Hema's kitchen is a peaceful place with a comforting feel. The waiters are very polite and respect all of your needs. the service is snappy and the food is always fresh. Definitely a must visit if you like Indian food!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bill Burton
Horrible. For 15 years I've enjoyed Hema's Kitchen but what I had tonight was completely different. It was bland, just horrible. We couldn't tell the difference between the Vindaloo and the Tiki Masala.Is Hema gone? Geeze, this was so bad.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Michael Una
Hema's used to be our favorite restaurant on Devon. We ordered takeout from them all throughout the pandemic and it was a real life saver. Sadly though, the quality has declined. Not sure if it's new owners or what. Our last order was kind of disappointing, it took two hours to deliver and was cold on arrival. Additionally, we were missing the garlic naan which is usually a highlight of the meal. I tried calling to ask for the naan to be taken off the bill, but the person answering the phone asked me to hold and hung up on me. It seems like the recipes have changed as well, this order had a lot more oil pooling on the top and seemed less fresh than previous orders. Honestly y'all, I love Indian food but there's so much good competition I'm just going to try all other other ones until I find my new favorite and go with them. Some solid contenders out there and life's too short to spend good cash on a disappointing experience.
Anneliese Doherty
Meh, disappointed.Though google shows this as Hema’s Kitchen, it is not; it is some other restaurant. When you call for delivery, they answer the phone, “hello”,this you have no way of knowing that it is NOT Hema’s.We got 3 entrees, samosas, and naan. The food tasted like nothing, even the butter chicken was bland. The naan was the saving grace of our meal.
Alexander B B.
Hema's Kitchen is gone. The sign is off the front. The web site is still up. There is a restaurant there, however. When I went in for lunch and asked the server if this is Hema's Kitchen, she said yes. Maybe she didn't speak English... No cover on the menu, but a google check of the address says it is now Oberoi's. Service was dreadfully slow, the room was ice-cold, and my order was under-cooked. I'm sorry to see Hema's go; this new place will need a lot of work.
Karishma Saurabh
1. Inspite of the entire restaurant empty, they refused to give us a table with enough space and light.2. Ginger tea has large chunks of ginger.3. I confirmed with the server on what comes in the assorted appetizer platter, they said fish pakora and more, The order that came didn’t include Fish Pakora, when asked about it, this time server goes back in and comes saying the chef is now saying NO Fish Pakora!! They didn’t give the full food but charged full.4. Ordered Paneer tikka masaala, it was white and had no flavor, no spice, no salt.Me and 3 friends went to get dinner but because of bad experience we are going to a different restaurant around.
James S
When I think of the top 10 worst places Ive eaten at, this one is right in there. Order took forever. Food was wrong and there was no water. Waiter said "I see i ordered food wrong, can you just eat that instead?" It had nuts. we have nut allergy. It wasn't like staff was in the weeds. There was only two other tables.
Syed Hyder Ali
Excellent restaurant Ambience. Generous and Humble staff. (Indian)Food's so tasty that you won't get it anywhere in Chicago. Absolutely love it.. Most recommended
Sharday Dawson
This place used to be my favorite but they have fallen off a bit. For 17 dollars you would think that you would get a decent portion but that is not the case. I counted 6 pieces of small cubed chicken in my curry which was all dark meat. And my chicken biryani was more like curry rice. As I was searching for the chicken and at 17 dollars you would think that you would get a decent amount? it’s just not the same and unfortunately I will have to find another Indian food place from now on.
Raina W.
Is Hema's under new ownership? A new chef?! I ordered my staples - hariyali chicken and sag paneer. The hariyali chicken that normally comes in a green, creamy cilantro sauce came in a watery brown chunky sauce and literally had only 4 bites of chicken in it. The sag paneer tasted of garlic, def not sag paneer. So disappointed. Where else can I get chicken hariyali???
Pretty disappointing for a lot of reasons. First off, the floor was covered in water as there seemed to be some sort of leak. As someone prone to falls, that’s something to at least stay on top of and mop up or at least have a warning sign. I could tell the server was super stressed because he was kind of talking to multiple tables at once and instructing another server. That’s understandable, but the service was slow overall. When it came to the food, we had to add salt to everything because it had virtually no flavor. We tried the kadai chicken and chilli ghobi, and thought they weren’t terrible, they certainly weren’t worth the prices at this restaurant. This may have just been an off day, but it’s not somewhere I’d return based on this experience.
R O
The food is absolutely delicious. By far one of the best Indian restaurants I’ve been to. This is a family owned business and you can definitely feel the hospitality, their service is impeccable. I am definitely going to be a regular at this place!
David Simm “David Simm Photography”
One of my favourite south Indian dishes is Masala Dosa and it was to great a temptation when I smelled the aroma as we entered.Dosa was good, but I felt it was just a little short of aloo masala, to make up however the accompanying sambar was incredibly good. We bought extra to take home.Travelling as I do so much of the year it's an enormous treat to get back in Chicago, one of the very few cities in USA with outstanding selections of Indian food, all congregated together in the Desi district.It appears Hemma's which used to be east of Western Ave., must have recently relocated, post Covid to the west of Western.The menu, of course, is predominantly vegetarian, naturally if you're in the mood for Masala Dosa, that doesn't matter to a meat eater like me, I'll go without ghosht any day to get a good Dosa.
Sadia Samer
No words to describe thepathetic level of shami kabab and vege buryani. Table was broken and not stable. No napkins no spoon/fork/knife. Also, turns out they serve frozen kababs. Isn’t it nonsense? Why would I pay a frozen item at the cost of fresh food? Also? Naan were as hard and crispy as if they were either left overs or were cooked long before the frozen kabab was thawed and fried ?I just left all food uneaten…Don’t recommend this restaurant at all.
Mandar P.
Very ordinary restaurant. But it was the only one I could go to due to all other surrounding ones served Beef. This is owned by Telugu Christian but does not have beef on menu. Prominent displaces of Indian Teicolor due to recent Independence Day . Ate mutton biryani. Very generic. Not terrible. But nothing to write home about. The Ajwain fish was also ok. Amount of mutton and fish was less for the price. Decor is tired looking, as if they are just bidding time before leaving. The owner lady seemed nice and asked if we liked the food. Suggestion: if there are not too many people around, just bring a free desert like gulag jamun or something, which won't cost much but will bring a smile on the customer.
Hema's kitchen is a peaceful place with a comforting feel. The waiters are very polite and respect all of your needs. the service is snappy and the food is always fresh. Definitely a must visit if you like Indian food!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Horrible. For 15 years I've enjoyed Hema's Kitchen but what I had tonight was completely different. It was bland, just horrible. We couldn't tell the difference between the Vindaloo and the Tiki Masala.Is Hema gone? Geeze, this was so bad.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Hema's used to be our favorite restaurant on Devon. We ordered takeout from them all throughout the pandemic and it was a real life saver. Sadly though, the quality has declined. Not sure if it's new owners or what. Our last order was kind of disappointing, it took two hours to deliver and was cold on arrival. Additionally, we were missing the garlic naan which is usually a highlight of the meal. I tried calling to ask for the naan to be taken off the bill, but the person answering the phone asked me to hold and hung up on me. It seems like the recipes have changed as well, this order had a lot more oil pooling on the top and seemed less fresh than previous orders. Honestly y'all, I love Indian food but there's so much good competition I'm just going to try all other other ones until I find my new favorite and go with them. Some solid contenders out there and life's too short to spend good cash on a disappointing experience.
Meh, disappointed.Though google shows this as Hema’s Kitchen, it is not; it is some other restaurant. When you call for delivery, they answer the phone, “hello”,this you have no way of knowing that it is NOT Hema’s.We got 3 entrees, samosas, and naan. The food tasted like nothing, even the butter chicken was bland. The naan was the saving grace of our meal.
Hema's Kitchen is gone. The sign is off the front. The web site is still up. There is a restaurant there, however. When I went in for lunch and asked the server if this is Hema's Kitchen, she said yes. Maybe she didn't speak English... No cover on the menu, but a google check of the address says it is now Oberoi's. Service was dreadfully slow, the room was ice-cold, and my order was under-cooked. I'm sorry to see Hema's go; this new place will need a lot of work.
1. Inspite of the entire restaurant empty, they refused to give us a table with enough space and light.2. Ginger tea has large chunks of ginger.3. I confirmed with the server on what comes in the assorted appetizer platter, they said fish pakora and more, The order that came didn’t include Fish Pakora, when asked about it, this time server goes back in and comes saying the chef is now saying NO Fish Pakora!! They didn’t give the full food but charged full.4. Ordered Paneer tikka masaala, it was white and had no flavor, no spice, no salt.Me and 3 friends went to get dinner but because of bad experience we are going to a different restaurant around.
When I think of the top 10 worst places Ive eaten at, this one is right in there. Order took forever. Food was wrong and there was no water. Waiter said "I see i ordered food wrong, can you just eat that instead?" It had nuts. we have nut allergy. It wasn't like staff was in the weeds. There was only two other tables.
Excellent restaurant Ambience. Generous and Humble staff. (Indian)Food's so tasty that you won't get it anywhere in Chicago. Absolutely love it.. Most recommended
This place used to be my favorite but they have fallen off a bit. For 17 dollars you would think that you would get a decent portion but that is not the case. I counted 6 pieces of small cubed chicken in my curry which was all dark meat. And my chicken biryani was more like curry rice. As I was searching for the chicken and at 17 dollars you would think that you would get a decent amount? it’s just not the same and unfortunately I will have to find another Indian food place from now on.
Is Hema's under new ownership? A new chef?! I ordered my staples - hariyali chicken and sag paneer. The hariyali chicken that normally comes in a green, creamy cilantro sauce came in a watery brown chunky sauce and literally had only 4 bites of chicken in it. The sag paneer tasted of garlic, def not sag paneer. So disappointed. Where else can I get chicken hariyali???
Restaurantji Recommends
Pretty disappointing for a lot of reasons. First off, the floor was covered in water as there seemed to be some sort of leak. As someone prone to falls, that’s something to at least stay on top of and mop up or at least have a warning sign. I could tell the server was super stressed because he was kind of talking to multiple tables at once and instructing another server. That’s understandable, but the service was slow overall. When it came to the food, we had to add salt to everything because it had virtually no flavor. We tried the kadai chicken and chilli ghobi, and thought they weren’t terrible, they certainly weren’t worth the prices at this restaurant. This may have just been an off day, but it’s not somewhere I’d return based on this experience.
The food is absolutely delicious. By far one of the best Indian restaurants I’ve been to. This is a family owned business and you can definitely feel the hospitality, their service is impeccable. I am definitely going to be a regular at this place!
One of my favourite south Indian dishes is Masala Dosa and it was to great a temptation when I smelled the aroma as we entered.Dosa was good, but I felt it was just a little short of aloo masala, to make up however the accompanying sambar was incredibly good. We bought extra to take home.Travelling as I do so much of the year it's an enormous treat to get back in Chicago, one of the very few cities in USA with outstanding selections of Indian food, all congregated together in the Desi district.It appears Hemma's which used to be east of Western Ave., must have recently relocated, post Covid to the west of Western.The menu, of course, is predominantly vegetarian, naturally if you're in the mood for Masala Dosa, that doesn't matter to a meat eater like me, I'll go without ghosht any day to get a good Dosa.
No words to describe thepathetic level of shami kabab and vege buryani. Table was broken and not stable. No napkins no spoon/fork/knife. Also, turns out they serve frozen kababs. Isn’t it nonsense? Why would I pay a frozen item at the cost of fresh food? Also? Naan were as hard and crispy as if they were either left overs or were cooked long before the frozen kabab was thawed and fried ?I just left all food uneaten…Don’t recommend this restaurant at all.
Very ordinary restaurant. But it was the only one I could go to due to all other surrounding ones served Beef. This is owned by Telugu Christian but does not have beef on menu. Prominent displaces of Indian Teicolor due to recent Independence Day . Ate mutton biryani. Very generic. Not terrible. But nothing to write home about. The Ajwain fish was also ok. Amount of mutton and fish was less for the price. Decor is tired looking, as if they are just bidding time before leaving. The owner lady seemed nice and asked if we liked the food. Suggestion: if there are not too many people around, just bring a free desert like gulag jamun or something, which won't cost much but will bring a smile on the customer.