Benares entices a broad spectrum of diners—vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, pescatarians, and those with mixed dietary preferences.
Research shows that restaurants offering a variety of plant-based and plant-forward dishes are more likely to attract mixed groups. A 2021 survey by Restaurant Business Online found that restaurants with diverse menu options appeal to vegans, vegetarians, and their meat-eating friends alike.
This inclusivity allows vegans and vegetarians to suggest restaurants they know everyone will enjoy, creating a shared, positive dining experience.
When I first heard about Benares, an Indian restaurant that began in New York City and later expanded to New Jersey, I was intrigued by its reputation for offering a tempting array of vegetarian dishes, alongside tandoori specialties and a variety of seafood and meat dishes.
Indian cuisine is renowned for its depth of flavor, and Benares appears to elevate this tradition with a careful balance of bold, plant-forward options and savory meat offerings.
Exploring the Success of Benares
To better understand how Benares balances the desires of plant-forward diners with those of omnivores, I interviewed Mr. Ranbir Bhatia, General Manager and Catering Director, Benares NJ, to discuss the restaurant’s vision and success.
Can you tell us about your background and what led you to enter the hospitality business?
From childhood in Chandigarh, India, as the oldest in my family, I was responsible for setting up the dinner table and bringing food to the table.
As I finished my schooling, a catering college opened in my hometown in 1974. I didn’t know what to do professionally, then my dad said, why don’t you get into the catering business? And that’s all I’ve done my whole life!
During college, I trained at Taj Mahal Intercontinental Hotel in Mumbai and my first job was with the Mumbai Sheraton New Delhi. That’s where I met my wife. Then it was on to the Hyatt Regency, also in India.
I arrived in the US in 1987 and worked at Akbar in NYC and Long Island; then became a partner at Bombay Harbor. I also did stints at Ruby Tuesday and Denny’s along the way.
We launched the Benares concept in 2008 in midtown Manhattan, then expanded to New Jersey five years ago. Our TriBeCa location is still in operation.
Your restaurant, Benares, is named after one of the oldest living cities in the world—Varanasi. What inspired this name, and how does the city’s significance influence your restaurant’s philosophy?
Our vision was to present the entirety of India’s vast culinary culture as best we could. Originally Indian restaurants here in the tri-state area would focus on Northern cuisine or Southern.
Benares is in the middle of the country, the university there is one of the oldest in the world, it’s a deeply religious heritage and a very rich culture. That’s what inspired us.
While Benares is renowned for its tandoori meat and seafood, it also has a robust selection of vegetarian dishes. How do you ensure that these offerings are exciting enough to draw in both vegetarians and their omnivorous friends?
Our menu is made to appeal to everyone, with a thoughtful selection of dishes—vegan, vegetarian, and more—that are staples across different regions of India. Guests often tell us that our food takes them back to the meals they grew up with: home-cooked, full of flavor, made with love. Sure, like most Indian restaurants, we offer classics like samosas and pakoras, but we go beyond that.
For instance, we feature unique dishes, like Lamb Shoulder with Corn from Karauli, Rajasthan, and Banarasi Kachori, deep fried puff pastry stuffed with flavored lentils. We make sure that our servers and I guide guests who are unfamiliar.
We ask, are you in the mood for—vegan, veggie, shrimp, spicy? People ask, what is popular – and I always say, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you what my favorites are.
Unquestionably the most popular dish in an Indian restaurant is Chicken Tikka Masala. It originated in the UK, not India, but it’s everyone’s comfort food, so we serve that, too!
What motivated you to expand Benares to Wyckoff, New Jersey?
When we closed our 56th Street location in Manhattan, we still had TriBeCa, so we asked ourselves, why not a place in New Jersey? We saw this site, which was struggling. We loved the shopping center and available parking.
We opened in 2019, then COVID hit—and with the tremendous support of the community—we somehow managed to thrive, and haven’t looked back.
Like many other venues at the time, once we could reopen our doors and start cooking again, we offered generous discounts and donated foods to first responders, hospitals, and the Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff police departments.
What are the three most popular vegetarian dishes at Benares?
Our most popular vegan and vegetarian dishes include Diwani Handi (“Crazy Pot”): spinach, cheese and all the veggies you can think of. To make it vegan, we remove the cheese. Everybody loves it.
Then there’s Baingan Mirch Ka Salan (baby eggplant with tamarind and a peanut & coconut sauce), and Dal Makhani, black lentils slow cooked overnight and finished with butter.
Looking ahead, where do you see Benares in five years?
Great question. We would definitely like to expand. Readers may not realize how important the catering side of the business is, both financially and culturally. Indian weddings are frequently multi-day affairs with guest lists anywhere from 200-400; often more.
Financially, catering is probably 75% of the business. We have a massive kitchen/commissary in Astoria, Queens and handle at least 200 catering gigs per year, including weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.
Additionally, we own one catering business on Long Island with an 800-person capacity. So yes, here in NJ, we’d like to open either another catering facility or restaurant, or form a business partnership with an existing catering facility.
Discover more about Benares and its mouthwatering menu by visiting Benares website.
