Get your butter chicken fix at Indian restaurant in Algonquin
Jay Gulati has owned an Indian clothing store along the Randall Road corridor for about a year.
Each time his loyal customers would stop into Tanaaya at 2713 W. Algonquin Road to shop for clothing, they'd also start asking him when he was going to bring his Indian cuisine to the area.
They knew he had an Indian restaurant in Hoffman Estates, but kept asking when he would bring it closer.
So last month, Gulati, of Lake in the Hills, did just that.
On June 21, he opened Thumka Indian Express at 2737 W. Algonquin Road, just west of Randall Road, in the same strip center at the new Fox Valley Pottery, Code Ninjas and Tanaaya.
“All my friends who live close by kept saying come closer, so we can have the food close by,” he said. “They'd say we live here. You live here. Why are you depriving us of good Indian food?”
Gulati decided to take the leap and opened his second Thumka location just around the corner in the strip mall from his clothing store.
He describes the cuisine as authentic Indian food, catering to the Northern Indian population, and using high-quality ingredients, beloved recipes and a passion for the food they create.
Gulati's first location, Thumka Indian Bar and Grill at 2336 W. Higgins Road, is more of a sit-down restaurant and fine dining, he said, with a banquet hall.
This location along the Randall Road corridor offers sit-down and carryout service and is more casual, Gulati said.
“This is more Chipotle, but the other is more like Cheesecake Factory,” he said.
So far, he said, the customers who were craving his food to begin with are thrilled with the new location. Many new customers have also happened upon the place, either by seeing the sign along Algonquin Road or by word-of-mouth.
He said they are happy to have a nearby location serving up this type of food because it was lacking in the area.
The Hoffman Estates location offers a buffet. There isn't room for that in Algonquin, he said, but soon they will be adding lunch specials.
“We want to cater to people in the area,” he said.
For information or to reach Thumka, call (847) 829-6992.
Read to get freebies:
The Barnes and Noble along the Randall Road corridor in Geneva will give kids a free book just for reading this summer.
The store, 102 Commons Drive in Geneva Commons, is offering the book to kids in grades one through six.
To earn the book, all they need to do is read any eight books and record them in one of the store's free Summer Reading Journals, which you can pick up at the store or download online.
Complete the journal and bring it to the store any time between Aug. 1 and 31 to earn one of several preselected books.
• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net mailto:randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.