Founded in Texas and having expanded to include twenty locations in cities as far-flung as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Nashua, New Hampshire, Desi Chowrastha is doing “our part to bring the flavors of India and provide [a] vibrant environment to come together and relish together.” And now Desi Chowrastha is preparing to expand to Florida, opening its first Sunshine-State location in St. Johns, at 4590 Race Track Road, according to plan review paperwork submitted by Rudra Foods LLC.
“We are trying to open in the first week of April,” Revanth, the franchisee behind the St. Johns location, told What Now on Wednesday. “We’re entering the finishing stages of construction, and we’ll be starting our hiring process.”
Florida’s first Desi Chowrastha will be joining a growing community of Indian restaurant and retail concepts, like the upcoming Patel Brothers Indian market opening at 4560 Race Track Road (see What Now’s reporting from earlier this month), along with, Revanth says, an Indian bakery.
“Desi Chowrastha something casual, where you pick up food over the counter,” Revanth said. “And our main highlights is we have all live kitchens. It’s Indian street-style food. It’s definitely a different menu than most of the casual restaurants in the Jacksonville area.”
Some of the most popular items on the menu include the following classic favorites. There’s Dum Biryani:
“Historians believe that biryani originated from Persia and was brought to India by the Mughals in the early 1800’s,” the Desi Chowrastha website says. “This delicacy of Hyderabad is sought after all over the world today. Chicken Dum Biryani is goodness of rice and meat that comes in layers. The process of cooking in its own steam until rice is fluffy and meat cooked just to perfection is called ‘Dum Cooking.’ A lengthy cooking process but all totally worth the effort.”
Meanwhile, one favorite beverage is the Irani Chai:
“Indians grow with tea, meet with tea, celebrate with tea and even share sadness with tea. Chai was born on dusty roads in India. Irani chai is a unique form of tea unlike any other version of Indian chai, made by the combination of mawa (creamy sweetened milk) and black tea. The result is a sweet and creamy chai.”
The menu includes a lot more than thatn though (with about 350 menu items, Revanth says), and they’ll all be served up in a comfortable space with seating for about 80 guests, plus an outdoor patio shared with an adjacent business.
You can keep up with all things Desi Chowrastha by following @desichowrastha on Instagram.
