3747 Route 132
Gurnee, IL 60031
(847) 249-9999

Bombay City Restaurant is located closer to Waukegan than Gurnee Mills. It is located just east of Highway 41 on the South side of the street (directly across the Onan Giant Statue). They are Gurnee’s second Indian restaurant, and one I was looking forward to for months before it opened.

Bombay City is owned and managed by Iqbal Malik, former General Manager of the famous Gaylord’s Indian Restaurant in Schaumburg, Illinois. Iqbal learned many secrets on bringing the Indian flavor to the masses at Gaylord’s, but he unfortunately has not learned customer service. I have been to hundreds of Indian restaurants in my life (it is one of my favorite foods), and this restaurant had the worst service from the management staff I have ever experienced.

It hurts me to leave a negative review as the chef staff and the server staff are amazingly talented and personable. I would give the servers and the chefs 5-Stars without thinking twice, especially considering that they have to work under the torment of the owners of this restaurant.

Bombay City is a nice little restaurant with a very basic layout. It is a little cramped during the buffet as the line backs itself up and blocks off people returning to their tables. The food selection is decent (nowhere near as full as you’d find on Chicago’s famous Devon Avenue Indian strip) with a wide selection of meats and vegetables. Their desert table is standard fare, usually kulfi ice cream and some fresh fruit.

Flavor-wise the food is decent, but they run through the more popular meats (chicken and goat) very quickly, requiring a 10 minute wait on each lunch buffet I’ve visited. Their weekends tend to pack up so get there early or late if you want a table. Prices are a little higher than Devon Avenue, but they have very few competitors and likely a high rent to pay. The dinner menu is too expensive for my taste considering the atrocious management service. I have had repeated take-out orders done wrong, and have had to return to have my food fixed only to have it made wrong again. Never had the owners offered to compensate me for the repeated travels or the money I spent. One take-out order I made (my absolutely last take-out from this restaurant) cost me over $40 for 2 people and was missing more than half the food the menu said came with the “deal.”

I hate to give this restaurant 0-Stars, but I have no choice. The wait staff is excellent and hard working (overworked) and the chefs know what they’re doing. I just can not imagine another afternoon of looking at the dark faces and mean responses from the owners who think they’re doing me a favor just by being open. This is the anti-thesis of luxury, and the end-all best example of how to not run a restaurant. If Bombay City is open in a year I would be very surprised, but I hope that someone else takes over control of managing the fine staff and layout so that I can take my friends and family back.

Until then, I would not only avoid Bombay City Restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois, I wouldn’t even drive past it. If things change, I will be happy to re-review it, but I have the expectation that they won’t, until the doors are closed.