Must try We went there for brunch. Very busy place. We made reservations before hand, service is very good and fast. Food- we ordered big idli- good- but had better ones. Order mysore masala dosa was really good. Sambar and coconut chutney good, bot the peanut chutney- tasted stale Paneer dosa was a twist and impressed with the taste. Tried chach - this was so refreshing Tried filter coffee- this was only this that need alot of improvement. We are from south India and I must say they failed in this Ambiance is beautiful Two large rooms- plenty of staff Definitely will return read more

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Vanam is a nice place to have vegetarian Indian food. We tried south Indian food for what it is famous for, so I'm not sure if it's gonna be worth trying not Indian food. We ordered Idli - big ones don't know the name. It was good not great. Masala Rava Onion Dosa - three of us ordered that and it was very good, crispy. Cheese masala dosa - it was good too And regular masala dosa, which was good In drinks, I ordered nimbua masala, soda - I didn't like that at all Virgin Mojito - that was very good Chaas - butter buttermilk that was good too Then at the end, we ordered filter coffee - strong, but was very good I recommend this place for good food, but not really great ambiance. read more

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We went here for dinner tonight and enjoyed it. This is a massive relatively new fully vegetarian South Indian restaurant up in Schaumburg. Kind of reminds me of a couple of popular places down in the Naperville area. It's a big place because it seems like they have purchased/rented the restaurant next door, so giving them an even bigger space. So we went in and had to wait probably ~20 mins for a table. It was pretty crowded for a Thursday night, although it was Jan 1st, so maybe more people out an about on a holiday. The seating / hostess and wait staff I would say is a big of desi chaos. I think they must still be working out their process and kinks. There was one lady walking around with a wireless menu device. The staff is all very nice. So we ordered a bunch of stuff and it comes out by the table number as they make it. For appetizers we had a bunch of things. A couple of varieties of idlis amongst other items. My onion rava masala dosa was pretty good. Crispy and all. The sambar is also decent. I got the masala on the side. Other things I tasted as they were getting passed around... curd rice was fine... jackfruit biryani was fine... paneer was kind of meh... etc. So anyway, it was a fun evening and I'm glad we came out. read more

clean n comfortable! Excellent service. Varma was a fine host!. Food quality was great. Consistency on all the dishes ordered. Quick service. Clean clean clean read more

5 stars for Vanam Indian Restaurant in Schaumburg. Please note that this is a VEGETARIAN restaurant so do not except any chicken/lamb etc. I tried this one for the first time today and it was very good. I had the Paneer Tikka Masala and the Malai Kofta - both included a side of rice and you can adjust both of the curries spice level to your liking, I did hot for both - and it was decently spicy. The Malai Kofta has a sweet flavor to the sauce while the paneer tikka masala has more of a curry type flavor to the sauce - both delicious and the portions are generous. All of the workers were very friendly and there is a ton of seating inside for dine in. I'd highly recommend a visit to Vanam Indian Restaurant if you're in Schaumburg and want some delicious vegetarian Indian food. read more

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The primary improvement possible would be service. It was just horrible. Our server was hostile towards us, and all we did was come for a nice family lunch. Our food was spaced 40 minutes apart, and two of the items had to be returned to be recooked as they were served cold. So sad because we brought my mother here for a nice lunch. From order time to serve time, I waited 40 minutes for my food. The food, all three of us found the salt level to be off. Today, we also found the coconut chutney to be super spicy. We wanted this lunch to be special for my Mother, and now now none of of will come back. read more

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Ambience and staff were great! The food we got on the thaali was delicious, would have appreciated a bit more spice but that's a personal preference. The roti was unfortunately underdone though read more

Vanam - Thaali - Indian Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

Service here was pretty efficient. We got our food fairly quick. Also did appreciate the variety on the menu. Ambiance was nice, big restaurant. Food itself wasn't as awesome as I had expected. The dosas despite being rava didn't have that 'cage' like texture which is kind of the whole point of Rava. Sambar was great. There were 3 chutneys given, the peanut one and the coconut one weren't that good. Peanut one was just a whole diff vibe, just not up my alley. Coconut one lacked salt/flavor. Tomato one was a hit! Spicy and flavorful. Overall would go back to try other items. 7.5/10 experience. read more

Vanam - Rava masala - Indian Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

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The food was good but when we went to pay via credit, we learn the tip doesn't go to the server. Only cash tips. That is wrong and misleading since credit card system asks if I want to tip. I am not impressed with the management taking credit tips and pocketing the money. The polite server deserve the tip. The servers do not get any of that unless it is cash. Next time ask the server. read more

The only veg restaurant I can tolerate. Been here multiple times since they have opened. And since it was the day, we didn't have the patience to search for new restaurants we decided to celebrate birthday here. I would tell you they are always busy. And they don't take any reservations, so do plan on keeping an extra buffer before you head down there . Even though they are always busy, I felt we don't have to wait for food for long. The food is prepared quick and flavorful. Way better than other places around serving veg, Indian food. The southern Indian food is to die for. The owners really invest their time in this place. We got a small table and their kind gesture was to giving us a desert on the house on my birthday and also played a birthday song . I was melting in their kindness. We ordered so much food that was made to perfection. A decent sized portion the appetizers were shared between four of us. We got like good number of pieces in between us . We ordered Thali, which I would tell you the best Thali I have ever tried in Chicago area. The key button idlis were cotton soft, my son a picky eater ate all those without complaining. Overall I loved this place! Definitely coming back soon. Also an add on mention for their servers, they were very courteous and so were the cleaners too hard working. The another add on benefit about this place it is conveniently located in a plaza with lot of ample parking spaces. Thumbs up! read more

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We went on a Friday evening, tables were available around 6pm, and then by 6:30pm all tables were full, so I suggest coming earlier. All the staff were very nice and attentive. Food was amazing, all the dishes we got tasted so good and fresh. The interior looked very nice and simple, which was what I liked. The only thing I did not enjoy was the ginger chai, it was not fresh and tasted off, if you want an after dinner drink I suggest getting the coffee, that was fantastic! Would definitely go again for food. read more

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We went on a Saturday at 1:30 pm and easily got a table with a short 10 mins wait. The food was very similar to A2B, even the menu and some of the tableware were similar to A2B, not sure if it's a branch of A2B. We paid about $260 for a group of 6. The South Indian food was good, Idli Vada dosa pongal upma chutneys etc. I wasn't impressed by paneer khurchan or the kaju-mushroom curries. Thali was really good. The decor was nice and modern. The servers were sweet and friendly. Plenty of parking outside the restaurant. read more

First, they do not take reservations. First come first serve. We were 6 couples meeting for dinner on a Friday evening. They were extremely courteous to make sure we were all seated together knowing that our party would walk in sporadically. We ordered 2 Mysore Dosas, uttapam, rava dosa, idli/vada combo, 3 hot and sour soups, 3 manchow soups, garlic chili fried rice, garlic chili noodles and filtered coffee. Lots of food! All dishes were wonderfully prepared and the taste of each was on point, no complaints! Most of our dishes were medium spicy. They make sure to ask about spice level before placing the order. Each dish was so well prepared, I will not hesitate to return to try their other dishes! read more

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Food and service are excellent, best South Indian in town for sure, but the hours of operation sucks, opens late and closed during the afternoons. Tried going back several times, and couldn't enjoy their delicious food because of them being closed. read more

I have toured so many restaurants in the area. I thought this is the absolute top Indian restaurant! The food was excellent quality, excellent in natural ingredients. It was delicious, and we ordered a variety of foods to try. Clean filtered water. Choice of spicy level. Excellent music in atmosphere and incredibly clean. The Indian tea has an excellent increased spice with ginger. They even have this excellent filter coffee that's not overbearing and a hint of chocolate. The staff are incredibly welcoming and friendly and helpful. Lastly ,one of the best parts is, it's great pricing. read more

Best South Indian food in northwest suburbs. Idli is the best. Lassis are great. Good ambiance.

Food quality was good. Service was terrible. The business model of this restaurant does not work. The place is unrealistically large - with 100's of items on their menu. Food came out in stages (not all together) leave some of the table without food while others ate (those with food tried to hold off, but waiting for the next persons meal was over 20 mins). Also, my kids never got their food. When asked, it took them another 20 mins to make - which to me means they forgot. I would recommend finding somewhere else. read more

Compared to most other Indian restaurants in suburban Chicago, Vanam stands out, Vanam is a breath of fresh air compared to Gaylord ( which is good ) being modern and vegetarian. Mango lassi, samosa, masala dosa, palak paneer were all excellent for dinner tonight. It was packed with Indian Americans proving its quality. read more

Had the worst experience here recently. This place offers very few vegan options, and not even the majority of traditionally vegan dishes--like channa masala, dosa, uttapam, idly, vada, etc.--are vegan by default here, as they all contain dairy. And for most of those dishes, they weren't even willing to prepare a vegan version. There was no warning on the menu indicating that these items contain dairy, so I nearly ordered them under the assumption they would be vegan, as they are everywhere else. Even the channa masala was only made vegan after we asked multiple times, and when it finally came out, it was just a small bowl of channa, as shown in the picture, and it was poorly cooked and slightly hard. Literally the entire point of me going to a South Indian restaurant is so that I can eat South Indian food which is traditionally vegan, such as dosa, uttapam, idly, and vada. Yes, I was able to eat Manchurian and (eventually) channa masala here, but if I wanted those things, I could have gone to an Indochinese or North Indian restaurant instead, and they would have made them better. And to top it all off, at the counter they were serving salt water taffy that contained eggs, which aren't even considered vegetarian in India. We confirmed this by asking to see the packaging, which listed eggs in the ingredients. Ironically, most of the non-Indian, non-vegetarian restaurants I go to are way more vegan-friendly than this "Indian vegetarian" restaurant. Will never come here again unless they remove dairy from all of the traditionally vegan options. read more

Vanam - Salt water taffy with eggs at the counter - Indian Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

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Went there for a lunch when it was pretty new.. it was packed with people waiting outside. The service was very slow, could be because it was newly opened and wasn't expecting do much crowd. The food was good. We ordered - dosa, biryani, malai kofta, idli and few appetizers. read more

The best South Indian food I've had in the US. I went with my mom and we tried three items. We started with potato samosa. Very flavorful filling. The wrap or crust was amazing, hot crispy and flaky. We followed that up with masala dosa. It was big! And delicious! The filling was perfectly seasoned. Our final item was idli with sambar, again very tasty. Everything was s little spicy and not too hot. The service was excellent. We wrapped up with South Indian coffee, a perfect finish. read more

Five stars for food-- the thatte idlies (I've now tried three different combinations) are the softest idlies I've had in the US. Their chutneys are incredible, I wish I could purchase an entire tub of the tomato chutney, the peanut also has a very unique flavor. The sambar is so good I ate the whole bowl to the last drop. The dosas are also great, uttapams are soft and full of flavor as well. I've ended up going twice in one week because it was so tasty. A great find for vegetarians. Four stars only because of service. The first time we went, our dishes all came out at different times causing our meal to become an almost three hour affair. The second time, they were at the end of service for the night so things were slow again. I anticipate and hope this will get better with time as the food here is delicious! read more

Vanam is a good Indian vegetarian restaurant specializing in South Indian cuisine. We loved their Dosa platters and also the vegetarian thali. Overall it is a good value for money. Above all we loved their staff. They are very friendly and give you their recommendations that turned out to be perfect to our liking. We will definitely go back, thanks to their very friendly staff. read more

No reservations? We were visiting a store up 15 min away. Plan was to arrive by 12:45 but of course, stores never go on schedule. Ended up arriving at 1:15 and yes, there was a wait since they don't take any reservations. We had a 3pm show in Barrington. We were told the wait would be 30 to 40 min. Our hearts kind of sunk; do we wait and try our luck here and risk getting late for our show or shall we take the chance. We decided to chance it and I am pleased to report WE ALL ARE GLAD WE DID. We ordered a bunch of things. For the not so well versed, while the food here I think specializes in 'South Indian' food, I wasn't quite able to pin point which part of South India it caters to (or does it to different parts?). The rasam; LOVED the texture. I missed one flavor profile you get in a Keralan rasam. Sorry; can't pin point what. Nevertheless, it was really really good. We ordered a bunch of things to share. Stuffed mirchi bhaji was not bad. It wasn't the best I've had but not bad. The paneer manchuran was beautifully cooked. The sauce was DELICIOUS. Had to keep licking my fingers it was that good. The paneer was so fresh, fried (to perfection without it being overdone) and had the amazing 'spongy' feeling to it. We ordered a vada rasam. The rasam I described above. Vada was fresh and had that crisp from the outside and spongy from the inside feel. I wanted the chole bhature but they did not have bature this day so I went with the puri chole. This was amazing. This is not a South Indian dish (I think) but they did a phenomenal job with it. The puri while larger than Sindhi puris were thin and light. Did not feel the extra weight after having such a meal. Ran out of puri so ordered a phulka. Amazing phulka. Simple and this actually felt like homemade. Also ordered a plain dosa. This was one of the best dosas I've had in Chicago. It was thin, crispy and check this out; after about 30 min, it STILL had the crispy texture. Very very well made. Lastly, we had the the rava desert with pieces of fruit in it. THIS WAS THE BEST RAVA DESERT I'VE HAD EVER; PERIOD. It was not too sweet (yes, it still did have sugar but was not overly sweet like everything else we get in the US), had plenty of ghee. It had the richness yet freshness I can't quote describe. The servers were friendly and accomodating. Other thing I really loved about the place is; their plates, their metal dishes, glasses, water bottles, etc.; everything had their Vanam branding on it. A nice touch. Can't wait to try more stuff here. read more

I love this place. Best vegetarian restaurant in Chicago in my opinion. Can't wait to go back. Clean and neat. Delicious food. Humble service. Absolutely love this place. read more

Vanam is amazing! We got the Gobi 65, Chole Bhature, and Mysore Masala Dosa -- all were super flavorful and perfectly made. Everything tasted fresh and authentic. Definitely go early because the lines start forming around dinner time, and it's easy to see why! One of the best South Indian spots in the area. read more

Vanam - Chole Bhature - Indian Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

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Very nice food, fast service. Our server Rechal was very helpful to choose their famous food. She recommended stuffed mitchi bhaji, one of the best ones. read more

Vanam - Vaanam special dosa Rava mysore dosa Stuffed Mirchi Bhajji - Indian Near Me - Schaumburg, Illinois

We are from out of state and happened to have come across Vanam Indian Restaurant. The experiences were amazing! They serve authentic Indian cuisine - a variety of different dishes covering both Northern and southern India dishes. They also offer a variety of authentic fusion dishes. The flavors are rich but not just because of added cream, or excessive amounts of spices. The food is flavorful reflective of authentic Indian cuisine. This is refreshing as compared to many other Indian restaurants where flavors are not held authentically true to the traditional flavors. Ambience is calm, spacious and inviting. The colors are soothing with a subtle touch of decor that highlights dragonflies pieces, beautiful lights, some soothing wall art and achieving a well balanced overall interior design. Bathrooms are clean and spacious. They have a separate handwashing station. Servers were patient, kind, courteous friendly and helpful and service was with a smile and not rushed at all, even during peak times. We paid our compliments to the chefs and the team who allowed us to enjoy meals with an opportunity to actually sit down and enjoy, food, as it should be. The aromatics, the visual presentation and even the use of authentic hammered copper and steel utensils reflected the very well thought out details - small but impactful. Parking is ample. If you're in the Schaumburg Illinois area, stop by Vanam - I hope you enjoy the experience as much as we did, and are able to reconcile with my review here. Food: 5/5 | Service: 5/5 | Atmosphere: 5/5 Group size 2 people Wait time No wait Recommendation for vegetarians Highly recommend Vegetarian offerings Menu is all vegetarian Vegetarian options Their water source is their own, from what I read in the description. www.bluedropwater.com Parking space Plenty of parking Parking options Free parking lot Kid-friendliness Kid friendly menu was offered. Wheelchair accessibility It is all one level and I didn't not notice any curb transitions. Appears to be wheelchair accessible, including bathrooms. Bathroom had a diaper change station. read more

We went with our parent and kids to celebrate a special occasion . It was quite busy for being a Tuesday. We were immediately offered a choice of table . The menu variety was quite inclusive for kids too. The service and cleanliness were decent despite being a busy day for them and having bigger groups. The presentation and the taste of the food was excellent. Make sure to mention the spice level desired since it can be quite spicy . read more

Delicious food and attentive service. Spice levels were explained and accurate. Biriyani was excellent

Great food and service! We ordered thali and also lot of other items too. Biryanis and curries too Good and subtle tastes. Definitely a place to go Again and again. read more

Good food , service and ambience . Chef prepared food according to our requirements of no hot and spicy. Very accommodative. We will go again read more

First time in this restaurant I've great experience with good quality food and it's very tasty and delicious plus the service of the staff members are amazing and everything is very nice and great full service so I really enjoyed it thank you. read more

Visited this new restaurant in Schaumburg. Really good south Indian food. Good service. Tried Ghee roast dosa. Was just to expectation. Crispy and tasty. Pody idly was yummy too. Fluffy and right on with spices and ghee. But watch out with tomatoes chutnee. It's Spicy. Prices are OK. read more

We were the first into the restaurant when they opened. The ambiance was good and service was satisfactory. We were quite disappointed with the food. The podi dosa was good but the idly seemed it needed just a few minutes more in the steamer and the vada seemed like it needed to be fried a little bit more. $12 for 3 small vadas seemed way overpriced. I had the combo plate, the Pongal didn't taste like Pongal at all. Overall quite expensive at $75 for 3 with no coffee or tea or drinks ordered. read more

I absolutely loved the Rava Mysore Masala Dosa -- perfectly crisp, flavorful, and satisfying! The service was excellent as well; the staff were very attentive and made sure everything was just right. A wonderful dining experience overall. read more

The food is good and the mango lassi is the best I've had because they make it with mango pulp. Would definitely recommend

I ordered gobi Manchurian and Hakka Noodles and totally worth the money. My guests loved it and I'm glad I ordered.

The ambiance here is very pleasant and welcoming, and the service is excellent. We started with the veg and baby corn manchurian, which were crispy, flavorful, and a perfect appetizer. The thatte idly was a standout, soft, fluffy, and paired with sambar that was rich and full of flavor. I'd highly recommend it, especially if you've never tried it before. The masala dosa was crisp on the outside, perfectly spiced inside, and our toddler loved every bite. The jackfruit biryani was incredibly authentic, aromatic, and bursting with spices, while the paratha was flaky, soft, and paired beautifully with the kurma. Overall, this place serves real, delicious South Indian food read more