The space previously housed The Bombay Co., Urban Farmhouse and Besos. (Mike Platania photo)
The owner of a longtime West End Indian restaurant is bringing a similar concept to the other side of Henrico.
Shagufta Sajid is preparing to open The Biryani Corner at 4821 Old Main St. in Rocketts Landing.
The new spot will be similar in concept to Sajid’s Noorani Kabab House, which has been open at 2757 Hungary Spring Road since 2011. Sajid was also once a co-owner of The Mantu, an Afghan restaurant in Carytown.
In addition to its namesake mixed rice dishes, Sajid said Biryani Corner will offer Indian fusion dishes such as a type of meatballs called chicken kofta, sliders and loaded butter chicken fries, as well as many of Noorani’s most popular dishes, including lamb chops and tandoori chicken.
“I’m putting in a few dishes that are home-cooked; not the traditional dishes that would be in a restaurant,” Sajid said. “It’s Indian food, so you can’t really do too much to change it, but it will be somewhat like Noorani.”
She said a major difference between the two restaurants is that while Biryani Corner will be open for lunch, it will not have the lunch buffet that’s been a staple of Noorani’s menu for years.
Biryani Corner also will be a sit-down restaurant with a full drink menu, including cocktails like a guava spritz, Thai martini and lychee margarita.
It’ll be the second time the roughly 3,000-square-foot Rocketts Landing space has housed an Indian restaurant. It was previously home to The Bombay Co., a concept from the owners of Lemon Cuisine of India. It was also previously Besos Mexican Kitchen & Cantina and an Urban Farmhouse location.
Sajid said she’s renovating the space with plans to open late next week. Biryani Corner will be open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
The Mantu, meanwhile, has continued to grow within the region, adding The Mantu Market off West Broad Street in 2022 and The Mantu Express, a fast-casual concept in Short Pump, which opened earlier this year.
The space previously housed The Bombay Co., Urban Farmhouse and Besos. (Mike Platania photo)
The owner of a longtime West End Indian restaurant is bringing a similar concept to the other side of Henrico.
Shagufta Sajid is preparing to open The Biryani Corner at 4821 Old Main St. in Rocketts Landing.
The new spot will be similar in concept to Sajid’s Noorani Kabab House, which has been open at 2757 Hungary Spring Road since 2011. Sajid was also once a co-owner of The Mantu, an Afghan restaurant in Carytown.
In addition to its namesake mixed rice dishes, Sajid said Biryani Corner will offer Indian fusion dishes such as a type of meatballs called chicken kofta, sliders and loaded butter chicken fries, as well as many of Noorani’s most popular dishes, including lamb chops and tandoori chicken.
“I’m putting in a few dishes that are home-cooked; not the traditional dishes that would be in a restaurant,” Sajid said. “It’s Indian food, so you can’t really do too much to change it, but it will be somewhat like Noorani.”
She said a major difference between the two restaurants is that while Biryani Corner will be open for lunch, it will not have the lunch buffet that’s been a staple of Noorani’s menu for years.
Biryani Corner also will be a sit-down restaurant with a full drink menu, including cocktails like a guava spritz, Thai martini and lychee margarita.
It’ll be the second time the roughly 3,000-square-foot Rocketts Landing space has housed an Indian restaurant. It was previously home to The Bombay Co., a concept from the owners of Lemon Cuisine of India. It was also previously Besos Mexican Kitchen & Cantina and an Urban Farmhouse location.
Sajid said she’s renovating the space with plans to open late next week. Biryani Corner will be open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
The Mantu, meanwhile, has continued to grow within the region, adding The Mantu Market off West Broad Street in 2022 and The Mantu Express, a fast-casual concept in Short Pump, which opened earlier this year.
Happy to have a new restaurant in the neighborhood again, but this is a similar concept that hasn’t worked in this exact space already. The neighborhood has been asking for (from the developer) something “every day” since we already have two niche restaurants with Boathouse ($$$$) and Island Schrimp (limited menu). We need a local watering hole with a happy hour that we can walk to and watch the games with a diverse menu. No one else but RL residents visit this restaurant because it’s an off-the-water location. No one is coming for Indian food, but maybe once a month.
While I overall agree on this, both can exist. The Bombay Co. had a decent happy hour with some non-traditional bar fare and pulled in the neighborhood for things like trivia night. Unfortunately, the switch to Besos missed the mark. Looking online, Noorani Kabab House does not look like it quite fits the atmosphere we are hoping for, but perhaps they will tweak things to fit the location.
If you poll the neighborhood, 99% will say a soup and sandwich with type place with wraps and burgers. We’re over the “non-traditional bar fare” because we have that with ISC and even Boathouse has that if you want to dole out some cash. The place would make a killing if they just had an espresso bar and breakfast wraps alone.
As someone who regularly drives past Rocketts Landing headed to Varina, I completely agree. Rocketts Landing doesn’t need another sit down restaurant. They need somewhere easy and casual to go to. Urban Farmhouse lasted the longest in that location for a reason. Put in something casual.
A coffee shop would be lovely.
Island Shrimp doesn’t cover that? There’s no way you’re going to get anything else close to come into that space. The space isn’t big enough and there’s not enough parking or people around for a cheaper sports bar (or diner, which I’ve also seen residents asking for) to work.
A fast casual chain that isn’t in the East End yet, honestly, would work best. Or something with fantastic food that would draw people despite the location and tricky parking.
Have you been inside the space? It’s bigger than Island Shrimp Co. and has PLENTY of wall space for TVs – which ISC does not have – they play fish or surfing videos all day on the one TV they do have. You are asking for a “fast casual” the sentence after complaining about parking, which will never work because of… parking. We want something the neighborhood of 300+ townhomes, condos, and apartments can WALK to and help an owner keep open and that’s not a niche restaurant you only crave once a month…maybe. And heck, people can ride their… Read more »
Want more watering holes? Virginia makes it hard. Tell your state reps to support legislation to scale back or better yet remove entirely our archaic food-liquor ratio requirement.
The last place had a liquor license – that’s not the issue.
Yes but they also had aggressive food concepts. A place that was more casual could open and would not have to invest so much up front in establishing a food forward concept. Perhaps focus on what the neighborhood wanted.
High food ratio incentivises destination restaurant concepts, not neighborhood spots.
Why didn’t you buy it? Then you could open your own concept.
I am not a restauranteur – but those who are could have done a teeeeeny bit of research and found out that an Indian restaurant FAILED here less than 2 years ago.
Also, poll the neighborhood, We WANT something to succeed here – but it has to offer variety. The parking is an absolute joke here, so you have to rely on the people who live here for 95% of the business,
Here we go again! People all you need here is a sports bar themed restaurant with simple food that connects to the community. Why a smart restauranteur does not understand this simply behooves me.
If you bought it, you could put in a sports bar. But you didn’t.
There’s no “buying it.” It’s a leased space. Again, anyone with half a brain could look back and see that an Indian restaurant failed here before the LAST restaurant failed. Any restaurant that comes in with a limited menu is not going to draw the majority of the people who will patronize the place. Most of us already have full time jobs and are not in the restaurant business, so you would think those who are, would do a bit of research before investing all that time and money. The neighborhood 100% wants something in that space – but, again,… Read more »