Ghareeb Nawaz — Restaurant in Chicago

Disappointing Experience at Ghareeb Nawaz – Quality Compromised Over Price

As an Indian craving biryani on a rainy day, I was excited to try Ghareeb Nawaz, especially given the rave reviews about Indian-Pakistani food in the area. Unfortunately, this visit was a letdown, marking one of the few times I’ve had a bad experience with South Asian cuisine.

Food: I ordered the vegetable biryani and a spicy potato curry as a side. The biryani was far from what I expected. It lacked vegetables, and the rice was overly sticky, drenched in gravy to the point where it didn’t resemble biryani at all. The plating was unappetizing, and the flavor was underwhelming. The potato curry was equally disappointing—the potatoes were discolored, and the overall quality and taste were subpar. You cannot customize the flavors (make it spicy/less spicy) of the food as they were all pre-cooked. They will heat and place you as you order

Price: While the prices are significantly lower (about three times cheaper) compared to other Indian/Pakistani restaurants, the quality was severely compromised. While affordability is a standout feature, it shouldn’t come at the expense of taste and authenticity.

Ambience: The ambience is no-frills and basic, which is fine for a quick bite, but the staff seemed indifferent and unwelcoming. They didn’t go out of their way to make the experience pleasant, which added to the overall disappointment.

Overall: I won’t be returning to Ghareeb Nawaz or recommending it to others. While the low prices might appeal to some, the lack of flavor, poor quality, and uninviting atmosphere make it a hard pass for anyone seeking authentic and enjoyable South...

I have been to this place many times since the day it opened, and it pains me to write this review, but I hope the owners can see this and make changes that are much needed.

The quality of the food has gone down way too much! It used to be delicious and tasty every time, but lately the parathas are way too dry, the rice is plasticy, and everything is made extremely spicy. It just doesn't taste as good as it used to when they had just started.

Most importantly, the place has become extremely unsanitary and dirty! The cashiers will literally go clean the table with a rag, take cash from customers, go and touch other stuff, and then touch your food with the same dirty un-washed bare hands! That's just gross and unacceptabe! Wear gloves when you touch food or at least wash your hands!

They leave cooked chicken out for long periods of time. Not in the refrigerator, like it's supposed to be. You can see all the chicken just sitting outside in large pans, and they'll just scoop it out and throw it on the grill to heat it when you order. But they won't put the rest in the refrigerator and that's not right.

Things like these make people sick, and I hope the owners read this review and...

They’ve forgotten to make our order for pickup twice now. Orders were both placed on their website, not through a 3rd party app. We arrived at the time the order confirmation said it would be ready and they didn’t even have our order ticket printed yet. I waited for an hour because they were out of rice and needed to cook more. This is the second time this has happened. After the hour, I asked if we could get anything complimentary because of the wait. I got a complimentary side, but looked in the bag once I got to the car and it was missing our orders of rice. When I went back in she said it would be another 10-15 minutes to make more rice. I spent an hour watching them make rice and serve it to other people in the restaurant and for delivery drivers. All orders that came in after ours. They did not offer to refund us, so we paid for 2 dishes that we never got. Since I didn’t order through a delivery app, I can’t dispute the order cost. While the food is cheap and fairly good, it’s not worth it. We’re frustrated and will not...