Kamdar Plaza

I like mathari and thin sev. dhoka is good sometimes. but sometimes it’s not fresh. and other grocery items are costly.

Me and my friend walked into this store by looking at their ads of Faluda on their outside wall. My friend wanted to have Faluda, ordered it and I took a can of badam milk (almond milk). By the time his order was out, I browsed through the store and compared the prices of various products and I observed that the cost is higher than the other Indian stores.
As soon as we got our order, we sat down in their seating area aka café. Some of their seats were not clean! Anyways, my friend enjoyed his Faluda and I loved the Badam milk.
That’s pretty much it, I understood why this store is not able to attract more customers because of their high prices on the same products which are at lower cost sold at the other stores.

I liked the fixed price. Though, be extra careful while seeing items in display, chances are, if you like something from display and ask for a fresh/​packed piece, they may say it’s the last piece.
They said so for carrom-​board in display which I like but because board was not flat i asked for different piece and got a reply that it’s last piece. But when I decided to go for some other board with lower price they brought me a new piece of one which I liked originally.
Actually It’s a general thing in many shops, either they want to sell the display piece or they are lazy to bring the packed piece.

Kamdar employees who work behind counter (snacks/​sweets) need to tie their hair. Please wear a hair net, gloves, and cover food with lid.

An Indian grocery store that also serves Mumbai Street food (Indian Chaat)… Absolutely love this place. Its similar to other grocery stores in terms of the available stock, only cleaner. Its seems to be family owned and run and the owners always acknowledge us as returning customers. Their chaat is quite decent, better than any thing else I’ve had in Chicagoland. Their vada pav with garlic chutney comes as close to what I grew up eating in Bombay (sans the pav off course). Its clean, nicely laid out and the staff is quite helpful.

Best place for spices. Unfortunately some are unlabeled. Employees are helpful. Hot food and snacks available. Pay-​box parking on side streets or adjacent high-​rise parking lot. If you park down towards the side streets, some free parking.

You looking for Chaat in Chicago area — well look no further. Take a chance on Kamdar Plaza and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Their bhel puri, pani puri range from 3.5 — 4 stars while their dai batada puri and chaat are 4 – 5 star rating. I went on a slow day so service wasn’t much of an issue, but when it gets crowded it can be difficult to get their attention or they are making an active effort to ignore you… who knows!!!
Either way, it’s worth it. I go out of my way to come here when I visit — taking the el and a bus and walking… but once I get some of that chaat it all fades away.

This place has been the staple of Devon and my family since the late ’70. The owners are super nice and remember us each visit even though the past few years we’ve only visit every six months or so.
The dry goods are good quality and fresh. No bugs or stale items. Theyre super helpful and try their best to find what u need. They will ship to the suburbs if u ask them
Snacks and sweets are FANTABULOUS! Just make sure you specify if you want sweet or salty kaman. The snacks behind the counter are fresh and diverse.
Definitely the only place I do my grocery shopping and snacks and sweets. Especially for our six month storage, as our sojourns are becoming farther apart! Yay going today!!!

I have not bought groceries from this store, so my review is only for the café inside. 3 stars are for the chaats (dahi poorie and papdi chaat), they were delicious, but lacked «sev» which is a commonly used ingredient in chaat. Dhokla were delicious too, but it was actually «Khaman» and not the authentic Dhokla as available in Gujarat! We also ordered the dabeli and it was really bad. Very very spicy, and not made the right way.
I will definitely return for more!

This is a review for the café/​diner inside the store (not the grocery/​retail part).
The food here is real cafeteria style and no frills — this is not a restaurant. Kamadar Plaza is a good place to enjoy some tasty Indian snacks that you would typically see sold by street vendors in India.
Pretty basic booths with laminated tables, fairly clean but would not win prizes. Place your order at the counter (options in the glass case or from the menu board), pick up plastic utensils, napkins and your food when ready and enjoy. Place your remains in the trash.
For the food:
Samosas — really good and one of the best on Devon, served with a delicious tamarind chutney and a mint/​yogurt chutney. Thankfully no meat this place is Indian.
Aloo tikki (potato and mild spice fried patties) — pretty decent, though they need a kick along and I would recommend these with dry chili (guess you can ask for some). Served with chutneys.
Kachori (kind of fried dumpling with a filling of dal and spices) — these are pretty tasty and have a great texture. Served with chutneys.
Chole Masala Puri (Garbanzo/​Chick Peas Curry with Fried Indian Bread) — the curry was a little tame and bland and the bread was too dry and oily.
The ladies serving are super nice and like to explain the food.

Kamdar plaza is a little grocery story plus chaat* shop on Devon.
The chaat shop is run by an Indian couple and the food is delicious. I’ve tried most dishes and my favorites are Dahi Puri, Veggie Puffs, Samosas and Dhoklas. I’m not a big fan of the Stuffed Chillies because they’re also stuffed with potatoes, coated with flour and deep fried. So they taste quite similar to the Batata Vadas.
What I like about the grocery store is that you can buy smaller packets if you’re trying new products. Unlike Patel Brothers, where you either buy a 5 lb bag or nothing, you can buy 2 lb bags of flour, lentils and rice. They also have a wide variety of food products and you will find Indian brands (like Chitale) that aren’t available elsewhere.
But what I like most is that the couple that runs Kamdar Plaza is incredibly sweet and helpful. They’re always willing to accommodate requests and help you find an item in the store. One thing to remember — It is closed on Tuesdays.
*Chaat = savory snacks, typically served on the streets of India.

I rarely go to Devon, but when I do, I try to stop by Kamdar. (just a ready-​to-​eat counter customer…) I stop in to pick up some khaman (sp?). It has never let me down… it’s warm, light, airy and flavorful! When I was younger I used to love their gulab jambus… so sweet and delicious… swimming in the sugar syrup… yum! (nowadays I know better)…

Only rating the snack/​deli counter, their food is delicious! Friend took me here during a Little India excursion and I am hooked :) The bhel puri is my little bowl of heaven!
The samosa was good and half the size of my face. I can’t wait to go back!

Review for the snack shop:
I really love the chaat shop at Kamdar Plaza. They are really good for Gujrati snacks. For example, the bhel puri is really awesome. You also have to try the dahi puri. Those two are my favorites to have while I’m there.
Oh, and the falooda drink is really delicious. It’s pretty rich, so I actually try to avoid it. But it’s really good.
And then, I always take the dhokla to go. Wow… with the hot peppers they use. This is the BEST dhokla you can get. It’s awesome and always very fresh.
This isn’t the place for more of punjabi stuff, like samosas, pakoras, etc. But the other chaats I mentioned above are great here.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write a review for Kamdar Plaza. It’s been a staple place on Devon that I’ve gone to for as long as I can remember. They have a great variety of groceries– spices, and ready mixed packets that make it easy for an amateur to cook indian food. My favorite part by far is their snack counter. As others have mentioned it’s the hands down best place to get vegetarian samosas. I’ve had them in the store on multiple occasions and even been at events that had their samosas, so apparently they’re available if you want them catered for a party. I might just have to keep that in mind for the next party I throw… also the various salty snacks/​mixes behind the counter are worth a try.
Contrary to Shradha’s review, I actually think that Kamdar plaza is one of the cleaner stores on Devon. It’s clean and well organized, and definitely more friendly for people that are not «regulars» on Devon.

The food they make in house is fantastic. The Samosas are the best in the city!!!

Not as big as some of the other markets on this street, but they had good prices on ready-​meals. They also have a deli counter, but I haven’t tried it.

Review for food/​snacks counter:
During my college years, I was a big fan of this place. If I was in Devon, it meant I was at Kamdar. The uncle and aunty recognized me and my entire family + friends group.
Then slowly, I started noticing the flies on the food and the unfreshness of the snacks. Slowly, the unhygienic-​ness of the food started getting to me and one fine day, I decided that was going to be my last meal at Kamdar.
I mean honestly, why would I ever leave Uru-​Swati aside and come over to Kamdar?

All I’m rating is the snack counter, really. And the samosas, specifically. Can’t speak to the groceries.

Indian grocery store w/​o any produce. They have reasonable prices. The coolest thing about the store is the cafeteria setup. It almost seems like a Indian McD’s to me because they have a picture menu up top including veggie burgers. The samosas were pretty good. But, dammit, I keep walking into stores that have only potato samosas. I want some meat samosas!
One new thing I picked up at the grocery section which I was amazed with was the pistachio kulfi ($ 1.50). It’s an Indian ice cream that’s made with condensed milk and heavy cream. It’s a little more firm than Western ice cream. It looked like a cone shaped popsicle and when you flip it, it had a lid at the base to catch the drippings. I thought it was genius! Or maybe I’m just easily amused.