A California street food restaurant is opening its first NC location in Durham

Drew Jackson
·2 min read

Curry burritos are on the menu at a new Durham street food restaurant.

The San Francisco-based fast casual spot Curry Up Now is bringing its Indian fusion to North Carolina. A new Curry Up Now will open in Durham’s University Hill development, with the grand opening slated for May 23.

This will be the first North Carolina location for Curry Up Now, which started in 2009 as a Bay Area food truck.

The North Carolina owner is Pathik Patel, an architect by trade who also owns Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Buffalo Wild Wings Go franchises.

Patel said he thought the Triangle would embrace a fast casual Indian restaurant as a new concept for the area.

“There wasn’t any authentic Indian food brands in the Triangle, besides mom and pop restaurants,” Patel said. “When we talk about street food, we’re talking about the spices that are heavily used in Indian cooking.”

The Curry Up Now menu includes familiar Indian dishes and flavors, but often in new presentations, with curry burritos as the specialty, including options like butter chicken, tikka masala and lamb keema. There are also “sexy fries,” an Indian take on poutine, tandoori chicken sandwiches and deconstructed samosas.

The Bay Area fast casual brand Curry Up Now will open its first North Carolina location in Durham, bringing Indian street food flavors.
The Bay Area fast casual brand Curry Up Now will open its first North Carolina location in Durham, bringing Indian street food flavors.

Free burritos at grand opening

Durham’s Curry Up Now is holding its grand opening May 23, but service will begin earlier in the week, starting Monday, May 20. Patel said that for the grand opening, the first 50 people in line will receive a booklet for a year’s worth of free weekly burritos. The first 523 people will get a free burrito, a reference to the grand opening date. To get a free burrito you must be a member of Curry Up Now’s rewards program.

Patel’s Curry Up Now franchise deal is for five locations in the Triangle. The second is already in the works for Chapel Hill, opening in University Place.

For more information visit curryupnow.com.

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