Honest Vegetarian Indian Street Food Makes its Manhattan Debut on Bleecker Street

Honest began as a street cart in Law Garden, a popular open air food market in Ahmedabad, India
Honest Indian Vegetarian Cuisine Opens in the West Village
Photo: Official

Honest began as a Vegetarian Indian Street Food street cart owned by Ramesh Gupta in Law Garden, a popular open air food market in Ahmedabad, India in the late 1960’s. At first, they sold only chaat, Indian snacks, and in 1975, began serving made-to-order hot vegetarian meals made from scratch with the freshest ingredients. With input from his customers, Ramesh began developing his recipe for Bhaji Pav, a spiced vegetable curry served with buttered rolls. His wife Vimla Gupta’s spice blend recipe completed the formula for their signature dish. The Guptas named their cart Honest because of the purity of the product and the customer transparency they provided.

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With the demand for their Bhaji Pav growing, the street cart was then inherited by the couple’s three sons. The youngest of the three boys, Vijay Gupta, expanded the business and launched more carts in Law Garden. In 1987, Honest opened their first sit-down restaurant in Ahmedabad. What followed was an expansion of growth of carts and restaurants throughout Gujarat, India, leading Vijay to visit the United States in 2002, with dreams of bringing Honest to New York. The dream was put on hold until 2016 when Vijay’s son, Harin Gupta, a Culinary Institute of America (CIA) alum, helped open the first US Honest location in Schaumberg, Illinois.

Within the first five years, Honest has opened 31 locations in the United States, primarily opening in suburban areas with high Indian populations

To ensure the US locations maintain the standard of high quality, they hired fellow CIA alumnus Vasisht Ramasubramanian, a former sous chef at Jean-George’s ABC Cocina, as their Corporate Executive Chef, who trains the kitchen at each location. To date, Honest has 60 locations in Gujarat, India, two in Canada, two in Australia, and two in Thailand in addition to the 31 in the United States.

After years of scouting for the perfect NYC location, Honest is making their mainstream debut with their first Manhattan location under franchisee Kunal Shah.

The restaurant serves a large variety of chaat including Pani Puri, semolina puffs stuffed with boiled potatoes and black garbanzo beans, served with refreshing mint cilantro water and sweet chutney; Bhel, puffed rice and vegetables tossed with sweet, sour, and spicy chutneys; and Vada Pav, potato and garlic dumplings with chickpea batter.

Indo-Chinese dishes include Paneer Chili Gravy, cottage cheese tossed with peppers and onions in Indo-Chinese sauces; and Szechuan Noodles, stir fried vegetables and soft noodles tossed in Honest’s special garlic Szechuan sauce.

Besides freshly squeezed fruit juices, Rose Lassi, Mango Lassi, hot tea and coffee, Honest plans to introduce beer and wine for the first time in any of their United States locations.

The new store is located at 176 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012 and is open Sunday – Wednesday 12pm – 10pm, Thursday: 12pm – 12am and Friday & Saturday: 12pm – 2am.

Lisa Hay

Lisa Hay

Lisa is a staff reporter for What Now Media Group. She covers new restaurant, retail, and real estate openings across all of our markets. A true foodie, this Air Force veteran has lived all over the world — from Aviano, Italy to Nairobi, Kenya — but her favorite spot is NOLA for its rich history, architecture, culture, and of course, its good eats.
Lisa Hay

Lisa Hay

Lisa is a staff reporter for What Now Media Group. She covers new restaurant, retail, and real estate openings across all of our markets. A true foodie, this Air Force veteran has lived all over the world — from Aviano, Italy to Nairobi, Kenya — but her favorite spot is NOLA for its rich history, architecture, culture, and of course, its good eats.

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