Taste of India

OVERVIEW

• They get their spices imported straight from India

• It is Bloomington's only restaurant with South and North Indian food.

• Taste of India has a five minute walk from IU campus

HISTORY 

Before Taste of India was founded, the building had been used for various purposes, along with all the other buildings on 4th Street, which is now called Restaurant Row. Believe it or not, all of the restaurants in restaurant row used to be Victorian Era houses. Multiple important residents lived in those houses, such as Henry A. Lee who was an attorney in the Republican Party. Augustus Holtzman also lived on Fourth Street who owned a woolen mill on Third Street. The houses were also used as doctor’s offices after WWII, and student housing.  Since IU is a popular college, it attracted international students who opened diverse restaurants on Fourth Street.

Taste of India is a restaurant founded in 2009, and it has been welcomed into the Bloomington restaurant community. When the founders Sunil Yadav and Tiffany Clark found the building it was in rough shape, but they believed that there was potential. They also wanted to bring Indian cuisine to Bloomington. They spent weeks renovating the building until it became The Taste of India. Rupi and GIl were also already in the restaurant business, but they moved to Bloomington with their kids. In 2014 Taste of India was bought from the original owners, by Rupi and Gil Singh who still own the business to this day.

ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY

Taste of India is a very popular restaurant on 4th Street that brings authentic Indian cuisine and culture to Bloomington. Some of their popular menu items are Garlic Naan, Chicken Tandoori and  Palak Paneer. They serve Northern and Southern Indian cuisine. One of the owners, Rupinderdeep Kaur, said, “ We wanted to bring something different — a taste of home for those far from it, and something new for those who’d never tried Indian food before.” Taste of India wanted to represent not just one, but two regions of Indian food while representing the community. All meats are certified Zabiha Halal, which is important to the Muslim community in Bloomington. Also, they get their spices imported straight from India, but their dairy and meat come from local Bloomington suppliers. They use those spices for their amazing food, plus they roast and cook the spices themselves. They are also a big part of the Bloomington restaurant community. They collaborate with the local university, cultural groups and small food events. Also Taste of India partakes in the 4th Street Arts Festival every year, which is a festival that lets over 120+ artists come to Bloomington and look at their work.  Other restaurants that represent the Bloomington community that are on 4th Street are places like Little Tibet, Korea Restaurant, Siam House, Dats, My Thai and India Garden. They  also run Amrit India along with the Taste of India.