Variety Added to Morton Grove's Menu with New Restaurant

Morton Grove resident Mahesh Sharma has been in the restaurant business for 20 years. Now he’s bringing his experience home by opening his first restaurant, Tava.

Located at 7172 Dempster St. in Morton Grove, the restaurant offers traditional Indian dishes such as samosas, tandoori chicken, lamb curry and naan. The menu also has some novel offerings like the Chilean sea bass nirvana, which is cooked with coconut, tomato cream sauce, ginger and garlic. None of the ingredients are ever frozen, and the restaurant uses all heart-healthy cooking oils. There’s also a special menu of entirely organic versions of dishes including chicken curry and roti.

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Sharma was originally an electrical engineer, but decided to change careers to pursue his love of food. He’s worked at Hyatt Regency Chicago and Hilton Chicago.

“This is not for money,” Sharma said. “This is for passion. I want people to be happy, and if people are happy I’ll make money.”

After living in Morton Grove for 12 years, Sharma said he wanted to open Tava here to give something back to the community, which he said was missing good, authentic Indian food. He designed the space, the menu and the list of signature cocktails. The cocktail list features classic drinks like mojitos and Manhattans, plus cocktails with Indian flavors like the Mazadar Chai, mixed with chilled chai, spice-infused vodka, raw sugar and pepper.

Tava opened last week and Sharma said the response has already been good.

“People love that we are here and people are bragging about the food,” he said.

Members of the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce and Morton Grove Board of Trustees attended the restaurant’s grand opening ribbon cutting Thursday night.

“We’re just happy to bring diverse restaurants into town,” said Jacky Liston, executive director of the Morton Grove Chamber. “It really reflects the new Morton Grove, the diverse Morton Grove that’s been coming about in the last decade. I’m also excited I don’t have to go out to Devon Avenue to get Indian food anymore.”

Village President Dan Staackmann said he’s happy to see Tava open.

“I think this is great,” he said. “People wanted white tablecloth restaurants in Morton Grove. I think this is the same ambiance of anything you could see in the Loop – very nice, very elegant.”

Entrees range from $8 to $22, with appetizers priced at $4 to $15. Sharma said he wanted to keep prices affordable so people would come back regularly. Thursday night Morton Grove resident Suzanne Archer was dining at Tava for her second time.

“The soups, the appetizers, the Chilean sea bass are outstanding,” she said. “The flavors are so exotic. We’re excited. We’ve wanted a place to come to every week.”