Though it's oddly located in the bottom of a Loop parking garage, Village (from the owners of Baba Palace)isn't your typical ramshackle curry hut. The dining room features granite tabletops and gold leaf-framed flower paintings that look like they've been filched from a Mag Mile hotel room.

While taking in the relative opulence, you don't want to miss the excellent tandoor cooked meats, including chapli kebobs, or charcoal-fired Pakistani minced beef patties, glistening golden saucers brimming with onion, garlic and ginger, and as good as anything you’d find on Devon Street. Likewise, Indian standards like chicken makhni, or butter chicken, is full of moist pieces of tandoori chicken bathed in a golden moat of cream and spice, while saag paneer overflows with green creamy spinach and hunks of spongy cheese curds.

Village isn't for the dainty, as they're aggressive with their spice, though the creamy daal is relatively tame. But the owners are accommodating and willing to adjust a dishes spice profile to your preference. One things for sure, Village is a great (and cheap) alternative to another Potbelly sandwich or a Corner Bakery panini.

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Michael Nagrant