Arya Bhavan

Go here. Go here always, go here forever. I don’t care if you’re vegetarian or not, it’s worth the trip. Go on the weekend for the buffet.
If you like indian food, they have it all, at a great value. It’s not the biggest place but it’s incredibly easy for parking and they are very friendly in terms of service. That should be it if you like indian food, shut and done.
A few unique things is they take on a few traditionally meat dishes and make vegan/​vegetarian versions. Also, they make a carrot halwa that must be tried. Seriously, it may look one way but if you haven’t had that before — it tastes another. It was good enough that it kicked off a multi-​month exploration at my home into making carrot halwa and carrot halwa oatmeal.
This place is absolutely a gem, and people don’t know just how amazing it is. This is absolutely my #1 favorite place to go for indian — and it’s incredibly accommodating for my daughter as well. On that note, they do have highchairs.

The owners are opportunistic and taking advantage of people trying to eat healthy and vegan. Skip their overpriced menu and lack of customer service. Just look at the reviews here and on google review. According to another review on Unilocal they’re not really all vegan.
I called in a pick up order. I asked how long it was going to be and she said 20 minutes maybe before that. I got there 20 min later and she said it would be another 10 min. 20min later she kept saying the food was ready but yet still didn’t bring the food out. It actually took another 25 – 30 more minutes from when it should’ve been ready, and yet no apology.
I ordered the masala dosa which was not crispy what so ever even though I ate it there immediately when I got it. The $ 8 dosa also barely had any masala in it which was also quite bland to be honest.
I also got the lentil soup which came with white rice. Both tiny portions, expensive, and tasteless.
Screw this place! There are much better options on Devon.

So being a once strict raw vegan and now not strictly raw or vegan (I eat some fish) I was looking for spots in Chicago on a recent business trip. My first vegan restaurant was a success and I love Indian food so I wanted to try this one despite the mixed reviews. And I have to say in all honesty this was the least palatable food I have had in a long time. The best thing I had was their chai tea. The owners seemed to be doing everything from the cooking to the serving and the wait time was ridiculous! 30 min. They were friendly but just not able to attend to their customers. Dirty plates were left at nearby tables. When I finally got my food it was half cold and I had thought the veggie dish would not just be a sauce but include veggies. The buckwheat naan even a homeless person would reject. But because I was starving and hadn’t eaten all day I ate what I could manage to tolerate. I honestly don’t know how this place manages to stay in business. The owner told me to return Saturday for brunch but given that visit I had no plans to return.

Friendly Service, nice healthy option on Devon. The place was super clean.
Everything seemed well prepared and fresh.

So — let us assume that you’re in the mood for an experiential history lesson — you’d like a taste of life back in the days when how a business treated you depended upon how much melanin was in your skin. Humor me some more and lets say you’d also like to experience stale food, assorted floaties in your water, dried food from previous meals on «fresh» plates. Yes? Well then Arya Bhavan is your place.
Still with me? Then here is my experience:
We walked in here on a Saturday evening. There were 2 tables occupied — we were the third party. While being ignored by Kirti (who really has no business being in the hospitality business), we found the old busboy (whose service was quite good by the way) and found ourselves a table.
The dinner buffet was cold to luke-​warm. The avacado had gone black along with the carrots and turmeric. The carrots were shriveled-​up as well.
The first couple of dinner plates where damp and smudgy — one even had some food leftover from previous meals. The small steel bowls were quite dirty — wet and with some dried food sticking to them. Wonder how this place even passed the health inspection.
We really should have walked out then but then everybody makes mistakes — so after wiping these we collected our food and waited at the table… for the next 10 minutes watching Kirti joked around with some visitors. Finally we waved to her only to hear her shout from across the hall that the naan was coming. Apparently after another 5 minutes we asked the busboy who went and actually got the naan.
Now I can understand something like this happening in a place bustling with customers — not in a place where just 2 tables were occupied (1 party had left by now)
At one point, we again waived at Kirti to get her attention — and again she curtly informed us «one second» and promptly disappeared in the kitchen for another 5 minutes. She came out with a beer for the other party at the restaurant once again totally ignoring us.
As the evening progressed Kirti made it abundantly clear by her behavior that she wasn’t interested in our business at all. Only the busboy (and at one point in time even the cook in the hairnet came over to service us) — but Kirti was too busy only to serve the other table — chatting them up, asking about the food, and the usual service you’d expect in any restaurant worth its salt. When we called her, she brusquely said, be back in a minute and then about 5 minutes later she sent out the cook to find out what we wanted.
The last straw came when we asked for water and the jar came with unknown stuff floating around. That is when we got up. Kirti saw me waving the water jar — heard me ask the busboy about the floating particulate matter in the drinking water — but she simply wasn’t bothered enough to come to the table to find out what was wrong.
Well — enough was enough and we got up to pay the bill.
That was the only time Kirti bothered to treat us as paying customers and said Thanks. To which I replied — «No thanks needed, we aren’t coming back again»
Now a business owner who truly cares about customers would have bothered to find out why. Oh not Kirti. She likes to service only a certain category of people. She simply snapped — «that’s your choice».
Very true — and I’ve made the choice to publish my experience wherever this business is mentioned — so that others can make an informed decision. I’ve also made the choice to file a complaint about this business with the Chicago Health department.
Well Kirti, if you’re reading this, you know exactly what I mean and I hope that you get treated better in a restaurant than the way you treated us. People who come to your restaurant give you your livelihood — they are PAYING customers NOT beggars.

Wish I could give zero, inexperienced waiters, poor and very very slow service, they changed order themselves even though they confirmed the order with us 3 times. The lady– may be owner (not sure who she was) blamed the wrong order on waiters says they are new. Would never go there again, was surprised that’s a place like this even exists in Chicago Devon avenue. Then we saw ajwaah sweets just across the street and had samosa papadi jalebi there. Please go to ajwaah which would be worth spending money and time.

This restaurant ahs greatly improved on delivery and food. However, the high cost of delivery is a deterrent to leaving a tip though I did in March 2016. Good for certian raw foodsThe Naan bread was half cooked. It was near closing time.

OMG so wonderful. We came early for the Saturday buffet, they were still setting up but welcomed us and were super friendly and accommodating. The buffet is expansive and everything is clearly labeled as vegan, raw, or gluten-​free. I like that that means there are no worries about dietary restrictions. We got mango lassi to go with the buffet and it was so fresh and good!!! We also loved the samosas. definitely ate too many with the vast array of chutney available. WE loved it, stuffed ourselves, and are definitely coming back. It’s so great to have a whole buffet of Indian food that is completely vegan.

My fiancé and I adore this place. Both the buffet and entrée dishes are amazing, some of the best vegan or Indian food in the city. Plus, it’s clean, minimal, the ambiance is relaxed, and the staff is friendly.

Pros:
Food is excellent consistently
Food is vegan
They serve real Indian food, not americanized garbage.
The Dosa is outstanding
Cons:
Service was a bit slow when I went
A bit pricy.
To the person complaining about the delivery drivers saying their address was too far: delivery drivers survive on tips; they aren’t well paid. Chances are that they figured an average tip amount wasn’t going to make the trip economically viable. These guys have families to feed, they don’t exist to serve you, so don’t take it personally. The restaurant is great, and refusing to visit because you couldn’t get delivery is petulant and childish.

This restaurant was referred to me by a dear friend of mine. I was very excited to try this restaurant but they have conflicting information on the flyer that I picked up from this restaurant and the website.
I called them to have food delivered. Even though I fall in the area where they deliver, I was told that I need to have a minimum delivery of $ 25 and a delivery charge of $ 12. It almost felt like the person taking my order was almost making up these amounts. When I asked about the change in price, I was told drivers do not want to drive that far.
Unfortunately I will not be going here.

This is on our short list of vegan and vegetarian spots in Chicago (which is inevitably short, being that we are living in Sandburg’s «Hog Butcher to the World.») We picked this for our New Year’s Eve dinner, and while the prime-​rib-​and-​lava-​cake-​eating masses would probably consider this an odd choice for a special holiday feast, for us it was the right decision…
After walking in from the first cold snap of the year, we first warmed ourselves up with a piquant cup of hot cardamom tea. Then on to the «mixed basket» of delicately fried appetizers – a perfect assortment of hand-​made fritters, samosas, and pakoras, complemented by sweet homemade dipping sauces. For mains, we had the Malai Kofta and Tikka Masala. Everything had just the right balance of spices, but the chilis were definitely not blanded-​down for our caucasian pallet. If there isn’t a little fire going on in our bellies, it just doesn’t have enough soul. .. but Arya Bhavan did right by us.
For discerning vegans, and even enlightened omnivores who understand that meat and dairy are not necessary food groups (despite what our fourth grade teachers told us), Arya Bhavan is a top-​tier joint.

The restaurant owner claims that their food is 100% vegan but that is not true because I ate there and had an anaphylactic allergic reaction to dairy and ended up in the ER. I ate the carrot halwa for dessert, which was likely made with real milk instead of soy like they claimed. Do not trust their menu.

Their Saturday night buffet offered an assortment of vegan, gluten free, healthy and fresh options. Not too heavy on the oil and lots of interesting flavors. I loved the samosas! As someone who is not vegan and able to eat gluten I’m not sure I enjoyed it enough to come again for the $ 16.50, but would recommend to my friends with dietary restrictions.

I really wanted to like this restaurant, but no longer do. There was much to intrigue me because I am vegan, I love Indian food, and I live only a few blocks away. I also appreciate the effort to cook with reduced oil. But now, I plan to go elsewhere on Devon.
The buffet used to be pretty good or at least novel (though expensive). But now it is rarely on offer.
The menu items are overpriced and very uneven in quality. Service is spotty. And the last straw was that they packed a liquid-​y entrée for take out in a dry food container. It spilled everywhere, and when I called to complain, the restauranteur argued that her packing was just fine.
In short, I will accept fewer vegan options at the many Indian restaurants on Devon where the food and the service are better, and prices are lower.

Arya is a great addition to Devon. It is a healthy option for Indian food– the entire menu is not just vegetarian, it is vegan. They food tastes less processed and more homestyle cooked.
However, I would not call it classic Indian food. I tried, I really tried to be open-​minded, but it still is vegan food. The dishes were tasty, but I think with translating even classic Indian vegetarian dishes to vegan options, the flavor profile was off. I had the malai kofta, traditionally a vegetable dumpling in a tomato cream sauce. Arya’s sweet potato dumpling was tasty, but the gravy tasted more like tomato sauce with a heavy dose of cinnamon and cloves.
I recommend the Baingan Bharta. It has a great homemade flavor and nice heat to it.
The service is great. Personal attention and food out in a timely manner. I would go again to check out their $ 15 vegan Indian buffet on the weekend, but I don’t think I would go back just for dinner without a reason.

I cannot believe that I just realized I have not written a review for this place. This is, by far my favorite Indian restaurant for a number of reasons.
First, they are 100% vegan. That is extremely important to me and I love the fact that I can go in here and order ANYTHING off of the menu and not worry or make substitutions. And with that being said, the food is darn good! Everything is delicious and healthier than you would normally get at an Indian restaurant.
Second, BUFFET!!! They have a buffet for lunch and also for dinner on Saturdays which is a huge plus. I am one that likes to have a variety of things so buffet is always good for me. They have probably twenty or more varieties on their buffet, some hot items and some cold salads. Their salads are always delicious with Raw cashew dressing and Raw Avocado dressing. In fact, everything is so fresh. They put small portions out at a time and only refill when necessary. The hot items are always hot and the cold items are always cold.
Third and most important, Kirti, the owner. She is fantastic! I get a warm hug when I go in and she is just so friendly, personable and knowledgeable about raw, vegan and gluten free cooking. She is just a wealth of information. She does cooking classes on occasion and even offers meal plans for busy people who want to make healthier changes to their eating habits.
Vegans and non vegans alike, check this place out. You will not be disappointed.

This place is amazing and so fresh! I have to say this is the freshest vegan food I have ever tasted. The tastes are so colorful and wild. The chef is wonderful. She is so sweet.
The ambiance was so inviting and wait staff tended to our every need. Not to mention the owner is the chef and she is just so pleasant. She actually let us test «raw roles» which was for an event she was having. Talk about courtesy. This is hands down one of the best places I have had the pleasure to sit down in in Chicago. We will be coming back again and again for sure!
It was worth the 17 miles we rode so far on our bikes today to get here. Now 13 miles to get back home:)

This is a review for the weekend dinner buffet — I love being able to sample different dishes, but most restaurants only have buffets at lunch. Arya Bhavan has their buffet on the weekend, including dinner. And this was a huge buffet — I think I counted at least a dozen dishes, plus salads and a really extensive condiment bar with multiple chutneys and even bhel. The food was excellent, and there were several dishes that deserve 5 stars — samosas, sambar, dal tadka, all with perfectly balanced spices. And I loved the carrot halwa — especially since it was made with soymilk, so it wasn’t as heavy as traditional milk based Indian desserts. The naan was delicious too. The emphasis of this restaurant is «healthy eating», so it was a treat to have naan that was just bread, not brushed with ghee, and that all the dishes focused on the vegetables, instead of swimming in an oily gravy.
So why only 3 stars? As good as the food tasted, the buffet wasn’t well set up. Plates stacked between the condiments and the main dishes, so you have to go backwards in the line, you have to carry your silverware back to the table, and the sambar was in between other dishes, so once you realize it’s there, you have to go back to the beginning to get a (tiny) bowl. And much of the food was cold, which was such a shame, since it was such good food. Maybe it’s because the buffet is right in front of the door, maybe it’s because most of the dishes seemed to be warmed by heat lamps instead of by a steam table (which also made it hard to serve yourself), but most of the food wasn’t even warm, much less hot. So next time I’ll order off the menu, hopefully that food will get to the table at the right temperature.

My bud and I were looking for an Indian buffet restaurant on Devon that we had been to a couple of times over the years (and I don’t believe it is around anymore). Anyway we stumbled into Arya Bhavan as it had a familiar look to it, such as the buffet table near the entrance. This place served almost all vegan food, but we decided to give it a go as we were hungry. After the meal, I confess that I like to eat meat too much. I guess Arya Bhavan would be fine if you were on a vegan or vegetarian diet. However I really did miss the chicken and mutton choices that I would have been able to consume at a typical Indian buffet.