Indian Fusion

By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the February 2026 issue.

By Peter Gianopulos

Tollywood Lounge is a sports bar, restaurant, and dance club all rolled into one

There’s an old adage that says the art in a restaurant tells you everything you need to know about the ambitions of its owners. Red-sauce trattorias and amber-glass tavernas always seem to cling to fading snapshots of the old country. Michelin star-chasers default to abstract art. And nothing announces a trusted taqueria quite like a hand-drawn mural. Put another way: Whatever the art whispers, the restaurant is aching to shout.

Which brings us to the art at Tollywood Lounge (1975 Springbrook Square Drive, Naperville), a new sports bar and restaurant that is anything but your typical Bud Light and cheese-fries watering hole. Owner Srihari Jasti has transformed his 10,000-square-foot space into a kind of portrait gallery. On one wall, well-known sports legends: Tom Brady. Caleb Williams. Michael Jordan. And on the others? Indian celebrities from Bollywood and Tollywood: Chiranjeevi. Mahesh Babu. Rajinikanth. And Priyanka Chopra.

To call Tollywood Lounge an Indian-themed sports bar would understatement. Jasti is trying to cram all of his Indian and American passions into a shape-shifting lounge. Consider the TVs on the wall. They’ll stream NFL, soccer, and cricket matches one day, then shift to classic Indian films the next. The menu offers an eclectic collection of American snacks and Indian street food for TV watchers, while fine-dining options lure the dinner crowd. And then, come nightfall, the tables are cleared to reveal a dance floor, complete with visiting DJs who spin beats until 2 a.m. on weekends.

Is there any doubt why Jasti chose to call Tollywood a lounge, rather than a bar or restaurant?

For years, Jasti says, he watched too many Indian restaurants in the area play it so safe—buttoned-up ambiance, limited menus, and the same old parade of familiar dishes. Where was the color, the swagger, the collective joy of the Indian and Indian American experience? So he built the kind of place he longed to visit, a lounge that looks, feels, and operates as if it was a Tollywood dinner party. “My passions are football, music, movies, and sports,” he says. “I wanted customers to be able to experience all of those in one place.”

You can thank Jasti’s mother and his wife for most of the kitchen’s recipes, all of which are made with spices imported from India. There are plenty of traditional Indian staples, including dosi, tandoori skewers, kebabs, and samosas, but also a surprising selection of street food treats you rarely see in the suburbs: deep-fried punugulu fritters, stuffed mirchi peppers, and fried onion pakora treats. The entire menu is proudly authentic, but it’s the dinner entrées that have become Jasti’s calling card. There’s a mahogany-colored goat roast burbling spices and ghee. Yogurt-marinated stewed Hyderabadi chicken. And a sizzler fish cooked in banana leaves.

The cocktail list stays true to the theme with drinks named after blockbuster films, most of which are prepared Indian spirits—everything from Pushpa (gin, elderflower liquor, and lychee) to Baahubali (Indian whiskey infused with saffron, pomegranate juice, honey syrup, and lime) as well as rotating selection of on-draft Indian beers that changes every three months. “I wanted the restaurant to look and feel colorful,” Jasti says. Thus all the bold reds and deep inky blacks. “There’s nothing like seeing people dance until two in the morning. It’s a real party.”

Which, in the end, is the point. Tollywood isn’t simply a sports bar or an Indian restaurant or a late-night dance destination. It’s a colorful collision of cultures, rhythms, flavors, and passions. So step inside. Let the walls whisper to you. They’ll tell you Tollywood has come to Naperville, and it’s found a new place to party.

Photos: Tollywood Lounge