I'm just insanely jealous of the people lucky enough to live in the city which has this restaurant. I've always hoped for a real authentic Kerala restaurant in the US. Some place to get tasty Kadala curry, Aapam, vegetable ishtu, Thattu Dosa, filter coffee, sarbath, ada prathaman (payasam). This place not just has it, but has it authentic! So delicious. We are just glad we could get a booking and try this place before we left. I heard the name of the chef is Danny, thank you for this place, and thank you for keeping the spirit of Malayali cooking alive. Loved the decorations in the place as well, with Kerala sari adorning the roof and very thoughtful paintings. Excellent customer service as well. This. Place. Is. A. Gem.

Fish fry- delicious! 4/5 Vegetable ishtu- decent! 3/5 Chicken ghee roast- delicious! 5/5 Chorum kariyum- nothing special. 2/5 Kerala fried chicken bites- delicious! 5/5 Kadala curry - nothing great 3/5

When people say Indian restaurant it usually doesn't mean this type of Indian restaurant. Most of the dishes usually are from the northern regions of India. Thattu on the other hand is a very rare find from the South. Moreover from Kerala itself. A state on the southern coast known for refreshing vegetable dishes, fish and varients of lentil based dosa. Dishes tend to be less cream forward like the popular butter chicken. The namesake Thattu is a homage to food truck origins of the restaurant. It refers to the very popular street food vendors in India. Accordingly when we went for lunch it was a non traditional experience as the hostess had explained. A casual vibe and feel. Everything ordered through a QR code, no tip and a self service station for plates, cutlery, water. It was a surprise at first but I did enjoy the ease of ordering, paying and the need for no tip. Just like Kerala - the dishes were flavorful yet not overwhelming or heavy. We enjoyed a variety of things including the delicious kotthu parotta which was a special. Also ordered the fish fry, kadala curry and chicken bites. Just tried one cocktail and it was fairly bland and expensive. All in all a really good, new and unique find that I am happy to see is having success. Looking forward to going back for the dinner experience.

We came for lunch and I'm so very sad we were too full to order more. The food and hospitality absolutely live up to all the accolades we have read. Street parking, friendly greeting and easy to order in the QR code app. And even easier to add to your order when you're ready for dessert. Lunch is self serve water and cutlery, but we appreciated that they showed us how to get what we needed. They have chosen not add service or gratuity charges and prices are super fair. This was refreshingly different than other places we've been recently. I cannot wait to go back!

In the last year, the New York Times has gone absolutely apeshit for Thattu. It appeared on both 25-best-in-Chicago and 50-"most exciting"-in-the-country lists. Some stratospheric praise right there. That and our general fondness of Indian food (meaning the rather cookie-cutter version you find in most Indian restaurants in the U.S.) and our always-increasing curiosity about regional varieties drew us in. Thattu serves a version of Kerala cuisine, which I gather is not that typical in the States and which I certainly knew nothing about going in. We liked the restaurant quite a bit, but let's face it: Those Times appraisals are a little over the top. This a tasty, fascinating, and pleasant dining experience, but we were actually a little disappointed (and surprised) that the flavors weren't a bit more robust in some of the dishes. The beet puff we started with was sort of emblematic of this: Pleasant puff pastry, but the beet flavors seem to have been concentrated in just one side of it; the other side was pretty blah. Kappa bonda--fried yucca balls--were terrific, on the other hand--perfect frying, and simple onion and tamarind-chutney garnish brought the flavor. (Addictive!). Kallumkaya, a pan-seared mussels dish, also had a nice balance of spice and heat, but the accompanying veggies didn't totally cohere. Kadala curry (black chickpeas) was very nice, but certainly not leaps-and-bounds better than some other curry veggie dishes I've had over the years. Was very excited about the Meen Pollichathu, a whitefish steamed in banana leaves, but the tomato basil sauce (delicious) unfortunately mostly evaporated during the cooking process. Not enough of it truly enjoy the accompanying turmeric lime rice. The fish itself was good, not great. The appam, a coconut and rice crepe that I'd never had before, is wonderful. Banana Old Fashioned was enjoyable but maybe a little too sweet. A lot of complaints here about the QR-code-based ordering system, but I thought it was fine. In contrast to what some other reviews say, we got plenty of attention of servers, and all were friendly and helpful. The front-of-the-house guy, the Kerala-native half of the couple that runs Thattu, was especially warm and welcoming. Disagree with the complaints about decor and atmosphere, too: comfortable and spacious seating, pleasant lighting and noise levels.

Great food, great service and vibe. Location is a bit hard to get to but it's worth it. The chicken bites were spectacular. No idea how they got it that crisp without any greasiness at all. And the drinks are super inventive. I had this thing called a Monsoon with mango juice and lime pickle and it was aces.

Overall Thoughts: For weekend lunch, Thattu offers quality, flavorful food and a minimalist, casual vibe. It operates on a no-tip model and is mostly self-service during lunch. The interior is spacious and though I made a reservation, there weren't many people when we went on Sunday afternoon. It gets a lot busier and more difficult to reserve for dinner, which has an expanded menu and full service. Lunch will do for now, but I'll be sure to hit them up again one day for dinner. The lunch prices are reasonable ranging from $15-$20 for entrees, though the portions for each dish are kind of small. Food I tried: - Chaatertots (4.3/5): Super crispy tater tots! The spicy beet ketchup wasn't spicy but had an interesting, detectably beet flavor that I enjoyed. - Kerala Fried Chicken Sandwich (4.6/5): Genuinely delicious and worth the hype. The chicken is crispy and flavorful, and the perfect sauce to ingredient ratio rendered it fantastic both flavor- and texture-wise. - Chorum Kariyum - Vegetarian Meal Combo (4/5): The flavors were solid, but the sides were quite small and not very filling for the price. -- Price (relative to peers): 4.3/5 Food: 4.3/5 Ambience: 4.7/5 Service: 4.5/5 Overall Value: 4.4/5