Name: Bombay Eats
Address: 1763 Freedom Drive, Naperville
Phone/website: 630-857-9082; www.bombayeats.com
Owners: Ali and Falguni Dewjee, of Chicago
Years in business: 4 in Naperville, 16 total
More Top Picks Best Latex Mattress Toppers
What does your business do? “I like to think about it as Indian fast casual. You customize what you like. Pick and choose. Then, you cash out. We take tips from Chipotle,” Dewjee said. “I own the business with my wife, Falguni.”
What’s the background? “We started in 2010 in the Loop. It was called Bombay Wraps. It was the first Indian fast casual in Chicago. … We started with four meat items, four veggie items, a few sides, a few drinks. Very basic. … I grew up in Bombay. I know it’s now Mumbai, but I still call it Bombay. There was a lot of street food. Those are fond memories. We wanted that fast, street concept. Over the years, as the consumers and market evolved. We added rice bowls, salads, sandwich rolls. Familiar forms but a new cuisine. … The concept evolved.
“Naperville is our first location we launched as Bombay Eats. … Our other locations are in the Loop, Streeterville and Lakeview (in Chicago). We have a nice mix of tourists, neighborhoods and business.”
What are your hours? “11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sunday we are closed, give the people a break. Even at the city locations.”
What’s new? “We launched our BombayRito. It’s getting popular. The reason we launched it is we wanted to give people value with inflation. BombayRito is a solid meal.”
What did you do before this? “I grew up in consumer packaged goods marketing. I worked for PepsiCo before this for 12 years. I worked for Tropicana. A lot of food companies in marketing and strategy.
“A lot of what I learned at PepsiCo is relevant in the restaurant business. My last role there I was managing innovation for Quaker Oats. Everything from the idea to the launch. That training of taking an idea, through product development, through packaging to pricing. … None of this is guesswork.
“I grew up in my mom’s beauty salon in India. My wife and I grew up in entrepreneur environments. Her dad had a popular Indian desserts store. When you grow up in an entrepreneur environment, that conversation happens at home.”
When did you move to America? “I came here for my MBA in the 1990s.”
What is home like? “Bombay is fascinating. It’s an explosion of flavor and color and people and noise and action. It’s like New York City. It’s always on the go. It’s the financial capital of India, the fashion capital. Bollywood is there.”
What do you like about your job? “I love to host, take care of people. I love to serve. It’s a genuine thing that I enjoy. I love my job.”
Anything you don’t like? “COVID-19 did a big number on us. We were blessed with our format. Then came the employment crisis. Hard to find people. We got over that. Then the inflation. We’re getting squeezed on food and labor costs. The last six to 12 months have been interesting.”
Is this location good? “It feels like the (strip) mall, the traffic is a little soft here. … What was helpful was a lot people worked in the Loop and live in Naperville. They say, ‘We’re so happy to see you here.’ We hear a lot of that.”
What sets you apart? “Our format helps move the Indian (restaurant) agenda forward.”
What challenges do you face? “Our format is unique enough. There aren’t that many Indian restaurants like us.”
How many employees work here? “We have four people, two shifts. When it’s busy, I bounce around locations. That’s my job. The Chicago traffic, right. Any time, any day, any direction. I’m like, what’s up?”
Do you plan to add locations? “Chicagoland is so awesome. There are a lot more (possible) locations. Evanston. Hyde Park. Schaumburg. We get a lot of requests to franchise. … The plan is to continue on this journey.”
Do you have any favorite stories? “The best stories are introducing your food and culture. That’s a big source of pride to me.”
What’s your advice for anyone starting a business? “It’s the cliché of the poor artist. Why is the artist poor? Because the artist is super-passionate about their craft Same thing with a restaurant. Food is the most important component of a restaurant, but there also is the financing, people management, marketing, procurement, customer service.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at [email protected].