When the summer heat picks up, Simeran Baidwan noticed his Little India customers tend to order after 8 p.m., when the sun goes down.
“Comfort food does better when it’s cooler out,” he said.
So last week, Little India’s first location at Sixth Avenue and Grant Street flipped on its Open sign for 24 hours. The restaurant, which opened in 1998, is now serving garlic naan, tandoori chicken and samosas all day — and all night — long.
“It’s only been a week, but we’re seeing tons of orders from 2 to 6 a.m.,” Baidwan said. “There are people getting off from a graveyard shift, eating dinner at breakfast time, people strolling in late from a road trip or red-eye, and hospital workers from Denver Health looking for options.”
Denver’s late-night options, especially diners, have dwindled since the pandemic when restaurants were struggling to maintain staff. But Little India is joining a handful of night owls willing to stick it out past midnight. Rosenberg’s Bagels also recently debuted a late-night slider pop-up open until 2 a.m. in Five Points.
“Denver is awake, so why not give them what they want?,” Baidwan said.
The Sixth Avenue location is the company’s only 24/7, full-service restaurant. The University of Denver, Highland and downtown Denver locations will operate as usual. “We’re going to take baby steps, and see how this turns out,” Baidwan said.
The extensive menu offers a range of late-night munchies, like the new Naughty But Nice dessert with hot Gulab Jamun, vanilla ice cream and rosewater, or even bites for breakfast, like a trio of samosas topped with channa masala, raita, tamarind and mint chutneys.
Baidwan is always coming up with new ways to get an uptick in a business. There’s no delivery charge on any third-party apps, and any takeout order comes with a free cocktail or mocktail per entree. “We eat those costs because we know people are struggling to make ends meet, but they still deserve to eat well,” Baidwan said.
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