Bowling Green received a culinary addition to the city’s food scene with the opening of The Curry Lounge on Aug. 9. Founder and manager of the new establishment, Manny Patel, may have needed some convincing to open the restaurant, but he has been overwhelmed with the positive response from the Bowling Green community.
Patel first moved to the United States in 2004 to pursue a masters degree and shortly after found himself investing in a Dairy Queen franchise.
He is a partner and manager at various Dairy Queen locations, one of which is in Bowling Green.
Moving to Bowling Green to manage the Dairy Queen only drew Patel and his wife further into the community. Patel discussed how he and his wife realized the quiet atmosphere and close-knit community of Bowling Green was unlike any other place they had lived and decided to stay for the long haul.
To celebrate their decision, they gathered with the neighborhood and cooked authentic Indian food to share with their new permanent neighbors. They enjoyed the cuisine, and Patel’s neighbors started to encourage him to open an Indian restaurant of his own.
“Everyone tried forcing me to open an Indian restaurant, but I ignored it,” Patel said.
His reservations about opening a restaurant decreased each time he and his wife had to drive farther away to get good quality Indian food. While Patel was contemplating opening his restaurant, Guajillo’s Cocina Mexicana, the neighboring business to his Dairy Queen, moved out of the space next door.
This gave him the opportunity to buy Guajillo’s former location and convert it to the Indian spot everyone had been pushing for. He jumped on the opportunity and started preparations in April 2024.
“I started working almost day and night. I worked hard and completed everything,” Patel said.
His hard work not only involved renovating the restaurant’s interior to fit The Curry Lounge’s needs, but also developing the perfect menu. From chicken tikka masala to mixed vegetable curry and sweet or spicy chutneys to mini samosas, the menu offers a variety of flavor profiles.
Steve and Mary Boone, who have lived in Bowling Green for 37 years, expressed that any dish with the paneer cheese and mixed vegetables were very good.
The Boones are vegetarians, so having Indian food as an option when going out has added a variety to Bowling Green they felt was missing before.
“It’s one of our favorites partly because Bowling Green hasn’t had an Indian restaurant,” Steve said.
BGSU students have also found the addition of Indian cuisine to the off-campus food options to be beneficial.
Madelynn Gillingham, a third year English major, said she first visited The Curry Lounge when she needed somewhere nice, but casual to take her aunt. The quality of food and opportunity to expand her typical flavor palette were two elements of The Curry Lounge that Gillingham really enjoyed.
“I really only started trying Indian food within the last few years, but every time I’ve had it it’s been amazing! I love that the cuisine uses spices that are not common in western cuisine,” Gillingham said.
She favors the butter chicken, but chose to try tikka masala and the mango chicken curry during her first visit. Gillingham plans to go back and says The Curry Lounge is a great place with amazing food and a friendly staff.
This quality menu and welcoming environment did not stem out of nowhere, though. Rather, it has grown from the hard work of Patel himself. To help craft the menu, Patel tried Indian foods from all over the U.S. whenever he had to travel for his Dairy Queen business.
Some of the dishes featured at The Curry Lounge have only been seen by Patel in other states like Texas and New York. He looked at a total of 15-20 different restaurant menus to draw inspiration for his own.
With all of the dishes offered by The Curry Lounge, there is something for everyone. Patel said that, so far, the vegetable coconut curry is most popular among their vegetarian options with the chicken coconut curry and lobster coconut curry being popular among meat and seafood eaters.
The mango lassi is also a fan favorite beverage served at The Curry Lounge.
One other element attracting foodies to The Curry Lounge has been rare since the COVID outbreak: a buffet.
The Curry Lounge offers a loaded lunch buffet for $14.99 from 11 a.m. -2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and for $17.99 Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Their dinner services begin at 4:30 p.m. and go to 10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday and Monday.
For more information about the lunch buffet menu, hours and other options check out The Curry Lounge’s Facebook page and website.
Patel remains excited about the direction his new business is going and encourages people to make a stop in to try their cuisine at 434 East Wooster Street. Customers can also place orders by calling the restaurant.
His vision for the restaurant was and continues to be to share the different flavors of India with the community he loves.
