Banana Leaf opens Niagara Falls location

NIAGARA FALLS — The city’s concentration of South Asian restaurants has a new entry.

Banana Leaf Grand opened at 427 Third St. right before the Fourth of July weekend, in the space formerly occupied by the Madras Cafe. It’s the second Banana Leaf location, the first one opening at the Transitown Plaza in Williamsville five years ago.

“We’re trying to make an authentic South Indian restaurant,” said owner Viswanath Jeyachandran, who said expanding into Niagara Falls was a long-term goal.

The restaurant is offering its food buffet-style and has a capacity of 140, but is sitting only 85 to 90 at this time.

The city’s downtown is home to plenty of Indian, Pakistani, and Nepali restaurants, even on Third Street where the new restaurant opened. Jeyachandran said despite Niagara Falls being a draw for Indian tourists, there are not many restaurants catering to South Indians.

Most of the food offerings at other places are Americanized versions of Indian dishes. The Banana Leaf Grand offerings, like chicken curry and chicken biryani, are around 80% authentic dishes and 20% Indian-American dishes.

A bar area is also being worked on for next season.

Chef Sushaanth Paranthaman, who came to Western New York from Tennessee, had worked at other Indian restaurants for the past 10 years. When he first came to Niagara Falls and wanted to get some food, he was not satisfied.

His type of cooking is how his grandmother used to cook back in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state, by playing around with the different spices used, sticking to the mild to medium range, and not using MSG. He also wants to make sure the food does not cause any acidic issues.

“I really want to give safe food to my diners,” Paranthaman said. “It should be trustworthy with the money they pay.”

Since opening, Jeyachandran said they have already been getting repeat customers, with people coming for dinner one night and then coming to lunch the next day. Up to 400 meals have been served a day on weekends.

Jeyachandran plans on opening another Niagara Falls restaurant next to the Comfort Inn on Old Falls Street, one that is also mainly South Indian food but more toward vegetarian comfort food.

Banana Leaf Grand is open from noon to 9:30 p.m. six days a week, closed on Tuesdays.