Located in what used to be a Subway in Drake West Village is the newly opened Cafe Chai, an Indian restaurant owned and operated by Parvinder Singh. The new restaurant has just begun to take root and grow in the Drake neighborhood. With its grand opening occurring in the fall of 2024, Cafe Chai has already grown and adapted in a matter of months.
With over 30 years of restaurant experience tucked under his belt, Singh started Cafe Chai as a new opportunity after his family sold their last restaurant. Since its opening, the cafe has expanded its original menu and overhauled the restaurant’s interior into something entirely new.
“I came across this site and thought it would be a good location,” Singh said. “Business has been stable but it has been picking up since students came back from winter break, so hopefully that will continue.”
For many students, the new Drake neighborhood business offers a new dining experience with different food to try, filling a niche for casual Indian food and chai that previously went unfulfilled. Junior Ahmed Aljufari said Cafe Chai offers excellent chai near campus.
“I’m a huge fan of chai. I drink it every Tuesday and Monday of the week, and they really outdid themselves,” Aljufari said. “They just opened and the quality of the chai was amazing. I would definitely recommend.”
Though they originally opened with a limited menu, Cafe Chai expanded their options after winter break, offering many different food items besides gyros and appetizers. Outside of just chai, Cafe Chai offers a wide variety of Indian food and other food inspired by Indian cuisine, including butter chicken, dahi puri and naan bread pizza.
Although Cafe Chai already has many satisfied customers, some Drake students don’t see it as a viable option. With the cafe closing at 6 p.m. and not open on Sundays, Zakir Naqvi, a senior at Drake, thinks their current business model doesn’t suit the typical Drake student.
“If you’re going to open a new restaurant here on campus, the ways for it to be effective is that it should be cheap, it should be open late and it should have food that everybody’s interested in,” Naqvi said. “The food selection should also fit the location. It’s in between Greek Street and campus, so they should have more takeout options, but I think their hours are their biggest problem.”
Although Cafe Chai has grown and changed in the past few months, much more is planned for the restaurant in the near future.
“I’m going to put up some new furniture in here, and have benches against the wall,” Singh said. “Another thing is, a lit up sign will be out front where the Subway sign used to be, hopefully in time before relays.”
As Drake students continue their classes and their college lives, Cafe Chai continues to serve as a reliable option for a beverage or a bite to eat. The future of Cafe Chai will continue to develop along with the surrounding neighborhood.
