Patel Brothers in Niles

I can't believe I missed this! Apparently, the new Patel Brothers store in Niles opened last week and from Louisa Chu's article in today's Tribune Food section, it was just the kind of crazy crowded scene that I love getting mixed up in.

Louisa Chu wrote the Trib article, saying, "the excitement drew thousands, some of whom waited two hours in the rain."

"Having shopped the store on opening day, my top pro tip is to bring your own shopping cart or trolley if you can.... Fellow shoppers tried to take my green store cart a few times, while it was filled, with me holding on." @@!!

The Trib article is filled with the history of the family starting back in 'Little India' in West Rogers Park. "When we opened the first shop, it was 800 square feet on Devon," said one of the brothers. The new store is 28,000 square feet with a 12,000-square-foot storage space on the second floor.

Now they are 45 years in business and have 56 stores. The new store is where Toys-R-Us used to be on the corner of Golf Rd. and Milwaukee.

Apparently, at the opening there was a Hindu priest giving a blessing and Niles Mayor Andrew Przybylo helping to cut the ribbon. What a diverse area to live in.

Chu gives the following advice: "Prepare to wait a few times: Once to park, another to enter the store and finally to check out. There are parking lots and entrances in the front and back of the building, with three [no longer] secret registers next to the bakery."

This store is just down the block from Fresh Farms and across the street from a relatively decently-sized WalMart, not to mention Jerry's a few blocks south on Milwaukee Ave. Can this neighborhood support another giant fresh fruit and veggie and ethnic food place?

See you there!

Patel Brothers
9555 N. Milwaukee Ave
Niles IL
847-983-4485
patelbros.com Be sure to type "bros" and not "brothers" or you will find the site for the largest coal supplier in all of India ha ha ha

This link leads to the Trib article from Oct. 4 which is essentially the same as today's, I think:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-craving-indian-food-patel-brothers-viz-20191004-l5ssjgigmbeyfju2iq2o55atoi-story.html

Joy wrote:I can't believe I missed this! Apparently, the new Patel Brothers store in Niles opened last week . . .

Yes, it was mentioned in the Openings and Closings thread where, unfortunately, good, salient content often gets overlooked.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Joy wrote:I can't believe I missed this! Apparently, the new Patel Brothers store in Niles opened last week . . .

Yes, it was mentioned in the Openings and Closings thread where, unfortunately, good, salient content often gets overlooked.

=R=

Since Openings and Closings is in the Eating Out section, the Patel Brothers info would be unlikely to be seen by those such as Joy who are here primarily for cooking and shopping rather than dining.

scottsol wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Joy wrote:I can't believe I missed this! Apparently, the new Patel Brothers store in Niles opened last week . . .

Yes, it was mentioned in the Openings and Closings thread where, unfortunately, good, salient content often gets overlooked.

=R=

Since Openings and Closings is in the Eating Out section, the Patel Brothers info would be unlikely to be seen by those who are here primarily for cooking and shopping rather than dining.

Quite true but it's a junk drawer, nonetheless.

=R=

No reviews from our knowledgeable LTH-ers?

Yeah, I have to admit it never occurred to me to look for a supermarket opening in the "Eating Out in Chicagoland" forum. I always thought the Openings and Closings thread on that forum was for places that you ate out at in Chicagoland.

I even searched the site for 'Patel Brothers' and did not find any comments. So I posted.

But now that Patel Bros. is open, do we still go to the Eating in Chicagoland forum other thread for further commentary or does it join the rest of the food stores on Shopping and Cooking?

Joy wrote:But now that Patel Bros. is open, do we still go to the Eating in Chicagoland forum other thread for further commentary or does it join the rest of the food stores on Shopping and Cooking?

LOL, here please.

=R=

Finally got back to Patel Brothers. There are still some good bargains in produce (5/$1 for small ears of sweet corn; $.49/lb for orange bell peppers, but they look less than pristine. Use them in a day or so and they're fine, but don't keep them in the fridge for long). The dry goods are a little overwhelming -- I will need to come back with a meal plan or two, I can't just grab random bags and boxes for use later.

The biggest change is that the bakery now has two cases of ready-to-eat stuff, which will make a great lunch: several kathi rolls, three varieties of samosa (today they had chili paneer, paneer masala and szechuan), several varieties of vada, big chili pakora (5"-long whole mild jalapeno battered and fried), and a few other things I didn't recognize.

JoelF wrote:The biggest change is that the bakery now has two cases of ready-to-eat stuff, which will make a great lunch: several kathi rolls, three varieties of samosa (today they had chili paneer, paneer masala and szechuan), several varieties of vada, big chili pakora (5"-long whole mild jalapeno battered and fried), and a few other things I didn't recognize.

I tried several items, samosas, pakora and a couple different potato patties. They were just "meh." Either too well-done or an unpleasant proportion of crust/filling. As for the rest of the store, it's like the Devon store on steroids. Not sure what I was expecting but it's just a bigger store, doesn't really feel like a bigger selection.

spinynorman99 wrote:I tried several items, samosas, pakora and a couple different potato patties. They were just "meh." Either too well-done or an unpleasant proportion of crust/filling.

My experience with the baked goods was the same [altho there were no potato patties the day I was there].

Nice-ish selection of frozen foods, tho. I like a nice frozen veg/pulse/rice dinner to have handy for work.

I'm watching the neighboring Fresh Farms with interest to see if they diminish the size of their South Asian section and, if so, what they use the footage for instead.

Giovanna

I stopped in last Saturday morning.
For those of used to the congestion and parking problems on Devon, this space is heaven.
The fruit and vegetables all looked excellent and the Indian Eggplant I purchased were some of the best ever.
The thepla were very good and fresh.
A chutney with Mint in a red squeeze bottle proved an excellent accompaniment with Lamb from Fresh Farms, loin chops on sale for $6.99/#.
Yogurt was used for a Raita and was not as thick as a Greek Yogurt perfectly matching what I have been used to in Indian Restaurants.
The Swad Mustard Oil Blend is what I have been using for decades instead of the traditional, “For External Use Only”.
Please no comments from the Food Police about Mustard Oil.
The selection of rice types and brands was overwhelming.
I need at least an hour next visit time peruse the aisles of rice, dal and other stuffs.
Purchased another jar of the addictive ‘Kurda’ pickle.
-Richard

budrichard wrote:I stopped in last Saturday morning.

A chutney with Mint in a red squeeze bottle proved an excellent accompaniment with Lamb from Fresh Farms, loin chops on sale for $6.99/#.

The Swad Mustard Oil Blend is what I have been using for decades instead of the traditional, “For External Use Only”.

-Richard

The name BADNAAM always cracks me up. It's Urdu for when your 'name' gets besmirched publicly. Weird name for a Chutney brand. But like you, I like it too. Really tasty.

I use the "For External use only" style of Mustard oil, but I don't cook with it. I use it like expensive, fragrant EVOO; for flavoring. Especially for Sarson Da Saag. Is this milder variety better for cooking, or do you also use it for flavoring?

Looks like the second generation of the Patel Brothers family is expanding the empire nationwide. I went to their store in NJ and it was massive. I did not expect that.

spinynorman99 wrote: Not sure what I was expecting but it's just a bigger store, doesn't really feel like a bigger selection.

I feel the same about the Devon Ave. Store too. A lot of the dry goods selection is the House Brand SWAD stuff. Which is why when I go to Devon, I also hit up Kamdar Plaza and the Fresh Farms along with the Patel brothers store. I feel the produce at Fresh Farms is better/fresher. Plus they have a lot of middle eastern stuff.

In the last week or two, I passed by the new Patel Bros. on Golf and Milwaukee several times and there were very few cars in the parking lot, this was during the week around 4 pm.

Brushman4 wrote:In the last week or two, I passed by the new Patel Bros. on Golf and Milwaukee several times and there were very few cars in the parking lot, this was during the week around 4 pm.

There was a lovely Indian grocery store on Dundee Rd. in Wheeling called Sunrise. The city is doing an upgrade/gentrification thing, so the whole strip mall is being torn down, which closed Sunrise. But when I started shopping there, I was often concerned to not see cars in the afternoon. When I said something to the manager about hoping business picked up, he said simply that Indians shop after 5pm. He pointed out that much of the local Indian population is here for training for a year or two, so just come in after work. Hope that's the case with Patel Bros. in Niles -- because while it may be imperfect, it's a lot closer than Devon Ave. if you live in Palatine. I mostly shop for ingredients, and it's quite useful for that.

Brushman4 wrote:In the last week or two, I passed by the new Patel Bros. on Golf and Milwaukee several times and there were very few cars in the parking lot, this was during the week around 4 pm.

Reads like a ‘Drive By Shooting’!
Surely any comment would involve stopping and perusing the actual store!
Hopping busy and fully stocked on Saturday morning at 11am!
-Richard

Fresh produce at Patel's in Niles.
Aisle of rice!
Parking lot, Saturday.

Stopped in briefly, and they now surpass Jong Boo as best cheap lunch in the near NW burbs: all their ready to eat food was $1 - I don't know if that's a sale or regular pricing, but when a kati roll is cheaper than the bread it's wrapped in, buy it.

The paneer makhani kati roll was outstanding: flavorful, spicy and great crisp wrapping. The chilli paneer samosa was less great, dry and bland.

Another dust-off of an oldie.

Since I'm rarely in the area of a Patel Bros, I finally made it to one for the first time few months ago in Schaumburg. It was a complete Saturday afternoon madhouse, but I loved it. I'd say about 108% of all the ppl looked at me like I was lost and had three heads. Anyway, I'm going to be a stone's throw from the Naperville location on Sundays very early am for the next few months, and looking for any specific bakery/hot foods to try. At the Schaumburg location, I remember that the fresh roti was outstanding, and a few of the samosas were really good, but a few things were kinda blah. The counterpeople tried to explain what all the things were, and a few ppl in line were also helping me figure things out, but the place was so busy, I barely scratched the surface and only tried a few things outside of my known options. Anyone have any suggestions with descriptions? I'm guessing I'll be early enough to avoid crowds, and maybe get an idea of what some items are by searching on the interweb while I'm there, but just checking here if there are any things anyone thinks they do really well, or really poorly. Maybe if I find some great stuff, it'll keep me from gorging on gulab jamun and watching my A1C inch up like that cliffhanger guy in the Price Is Right Game.

Anyone?

seebee wrote:Another dust-off of an oldie.

Since I'm rarely in the area of a Patel Bros, I finally made it to one for the first time few months ago in Schaumburg. It was a complete Saturday afternoon madhouse, but I loved it. I'd say about 108% of all the ppl looked at me like I was lost and had three heads. Anyway, I'm going to be a stone's throw from the Naperville location on Sundays very early am for the next few months, and looking for any specific bakery/hot foods to try. At the Schaumburg location, I remember that the fresh roti was outstanding, and a few of the samosas were really good, but a few things were kinda blah. The counterpeople tried to explain what all the things were, and a few ppl in line were also helping me figure things out, but the place was so busy, I barely scratched the surface and only tried a few things outside of my known options. Anyone have any suggestions with descriptions?

The Katti (kathi?) Rolls are basically Indian burritos. I like the chilli paneer and muttar paneer ones, either that way or as samosas.

Hi,

Naperville has an H-Mart, too. It has been years since I was there last, but it did have a food court. At least at the time, it was not as good as Niles. However, Niles has upgraded and perhaps Naperville, too.

Indian snack menu: I like Bhel Puri, which is their crunchy fried cereals, boiled chopped potatoes, fresh onions, cilantro, then two sauces are added: a green spicy sauce and a tamarind sauce. I focus more on the tamarind, but you will likely like both. I once ordered wrong at another Indian snack shop, I asked from medium spice. I could not handle it, so I was advised I wanted sweet.

Regards,
Cathy2

seebee wrote: I'd say about 108% of all the ppl looked at me like I was lost and had three heads.

Yup, been there done that.

I can't add anything about the deli but a lot of the bagged and boxed snacks are really good. I especially like the crunchy methi flavored ones. No worries about them being overly healthy.

PatelBros Schaumburg trial -

$7.99 lunch plates:
Pick 2 hot curries, and get rice, 3 rotis, and 2 gulab jamun.
On a good day, this is probably one of the best deals in Chicagoland. I bought 2 of these, and for the curries, I went with:
palak paneer (a little soupy and bland)
Kadhai Paneer (much better)
Chana Masala (decent for a grocery counter, but nothing great)
Dal Makhni (the winner of the 4 curries)
The rotis or chaptis were super fresh, chewy, flavorful. Those and the gulab jamun are really what elevated the lunch plates.

Packaged at the prepared counter:
Kahman Spicy:
These are cubed, two bite, light&fluffy, grainy things. Made of gram flour and chickpeas perhaps. A little sweet, texture and flavor like a sweet cornbread. The "spicy" was a sprinkling of some kinda red masala. THESE ARE FABULOUS.

Regular Khaman:
Same stuff, no red masala. Not a fan of these because the spicy ones were sooo much better, it made these seem "blah" in comparison. Sweet, a little sour. Seemed like there was a liquid lightly soaked into these with a very slightly sour tinge, like a very, very faint vinegar, maybe sour citrus. The spicy ones had this too, but it was less noticeable because of the masala.

Patra:
Wife 1.0 liked these more than I did. These are bite sized, green, rolled and sliced pieces of something. Google says: ok..Taro leaves stuffed with spiced gram flour, and steamed. Makes sense, because the filling tasted like the Khaman, to me. These were spicy, and I certainly liked them, but I really liked the Spicy Khaman better.
==
From the prepared baked food section:

Palak paneer and chili paneer samosas:
Not bad, not great. I'd get them again to round out a meal or as a snack.

Paneer Pav:
Four bite rolls stuffed with paneer in a masala. The rolls were a little sweet, like a MCd burger bun, but a little more dense. The filling was sparse. $1.00 each. Mostly bread. Won't get them again. Not worth the carbs.

Stuffed Paneer:
These were 4 bite cubes of paneer, stuffed with spinach and spices, then breaded and fried. Kinda bland, but with a packet of the free green chutney, or other free chutney packets - I'd definitely get them again.

Chana Dal Patty:
I don't know what the official name of these things was, but they were horrible. Super dry, flavor of gasoline. Just awful. They were small burger shaped patties, fried or baked to a golden brown, studded with chickpeas. Looked great in the case. I bought 3 of them, and threw away 2.8 of them. Just awful.

Mutter Paneer Kathi Roll:
One of the bright stars of this show. LOVED these. There were 3 different kinds, two with paneer, and one that just simply said "veg." I bought 3 of each paneer variety. When I opened the box, there were only 3...left. Wife 1.0 REALLY liked these . I tried one, and indeed, an excellent, cheap little rolled Indian burrito of goodness. These will be an "always" with an exclamation point.

As for the freebie chutney packets:
The green one is my clear favorite. First ingredient is coriander. It's sour and spicy, only a little sweet.

The dark red is way too sweet for me. It's like an Indian spiced Chinese version of Sweet and Sour glop. I could see it as a dip for chicken tenders tho. Think like Indian General Tso's Chicken. It could probably get too sweet very quickly tho. Now that I think of it, it might be really good thinned out with water and lime juice, and more spices added.

The Masala Ketchup packets - I haven't tried, but the kids really liked that.

I did by a package of the spinach Thepla, but, I'm not a fan. It's not bad at ALL, it's just like a chapati with spinach pressed into the dough. Nothing exciting. I'm guessing the methi version might be a little too strong in the fenugreek for me, so I didn't buy it. I still might, but their plain chapati is sooo good. They have a machine just a few steps in back of the counter with a clerk taking them out and bagging them, hot. Hard to pass those up. I'm guessing just reheating in a pan with a little butter and some of the green chutney packet would be a fantastic snacky snack.

I'm kinda off of the bagged chip snacks, so I steered far clear of that aisle. I also found out that there are a good variety of Jamun! So, if anyone cares, it appears that "Gulab" Jamun is just one kind of flavor. The prepared counter had Gulab Jamun on offer, but they also had "X" Jamun (I completely forgot the actual name, sorry.) The balls of X Jamun were more oval in shape. I asked the clerk what they were, and she said, "just like gulab jamun, but with saffron flavor." I didn't get any, but I might, when I go pick up the car. In the 2 lunch plates, there were 4 gulab jamuns, and yours truly didn't even get ONE. Gulab Jamun disappears very quickly in this house. I like to nuke them, along with a good chunk of butter. No, sorry, "pats" of butter do not get used here. I think I could eat about a dozen of them things warmed up and soaked in butter. Actually, if you think of the texture of Gulab Jamun when they are soaked, that is EXACTLY how I like my pancakes and waffles. I don't want the excess syrup like the gulab jamun normally comes with, but the way that they are soaked, that would be pancake/waffle perfection.

Mutter Paneer Kathi Roll:
One of the bright stars of this show. LOVED these. There were 3 different kinds, two with paneer, and one that just simply said "veg." I bought 3 of each paneer variety. When I opened the box, there were only 3...left. Wife 1.0 REALLY liked these . I tried one, and indeed, an excellent, cheap little rolled Indian burrito of goodness. These will be an "always" with an exclamation point.

I sincerely hope it was one of each type.

This is such a useful post, because you help find the best-of.

I like the red glop, it is tamarind sauce. Of course, I did not try it recently at Patel, so maybe it is glop.

Thanks!

Regards,
Cathy2