Indian street food chain opens second Bristol branch

The brand is looking to expand to 500 global locations in the next decade

Fast-growing Indian street food chain Chaiiwala has opened its second eatery in Bristol.

The new café will be based at 171 Gloucester Road and will be operated by local franchisee partners Zahid and Imran, who own the Chaiiwala Stapleton Road site and the brand’s first Welsh café in Cardiff.

The Gloucester Road branch will serve Chaiiwala’s full menu, including its signature spiced milk tea drink karak chaii, along with wraps, Bombay bowls and toasties, and more recent menu additions including the Wala Box and family platter.

Sohail Ali, co-founder of Chaiiwala, said: “Bristol has been a fantastic city for us with strong consumer engagement over recent years. This opening will enable us to deepen our roots in the city and offer more opportunities to serve flavourful Indian street food across all day parts and occasions. We look forward to welcoming Bristol customers through the doors.”

Chaiiwala was founded in Leicester in 2015 and now has 120 global outlets in 59 cities, based on high streets, at drive-thrus, in travel hubs and other high-footfall locations.

The opening of the Gloucester Road site forms part of the brand’s ambitious expansion strategy to scale to 500 locations over the next decade.

The news comes just a week after Chaiiwala announced it was expanding its partnership with Roadchef by opening a motorway services site in Wales. The Roadchef Magor site on the M4 is the Indian street food chain’s second location in Wales.

Mr Ali said: “We’re delighted to be building on our partnership with Roadchef by opening at Magor and introducing even more motorway travellers to Chaiiwala.

“Since opening our first Roadchef location, we’ve seen just how well our authentic Indian street food and handcrafted drinks resonate with customers on the move.

“Whether it’s a karak chaii and an omelette wrap before setting off or a Bombay Twister Wala wrap during a journey, we’re excited to offer drivers something a little different from the traditional motorway stop.”