The opening night of Cortez’s new Indian restaurant on Monday caught its staff by surprise.
Raju Singh said his restaurant, the Taste of India, was completely packed, with lots of take-out orders and a line out the door. It was so busy that he closed the restaurant for a few days before re-opening on Friday. It will be now be open for lunch and dinner every day.
Singh said he is opening his restaurant in Cortez because he likes the location, and it gets a lot of tourist traffic.
“I love the city, and people are nice here,” he said. “They love my food, and respect my food, and I appreciate it.”
The Taste of India is Singh's second restaurant. He previously owned a restaurant in Minnesota in the early 2000's, and he is opening this one along with his girlfriend, his cousin, and his brother. They will serve homemade food from northern India. He read some of their menu for me.
“We have lamb dishes, we have shrimp, we have fish,” he said, then pointed at the bread section. “This is all the bread, the naan, it’s a clay oven. We have onion naan, potato naan, cheese naan, roti, chicken-garlic naan, chef’s special...” he said, trailing off.
Singh said he’s hoping for a good run in Cortez.
“I want my restaurant [to] go number one in Colorado, and good food, and very popular,” he said.
The restaurant is located at 1013 E. Main in Cortez, on the southern corner of Mildred and Main streets. It is open seven days a week from 11am to 10pm.
