Serena Restaurant in Chicago - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Delicious food Courteous service Friendly atmosphere

It is difficult to rate Serena Restaurant, because it is not what I expected, and it really is one of a kind. I returned here because 15 years ago, it's where I celebrated my 40th birthday. Back then it was a south Indian dosa restaurant. But now it's a Pakistani place, and I had to re-adjust my expectations. The buffet I had was probably one of the most unique I have experienced at a south Asian restaurant. Most of the dishes were meat. They were good, but I admit I am biased towards more vegetarian options -- as I'm more accustomed to Indian food than Pakistani food. I was also impressed that unlimited self-serve lassis are included. I wish more restaurants did this. My review hovers between 4 and 5 stars, and this indecision is my fault. I think I enjoyed my meal. The experience was good, I just don't know how good. I will come back again for a better perspective.

I came for a special event with family, and we had the pleasure of eating from the buffet. I love pakistani food, but not overall spicy food and unfortunately the for we had was overly spicy. The chicken wings were one of the only things that I could eat in a buffet that had about twenty something items. They were great though, crispy and chewy on the inside. I like how they had mango Lassi because that's one of the main thing my kids like. The other things are chicken nuggets and fries, and although my kid didn't like the chicken nuggets very much, they did like the fries and I tried the fries as well and they were so crunchy and felt like there was a batter in it which was really good If they can make food to order on the Less spicy side if people request it, like our group had, I think it would be better but the service was great and so were the hot and fresh naans.

Authentic mutton and chicken biryani in devon. Every thing is just like 🤩 wow

I recently dined at Serena Restaurant on Devon Avenue, and it was an exceptional experience from start to finish. The ambiance was perfect and inviting, perfect for a cozy dinner with friends or family. The staff were incredibly attentive and friendly, ensuring we felt welcomed and well taken care of throughout our meal. The menu offered a fantastic variety of Pakistani and Indian dishes. We started with the Chicken Quroma, Nihari, Karahi Chicken and Naan which were bursting with flavor and cooked to perfection. The spices were well-balanced, and the portions were generous. The highlight of the evening was the complementary dessert. We were pleasantly surprised when the waiter brought out a beautifully presented plate of Kheer. The dessert was a perfect ending to our meal – sweet, soft, and absolutely delicious.

Excellent lamb palao with generous amount of tender meat. Came with raita and salad. Thoroughly enjoyed an evening meal.

Everything was a 10/10, 100% recommend

We absolutely love Serena. We have been going for years and the food is always fresh and authentic. Their chargha is amazing and the weekend buffet is great. Paya, nihari and pulao are really good also. We always take our out of town friends and family here, and they love it.

This place is awesome, great for family dining. They service fresh and warm puri and naan on the table, and it keep come till you are full. The buffet has a great variety of food. We loved it, one of the best in Chicago.

we bought Nihari and the meat was not good and so much oil on top.

Everytime I want to take any guests or friends out for good food and comfortable feeling, I go to Serena. I have eating here for many years. I even found my non desi friends returning!

SO GOOD! Very much recommend. Had beef palou and gosht and it was a 10/10! So tasty and reminds me of Pakistan. Very authentic! Please visit this place the service is immaculate and the tables are very clean. Come here every time we’re on Devon Street!

Amazing!! Got the kunna gosht and mutton pulao. Gosht was hot and fresh and very flavorful, you also get a good amount for what you’re paying for. Puloa was amazing and very flavorful and meat was very good and tender. Would definitely come back!

What a bad experience it was .... Worst food quality and service .... Brothers you have to make it better else soon you will be planning to close it....

I love good food and am always careful about what I eat. Taste and quality are really important to me. For the past 10 years, whenever I visited Chicago, I always went to the same Indian-Pakistani buffet downtown. It was consistently great, and I always left happy and stuffed. Recently, I moved to the north side of Chicago and decided to check out a close by to home, new buffet that charged $20 #Serena Restaurant. Big mistake. The food was a disaster—cold, tasteless, and just plain gross. Normally, I go for the meat dishes when eating outside, but I had to rely mostly on vegetarian options as safer bet. The dal was the only thing remotely edible, but even that was just okay. The peas and potato curry had a lake of oil in their center, and it was really off-putting. The dessert, some kind of colored halwa, was so bad I couldn’t even finish it, and I hate wasting food. A lot of color in everything (color cause cancer-fyi readers) To top it off, the buffet actually cost $22, not the $20 they advertised. If you only had enough cash, you’d be short. The whole experience was just awful. In the end, I’ve decided it’s not worth the trouble. I’d rather drive an extra 40 minutes to my favorite downtown buffet than ever go back to Devon. So, goodbye to your cold, greasy, and tasteless $22 buffet. I won’t be coming back. #Buffet #Serena Restaurant

Stumbled into here while walking on Devon. Pretty crowded for the Saturday lunch buffet. Got a mix of dishes including butter chicken and chana masala as well as naan. I thought that everything was good but nothing was amazing. Besides the food, I had their mango lassi which was so good.

Food was very delicious with full Pakistani spice. Food was amazing and yumi!. Service was very good. Environment was very neat and clean.

Amazing weekend buffet and excellent service!!! We found out this real gem by accident because Bundoo Khan was full. Great family cooking especially mutton and chicken biryani. No idea why their Google rating was less than 4.5. Rating is way too low!!!

The best on Devon they have as Pakistani food

For the first time in my life I tried this food and the restaurant was delighted with everything.

Real restaurant service. Cook is the boss but he is very humble guy. May ALLAH give him baraka! Real tasty food.

They refused to take 2 adults and 1 child for iftar reservation saying they can’t do that.(refused to take a family). They can only take 4 adults. This is ridiculous. They only care about the money and not the customers. I would recommend other restaurants. Plenty on Devon with respect to customers.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BILL Called for iftaar buffet and was told $24 per person and ended up walking out with a $300 bill for 8 people. When should have been $220 at best. Shame on you guys for taking advantage of people and trying to make money in this holy month!

Worst experience, I went there to eat food in peaceful environment but they booked people in aftari more than the space allowed, I can’t even move my chair because of to many people in limited space, these people just want to make money, they don’t care about customers satisfaction. I recommended shinwari on devon but it’s close permanently. Do you own research but definitely not serena. Thank you

We booked table, 8 persons. Its Ramadan and only buffet available this time Aftari start first I took pakora it’s not fresh colder every thing is very badly experience very congested so many people table setup very close to each other’s almost fitting people each other food is not good even they charging for drinks trying kabab is very cold, and Nan colder, mutton pulao is so bad meet is not cooked properly very hard meat not standard. over all experience bad will never go again I hope And expensive compared to food.

Everything went amazing. Loved the food. It was more than enough for number of people.we had ordered. Insha Allah. Will be happy to cater from Serena in future The delivery was on time and the plastic delivery boxes were life savers Tasty/ super delicious food. Not very spicy for Iftar time. Thank you again I will highly recommend Serena to all my friends .

Friday 03-08-2024 Assalamualaikum All I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for Aslam Bhai and his management team. We recently held a Nikah ceremony with them, and their service was truly exceptional From start to finish, they were incredibly helpful, professional, and went above and beyond to ensure everything ran smoothly. The staff were amazing, and the quality of service was top-notch. We have been doing business with Aslam Bhai for the past 9 years, and I must say that they have never disappointed us. Their consistency in providing excellent service is truly commendable. Thank you, Aslam Bhai, and your entire team, for making our special day even more memorable. We are grateful for your hard work and dedication. Keep up the fantastic work

Their food is really unhealthy. Floating in oil.. They are overpriced and their service was very poor.. They charged for kids but nothing was there as kids choices..

My favorite place to get comfort food. Best restaurant on Devon. I love the frontier chicken rice and chicken kebabs. The service is great, loved the management. You can really taste the love in the cooks food.

Amazing food. The kebabs are delicious!

This Red sauce is Very tasty What is the Red sauce call?

Food an service is great, price is well worth

One of the best restaurant in Devon Specially, platter!! Syed thanks for the dessert!!

I have been going to Serena since 9yrs, relocating really helps the restaurant gain more popularity. My favorite place for Iftaar buffets and weekend buffet. Yesterday when I visited the location I saw new menu item Nalli Nehari, the presentation was outstanding so does the taste, since I already ate the buffet I did my order to go. Highly recommended item to order !

Chicken corn soup was best. Biryani was too light compared to what we expect in Pakistani Chicken Biryani. Malahi Boti was boti but not so creamy. Paratha Roll was ok ok also.

Really great bihari kababs. My wife and I we just had the beef and chicken. And was so tasty. Love the restaurant appearance and the staff were really friendly and attentive. Really recommend this restaurant.

Sabri was famous for Nehari and now Ali Nehari is getting all the lime lights but if you didn’t try Sabrina’s Nehari then you are missing one of the best Nehari on Devon. Aslam bhai is well experienced chef and cook. They don’t advertise but they give one order of biryani two in quality, and they have heavenly lunch buffet .

Always a great experience when dinning with the family.

Serena continues to be our favorite family owned Pakistani Restaurant. The family does a wonderful job coordinating catering events. Their new location is well put together. Food is probably the cleanest and of the highest quality you'd find on Devon. Most recently, our Sunday brunch was interrupted by a new face they have running front house, Iqbal. I'm not sure who he thinks he is, but he is very disgusting and horrible towards accomadating parties with children. @Ghazala Aunty @Aslam Uncle, get rid of this wannabe Prime Minister.

Best place for test the best food in town staff, Management and foods are. Outstanding

Chicken wings,chicken Malai boti pulao, chola and qeemat taste really good more over they serves hot naan and puri. Butter chicken tastes old but all other dishes were hot and tastes good. We had a good experience in buffet.

My recent dining experience at this restaurant was marred by a deeply troubling discovery – the evident mistreatment of their employees. Throughout my meal, I couldn't help but notice the tense atmosphere among the staff. It was clear that they were not being treated with the respect and fairness they deserve. The employees appeared overworked and stressed, and this negatively impacted the service we received. Our orders were not delayed, and when they arrive, they were far from satisfactory. It's heartbreaking to witness the toll that such poor treatment takes on the employees and subsequently on the customers' experience. Mistreatment of employees is not only unethical but also reflects poorly on the establishment's management. It's a stark reminder that businesses should prioritize a healthy and respectful work environment for their staff, which, in turn, enhances the overall dining experience. I, for one, won't be returning to this restaurant, and I urge others to consider the ethical treatment of employees when choosing where to dine. A restaurant that neglects its staff's well-being is unlikely to provide a pleasant and enjoyable dining experience.

This restaurant is one of the unique places .the food so delicious and the service great , and very clean. I recommend this restaurant for ppl want to enjoy food with family and friends.

We had a party here for almost 125 people at the restaurant. The staff did a phenomenal job and food tasted really good. We will always recommend this restarant for anyone who wants to do a dinner party. You will not regret it.

I recently came from PAKISTAN….. I m delighted to dine thrice in Serena …. wonderful environment & services,hygiene above all excellent food …… 👍

I ordered food for my dholki! Everyone loved it. It was so delicious so tasty just tasted like a wow!!

Great Indian buffet in Devon Street

A great place to get traditional Pakistani dishes. They have a lot of space to accommodate large groups. The food was excellent, and the aesthetic is very fancy

Worst restaurant ever...I've seen live how the managers were illtreating the workers... really a shameful act...shall never visit this restaurant ever and will aware all my family and friends also not to vist

We drove all the way from Kansas city. And I was there yesterday for dinner and I loved it. There food quality and quantity Mashallah both really good..it's not my 1st visit I always go there whenever I visit Chicago. At front desk uncle is very nice and friendly. May Allah Bless them more Ameen

Serena is only place on Devon Ave where you can find Quality,Value and Best service altogether.whenever I & my wife visit Chicago never leave without having dinner at Serena.

Worst Management in Chicago. The owners are pathetic and cheap.

We just dined here this weekend and tried their buffet. Looked like a new restaurant on the block that made Indo Pak Cuisine . And we loved the food , each and every item they made from their veg preparations to the kebabs and non veg curries, were delicious. The behavior of the staff was pretty good and the restaurant clean and nice . So here’s my five star review for them ! Keep up the good work !

I held a family dawat at Serena Restaurant and invited everyone on weekend brunch. I had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Iqbal, who is the Manager there. I must say he is quite a gentleman, who really cares about the customers needs and when it comes to their likes and dislikes, he listens and understands. He explained to me the menu and made a few changes on my request which i really appreciate. My entire family, including myself loved the food! You can tell the quality of food when you eat and the variety of food they offered on the buffet was amazing! Not a single person complained about the food. They enjoyed every single dish and all appreciated how delicious every item was.. Also, the service was very good. Not to mention the whole ambiance of the restaurant was very nice, clean and friendly. I highly recommend to choose Serena Restaurant for family gatherings/ parties…

Kheer. All day for sure the best kheer on Devon.

Serena Restaurant moved its location and is not that far down the street. It’s closer to all the other shops now. The AYCE buffet is $20 and offers a lot of specialty meat dishes including chicken tikka and chapli kabob, goat piye (stew like dish eaten with roti), chicken biryani, beef nihari, beef keema, goat pilau and a bunch of vegetable dishes along with puri halwa. It also included mango and plain lassi, tea and desert. Food was ok but the stars of the buffet were the chicken tikka and the beef nihari. It’s a good variety of food for the price and they did a good job keeping all the items replenished. They are open til 4pm for the buffet where others only go til 3pm. Mango and plain lassi’s were pretty good. The tea at the end of the meal was almost empty (it’s self serve) and didn’t taste like desi chai. I think because it had been sitting in the warmer too long and it really needed a fresh batch.

Serena Restaurant moved its location and is not that far down the street. It’s closer to all the other shops now. The AYCE buffet is $20 and offers a lot of specialty meat dishes including chicken tikka and chapli kabob, goat piye (stew like dish eaten with roti), chicken biryani, beef nihari, beef keema, goat pilau and a bunch of vegetable dishes along with puri halwa. It also included mango and plain lassi, tea and desert. Food was ok but the stars of the buffet were the chicken tikka and the beef nihari. It’s a good variety of food for the price and they did a good job keeping all the items replenished. They are open til 4pm for the buffet where others only go til 3pm. Mango and plain lassi’s were pretty good. The tea at the end of the meal was almost empty (it’s self serve) and didn’t taste like desi chai. I think because it had been sitting in the warmer too long and it really needed a fresh batch.

Delicious weekend buffet! The food was really high quality and good variety. Can't wait to go back

Please do not eat at this restaurant. The food was dry and flavorless. The dish served was not what was ordered, as the restaurant doesn't prepare them according to a standard recipe. The worst part of this experience is that we got food poisoning within hours of eating here, so hygiene is definitely an issue.

Stopped for lunch buffet, very surprised by quality of food. Typically you would expect limited and low quality food for buffet, surprisingly food was very good, fresh, adequately stocked and all the variety of dishes that you could or would expect for brunch/lunch. Very Happy

One of my favorite places for weekends brunch buffet. Iqbal Bhai (the manager) is a very kind and humble person. Good selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dashes. They serve fresh naan or puri with the buffet.

Authentic Pakistan taste with traditional hospitality. Big shout to Iqbal Bhai for excellent service. I was visiting from Michigan and my friends highly recommended it. Thumbs up 👍

On the post they say age 10 and under is $12. I bring my 10 years old to the restaurant, and they charge my son for adult price, which is 20. I asked them why, they told me only 3-8 years old can be charged with $12…okey, but why did you print 10years old on your poster?!

We came here during the brunch buffet. Some of the food was nice and spicy. But a lot of the food was cold and bland, which was a bit upsetting because the inside is really nice and the service was friendly. The drinks were quite yummy too. I went to the bathroom and it was nice and clean I liked it. I'm a bit bummed out to say the food was just "okay".

We had an amazing dinner at Sareena restaurant on Devon. Staff were fantastic and welcoming. The food was delicious and perfectly presented. Atmosphere was inviting. We will certainly be back again!

It is the best Nihari that you will ever have, Brian Masala also is top of the line. Which they have a branch in the South so we dont have to drive 74 miles every Saturday to have food. Aslam is really a great Chef.

Wonderful place, excellent service and good food, highly recommend.

Today was my first visit since They move to new location beautiful ambience great service excellent food I have no words to describe how delighted I was. 😀

Delicious pakistani food made to the order. Ambience was great too. Give it a try

Today I went with my family to eat buffet. And mind you they charge 20$ person and 10 years and under are free, so my son did not had buffet cup he ate b4 we went to eat here so me and my wife are, and my wife put on bite of naan in my son mouth and the dude wanna charge us 10$ for him, when we went to pay he argu with me saying no I saw your son eating and I told him no he ate before we got here and he was eating his dunkin donut, he argued with me back and forth on one bite of food, and said I saw you and etc.... we were die hard Ali nihari fans, and we switched over to them because my bother in law suggested their food and service after what happened today we WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!! like come on you r desi we are desi u r Muslim and we are Muslim we are your regular customers sometimes come with 10 plus people, I hope they get to read this and realize one bite of naan lost their customers and we will never recommend Sarena to anyone.... have a good day!

Great food. Just need to clean up and fix the air condition up for a better experience, it would be more comfortable

Response to the reply below from the Sarena restaurant, first of all we did not know today is buffet and we wanted to order none buffet and he told us no only buffet, so i should leave my 10 year old outside the restuarant because his not going to eat and he will charge us, plus he knows us and my Family, he should not have been RUDE to my husband over $12, and explain to the customer the rules of desi restuarant buffet! Thats all , we put service over everything, and very disheartening of what happened to us today. We wont be coming back. ( my husband went back and gave him $12 for one bite of naan that i gave it to my son)

I always love coming to eat at serena, everything always comes super hot and fresh and I’ve never had a bad experience

Buffet is good . Lot of options

Very nice people. Very good service. Food was outstanding.

The food’s good. However, they don’t turn off the loud naats. We’re here to enjoy with family and friends and it’s feel disrespectful to be laughing and talking during the naats. You shouldn’t do that. People can listen to that on there on time and not a social place.

Catered food out for a party. Orderd Mutton Biryani. Malai boti and Bahari kabab. Bavarian kabab we very hard and chewy to eat. Not tender at all. Malai boti was okay. Mutton Biryani was excellent.

Nice, clean restaurant with a wonderful Sunday brunch buffet with loads to choose from. Great food with welcoming service.

As this was my first visit to "Little India" I was very excited to try one of my favourite cuisines and came upon Serena Restaurant. I found the food great with a large selection of items to choose from on the Sunday Brunch and at a decent price. The restaurant was spacious and clean with friendly attentive staff. I look forward to visiting again on my next visit to Chicago!

We went to brunch today. Everything was so spicy that we were not able to eat anything.

It was a little jammed when I dinned it. I loved the food!

Hit or miss spot. Their food is good sometimes and not the best other times. Recommend their biryani.

We had an iftar at the Serena the food was outstanding and service was excellent very Authentic food specially Nahari n Biryani, fruit chat we love it Mango lassi n Rooh Afza it was nice memory

BEST PAKISTANI RESTAURANT 👌🏽 I ALWAYS ORDER FROM THEM👈🏼

Sarena restaurant has best food in Chicago. It is always fresh and delicious. Yasmin Kizilbash

We went for the buffet dinner with friends not a single thing was taste like good even tea is full of water in milk, v bad experience not to visit again.

I asked for buffet today they said available when i tell them only 1 person they said they have only bigger tables for 7 people and cannot accommodate just 1 person…I don’t know if it’s ok or no but i felt rudeness

I don’t kno how they are in food business we just try buffet here everything was tasteless. Aware of this and thanks me later.

The customer service was great, and the food was delicious.

Best food and best service. Definitely loved the vibe and the service.

They have the best buffet around little India neighborhood

Real joy of having dinner with family ,So testy and good food with hospitality.Good environment for gathering Aplus +++.

Food was excellent highly recommended!

Very good service and top notch food

Food quality has gone up. New locations looks/feels way better than the previous one. Great experience overall!

I recently visited Serena Restaurant and I really enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and taste. The Weekend Buffet Brunch was fantastic and we had a great time with my family. The service was top-notch and I would highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a great dining experience.

Very bad experience with this business. Food and attitude is worst, a person can imagine. Gratuity is self added to the check without informing, Over charge for food pretending mistakes Worse experience Stay away, you will thank me

Very nice food Great service and clean

Went there with family, they made mistakes on the check, obviously over charging...including crazy gratuity, food is stale and tasteless. Do yourself a favor go to Ali's nehari instead much better service with good food and even quantity is better than this restaurant. Not sure what has happened to them as this restaurant was my favorite! Cutting corners doesn't get you anywhere!

Mutton biryani was not well cooked. It seemed like it was leftover heated.