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In early November, Dhruba Kunwar started serving Indian and Nepalese street food such as pani puri, pakoras and momos at Chaat House on 22nd Street in India. Next door, his wife Mina stands behind the counter of a small Indian grocery store selling the ingredients for this food.
"Since we had that store, I have always wanted to open a chaat house," said Kunwar, who opened an Indian spice and grocery store with friends in 2019.
Although his snack bar is the first nearby chaat-focused restaurant since the Mumbai Bazaar closed in 2010, it is not the first Indian grocery store in Mission. Harp Singh opened his Indian market in 2018 at 1546 Guerrero Street near 27th Street.
It turns out that Kunwar and Singh are part of a wave of new shops and restaurants in India. Since 2016, at least 13 South Asian restaurants have been opened in the Mission District alone, creating a prosperous scene for a series of cuisines that have historically been under the umbrella of historical cuisines such as Pakwan and Udupi Palace.
Now you can walk along Valencia Street, past a Nepalese restaurant serving momos (Nepalese dumplings) and cocktails, Indian-Mexican fusion fast food, and the Indian Biryani restaurant on 21st Street with high top tables and Bar stools, as well as stainless steel South Indian cuisine steel tableware and Pakistan-Indian cuisine.
On 22nd Street, you will reach the mother vein: chaat-and-grocery in Kunwar, South Indian cuisine in Aditi and Deccan Spice, a chain of South Indian restaurants. Mission Street has a Pan-South Asian restaurant, and Folsom Street offers Nepalese snacks.
What is driving growth? The landlord said that the number of Indian residents has surged, the local tastes have become more international, and the rents are also very attractive.
When Singh arrived in San Francisco from Punjab in northern India in 2010, he said that he had “never seen an Indian”. Since then, he has noticed a significant increase in the number of South Asians moving to the city. His client base is close to 75% of South Asians, many of whom stay nearby because of its convenient location in the city.
Click on the pushpin above to read our comment on the Mission’s South Asia operations. Map of Eleni Balakrishnan. To view it in full screen, click here.
In fact, during the American Community Survey from 2014 to 2019, the Indian population of San Francisco grew to approximately 20,000, accounting for 2.3% of the city, an increase of more than 50%.
The mission’s Indian population—that is, approximately 2% of residents in the 94110 area—increased by 70%, from 973 in 2014 to 1,657 in 2019.
Singh first opened his store in Pacific Heights in 2016, but he quickly realized that Mission is a rental community and its density means that Indians have more opportunities to move in. By 2018, he was one of them and moved his store to Mission.
Azay Khadka, who owns Mission Curry House on Mission Street and other Indian restaurants in the city, has also noticed a similar situation. He speculated that when the pandemic hit, many of his loyal customers left the towns, but South Asians are "flooding into the cities", which is a situation where rents are lower.
However, although there are indeed more South Asians, many restaurant owners in the mission stated that most of the business comes from white people and other local diners.
"People fall in love with this food," said Emmanuel Eric, a 42-year-old San Francisco resident and Pakistani man, who opened Biriani House in Valencia and 21st Street in March after operating two other restaurants across the bay. "As the community grows and people begin to understand the taste of food, it is not difficult to succeed in this business," he said.
Eric said that when he moved to San Francisco, there were two restaurants for South Asians to choose from. They lacked the taste of home and were very high-end and expensive. Now, at Biriani House, run by him and his four brothers, his goal is medium-level affordability.
At the same time, Suraksha Basnet has been committed to spreading Nepalese cuisine in the San Francisco community: she opened Dancing Yak in 2018, Base Camp in 2019, and recently rented a momo joint in a new location in the city center.
"For some reason, Nepal has always been under the umbrella of India," said Basnet, who is doing her part to change the situation. "Many restaurants that even say'Indian food' are actually owned by Nepalese...They don't believe people will know where Nepal is and whether their food will be sold."
Basnet advertises all her restaurants as Nepalese restaurants. She said that over time, people began to recognize and appreciate traditional Nepalese dishes such as fried noodles and chatamari.
At first glance, Mission Curry House, opened in 2019 by Nepalese immigrant Khadka, seems to be one of those places that pretend to be a standard Indian restaurant. But Khadka has a different perspective: Mission Curry House can solve all your cravings for South Asian cuisine in one stop, from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean. "Vegan, gluten-free, everything, as long as you tell it," he said.
Khadka said he is pleased with the growth of the Mission’s options in Central and South Asia. Competition helped him understand "our shortcomings... this will give us a chance to improve," he said. So far, his business has not been harmed.
Raj Manavalan, an investor in Aditi Indian Cuisine, which also opened in 2019, said that seeing other Indian restaurants succeed in their mission has given aspiring business owners more confidence to follow suit.
Manawalan said: "They see that the existing businesses are doing well, so this will make another Indian restaurant owner more confident."
Many businesses born during the pandemic, such as Biriani House, India’s Chaat House, and Basnet’s upcoming momo point, all testify to this increase in confidence: with the opening of stores and the decline in rents, the owners just decided to take a risk. .
"We should be proud that people like our food and appreciate our food," said Surinder Dhillon, who opened the Tadka Indian restaurant, pizza and sports bar with his wife in 2020. Dinning room. "
In addition to leasing opportunities, many new business owners see Mission as the best choice for entrepreneurship.
The first is the community itself: walkable, sunny and flat. Then there are people who are willing to try food from all over the world. "If you see Valencia Street, a lot of things will happen... it's a lively neighborhood," Manavalan said.
He is looking for another neighborhood in San Francisco to open a second Aditi Indian Cuisine, but he said he is trying to find a place like Mission.
Disclaimer: The data from the American community survey is not accurate and the margin of error is large.
Eleni is our reporter, focusing on police work in San Francisco. Eight years ago, she moved to this city on a whim, and her mission became her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.
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