Southern Spices--Indian Grocery and Take-out in Naperville

Full disclosure: the parents of a very good friend of mine own and operate this little Indian grocery at 87th and Route 59 in Naperville, and I've become quite the fan, as I'll get to.

Anyhoo, it's a cozy shop in a nondescript strip mall a few miles south of Naf Naf. In addition to the usual line-up of spices, vegetables, and whatnot, they have both a butcher and a take-out option. Friend's mother also has her own idli and dosa batters for sale--sadly, they haven't yet replaced the fellow who once made fresh dosas in the store with said batter.

Ever since they started up the take-out operation, my friend's been plying us non-desi types with his mother's really solid food, digging for American opinions. I've yet to encounter something I didn't utterly enjoy, even though it's almost always been cold leftovers--and, yes, free. In an effort to get them some more honest feedback, I thought I'd open them up to your more discriminating taste buds.

The menu's perhaps a dozen items, scribbled on a whiteboard behind the checkout counter. Offerings include a highly addictive Chicken 65--bugger authenticity!--and several spicy mutton offerings, namely mutton curry and mutton fry. I've urged them to put out some more veg options, too, like yesterday's tomato dal or sambar. The cold, day-old biryani I shared tonight with an unrelated Indian co-worker easily passed muster, despite its less-than-fresh state. In general, the level of seasoning is fairly aggressive but quite flavorsome, to my obviously biased tastes. Prices top off at about 8 dollars, IIRC.

In the end, it's a small operation, and there's no place to sit inside, thus its inclusion in this forum rather than Eating Out in Chicagoland. I'm hoping they expand to a real restaurant operation at some point, as I'll never make much of the grocery end of things myself. So if you happen to be in the area and jonesing for home-y Indian food, please stop in, and critique away. And mods, forgive me if this is too shill-ish

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Southern Spices
2959 Artesian Road
Naperville, IL 60564
(630) 579-9990
Open Weekdays 11am-8:30pm; Weekends 10am-8:30pm (Although I think the butcher closes at 7:30, per the website).

Though I am rarely out that way, I will keep this place in the mental rolodex. If they are soliciting advice from you, a suggestion: Offer some kind of meal deal if possible. A carryout container with rice, a few items from their daily specials, a naan or paratha, maybe a small cup of raita. Doesn't have to be some cheap loss leader to get ppl in the door-no, not at all. Just a way for someone to try their wares without having to get a full order of rice, full order of a gravy dish, and a full order of dal. Bet there'd be a possibility of a decent lunch crowd too - lots of businesses out that way.

Thanks for the tip, seebee. I passed the link along to my friend, so hopefully he'll keep tabs on it. I consider myself an enthusiastic eater more than anything, or perhaps a cultural advisor of sorts

For now, they really only have carry-out containers available, as they don't have their tandoor up and running yet (though soon, I am told) for the sake of naan, etc. But the ability to try a few different things is a fine idea for those unfamiliar with the dishes to begin with. Many thanks!