Popular Harlem Restaurant Chaiwali Is Closing, Owner Says

HARLEM, NY — The popular restaurant Chaiwali is closing after six years serving up nourishing Indian cuisine in Central Harlem, its owner announced Thursday.

Chef-owner Anita Trehan revealed the closure in an email to customers, saying she was forced to shut down due to "reduced customer traffic" in recent weeks. Its final day will be on Dec. 12.

"Truly I have done everything that I could do to keep it going," Trehan said, adding that the cause for the slowdown was still unclear.

"I have been told that we are still in a Covid related lag or that there are not enough businesses in the area to support my kind of cuisine," she wrote.

Chaiwali traces its origins back years, when Trehan began exploring health-oriented cooking after her daughter developed severe food allergies, according to the restaurant's website. The urge to open a restaurant grew more immediate when Trehan was walking through the Financial District in 2011 and realized she had nowhere to find "a nice cup of chai," as she later told the New York Times.

After renovating the 19th-century brownstone to accommodate the business and a residence for herself, Trehan opened Chaiwali in 2015 on Lenox Avenue near West 124th Street — one of only a few Indian eateries in Harlem.

Influenced by the flavors of Trehan's native Delhi, Chaiwali quickly won praise from Times critic Pete Wells, who highlighted dishes like smoked eggplant dip and vindaloo lamb chops, and described the "large, diverse crowds" that were already descending on the restaurant.

"I’ve never been to culinary school, or to a restaurant school. I’ve never taken a single cooking class in my life, never followed a recipe book," Trehan told the website Thrillist earlier this year. "Just like when you write something you know what you want to express—I know what I want my food to taste like."

Chaiwali also became active in Harlem's cultural scene, participating in annual Restaurant Weeks and hosting meetings from the Greater Harlem Coalition.

Trehan made the decision to close after the restaurant failed to meet its expenses for several weeks, she said. Before closing, Chaiwali will host a "yard sale" to clear out its inventory, Trehan said.

In Thursday's email, Trehan described the "personal investment, sweat and tears" that she had poured into the business — "a hard job but one that gave me great joy," she wrote. She also expressed hope that the restaurant may return one day, treating the closure only as "a hard reset."

Chaiwali is only the latest Harlem restaurant to shut down since the pandemic began nearly two years ago, joining other establishments like the Ethiopian restaurant Zoma, the taproom Hop House, the East Harlem eatery Mountain Bird, and the cafes Little Bean Coffee, Shuteye Coffee and Double Dutch Espresso.

Have a Harlem news tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.