Sankranti Indian Kitchen, designed to be a fast-casual restaurant like Chipotle, first opened in Dunwoody in 2022.
A second location in Emory Village followed in April, and a third location is set to open in September on 5th Street, near Georgia Tech.
Sankranti “Nimms” Nimmagadda, who also owns the Sankranti restaurant and banquet hall in Johns Creek, has plans for several more Indian Kitchen restaurants around metro Atlanta.
During a recent visit to the location near Emory University, the bare-bones, order-at-the-counter restaurant had plenty of seating inside, as well as on the front covered patio.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Picture a miniature Indian lunch buffet, with various dishes featuring chicken, paneer (cheese) and legumes, including chickpeas and lentils.
In what seems to be a trend, build-your-own ingredients can be ordered for an indie bowl, karma roll or a palace salad. The staff serve from a steam table and assemble your choices for you.
Add-ons include purple cabbage, lettuce, cheese and carrots, plus house yogurt, creamy tikka, sweet tamarind and spice-mint sauces.
Curry bowls come in small, medium (including one add-on) and large (two add-ons), with a generous portion of rice as a base.
While the chicken tikka masala curry bowl didn’t have the usual distinctive grilled flavor, the curry sauce was rich and nicely spiced.
The flavorful, spicy paneer came tossed in a mint jalapeño sauce, along with green peppers.
Samosas were generously sized, and the crispy pastry was filled with classic peas and potatoes, which matched nicely with a sweet tamarind sauce.
The thick mango lassi could serve as dessert, balancing sweetness with a peppery bit of turmeric.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
For a chain-in-the-making, the food at Sankranti is surprisingly spicy, which can be good or bad, depending on your palate.
There’s not much atmosphere, and the restaurant can be quite loud, due to hard surfaces and staff members who shout, even if you are the only customer.
Also, unless you ask for everything in your order to be packaged separately, it might wind up piled together, samosas and all.
However, Sankranti does offer a lot of bang for the buck, and it’s a welcome addition to the dining scene in Emory Village.
SANKRANTI INDIAN KITCHEN
Food: fast-casual Indian
Service: counter, with dine-in, pickup and delivery options
Vegetarian dishes: many options, including jeera rice, paratha bread, veggie samosas, potato and spinach cakes, and grilled vegetables
Alcohol: no
Price range: $3 fryums to $12.95 curry and rice bowl
Hours: 10:45 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Sundays
Outdoor dining: covered patio with tables
Address, phone: 1569 N. Decatur Road, Atlanta. 404-343-3942
Website: sankranti.com
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