Gateway To India — Restaurant in Springfield

I had a horrible experience at this restaurant. The service was terrible and racist. My date and I are both Black and it was very apparent that the poor service we received was racially motivated. The rest of the patrons in the restaurant were White and received better service than us. I made a reservation hours in advance, but it took them at least 10 minutes to get a table prepared for us, despite the fact that multiple tables were open and we arrived 10 minutes before the time of our reservation. The table they prepared was located in the back corner of the restaurant between the exit door and one of the windows. It was very cold and the most secluded spot in the restaurant. There were other tables for two available, but the waiter chose to seat us there. After taking us to our seat, the waiter served us water and did not offer any other drinks. Also, we were not given any snacks while waiting for our food. Patrons who came after us were given these snacks while waiting for their food. The waiter took 10 minutes to give us menus despite having ample time to do so. This would have been somewhat understandable had there been many people in the restaurant at the time, but that was not the case. After giving us menus, the waiter took another 15 minutes to check on us about our order. It took 50 minutes for our food to arrive at the table. We both ordered simple main course dishes that did not require any kind of special preparations. At least three other tables with patrons that arrived after us received their food before we did. Our visit to this restaurant lasted around two hours, and we were checked on only once, not including the mandatory visits the waiter made to our table to give us our menus, food, and the check. The rest of the patrons were checked on regularly. I always tip at restaurants, but I did not give a tip on this occasion due to my awful experience. I will never return to this restaurant, nor will I ever recommend others to visit it, especially...

I have ordered from many Indian restaurants, and this was definitely one of the better overall experiences. I ordered chili paneer, bhatura, and paneer makhani. The chili paneer unfortunately was not super impressive. I wanted to like it more but it just didn’t have enough spice or flavor really. It definitely felt like something else (an ingredient) was either lacking or needed, but I just couldn’t really be sure what. Also the paneer in the dish was rubbery/difficult to chew and that was unfortunate. The bhatura was excellent, literally perfect. And finally, the paneer makhani. Originally when I called in the order and asked the lady taking my order how spicy “medium” was, she said relatively spicy and their “spicy” level was like legit indian spice. So I thought like…ok I’m indian and I can definitely handle some spice, but I’m also kind of a wimp sometimes when it gets too hot ya know? So I almost wished there was a level between medium and spicy, but alas 😢 there was not. Overall taste of the paneer makhani was pretty good. It had a pretty good buttery, tomato flavor that I recognized with that kind of dish because I’ve eaten it a thousand times. What really intrigued me was the tinge of sweetness in the curry. I am still not sure if I loved it, but it definitely was different and separated it from other paneer makhanis I’ve had in the past. However, because of the “medium” spice level, the sweetness of the curry was a little more present than the spice really was and that’s not really how I had wanted it when I had imagined it in my head. Which is why I wish there was a level inbetween their “medium” and “spicy”. Overall a pretty decent eating experience, but at the end of the day, I felt that the somewhat bland, overly chewy chili paneer and the under-spiced paneer makhani merited one star less...

We travelled from India to Chicago and then drive 8 hours to Kansas City. We didn’t have a chance to have any hot food during this 30 hour trip. We decided to just keep going, but we decided to stop in Springfield, Illinois for lunch, and were surprised to find an Indian restaurant. We didn’t want to dine in, and asked for plates and spoons and were given.

The little finger spring rolls were simply amazing! They were gone in about 5 minutes from the time we opened the box. They were delicious, just the right amount of spice and perfect! The aloo paratha was mild, but fresh, and not the frozen one that restaurants usually thrust at you. It was soft and the kiddo loved it. Wish they gave some aachar/pickle with it (but not complaining). We ordered aloo Bhaji as we didn’t want anything too heavy. It was simply the best. It tasted homemade. It came with rice, and went well. Taste was amazing for every dish!

The only reason I took off one star is because only the person at the counter had a mask on, no one else did. He didn’t have gloves on, didn’t use any sanitizer, and no one else had gloves. But I was too hungry to keep all this in mind. The ambiance looked good too, if we could have dined in. They were kind enough to let us use the restroom. We were there at almost closing time, but still entertained us, filled our water bottles and everything...