They came to Patterson for warmer weather. Now their food attracts locals, tourists
The American dream means a lot of things to a lot of people, but to the Dhanju family it also means something very specific — warmer weather.
The family had emigrated from their native India to Canada more than 15 years ago, before moving to Patterson two years ago. Now father-and-daughter team Amarjit and Simran Dhanju have opened Tandoori Flame in the city, one of two restaurants by the same name the family has opened recently along the Interstate-5 corridor in western Stanislaus County.
Before coming to California, they ran three successful Indian restaurants in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan. But Simran Dhanju said the colder climate and harsh winters started to wear on them. So they decided to join some family members already in the region and open a restaurant in the United States instead.
“There’s also more opportunity here to grow. And, yes, the weather is a lot better,” she said.
The Dhanju family opened their first Tandoori Flame on McCracken Road in Westley six months ago, and their new Sperry Road location in Patterson about two months ago. Both restaurants are about the same size and attached to Arco am/pm gas stations that sit just off I-5 exits.
Picking locations off major interstates and attached to other businesses is a strategy the family also followed for their successful Canadian ventures. The Patterson location is particularly prime, sitting within the shadow of I-5 and with the city’s massive Amazon fulfillment center looming in its backyard.
As such, the location gets a mix of locals, Amazon and other nearby warehouse workers and tourists who have stopped to grab something to eat other than fast food.
The menus at the Tandoori Flame restaurants are identical, serving a wide (and I mean wide, more than 80 items are listed) range of east Indian food, all made fresh in their built-from-scratch custom kitchen. Inside you’ll find a traditional tandoor clay oven, where the restaurant derives its name, which is used to grill various meats and bake its naan bread.
Because of her parents’ vegetarianism and the large percentage of Indian people who do not eat meat, Simran Dhanju said the kitchen is also divided into two sides: one for vegetarian preparation and the other for non-vegetarian. In fact, the menu has almost as many vegetarian items as non-vegetarian (though, don’t worry meat eaters, there are plenty of options and proteins from chicken, lamb and goat to fish and shrimp).
Entrees run $10.99 to $15.99 and the menu includes a host of appetizers including Indian favorites like samosa and pakora. But with such a large menu, customers can branch out beyond popular familiar dishes like butter chicken or chicken tikka masala to try some of their other flavorful delicacies.
The restaurant also has a range of Indian desserts, including kheer (rice boiled with milk, sugar, cardamom and almonds), rasmalai (cottage cheese balls in sweetened milk), gulab jamun (fried dough balls soaked in sugar syrup) and gajar halwa (grated carrots, milk and dried nuts) all for $2.99 each. They also serve specialty Indian drinks including masala chai (tea boiled with milk and spices) mango lassi (yogurt-based fruit smoothie) and nimbu paani (Indian Iemonade).
Tandoori Flame’s signs call their cuisine Indo-American, but they are still experimenting with adding American dishes to the menu. Simran Dhanju said they’ll likely include items like chicken wings, sandwiches and breakfast foods in the future.
One of the other reasons the family picked western Stanislaus County was its lack of Indian restaurants. Still, the pandemic delayed their opening by a good two years. Now they’re seeing people come from across the region, including Newman, Los Banos and Turlock, to eat.
And the family isn’t done growing their restaurants either. In the next year they hope to open two more locations, also along I-5. The good news is, almost no matter where they go along the state’s major north-south artery, the weather should be just fine.
Tandoori Flame Patterson, at 2345 Sperry Ave., is open 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and Tandoori Flame Westley, at 7125-A McCraken Road, is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information call 209-895-4266 (Patterson), 209-848-4899 (Westley) or visit www.mytandooriflame.com.
