Spicy Bites a cute place to grab a quick and tasty Indian treat

Fast food in the suburbs continues to improve, with ethnic options joining the typical burger joints and hot-dog stands.

When Miki Trikha and his wife, Nidhi, owners of the 3-year-old Spice Bazaar Indian grocery in Vernon Hills, moved their store into larger quarters a couple of doors down, they decided to expand their operations by turning their old space into a snack shop. Opened in May, Spicy Bites offers the Indian snack foods known as chaat; wrap sandwiches in the style of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta); a few larger entrees; and mithai, traditional Indian-style sweets.

"There was nothing like this in this area," says Miki Trikha, noting that while there are more formal Indian restaurants nearby, "there was nothing for a quick bite. You had go to Schaumburg or Devon Avenue."

For non-Indians, Spicy Bites might be more approachable than either. A menu board is posted above the counter where you order, but check out the carryout menu to read explanations of the dishes.

These munchables began in Mumbai, and in India, many of these foods would be sold by street vendors. Never having visited there, I imagine Spicy Bites as the sort of place call-center operators in Bangalore go to for lunch in between answering phones for companies here in the States.

Cute and contemporary, the small dining room features a lovely long mural of Indian design, adorable leaf-painted tables and wood flooring.

The menu splits into "small bites" and "big bites." On the starter side, samosas run a bit smaller than the pyramidal pastries you might see on Devon Avenue, but these crisp turnovers hold a pleasant, fresh-tasting filling of lightly spiced potatoes and green peas. Peppery, green cilantro chutney and sweet-tart tamarind chutney come alongside. The Spicy Bites puffs, a bit more Westernized, feature planks of puff pastry stuffed with your choice of vegetables, egg or chicken.

Other options include pani puri, semolina shells filled with diced potatoes, chickpeas and herbs, and mirchi pakora, stuffed and battered, deep-fried chilies.

"Big bites" include idli, dense, disk-shaped dumplings made from rice and lentils, rather akin to matzo balls, served with a pleasantly piquant vegetable-lentil soup called sambhar, and biryani, a zesty, deep-orange-colored dish of basmati rice cooked with herbs and spices and topped with your choice of chicken or succulent if somewhat bony "mutton" (actually goat). Spicy Bites' biryani perhaps lacks the complexity of some versions, but still packs plenty of savory flavor.

Kathi rolls originated, according to the menu, at Nizam's restaurant in Kolkata. The story goes the restaurant once ran out of clean plates one day and wrapped its kebabs in bread instead. Spicy Bites' menu claims the kathi rolls come on your choice of naan, a yeasted flatbread, or pancake-like fried paratha, though we weren't asked our preference and received the latter, apparently the traditional wrap.

For fillings, you can choose from spicy potato and greens, paneer and vegetables, tandoori lamb, chicken tikka or chicken achari tikka, chunks of white meat given a tangy marinade, and rolled up with chopped onions and tomatoes. The chicken edged on dryness; however, the accompanying yogurt sauce saved it. The hefty sandwich makes a substantial lunch.

Kheer, Indian-style rice pudding, and kulfi, ice cream, are among the desserts but the cases full of mithai, little confections, are irresistible, ranging from crunchy rawa puffs, empanada-shaped pastries with a sweet, nut filling, to candy-sweet gajar ka halwa, a kind of fudge made from grated carrots.

Drinks include Indian sodas such as Thumbs Up, a not-quite-cola, and Limca, which tastes like lemon Pledge mixed with soda water; masala tea and Indian coffee; and tart, fruity mango lassi, a yogurt shake.

If you're in the neighborhood, Spicy Bites makes a fun change of pace from routine fast-food at only a slightly higher price.

• Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. Our aim is to describe the overall dining experience while guiding the reader toward the menu's strengths. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.

Spicy Bites

Vernon Plaza, 139 E. Townline Road, Vernon Hills; (847) 549-0099

Cuisine: Indian snacks and wraps

Setting: Cute storefront in a strip mall on Route 60, east of Butterfield Road

Price range: Appetizers $2 to $5; entrees $4 to $9; desserts $2 to $7

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

Accepts: Major credit cards

Also: Free parking, weekend brunch