Chettinad House — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

The reviews of Chettinad House on here are not great, but I am pleased to see that they are at least better on Yelp because this place is DELICIOUS.

First, some warning. The vibe isn’t great. They clearly did a hasty conversion when they took over the space and put no effort into making it special. The service is incredibly slow, and if you order takeout it probably will be ready later than the estimated time. They seem to do a lot of takeout orders and clearly aren’t very concerned with making the dine-in service something to rave about.

That being said, I STILL give this place five stars, because that’s how much I like the food. My husband and I love Indian food and eat it quite regularly. My husband in particular is quite discriminating as he has lived in India for three different periods of his life. His office is near Chettinad House and he is so obsessed that he eats here at least once a week.

So now, onto the food! One of our favorites is their Alloo Mattar. They do a stellar job with the spices and there is such a depth of flavor. Once you taste the food, you will understand why they were perhaps a little slow — it’s because it’s FRESH. There is some real home-cooked love in every dish. My husband’s favorite is their Chicken Biryani. Biryani is his favorite Indian dish after living in Hyderabad (the biryani capital of India), and he says this one is the best he has found in Utah. As for myself, I am a sweet naan junkie and the sweet naan here is incredible. We have also enjoyed the Pumpkin Masala as something a little different than what you see at most places. I have yet to order something here that I haven’t enjoyed.

So, please, my friends. Stop waiting in line at Bombay House and giving them even more business. Come here and you’ll find much more interesting and complex flavors that are less Americanized and much more authentic to actual Indian food.

If you eat in, go with friends planning on a leisurely evening of conversation and remind yourself that they are likely taking so long to bring your food because they are actually cooking it in the back. If you order takeout, call with the expectation of going a few minutes after their estimated time so you don’t get frustrated. They may not have all the kinks sorted out, but the food is more important, right? At least that’s...

I stopped in here because it is close to my office and I saw that they have lunch specials online. When I got to the restaurant, I saw the lunch specials menu sitting on the counter. However, I was told by the waitress that the lunch specials only run until 12:15 (I got there just after 12:30). WHAT. I’ve never heard of lunch specials stopping so early. That’s just absurd.

Further, I feel that this was a flat out lie told to me, because when I went back to check online afterwards, I was still able to place an order for the lunch special ($10.90). Instead I was only given the option of the dinner menu at a price that was $5 more and didn’t include a dessert.

I know places are hurting financially right now, but lying to your only customer about the options available is not the way to go about business and I will refuse to support your business in the future.

I was the only one in the entire restaurant (besides the management), which isn’t really surprising based on my experience. The whole restaurant is basically a hotel ballroom, and the décor speaks to such. It is devoid of any character, with just a few random paintings with no theme hung on the walls. Following suit, the tables, place settings, and dishes are all equally as plain. Normally I wouldn’t mind these things, but when you’re already in a bad mood from the experience so far, this doesn’t help.

As for the food itself, I got the chicken coconut korma, and it was pretty decent. It was very very oily though, I’d rate it 3.5 stars. The naan tasted hot and fresh, I’d give it 5 stars. I’m glad I only ordered the medium spicy level and not the hot, because my water glass sat empty throughout my entire meal. I’d say this is even more significant, because I was the only customer in the building.

Suffice it to say, I will not be back. Which is a shame, because I was really hoping for a decent Indian restaurant...

Food is ok, but customer service is terrible. We ordered online, after about 30 mins we called in to check the status, they hadn't even started preparing the food. Instead they blamed everything on the online vendor they use to process payment saying they never received the order. So we had to wait another 40 mins on top of that. No worries we said, then we go the restaurant to pick it up only to find out they messed it up. One order was MISSING. So when we told the waiter, he said he's going to call the vendor to double check if we were saying the truth! And this was after showing him the receipt. Unbelievable. The waiter refuses to accept his mistake, no apologies or anything. Then tells us he knew the vendor they use for online ordering is not good, so we shouldn't have ordered online. Are you kidding me? If you know about the poor service by the vendor, WHY DO YOU KEEP EMPLOYING THEM? And how the hell should we know about that? Even after receiving the messed up order, the waiter handed it to us like he was doing charity!! Very very poor attitude. STAY AWAY from this place, even though the food might be alright, the terrible customer service will ruin your day. Either replace the waiter or teach him some manners. I hope the owner realizes this before the...