If you’re scrolling for available fast food options in the area, you’re going to find chains that are available most anywhere in the country, selling burgers, sandwiches, tacos or some form of fried chicken.
The Kati Roll Company, or TKRC, aims to be different, offering accessible Indian dishes with quality, proprietary ingredients.
The concept started in New York City, when a woman moved from Kolkata — home of the Kati roll — and missed the authentic street food from back home.
Just over 20 years ago, she opened the first TKRC location in Greenwich Village. The spices were made in her basement. The Kati rolls, lassis and chips were made fresh daily by hand.
And as TKRC opened more locations — four in Manhattan and one in London — those things never changed. The spices are no longer made in her basement, of course, but they are still hand-blended and exclusive to the company.
Fast forward to 2020, and world-traveling restaurateur Hebron Sher was looking for a new venture.
Sher begged TKRC owners to allow him to franchise, citing the lack of Kolkata cuisine despite the increasing Indian population in the community.
“I kind of twisted the founder’s arm,” Sher says. “I wanted to bring it to Texas because I felt like we were missing that type of cuisine at a very accessible level.”
Eventually, in 2021, she caved, and Downtown Dallas became home to the first TKRC franchise.
The first location was a success, Sher says, partly due to the quality of the food.
“I started off just being an avid fanboy for the food,” he says. “I would never want to be involved in a brand that I couldn’t eat maybe two or three times a week without feeling like crap and I think that The Kati Roll Company has just done a great job of serving real food in a time where we don’t really have good food that is fast.”
He opened the Plano location on August 24 with $5 rolls, and there wasn’t an empty seat in sight. No one seemed to mind the grand opening’s 45-minute wait time — knowing they won’t find a similar concept and menu in the area.
The menu is simple. Kati rolls are layered and lightly fried paratha rolls filled with the customer’s choice of protein and roasted on a grill or griddle.
Protein options vary, and Sher says they make a point out of not skimping on the portions.
Though the Kati rolls are the main event, Indo-Tibetan dumplings called momos are available as well as sides of house-made spicy potato chips and green chutney/chili. To drink, traditional Indian yogurt smoothies known as lassies are made daily with homemade yogurt and “the best mangos on earth.”
If you’re new to Indian cuisine, Sher suggests sticking with the “most sold protein in North America” and grabbing a chicken tikka roll, which features grilled chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and wrapped in the signature paratha roll, ringing in at $7.
The restaurant also caters, often to airlines and car dealerships, which Sher says is indicative of the accessibility of the cuisine.
“Everybody can relate to a roll right? This is why, globally, anything like a wrap, a taco, burrito, or in this case, a Kati roll, is so relatable to everybody,” Sher says. “When you’re talking about a circular bread with filling in it, everybody can eat it. Everybody seems to like it.”
The Kati Roll Company, 5588 State Highway, 469.261.5975
