Business Proposal: Authentic Indian Cuisine Restaurant

This business proposal suggests establishing an authentic Indian cuisine restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to cater to the Indian immigrant population. The proposal highlights the lack of authentic Indian food in the area and the potential for a successful business venture. The risks associated with the project are also discussed.

Running head: BUSINESS PROPOSAL: AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
Business Proposal: Authentic Indian Cuisine Restaurant
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1BUSINESS PROPOSAL: AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
Living away from one’s hometown can often cause severe problems in one’s life
which include adjustment issues. During this phase, if proper food is available, it lessens the
hardships of daily life. Keeping in mind the thousands of Indians currently settled in the
States, this paper is going to offer a proposal of establishing a restaurant which provides the
customers with an array of authentic Indian cuisine, not far away from the locality around
which the Indians dwell.
As of recent, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has become the hub of Indian immigrants. Of
late, the census count of Indians living in America has escalated from 51,000 recorded in
1970 to 1.5 million by 2006. Although Indians in the US is mostly found in the five states of
New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Texas and California; Pittsburgh too enjoys its share of
Indian migrants (Portes and Rumbaut). The latest Census counted around 14,000 Indian-born
immigrants who live in Pittsburgh ("Indian Community At Home In Pittsburgh- Popular
Pittsburgh").
To satiate the appetite of this huge population of Indians, there are various Indian
restaurants scattered in and around the area. Unfortunately, the restaurants are all near
Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and Oakland; whereas the other side of the Allegheny River just
has one restaurant, close to Ross Township known as Taj Mahal, which offers Indian
buffets. Most of these restaurants fail to serve their customers with authentic Indian food
(Ling and Austin). The food they serve is mostly Indian based, but with an American
perspective, for example the Paneer Pavbhaji Biryani, they serve at the Choolaah Indian
BBQ, Shadyside, Pittsburgh might tickle the grey cells of an American, but certainly not that
of an Indian immigrant. Pavbhaji is an authentic Indian version of a burger, but vegetarian;
on the other hand, Biryani is an authentic Mughlai dish that is served with Raita, which is a
concoction of yogurt, cucumber, tomato and other fruits as per one’s wish. The very idea of
the fusion of the two extreme foods can seem horrendous to some Indians.

2BUSINESS PROPOSAL: AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
Keeping in mind the above factors, I would like to start an Indian restaurant in and
around Allison Park, that would serve authentic Indian food; ranging from Dal Batti Churma
of the Rajasthanis to the traditional Shukto-bhaat that the Bengalis crave. Lentil soup might
not be liked enough by Indians rather, they would be comfortable consuming rice with a side
of dal (lentils) and vegetables; moreover this will ensure a second and third helping from an
Indian. Initially, witnessing the establishment of a variety of Indian restaurants left me
thinking, that an area like this does not need another restaurant; however, after getting into
details and visiting some restaurants and some other websites, it struck me how much the
Indians living there might miss their food, since authentic dishes are hard to find.
Immigrants in America tend to reside sharing a common geographical area; there are
European communities and African communities, defined by a specific part of the land, this
is not the same with Indians (Frey). Indians are scattered all over the state, meeting under
particular circumstances only, although they might actively work under their community
association. These professional Indians have helped turn the blue collar jobs of America into
white collar ones (Malhotra, Margalit and Mo). For a person to drive a long distance to eat
somewhere that is reminiscent of home is not particularly pleasant. Having a restaurant close
to one’s home would be of genuine help to these professionals who spend time working away
from their hometown (Wijayabahu).
Tamarind Flavour of India, situated to the North of Craig Street, Oakland,
Pennsylvania was issued with a consumer alert for violations of the food safety laws. In 2016,
the Allegheny County Health Department organised an inspection and reported several
problems including mouse infestation; in addition, there was no licensed food protection
manager and food was being stored at unsafe temperatures ("Indian Restaurant In Oakland
Hit With Consumer Alert"). This all led to the restaurant suffering huge loss. This must be

3BUSINESS PROPOSAL: AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
kept in mind while trying to establish a restaurant in the city, as this incident can be used as
an example for future endeavours.
To conclude, it can be understood, the scope for opening an authentic Indian cuisine
restaurant in Pittsburgh can leave the investors with a good amount of yearly turnover. But if
not maintained properly, the project can easily be disposed off causing a critical amount of
loss. Although the idea of serving happy immigrants in my restaurant is a fascinating one,
there are a lot of risks that are attached too, which should be studied in detail before
proceeding with the project.

4BUSINESS PROPOSAL: AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT
References
"Indian Community At Home In Pittsburgh - Popular Pittsburgh". Popular Pittsburgh, 2018,
http://popularpittsburgh.com/pittsburghindiancommunity/. Accessed 9 July 2018.
"Indian Restaurant In Oakland Hit With Consumer Alert". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2018,
http://www.post-gazette.com/life/dining/2016/05/31/Oakland-restaurant-hit-with-consumer-
alert/stories/201605310169. Accessed 9 July 2018.
Frey, William H. Diversity explosion: How new racial demographics are remaking America.
Brookings Institution Press, 2014.
Ling, Huping, and Allan W. Austin. Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia:
An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2015.
Malhotra, Neil, Yotam Margalit, and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo. "Economic explanations for
opposition to immigration: Distinguishing between prevalence and conditional
impact." American Journal of Political Science 57.2 (2013): 391-410.
Portes, Alejandro, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America: a portrait. Univ of
California Press, 2006.
Wijayabahu, Kulani. "Strengthens and Challenges for utilizing Indian soft power: a
comparative study with the United States of America." International Journal of Scientific and
Research Publications 4.12 (2014).