CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A staple in Charlotte is preparing to close its doors for good.
Bombay Grille is one of the oldest Indian Restaurants in the Queen City. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a dent into the business, and high rent plus inflation costs are hurting the small business.
Nishal Sethi runs the Charlotte restaurant, which opened in 2000. Sethi said he'll miss the interactions with his customers.
“People say, 'Oh, I love that term because it's very traditional,'" Sethi told WCNC Charlotte. "And that's what we do with our recipes and I love the catering. I'd meet so many people ... so multicultural as well."
When COVID-19 hit, there was some infusion of money to help keep businesses afloat.
Business strategist Brent Garrett said while companies got help during the pandemic, that help has largely come to an end.
"So we've got some infusion of money," Garrett said. "I think it propped up some of the weaker companies. And I think we're just seeing the results of that with the companies that maybe are struggling. Capital is not as accessible as it was 24 months ago.”
As difficult as things are for his business, Sethi is not done with the restaurant industry. His goals are shifting to help other local family-owned restaurants that are struggling financially by giving them resources and support to help them stay afloat.
Sethi is hopeful about his goal of preventing more owners from facing the same struggle.
“It's the mom-and-pop restaurants that are struggling the most. And that's what I want to do is help them," Sethi said.
Sethi is joining forces with Dishefs, a company geared to bridging local chefs and kitchen spaces.
“It's like an Airbnb for caterers and bakers, and we set them up in mom-and-pop restaurants when they're not using it," Sethi said. "I want to do hotels, churches. I want to do all of that, to help both sides.”
Bombay Grille is scheduled to serve its last round of customers at the end of January.
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.