Two New Indian Kitchens on Preston Road Split Frisco's Diwali Weekend by the Clock

Two Indian restaurants opened on Preston Road in October, five days apart. Haldiram's opened on Oct. 11 and Vaaraahi - Biryanis & Beyond on Oct. 16. They serve different regional food, but the bigger difference for planning is the clock. Haldiram's closes at 9:30 every night. Vaaraahi stays open until midnight Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Diwali falls on Sunday, Nov. 8 this year, so that gap decides which kitchen fits which part of the weekend.

A famous name with a short track record in Frisco

Haldiram's began in 1937 as a small bhujia shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Today its products sell in more than 80 countries, and it runs more than 200 restaurants across North India, according to Local Profile. Many Frisco pantries already have its snack packets. The restaurant is new.

The Frisco location at 7010 Preston Road, Suite 240, is the brand's first restaurant in the United States. It sits in Frisco Market Place, the center named in the City of Frisco's certificate-of-occupancy records. Community Impact reported that it opened four months after the brand's London debut, so Frisco is its first U.S. restaurant but not its first outside India. FSR described it as full-service casual dining and named Dallas-Fort Worth as the starting point for the company's U.S. restaurant expansion, which Pankkaj Agarwal and Rhea Agarwal are leading. No other U.S. locations or dates have been announced.

Its first four days were busy. The restaurant opened with a ribbon-cutting on Sunday, Oct. 11, and The Dallas Morning News reported waits for a table of up to 45 minutes. On Thursday, Oct. 15, four days after opening, it posted on social media that it was temporarily "closed for maintenance." It reopened on Wednesday, Oct. 21. In a follow-up story in The Dallas Morning News, franchisee Bobby Agrawal explained the six days:

"We upgraded to a new gas pipeline, we needed a bigger pipeline. Now we have better gas flow and the equipment is going to perform better."

He told the paper the new line needed city approval before the restaurant could reopen, and that took several days. The 45-minute wait came from that opening week, before the new line went in, so it says nothing about what a table takes now.

What each kitchen is built around

The two places don't overlap much. Haldiram's centers on North Indian street food and sweets. Vaaraahi centers on Hyderabadi dum biryani and covers more of the subcontinent from there.

At Haldiram's, The Dallas Morning News described two dishes beyond the usual chaat names. Dahi bhalla is lentil dumplings soaked in chilled sweet yogurt and topped with tamarind. Amritsari choley kulcha is a layered, potato-stuffed flatbread baked in a tandoor and served with chickpea curry and Amritsari chutney. Most of the menu is small plates that work well shared at a table. The sweets counter and packaged-goods shelf also make it a shopping stop, which a biryani house isn't.

Vaaraahi's website lists Chicken Dum Biryani and Goat Dum Biryani among its signature dishes and describes the goat version as Hyderabadi dum style. Community Impact reported that the menu also includes South Indian specialties and Indo-Chinese dishes, so one table can cover very different orders. With 140 seats and a patio, it has 30 more seats than Haldiram's, plus outdoor space for early November evenings. Community Impact calls Frisco its flagship.

The hours gap is widest on Diwali weekend

Haldiram's keeps the same hours every day: 10.5 hours, ending at 9:30 p.m. Vaaraahi opens at the same 11 a.m. On weeknights it stays open 90 minutes later than Haldiram's. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday it stays open until midnight, two and a half hours later.

Diwali falls on a Sunday, which is one of Vaaraahi's late nights. A family that spends the evening at home with diyas, prayers and visits may be ready to eat out after Haldiram's has closed. Vaaraahi's kitchen is still open then.

The schedules suggest a natural order for the three days:

1. Friday, Nov. 6, evening. Both restaurants open at 11 a.m., but only Vaaraahi stays open past 9:30. For a Friday dinner after work, biryani is the one still available late.
2. Saturday, Nov. 7, midday. This is the most flexible block for a stop at Haldiram's. Chaat for lunch and a look at the sweets counter fit within its hours, and the packaged-goods shelf is there for anything you're bringing to someone else's home.
3. Sunday, Nov. 8, Diwali. Get any Haldiram's sweets before 9:30 p.m. If dinner moves later than planned, Vaaraahi is open until midnight.

Neither restaurant's website lists Diwali menus, boxed-sweet pre-orders or holiday hours, so call before planning around a specific order. That matters most at Haldiram's, where its online ordering page shows an 8 a.m. opening time while The Dallas Morning News lists 11 a.m.

The third October opening, farther north

Two Preston Road restaurants cover the meals. The groceries for the holiday are at a store that opened the same week. India Bazaar opened its second Frisco store at 16750 Hollyhock Road on Oct. 15, on the Frisco-Prosper border, the day Haldiram's announced its temporary closure. Community Impact lists festival items and religious items among its stock, along with spices, produce and grains. The company's first Frisco store opened in January 2014, so this second store came more than 12 years later. It also came nine months after India Bazaar's McKinney store.

I'm Asha Rani. I follow openings like these because they shape everyday life in Frisco. If you're thinking about how Preston Road's newest openings relate to your own address, or you'd just like a clear sense of what your home is worth this season, Asha Rani is glad to help. Let's connect and get your personalized home valuation.