From ‘cheap food and curry houses’ to upscale dining: The rise of Indian restaurants in the U.S.

Executive Chef Vikas Khanna has plated hundreds of thousands of dinners implicit the past 20 years — and he's seen firsthand conscionable however overmuch Indian cuisine has evolved successful the U.S.

Khanna, a world-renowned Indian restaurateur, created Junoon, his high-end Indian edifice successful New York City, much than a decennary agone to wade deeper into blase Indian dining, yet earning a Michelin prima for the edifice — 1 of the archetypal Indian restaurants to gain the distinction.

As an migrant successful a post-9/11 America, Khanna said his bosses aboriginal successful his vocation had been hesitant to subdivision retired and experimentation deeper with the wide canvas of Indian cuisine. Instead, helium stuck to what helium knew worked for the American palette: stereotypical menus and flavors similar food chickenhearted and tikka masala.

But erstwhile American cook Anthony Bourdain visited Junoon for the archetypal time, Khanna said helium got the wakeup telephone of his career.

"He said, 'I don't recognize wherefore you guys privation to camouflage your nutrient to delight the Western world,'" Khanna told CNBC. "He was saying, 'You request to patronize the cuisine.' And that became the instauration of Bungalow successful galore ways."

Bungalow, Khanna's adjacent and highly fashionable task successful New York, is 1 of a increasing fig of Indian upscale and fine-dining restaurants popping up successful the U.S. What was erstwhile takeout menus and buffets, Khanna said, has transformed into a concern conception aiming to rival that of Italian and French cuisine and is garnering increasing involvement by the day.

According to Jimmy Rizvi, Khanna's concern spouse astatine Bungalow, reservations for the edifice merchantability retired wrong 30 to 90 seconds of going live, with nightly waitlists averaging much than 1,000 people. The edifice opened little than 2 years agone but consistently serves 300 to 400 dinners each night, becoming a apical 10 edifice successful New York City connected reservations level Resy, Rizvi said.

"I decidedly deliberation that there's a cognition basal that's increasing; there's much consciousness with Indian food," Rizvi, who besides owns the edifice Gupshup, told CNBC. "And there's antithetic cuisines wrong the Indian cuisine … that radical are getting alert about."

Khanna, who has been successful the American edifice country for much than 2 decades, said he's seen the full scenery displacement from "cheap nutrient and curry houses" to blase sit-down establishments.

Fine eating wide has seen a important upswing implicit the past fewer years, Circana foodservice expert David Portalatin told CNBC, arsenic a post-pandemic appetite for a eating acquisition beyond conscionable nutrient has seen a boom.

Despite macroeconomic unit with inflation and a pullback successful user spending, Portalatin said lawsuit visits to good eating restaurants successful July were up 5% year-over-year.

"One of the agleam spots crossed the edifice scenery close present is good dining," helium said. "It's grounds that the American user is erstwhile again desiring these unsocial and differentiated experiences extracurricular the home."

Along with that, Portalatin said younger consumers, similar Generation Z and millennials, person a increasing involvement successful planetary dishes with their "quest for flavors." That opens the doorway for exploring cuisines similar Indian food.

According to information from marketplace probe steadfast Datassential, caller Indian edifice openings successful December 2024 deed 115, up from conscionable 54 successful September 2018. Currently, the steadfast counts 154 upscale Indian eating restaurants successful the U.S. compared with 101 successful January 2018.

Resy CEO Pablo Rivero told CNBC that he's besides seen request for high-end Indian restaurants widen implicit the past fewer years.

"Modern Indian restaurants are redefining the class with ambitious menus and inventive formats — and diner request for these elevated experiences shows nary signs of slowing down," Rivero said. "It's a wide motion that diners are anxious to research experience-driven, innovative expressions of Indian cuisine astatine the highest level."

And portion increasing American involvement successful planetary cuisines has taken off, the Indian American colonisation has besides mirrored that growth. According to the Pew Research Center, the Indian colonisation successful the U.S. has accrued by astir 3.1 million, increasing astir 174% since 2000.

That colonisation has besides seen a emergence successful affluence, making a precocious median household income of much than $151,000 successful 2023, compared with conscionable a median of implicit $105,000 for Asian American households overall, according to Pew.

As reservations astatine Indian restaurants statesman to merchantability retired adjacent faster, investors are besides looking to unafraid a spot astatine the table.

Just this month, fashionable U.K. Indian edifice concatenation Dishoom gained backstage equity backing arsenic it prepares to standard to the U.S. adjacent year.

L Catterton, backed by LVMH, announced it was acquiring a number involvement for an undisclosed magnitude successful Dishoom, marking the edifice group's archetypal extracurricular investment. The steadfast adds Dishoom to its increasing slate of edifice investments, including Japanese Kobe beef concatenation Kisshokichi and Spanish casual eating marque Goiko.

The caller woody reportedly values the edifice astatine astir $400 million. L Catterton and Dishoom did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Roni Mazumdar, with the James Beard Award-winning Indian edifice Semma, said he's seen a nonstop summation successful capitalist involvement arsenic upscale Indian restaurants person boomed implicit the past fewer years.

Unapologetic Foods — the institution down galore fashionable New York restaurants including Semma, Dhamaka, Adda and much — is having "continuous conversations" with extracurricular investors, Mazumdar told CNBC, but adjacent having those talks marks a important alteration from erstwhile the radical archetypal entered the edifice scene.

"I don't deliberation anyone saw Indian cuisine arsenic a viable enactment until now," Mazumdar said. "There are folks who we person accordant dialogues with who I don't deliberation 5 years agone would person adjacent thought astir the thought of, 'Oh, it could beryllium an absorbing concern exemplary to look at.'"

Mazumdar said the scenery is "shifting rapidly" arsenic much investors instrumentality notice.

"I wouldn't telephone this a trend," helium added. "To instrumentality 1 of the oldest cuisines successful the satellite – I deliberation it's an inevitability. It's a substance of time."

The Indian Restaurant Association of America identified hyper-regional flavors arsenic 1 of its apical 2025 Indian edifice trends arsenic chefs excavation into the hundreds of section cuisines that dot the subcontinent.

Each of the restaurants from Mazumdar and Unapologetic Foods Chef Chintan Pandya, including Semma, emphasizes determination cuisines, alternatively than the emblematic northwestern Indian menus of decades past.

"I deliberation we spot a precise absorbing signifier wherever there's a consciousness of curiosity towards uncovering retired what a assemblage is astir done the lens of food," Mazumdar said. "And I don't deliberation 20 years agone that was the case."

Semma, for example, which was ranked No. 1 connected The New York Times' 2025 best restaurants list, explores the cuisine of South India, specifically the authorities of Tamil Nadu.

"I deliberation 1 of the glorifying reasons that Semma is doing insanely large oregon thing path-breaking is due to the fact that it touches that nervus of Indian nutrient which is cooked successful India," Pandya said. "That's the full belief, oregon the standard, oregon the imaginativeness of our company, wherever we volition interaction and navigator the existent Indian nutrient which we ourselves emotion to eat."

Avtar Walia, the proprietor of Tamarind successful Tribeca, has been successful the American edifice country for decades. When helium archetypal immigrated to America successful the '70s, helium couldn't fig retired wherefore Indian restaurants weren't astatine the aforesaid level arsenic Italian and French restaurants.

By adding successful much determination dishes and classical Indian thoroughfare food, Walia said helium began to spot Indian restaurants — including his ain eateries — alteration from emblematic buffets to sleek, elegant dining.

"From the past 47 years, I inactive travel the aforesaid pattern. Every month, period and a half, I alteration my luncheon menu," Walia said. "We instrumentality 1 of the regions … truthful that radical tin effort antithetic dishes, authentic dishes, and they don't person to spell anyplace else. And this worked precise good for me."

Walia estimated that astir 95% of his clientele are regulars, with his edifice becoming a staple for Wall Street concern meetings.

And for Khanna implicit astatine Bungalow, the lines extracurricular the edifice conscionable support getting longer.

His rattan chairs person seated famed Indian celebrities similar members of India's billionaire Ambani household and Bollywood stars, arsenic good arsenic American bigwigs similar Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos, who visited the edifice past year.

"When helium came, helium kept saying, 'I cognize wherefore each Indian successful Seattle is connected the phones astatine 8 a.m. PT to snag a reservation, due to the fact that for them, this is not conscionable visiting a edifice — it's a pilgrimage backmost home,'" Khanna said. "And that truly stayed with me."