The MaharajaThe Maharaja

Susan Holaday

Northeast Business Group
HEADQUARTERS: Westwood, Mass.
MARKET SEGMENT: Indian casual dining
NO. OF UNITS: 4
AVERAGE CHECK: $15-$18 at India Palace, $22 at The Maharaja
SYSTEMWIDE SALES: $2.5 million
METHOD OF GROWTH: internal funding
LEADERSHIP: Sajal Latka, Aman Thakur, Rohit Talwar
COMPETITORS: Indian concepts
WEBSITE: www.indiapalace.com

Entrepreneurs typically are risk takers who bet on their dreams. Such is the case for three friends who recently opened The Maharaja, a casual but elegant restaurant in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass.


Gambling on the growing popularity of Indian food, the trio took their original concept, India Palace, a three-unit casual-dining chain with locations in southern New Hampshire and Chelmsford, Mass., and tweaked it slightly to make it appeal to a more upscale urban audience.


“The concept is pretty much the same,” said Sajal Latka, one of the partners in Westwood, Mass.-based parent company Northeast Business Group. “Our policy was one of expanding 
toward Boston.”


The first India Palace opened in 2002 in Manchester, N.H., after the friends, who met in their native India while studying at the Institute of Hotel Management in New Delhi and worked together in India and London, finished their education at Southern New Hampshire University. They took over an existing Indian restaurant, modifying the cuisine to appeal to local residents.


“The demographic in New Hampshire likes lighter spices and was used to light, creamy Indian food, so we went that way there,” said executive chef Rohit Talwar.


Growing numbers of diners led to the opening of a second restaurant in Nashua, N.H., in 2003. Because the site had not been an Indian operation previously, there were no expectations about the food, and the owners were able to raise the level of spice. 


That restaurant also caught on quickly. Following their strategy of moving closer to Boston and heartened by eight “Best in New Hampshire” ratings, they opened a third unit in Chelmsford in 2005. 


The challenge in opening Indian restaurants is the “balancing act” involved in pleasing both Indian and mainstream American customers, said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president at WD Partners in Columbus, Ohio. 


“Indian is becoming one of the faster-growing cuisines,” he said, pointing to increasing numbers of Indians in the population as well as the many Americans with more sophisticated palates.


The food is “very healthy and not necessarily extremely spicy as many people perceive it to be,” he said. “Success usually depends on out-computing your competitors.”


Earlier this year the group found a site in Cambridge advertised on Craigslist, and the seed for The Maharaja was planted. The restaurant is furnished with items purchased during a three-month trip to India.


The great palaces of Jaipur and Jodhpur in Rajasthan were the inspiration for the decor and ambience. Great attention was given to small design details such as salt and pepper shakers and the dinner plates, which were copied from the ceiling of a New Delhi hotel. The start-up cost for Maharaja was between $1.2 million and $1.3 million, compared with $250,000 each for the less-upscale India Palaces.


The menu at Maharaja is broad, with traditional dishes such as chicken vindaloo, various curries, tandoori malai shrimp and chicken tikka masala, as well as more exotic fare like mutter paneer, a homemade cottage cheese cooked with green peas, potatoes and fresh spices.


Prices range from $4.95 to $29.95, with most entrées in the $15.95 range. The average check at Maharaja is $22, higher than the $15 to $18 average check at India Palace.


Despite the risk of an investment in a city such as Cambridge that has a number of ethnic competitors, the group saw the move as the fulfillment of its dream. Maharaja means “king of kings,” Latka explained, and the restaurant is the king of their group. 


“Our passion is always there,” he said. “We want to be a destination for the general public. This is a very metropolitan location where we will represent the various regions of India with our menu.”


“Our recipes are from our families and the places we’ve trained and worked — the best and most authentic,” Talwar said.


Authenticity should serve the group well, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at research firm Technomic in Chicago. 


“Consumers today like authenticity,” he said. “Indian is really an untapped niche and many outlets are independent restaurants. The challenge is to use the decor, ambience and food to lure Indians and mainstream diners alike.”