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Acclaimed chef brings Indian street grill to Optimist Hall

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Restaurateur and five-time James Beard Award-nominee Meherwan Irani has opened his first venture into the Charlotte market. Botiwalla recently opened at Optimist Hall.

The menu features grilled chicken, lamb and paneer wrapped in hot naan, smoky lamb burgers, chaat such as SPDP (sev potato dahi puri) and masala smashed potatoes, and desi salad. In addition to snacks and grilled meats, the restaurant features boozy slushies, afternoon high tea, and retail items including Irani’s own Spicewalla spices, roasted and packed by hand in Asheville, where he currently lives.

This is Botiwalla’s third location. The first opened in 2016 in Atlanta’s Ponce City Market, and the second opened in Alpharetta City Center in 2019.

“Self-taught chef and five-time James Beard Award-nominee Meherwan Irani is a legend in the culinary world of the Southeast,” said Erik Johnson, Optimist Hall Partner. “We are ecstatic to bring Botiwalla and Meherwan’s love of late-night Indian street food and Irani cafes to Charlotte.”

Botiwalla is open for lunch and dinner. Daily hours are from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Delivery will be available beginning next week.

The restaurant is the first tenant to open in Optimist Hall’s upstairs wing, where it occupies a 2,727 square foot space.

For more information, check out botiwalla.com.