Curry Up Now, an Indian fast casual restaurant in the country, has made its expansion into Southern California official with the solidification of its first site in Orange County. The store will be located in Irvine at 922 Spectrum Drive within the Irvine Spectrum Shopping Center, one of the area’s most popular entertainment, shopping, and dining destinations. Curry Up Now projects doors will open at the new locale in Spring 2019.
This is the first lease secured by Curry Up Now’s Southern California franchisees, who inked a multi-unit deal with the brand earlier this year. In addition to Orange County, the group of experienced restaurant franchisees have set their sights on expanding Curry Up Now into San Diego County.
“After being huge fans of Curry Up Now for a long time, it’s very exciting for us to be one step closer to opening our first franchised location with the brand, and to be introducing the concept to an entirely new market,” says Vishal Chopra and Manpreet Behl, two of the franchise group partners. “Most people may not realize how expansive or culturally-diverse Orange County’s food scene is, but even with so much variety, there is nothing like Curry Up Now’s innovative Indian cuisine. The city of Irvine is in many ways a central hub for the county, so there’s no better place for us to launch the Southern California expansion of Curry Up Now!”
Curry Up Now was founded in 2009 by husband and wife duo, Akash and Rana Kapoor, and ably supported by co-founder and Senior VP of Operations Amir Hosseini. From the beginning, the brand has been known for taking traditional Indian flavors and presenting them in friendly, recognizable formats. Their menu fan-favorites include the iconic Tikka Masala Burrito, Deconstructed Samosa, Sexy Fries, and Naughty Naan, as well as traditional items and street food offerings such as Kathi Rolls, Thali Platters, Bhel Puri, and Papdi Chaat. Ingredients are clean and sourced from local vendors whenever possible, and the menu is designed to support alternative diets, in an effort to accomodate all guests no matter their dietary preferences.
Experts in the hospitality industry project that Indian food will continue to be the fastest growing ethnic food segment in the U.S., making room for Curry Up Now to solidify its position as the largest and fastest growing Indian fast casual restaurant in the nation. Within the last year, Curry Up Now has been recognized by a number of the restaurant industry’s top publications for its innovative approach to Indian cuisine and huge potential for growth.
The concept was featured in QSR’s 40 Under 40 and named a Hot Food & Beverage Chain by the International Council of Shopping Centers.
In the last six months alone, Curry Up Now has solidified multi-unit franchise deals in nearly every major region in the country, including the Northeast, South, West Coast, and the Mountain States. The brand has around 50 franchised and corporate stores in development nationwide and pending franchise deals in over 13 states. They anticipate 100 units in development by year end, with an additional 200 in 2019. Curry Up Now currently operates three food trucks and six corporate brick-and-mortar locations across California’s Bay Area, as well as two Mortar & Pestle cocktail bars in San Jose and San Mateo. A new Curry Up Now restaurant and Mortar & Pestle Bar are slated to open in the first quarter of 2019 in San Ramon, CA. For more information on the growing Indian fast casual, follow @CurryUpNow on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or visit www.curryupnow.com.
