The best biryani in Chicago.

Mild 2 Spicy on West Diversey Parkway offers a broad Indian menu plus a South Indian section, and diners return for the dosas as much as the curries. Service is quick and friendly, and drinks such as the Mirchi Guava and the mango lassi get compliments.

Butter chicken comes two ways. The classic curry arrives a bright orange, with tender pieces in a rich, creamy sauce, and the Butter Chicken Dosa is a crisp, thin crepe that diners call a game-changer. Chicken Madras, goat curry, chicken curry and chili chicken are other picks, along with masoor and masala dosas, idli sambar, Gobi Manchurian, baby corn and mixed pakoras. Spice levels run from mild to moderate, spicy and vindaloo.

Practical notes: dosas and fried items are best eaten warm, so dining in beats delivery. A few diners found the butter chicken thin or tomato-forward when ordered to go, and some thought the prices high for the style. Larger groups and birthdays are welcomed, and a free dessert was mentioned once.

Dhanteraz Indian Fusion sits on West Roscoe Street in Roscoe Village, on a residential block with boutique shops. Diners describe an interesting, sophisticated room with art and warm lights that works for date night, and servers who give thoughtful recommendations.

Butter chicken is creamy and flavorful, even at mild spice, and diners say it holds its own against the lamb rogan josh. Chili gobi, chili paneer, Gobi Manchurian, herb rice and tikka masala pasta stand out, and the mango lassi is a recommended drink. The kitchen is attentive to vegan and allergy needs, and spice can be adjusted to taste.

Practical notes: the room is compact, so weekend evenings can fill. Takeout is popular, but a few diners found takeout oilier than dine-in, and one felt the butter chicken lacked flavor. Lunch is served too, and parties celebrating birthdays are made to feel welcome. Overall, the praise for service is steady, and the dine-in meal is the strongest way to try it.

Indienne sits far from the Devon Avenue storefronts where Chicago's South Asian cooking usually gets judged, and that distance is the point. This is a tasting menu room, built around a fixed sequence rather than a la carte ordering, with both a vegetarian and a non vegetarian path through the kitchen's version of Indian cuisine. The format alone says something about where Indienne wants to sit: not next to the Devon Avenue thali counters that run on volume and value, but in the same conversation as the West Loop tasting rooms that have made Chicago a serious Michelin city. What the multi course structure allows is control, a dal or a vegetable course built with the same precision as a piece of tandoor-cooked protein, each plate reading as a deliberate step rather than a stand-alone dish.

That is a different proposition than the everyday Devon Avenue kitchen, where a thali covers ground fast and cheap. Here the kitchen takes the time most Indian restaurants do not get credit for, plating lentils and vegetables with the same seriousness as a lamb or seafood course, and building a room around dim lighting and a low hum that reads as date night rather than family dinner. The price puts this well above the Devon Avenue corridor and closer to the West Loop's chef-driven tier, which is a real question for a cuisine still mostly priced for weeknight family meals. Service has been the softer link relative to the ambition of the format, though the execution on both tasting menus has been the consistent strength.

For Chicago diners who know Devon Avenue's range and want to see the same cuisine treated with tasting menu formality, Indienne is a rare local answer. It will not replace a Devon Avenue dinner, and it is not trying to. It is a different order of experience for the same food family, aimed at a diner willing to sit through courses and pay Fulton Market prices for Indian cooking most of the city still eats fast and cheap.

Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen is a Nepali restaurant on West Lawrence Avenue, a simple neighborhood corner that diners say delivers high quality cooking. Staff walk guests who do not know Himalayan food through the menu, and diners from Nepal and Darjeeling say it feels like home.

Butter chicken has a following, with one diner who orders it in every country calling this version a favorite, while another found it sweeter than expected. Chicken tikka masala, lamb madras, jhol chicken momo, chicken momo, Chitwan taas, thenthuk, pumpkin curry and garlic naan are also named. Momo wrappers are thin and chewy, and complimentary papad comes with mint and tamarind chutneys.

Practical notes: street parking is easy, and a bus stop sits in front. Delivery arrives hot and well packed. Prices run a little high, and a few diners reported an off night, with a dry chicken or a watery soup, so the momos and butter chicken are the safer picks. Newari sets drew mixed reactions on delivery.