A new Indian restaurant opens in Johnson County, serving dosai, tikka masala, more
South Indian restaurant Chettinad’s just opened at 8018 W. 151st St. in Overland Park, but Kansas Citians may have tasted its cuisine before.
Vijay Kumar Ponnusamy has been catering paneer, biriyani, tikka masala and other menu items in the area for the past 10 years as a catering business under the same name.
While the Kansas City area has several Indian restaurants — including Bikanervala, which opened this summer at 8669 W. 135th St. in Overland Park — Ponnusamy said the metro is missing cuisine specific to the southern region of the country. The restaurant’s name refers to a community of villages in India’s southernmost state of Tamil Nadu.
South India serves like dosai — a savory lentil crepe served with chutney, sambar or curry. Chettinad’s offers the “dosai special,” a giant version of the dish that’s larger than the tray it’s served on.
A few other items on Chettinad’s menu: samosas, mutton entrees and naan. It also serves kulfi, or Indian ice cream, and coffee.
To open the restaurant, Ponnusamy is teaming up with three other partners: Kalpana Vijay Kumar, Anu Senthil Kumar and Senthil Kumar Jayapalan.
Before coming to the United States, Ponnusamy operated a restaurant called “Flavors” in Puducherry, India, for a year. Opening a restaurant again has been a goal of Ponnusamy’s since it closed in 2010.
He’s content, now, to have a full dining room again.
Since Chettinad’s opened last week, a steady stream of customers has been pouring in. Ponnusamy said he even felt a little overwhelmed at times with the crowd of people. He’s said he’s met a lot of neighbors and South Indians missing their cuisine.
“People like the food,” he said. “People are coming (up until) the end of the day.”
Ponnusamy hopes the business’s popularity will only grow.
Chettinad’s is open 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.
