A new Chapel Hill restaurant plans to combine Mexican and Indian cuisine under one roof, a combination its owners said is new to the area. The fusion restaurant, Tikka Tequila, strives to offer students and residents more fresh, high-protein options when dining downtown.
Chef Roberto Mendoza has partnered with Baljeet and Gulshan Singh, owners of NaanStop in Durham, along with their son, Happy Rathore, to bring their idea to life. Mendoza anticipates the restaurant will open by the first week of October at 504 W. Franklin St., where The Latin Effect used to be located.
Mendoza is a professional chef with experience cooking for presidents and once worked with former First Lady Michelle Obama to create a food assistance program for universities across the country. He said he is interested in making the restaurant accessible to the UNC community.
“I’m very familiar with the students,” Mendoza said. “I know what they like. I know the way they eat.”
Mendoza said he wants the restaurant to become a place where students can eat without spending a lot of money. He said meals will cost about $10 to $12 per person, and that he plans to offer a student discount.
Mishree Narasaiah, a UNC sophomore who eats out about once a week on Franklin Street, said she is looking forward to having a place where she can go with friends and have their cultures represented.
“Having something that is like a mixture allows friend groups to also be able to just mesh everyone’s interests,” Narasaiah said. “You can have someone suggest a dish that you wouldn’t even know what it was.”
Growing up in Texas, Narasaiah said Mexican food was a large part of the food culture around her and likes the idea of being able to combine her cultural dishes with those that remind her of home.
That combination is central to Rathore’s vision for Tikka Tequila. He said he is excited to create a new concept and cuisine that multiple communities can enjoy.
“No one’s done it here yet,” Rathore said. “No one’s ever done it anywhere else, from what I know. And it’s two types of food that people love.”
The restaurant intends to be open from breakfast to dinner, featuring an omelet bar for breakfast where patrons can have their eggs cooked to their liking.
Mendoza will be the chef at Tikka Tequila and plans to stay in Chapel Hill to support its opening. He said the restaurant will have a special dish every day during Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight Latino culture.
He added that Mexican and Indian cultures will not be the only ones represented, and that the menu will feature South American dishes like pupusas from El Salvador and empanadas from Colombia.
Baljeet Singh said she hopes the menu will appeal to customers who enjoy spicy food but may not find many options to increase the heat at traditional Mexican restaurants.
“Mostly Indian people are not satisfied with a low amount of heat in their food,” Singh said. “But over here, they can add the heat to their food how they want.”
Tikka Tequila has already hired some staff, but are looking to employ additional bartenders and waiters. There will be about 25 workers in total, and the space can hold roughly 60 customers at once.
“Nobody have this kind of fusion restaurant yet,” Mendoza said. “So we are very excited to open it up and see what’s going to happen.”
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Dining and Cooking