - should be in the car still...If not, since I took the day off today, and have to run out to Hillside around the lunchtime hour...

Eric - I'm still gonna post that menu, bare with me. I'm slow.

BUT -

I've been back a good three/four times since my last post, and Dicksond's thoughts. A few months ago, they changed their menu a little (prices went up a tad, of course) and now they are offering the aforementioned "Lunch Box" all day long now. I had tried to order one over the phone a few weeks ago, but the language barrier* prevented me from getting the correct order. Last night, however, I finally got it right. The choices are either Chili Chicken or Kerahi Chicken. The Chili Chicken has a very "patak's jar of red hot vindaloo paste flavor to it," but I like it. The Kerahi is a little less chile spicy, but has a good ginger snap to it. I like it very much as well, and does taste more "homemade" to me. These lunch boxes are 5.55 now, and IMO well worth it. The yellow dal they had last night was very flavorful, bright, and surprisingly, had a very decent kick of chile to it. Usually their dal dishes are kinda boring, but this stuff was nice and bright last night. They seem to have added more options each time I go back, but in true "we are a small operation catering to our neighboorhood" form, these are not added to the menus. There are just little signs hanging up in random places stating things like
"New Fish Fry Platter - 6.99"
"Now, offering deserts"
"tandoori Fish"
When I call this place, I always have to REALLY press them to tell me what the specials of the day are. I'm not venting in any way, just describing how this place is. I really think if anyone is in this area with regularity, and enjoys Pakistani foods, you will be at the very least a little bit surprised at this joint. Not the greatest Pakistani food ever, but, I think it's pretty darn good, and a very decent price. Consistency varies on the veg dishes. My food last night was more on the "Stellar for the price" side of the scale than "decent for the price" side. I'd say all in all, the dollar per deliciousness ratio is very good here indeed. If you dig "dives," and are in the area, and takeout is an option, show it some love, you will be pleasantly surprised, I think.

*One thing I did differently when phone ordering last night was this:
I queried if they were still, infact, offering the lunch boxes all day long. When the woman responded yes, I then asked if it was still ONLY for the chili chicken and kerahi chicken. She again, said yes. (she actually said "ah" - which I took meant "yes" after further conversation.) SO, I ordered a chili chicken lunch box. The woman then said - "ok - chili chicken." I firmly said "no. not chili chicken. I'd like a chili chicken lunch box." The woman then said - "oh, ok chili chicken lunch box."

Just a side note that may help if you order over the phone.
Also, when you ask for the daily specials, they tend to only read off two things off of their list. You have to keep asking, "anything else?" They seem to be very nice ppl who were genuinely surprised the first few times I walked in to order food. I think they have settled down with my presence now.

Wish this joint was closer to my house.

Been back a few times since the last post. The dal and chili chicken have shown remarkable consistency. I'm very bullish on the chili chicken lunch box these days. Last night's chili chicken had an especially pronounced chile sizzle in it. Normally it's got an OK kick to it, but last night, it had a sizzle. Anyway, I was almost tempted to get a pizza, but I couldn't bring myself to it, so I ordered in a "Chicken Naan Roll" for 3.99. This was an ample amount of their chicken boti along with onion, tomato, and raita in naan. I've found another "go to" thing here. I really like their chicken boti. Decently chile spiked chicken thigh chunks. This was like eating a chicken gyros with a serious kick of heat. If it was 2.99, I might have one a few times a week. They also have samosa now. Tried their veggie version. I liked them, but I gotta say, the veggie samosa at Al Wahid a tiny bit west of Desi are much more to my liking.

Pizza will be next. I promise. (as if anyone really cares.)

Restaurant.com gift certificate purchased at 80% off...CHECK!
Three hungry semi-adventurous eaters for ordering power...CHECK!

Somewhat in the area last night after gathering up few folks from the Internatinal Quilting Show in Rosemont, we settled on Viceroy Of India (in Lombard) for dinner.

Vegetarian Appetizer Platter:
One samosa that was pretty good, and a bunch of fried stuff that was just blah. Not good, not horrible, just fried and there.

Special Dinner Platter 17.95:
A leg and thigh of Tandoori Chicken which was decent.
A few pieces of reshmi kabab which were inedible - dry and plain out funky tasting, like sewage.
A few pieces of seekh kebab dried out lamb jerky style, and too salty to eat
A nice helping of Butter Chicken which was decent
A nice helping of Dal Makhni which was very good (surpisingly spicy hot )

An order of Mutter Paneer:
very good - it was in the Makhni sauce - same as the butter chicken

An order of Aloo Gobi:
decent, standard - not BAD, nothing inspired.

Masala Dosai - again, decent, nothing inspired.

Two Paratha - which arrived crisp, like not pliable crisp. I was REALLY hoping for the greasy wheat tortilla type things I normally get at other joints, but whatever.

Kulcha Naan - little salty, but it was again, ok.

The setting? I think Harlem Furniture decorated the place back in 1978. The walls were medium baby blue padded vinyl which matched the booth padding. The chairs were those things you see in the black lacquer section of the cheap furniture store, but they were blue. Yeah, you know the ones. Mine was wobbly. There were two chandeliers in the room that were shaped like church organ pipes. They were clear crystal, and had me thinking I was in superman's ice or crystal palace - wherever he lives. Under the layer of blue wall padding, wrapped around the entore room was about 1 foot of mirror at eye level when seated. If you look around while you're eating your food you are just asking for a migraine. I was waiting for Danny Terrio or Tony Manero to pop out of the back and start doing The Hustle.

My major problem was that the prices were insane for the room. The above dinner with one glass of red, and two waters was 87.00 not including the tip. White tablecloths or not, 9.95 for Aloo Gobi BETTER be the best damn potato and cauliflower dish I ever ate.
5.00 for a half cup of raita? Well the raita was pretty good, but not 5.00 good, I assure you. The reason I'm posting this in this thread is :
A: I didn't find a dedicated Viceroy Lombard thread, and
B: Desi Grill absolutely DEMOLISHES Viceroy for the price and quality of food. DG is pretty much half the price of Viceroy across the board. And that's Half to START.
C: The "decor" of Viceroy is plain out laughable which basically makes the upcharges a JOKE.

Desi Grill SMOKES this place - no contest. I could decorate Desi Grill better than Viceroy for about 300.00. If the food was even a TINY bit better, then I wouldn't feel so ripped of but, in fact, it was jut not as good.

Live and Learn.

restaurant.com has their Gift Certificates still - it's a 25.00 off of 50.00 (which is no issue to get to 50.00 -paratha - 2.50 EACH, aloo gobi - 9.95, dosai - 10.95 the current menu on Restaurant.com is a scan of their take out menu - eat in menu is priced higher.)
Hopefully I just went there on the wrong night at the wrong time, or maybe ignorance is bliss, and if I didn't know about any cabbie joints with better food at the half the price, then I'd think Viceroy is a bargain. Desi though, is like 1/2 a mile down the street from Viceroy.

LOL - just thinking back about that place - if they started piping in BeeGee's tunes, it would have been COMPLETELY appropriate. Sure, it'd make me vomit on the spot, but it would have been totally in place.

Pizza challenge accepted!
Lth, it is my distinct pleasure to present to you the other part of Desi Grill. The "&Pizza!"
The Chicken Tikka Pizza:

I think it ran about 10.99, but no matter. I would not get it again. The chicken was fine, the sauce was fine, the cheese was fine, but the crust was a dealbreaker. It was a thick crust, probably pre packaged. Fluffy, not chewy, kinda like if Jimmy John's started making things like Boboli pizza crusts. I'm glad I tried it, don't need to again. It's not that it was horrible, it's just that the OTHER food is so damn good here. Example a:
The Chili Chicken Lunchbox:


I think this is a bargain at 5.55 which includes a can of soda, naan, and raita. Their naan is not the best ever, but it is definitely not BAD. The dal (upper left) was a red this day, in the past it had normally been a yellow. Still decent with a nice chile kick to it. The Chili Chicken is mostly dark meat, and also usually has a decent kick to it. The rice in this picture looks kinda plain, but it really is not. There are a few more veggies hidden, and plenty of cardamom, and cloves (watch out, you might bite into a pod and get an unexpected surprise if you're not used to the pungency of cardamom!)

Example B. My new favorite. The Chicken naan roll:

Ok, so I really like their chicken boti here. It's like a chicken tandoori masala, but nicely amped up with a hit of chile - no, not a hint, but a real hit. These run 3.99, and consists of about four chicken boti thighs cut up, lettuce, onion, tomato, and mayo. Delish. Easily over a foot long. I like mayo, so it works well for me. If you balk at mayo, maybe some raita would work better - whatevs, I dig these things big time.

Three of us tackled this meal, and ate well for two meals, and had a third snacky meal out of it. I like this place more and more each time I go. On this visit, their specials board was expanded with chicken charga, pasanda, and several other things I have since forgotten. I think the charga is a regular special now (seen it the past few times I've gone.) The young gentleman at the counter also told me after I asked about some of the specials being added to the menu full time, that if I gave them advance warning, they'd be happy to make anything. Plenty of smiles for this place from me.

Stopped in on Sat for pickup. It's getting cleaner / nicer in here. Still a "shack," but it's a shack in progress.
And, guess what???

They have a WEBSITE!

I looked at their website. The review page is a hoot. It's more like a guestbook where people post what they actually think and Desi's leaves it up there.

It links up to reviews from this site: http://www.zabihah.com

The few ppl who wrote that the food is NEVER on time are 100% correct in my experience. Thought it was only me!

Still really love this little hole in the wall. (and hole in the wall is a STRETCH) but they are sprucing the joint up little by little.

seebee wrote:
Example B. My new favorite. The Chicken naan roll:

Ok, so I really like their chicken boti here. It's like a chicken tandoori masala, but nicely amped up with a hit of chile - no, not a hint, but a real hit. These run 3.99, and consists of about four chicken boti thighs cut up, lettuce, onion, tomato, and mayo. Delish. Easily over a foot long.

that chicken naan roll looks awesome, I gotta get thre and try that.

jimswside wrote:that chicken naan roll looks awesome, I gotta get thre and try that.

Oh, it's good...REALLY good. Not destination dining though. If you're in the area, and looking for some cheapish Indian take out (although you certainly can dine in) I think this place rocks. Had another chicken naan roll and split a chili chicken lunch box with wife 1.0 on Saturday. Good as ever. We couldn't finish it all. Lol - we joked about what "snobs" we are. We were heading out west to Waterman to stay at a friend's farm for the night. Most ppl make sammiches or stop for burgers for a road trip. We opt for Indian food. Had to leave the windows open on the car that night.

seebee wrote:

jimswside wrote:that chicken naan roll looks awesome, I gotta get thre and try that.

Oh, it's good...REALLY good. Not destination dining though. If you're in the area, and looking for some cheapish Indian take out (although you certainly can dine in) I think this place rocks. Had another chicken naan roll and split a chili chicken lunch box with wife 1.0 on Saturday. Good as ever. We couldn't finish it all. Lol - we joked about what "snobs" we are. We were heading out west to Waterman to stay at a friend's farm for the night. Most ppl make sammiches or stop for burgers for a road trip. We opt for Indian food. Had to leave the windows open on the car that night.

I am in Naperville alot, so this will definitely be in the area. Waterman? we looked at some homes there before we decided on Marseilles.

This is a great little hole in the wall for Pakistani food. I was really craving some hot spicy food so I checked it out for the second time last weekend. The first time, I took a friend and I think the youngish college student guy at front was trying to impress us so we actually got a very large portion of the meat in the large part of the three part to go container of the lunchbox meal. It lasted three days. This time it was more like seebee's picture above with more rice and less meat. Oh well, I guess we just lucked out the first time. This time there was an older lady there. The karahi chicken is really tasty. Last time, I got the chili chicken and that was also really good. I just wish I had more of it to sop up all the rice. But for 5.55, it's still a good deal. The plain rice also is flavored nicely with the clove and some other pod that I'm not sure of. I am looking forward to going back and trying the chicken boti. They also have daily specials on an eraser board inside. Seebee, I can get there is five minutes on most days

Sweet, Gooseberry!
If I lived that close, I'd be pretty fat (well, fatter,) indeed. Word to the wise, if you wanna do a cheap trial of the Chicken Boti, get a chicken naan roll. I've only ordered the boti once, but the chicken naan roll was the exact same version of the chicken boti in sandwich format with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo. For a great meal for two, we usually get a lunch box, and a chicken naan roll. When the daal is nicely done, that is a HARD meal to beat for the price. The daal is usually the biggest variable in the lunch box, imo. Sometimes it's bright and popping with heat, other times it's just kinda of blah.

The young kid I've only seen in there once. He is the (seemingly) most fluent in English. Very nice guy, indeed. Not that the other people are NOT nice, it's just that there is definitely a language barrier. Anyway, please post more if you try some other things. I'm curious about their fish fry, but that'll have to be an eat-in experience. I might have to try that solo. I'm lucky that wife 1.0 will still eat food from there after sitting in the car while I run in to get the called in order.
(A testament to the food being pretty good - the place is really just a total dive - inside and out.) I really like this joint as well.

Will do:) I've been meaning to write a post of ethnic eats/mkts on that stretch of Roosevelt Rd. If you have any other recos, I would love to hear. Have you been to Amina/HotSpicy or whatever it's called these days? Further down, closer to Glen Ellyn, there is a place we went to a couple years ago called Sahara that was good under ownership at that time.

Al Wahid has a food counter a few blocks west on the same side of the street. I've gotten a few things there. Competent. If I want paratha, I'll get them from Al-wahid to go with my meal from Desi. I tried Desi's paratha once, and I wasn't a fan at all. Desi had a thicker fluffier paratha that I do not like when I tried it. Al-Wahid has the thinner type - like a homemade tortilla - the ones I normally get when I order paratha at other places. Al wahid has a full (ish) menu as well. It's a food counter with a few tables in a tiny grocery store.

Viceroy of India....um.. read upthread. YMMV, and I hope it does.

There is also a little Indian resto in the strip mall across the street from al Wahid - maybe a tiny bit west. I've never been, but others have enjoyed it - there are posts on LTH, I'm pretty sure, but I forget the name. It is a vegetarian place, I do believe.

There was some extended period of time late last year, probably started around Ramadan when Desi seemed to be closed every time I tried to go. Some of the time they were there and seemed to be cooking, but the lights were out and front door locked, so I gave up.

Time to go back and experience their upgraded decor. Thanks for saving me from the pizza, Seebee, and all the other updates.

Seebee, excellent find. I've been to Desi a couple times when I'm working in the area, and I really like the boti chicken. But today I got the special lunch box - special because they replace the rice with biryani. The chili chicken was pretty good, but the standouts were definitely the chicken biryani and the veg side, madras aloo. I asked for lamb biryani, which wasn't ready yet, so they recommended chicken. No matter, it was great anyways - moist, flavorful, with chunks of tender bone-in chicken. The madras aloo (which I had to ask the guy behind the counter to name because it was so tasty) was extremely flavorful and bright with lots of potatoes and peas. An excellent meal for $7, dive or no.