Thumka Indian Bar & Grill

Restaurant says it is open but is closed from 2:30 to 6 pm be careful they will trick you

Great buffet! Probably the best tandoori chicken I’ve had in a very long time. There was a good variety of dishes. The garlic naan was out of this world. If you like Indian cuisine, this would be a good place to try.

I was at this place on this past Thursday night. The buffet was terrible. Palak Paneer was cold. I told him that something was wrong. He politely understood the problem but did nothing to fix it. For a $ 15 buffet, this place was terrible both in quality and options for the food. Only reason for two stars is that both people working there, the manager and the server were very courteous and pleasant.
I wish they can fix the food problem.

Food was preety good.
Noodles are too delicious. Its a tradional good meal. Should taste the food.

Located behind Garibaldi Pizza.
Great gol gappa, great bhel.
Dinner buffet is $ 14.95, lots of veg options, good garlic naan.
Sour yogurt, wouldn’t order the mango lassi.
Get the groupon if you can. Read the terms carefully. Groupon does not apply to the buffet.
Note that there is a 15% mandatory gratuity on groups of six or more — even on the buffet!!!
Service is attentive.

I’m not an expert on Indian food, but my sister and I did enjoy our recent buffet visit to this restaurant. The food was good as far as we were concerned and the gentleman who catered to our needs, water, etc., was very friendly and personable. Also, it was a quiet place with some cozy booths available, which I always like…:)
My only comment would be that they might consider dropping the price a bit for the buffet as we did find it a bit higher than we would have liked for what was offered.
But again, we really liked the food and service! We would definitely recommend this restaurant!

I’m no Indian conoisseur, but I have tried a few places by now. I feel as though this Indian spot will appear more to the ethnic palate. Don’t expect your Americanized, diluted down versions here. The spices are spicier and packs a stronger punch than from other Indian places I’ve dined at. And that’s not in a bad way! In that sense, i feel that dishes here lean more authentic, and for the Indian-​food-​familiar crowd.
Ordered to go. Chicken tikka masala/​butter chicken. Sauce was flavorful. Thicker than what I’m used to (chunkier, not creamier), and darker, rather than the creamy-​sweet I’m used to having. It was pretty flavorful, and the chunks of chicken were hearty. (In a Thai food analogy, more red curry than panang).
My friend ordered the chicken vindaloo. Also really delicious, and definitely deserved to be ordered on the spicy side.
We opted out of the plain basmati rice. I had the basmati with mushrooms, since I’m a mushroom fanatic. These slices were hearty. She had the basmati rice with cumin, although I didn’t try it.
We also added in an order of buttered naan bread. I’m used to garlic naan, which is pretty flavorful. However, this naan’s flavoring leans more on the mild side, and can be lost when eaten with the flavor-​infused entrees. by itsself i notice its faint essence more, but… overall, it can be easily forgettable. Also on the thinner, burnt side. May not order the naan again, and instead try roti on a different go.

Just one word — Awesome… The food over here will remind you the awesome food from India. I went for buffet… I was just shocked seeing the extensive menu for buffet. That too very cheap… I will recommend this place to everyone…

Coming from a Desi who has searched high and low for good Indian food, Thumka is as good as it gets in Chicago. The food tastes really good and authentic although a little on the spicier side. But hey. That’s what good Indian food is supposed to be. The buffet has the most options that I have seen in Chicagoland area. And their bread menu is huge! Both vegetarian and non vegetarian options are really good. I don’t know how this place makes a profit with so many options at 10.99 for lunch and 11.99 for dinner but I hope they keep it up.

Really bad experience with their buffet … im giving 3 stars just because the owner is really nice person … i had butter chicken or chicken tikka masala (taste was similar to both dishes) chicken was quite smelly that after 3 bites i quit. the other dishes i had tasted below average. . Please do something about it.

Its back to nasty again. Its definitely not consistent. I think we r done now for sure.

Thumka had an okayish buffet spread and all the food items tasted just about average. We went in at around 9 PM on a weekday and all the food was either over or too cold to be had. The rice was very dry and too hard to chew from being left out on the buffet table for far too long.
The make your own pani puri was surprisingly refreshing and the only item i liked from the buffet spread.
The best part of thumka though is the selection of bread that you can order along with your buffet, they have a very good selection and some creative items as well on the list. I really liked the stuffed Naans and Parathas they made but unfortunately the north indian dishes that go with the bread were just okay.
The ambiance is very good and the staff is very friendly but the food needs to taste better or maybe if i go in for dinner next time a little early it might taste better. Will definitely give it another try before i make any judgments.

Thumka definitely has the largest buffet section in chicago land. All the food items were pretty average; nothing exceptional about anything. Loved the ambience though.

An awesome find. I’ve lived right near it for awhile now, but just ended up going in the other day. When you go for the dinner buffet, you can order you choice of bread (naan, roti, etc.). I got the garlic naan and it was awesome. The selection at the buffet is pretty great for whatever indian food you might prefer. Definitely worth the money. I see that a lot of people five it less stars because they are catering in the restaurant so they’re essentially closed, so I would call ahead just to make sure they’re open to everyone. If so, prepare for some amazing food!

I like a small restaurant where they have a actinic flavors and it’s not crowded we had a good experience in this restaurant and we enjoy some of the good food where we ordered four different plates, my bill was approximately 55 dollars which is not bad for 4 people’s I would go there again and again

Nice location. A lot of selections on the buffet. If you are into north Indian dishes you’re likely to love this place. The lunch buffet wasn’t crowded unlike other Indian restaurants on a Sunday afternoon.

If you’ve ever been to India, Thumka will remind you of a nice little restaurant that you might have eaten at away from your hotel. That is meant as a high compliment.
Comfortable, friendly, no frills tables and booths with non-​descript Bollywood playing on T.V.
Pakora’s and chats are nice. Samosas, onion and potato pakoras, make your own bhel puri and pani puri.
Very nice and varied selection of main dishes –goat curry, chicken curry, butter chicken, 3 types of rice and biryani, channa masala and mixed lentil dal all had nice flavors and did not lack for spice (heat).
Tandoori chicken was good quality and tasted good but suffered from being covered up and steamed so it lacked that nice dry outer texture that comes from the tandoori oven-​like a dry barbecue.
Desserts were good. Kheer was especially nice.
Choose your own Naan is a nice touch. I chose plain-​a little dry but still very good. Could have used a brush of ghee.
Overall a nice experience and very good value.

We really have enjoyed our meals here… my kids love the naan and my hubby and I like the wide variety of food.
However, in the past 3 months, we have tried to dine here on three different Saturday’s only to find out the restaurant is closed for a private party. We don’t live in the area, and drive past many great restaurants to get to Thumka and we are always super disappointed to see it closed.
We are now searching for a new Indian restaurant to dine at that either has a private room for parties so their restaurant won’t be closed to the public, or perhaps an Indian restaurant that has an updated webpage so the customer (me) knows it will be closed before driving all the way out there.

Somewhere between 2 and a half to 3 stars.
Nothing too great, but not revoltingly bad either. We generally avoid buffets like the plague. Usually the buffets have stuff sitting out there for long time, rice is dry and in general the quality of food is sub par. We landed here on a Saturday night, we didn’t have a choice but to take the buffet. It was ok… there was a variety of dishes, vegetarian and non vegetarian. I stuck to vegetarian mostly — the dal was tasty. The other dishes were ok. The best part about the buffet is their choice of bread. Usually, restaurants serve regular naan on the table. But Thumka gives you a whole menu of breads, that you can choose from, and it is made fresh to order. That, I thought was a nice touch. The service is nothing great, we had glasses empty on our table multiple times.

I met up with my boyfriend here for a quick lunch. When I arrived I realized everyone does the buffet. I wasn’t feeling that hungry, but for about 8 or 9 dollars, who can complain. The service was pretty good about filling our water and clearing our plates. We found out that the buffet does not include naan, so we added two pieces of naan. because Indian food is not the same without it!
The buffet was just okay. There were quite a few options, but the food just wasn’t; that great. It tasted powdery like everything came from a mix. I did not have much of an appetite after the first round of food.
I do not think I will return with all the other great Indian restaurants in the area,