Chaii Garden ready to roll-out ‘Park & Dine’ service across UK

SPONSORED CONTENT HALAL STATUS Fully Halal

There’s a huge shift in the market with Starbucks’, Greggs’ and Subways’ drive-thrus. Drive-thrus is the way forward – Chaii Garden

It takes a certain flair, ingenuity and the right circumstances to help drive innovation while challenging the status quo.

The idea behind Chaii Garden came in the wake of the Covid pandemic in 2020, with the introduction of this unique concept ultimately disrupting Birmingham’s vibrant ‘karak chai’ sector.

With the country going into lockdown, the owners of this family-run business – Raj, Shezzy and Ruman – saw a gap in the market and responded with the city’s very first ‘Park & Dine’ concept. As Raj revealed: “We needed to do something different to stand out on Ladypool Road.”

With the famous stretch of Ladypool Road already boasting half-a-dozen karak chai restaurants, Chaii Garden launched their new concept and haven’t looked back since.

Not only has this destination spot grown from strength to strength, but they are now looking to roll-out their model across the country.

In fact, not only are Chaii Garden on the verge of launching their second Sparkbrook venue within The Birmingham Hotel on Anderton Road, but also have plans of opening their flagship store in Golden Hillock Road.

What’s more, with a Coventry site following in a couple of months in the popular Foleshill area, the owners are keen to hear from prospective franchisees interested in helping introduce the brand in Leicester and Manchester.

While there are now other similar karak chai drive-thrus about, what separates Chaii Garden’s is three key factors: 1) Absolute commitment to customer service, 2) top quality ingredients that uphold their ethos of “providing great produce that’s created with love”, 3) the vast majority (80%) of the menu is homemade.

With the owners themselves coming from a catering and restaurant background – their fathers having successfully run a number of Indian restaurants throughout the 80s and 90s – they’ve translated that restaurant-oriented service over to their drive-thru service.

80% of Chaii Garden’s menu is freshly-made

Chaii Gardens’ one-way system ensures a seamless experience, with orders taken by personable, uniformed waiters; and customers asked to park-up and wait at their designated parking bays.

As for the menu, then it couldn’t be more freshly prepared. As the owner puts it: “There’s very few restaurants who prepare their food from scratch.”

Indeed, just take their desi tea as an example, which, in being made fresh on-site using a traditional aeration method, virtually separates them from the vast majority of karak chai brands who prefer to lazily use premade sachets.

But it’s the sheer variety of their menu which will set the pulses racing with not just plenty of Hot Drinks but also Mojitos and Milkshakes to choose from.

In addition, there’s Doughnuts, Milkcakes, Waffle Sticks, a range of savoury items, and even some Old School Favourites in addition to Cheesecakes and Garden Desserts to round things off.

One very popular item, and an example of Chaii Garden looking to stand out from the crowd, is the innovative Bang Bang Kebabish & Fries, which sees crispy fries topped with succulent strips of doner kebab fully enveloped in your choice of a finger-licking sauce.

But for just a tenner, diners are unsurprisingly going for Chaii Garden’s Loaded Box, which comes with fries, a pair of chicken wings in the following flavours: Dynamite Naga, BBQ Naga, Lime & Chilli, Mango Habanero, Buffalo, and Creamy Peri Peri; and your choice of a smash or chicken fillet burger.

“Nothing beats homemade and handmade,” declares Raj, with items such as the Shish Kebab Paratha, Tandoori Toastie, Keema Toastie, Samosa Chat, Cheese & Onion Samosa, and the Doner Samosa, you simply will not find elsewhere.

Their inhouse Milkcakes are extremely popular with not just the classic flavours of Lotus, Nutella & Strawberries, Oreo, and Pistachio, but also Passion & Mango, in addition to the Plain or Mix Chocolate Milkcake with Doughnuts.

But perhaps the most unique dessert on their menu is the Waffle Sticks, of which there are eight choices, with perhaps the most exciting combination being The Snowflake, with long airy strips of what are essentially waffles covered in white chocolate sauce, crushed Rafaello, coconut flakes and nuts.

“That’s why people keep coming back,” concludes the Chaii Garden owner, “because they haven’t experienced this type of top quality food in a drive-thru or in Ladypool Road.”

Without reinventing the wheel, what Chaii Garden have successfully done is improve upon staple items by giving them their unique Asian twist.

With plans of opening in Golden Hillock Road, which will serve as their flagship store, Chaii Garden are not only aiming for a site in Coventry, with both scheduled to open in the next 3-4 months, but are also hoping to launch in Manchester, Leicester and London by the end of 2024.

---

Chaii Garden
57A Alfred Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, B12 8JP.

T: +44 (0)121 771 4900 | W: chaiigarden.co.uk | E: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 17:00-01:00 | Sat-Sun 14:00-01:00