Kolapasi Indian Canteen, a South Indian fast casual eatery, will soon open its second Greenville location in Haywood Mall with a third Upstate location planned before the end of 2025. The restaurant closed on the space formerly home to CocoBowlz in May and have not yet set an opening date.
The restaurant’s premier location was in Chennai, India in 2011. Today, it still has one location in Chennai and operates its masala factory there. The company is headquartered in Dubai. The first U.S. restaurant opened in Greenville at 27 S. Pleasantburg Drive April 2024.
“We’ve got eight stores currently open in Australia [with] a couple more on the horizon there, but we’re really focusing on our U.S. expansion right now,” said Brandi Hymel, Kolapasi’s chief growth officer.
The Indian canteen opened a location in Charlotte earlier this year.
It has been dubbed the “Chipotle of Indian food” for its assembly line style of service, but in contrast to Chipotle, employs a “See. Taste. Order” model. Guests are encouraged to sample its offerings before creating a meal in the hopes they try something new. Kolapasi’s owner, Santosh Muruganantham, wants to bring Indian cuisine to the world. When Muruganantham considered expanding to the U.S., he wanted to have proof of concept for his expansion.
“Greenville has a very low Indian population,” Hymel said. “Not a whole lot of Indian restaurants–Not a whole lot of people who are exposed to Southeast Asian food in general– But it is a hot foodie scene.”
Hymel said Greenville has been receptive to the Pleasantburg restaurant, spurring the Charlotte location which has a larger footprint. The goal is to open approximately 2,000 stores in the next five to seven years. Currently, there are twelve additional U.S. locations in the works.
