A new curry restaurant has celebrated a successful opening in Reading.
The Bagaara Indian restaurant opened in Shinfield Road when guests were welcomed with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and drinks, a tasting showcase of signature dishes and live entertainment.
This is the second Bagaara in the country, with the first being in Leeds.
Co-founder Kiran Chintala said: “The reason why we’re in Reading and Leeds is basically because we, as business partners, live in Leeds and Shinfield.
“The one in Leeds has been really successful, and we do great food.
“We have really good reviews, so we have more than 5,000 followers on Instagram in the year we opened in Leeds.
“It’s been running quite successfully and people like the food, and we want to bring the same food here, with the same quality, because we’ve developed all these recipes so we wanted to bring the same thing to the people in Reading.”
The restaurant is located at 256 Shinfield Road, near the borough boundary between Reading and Wokingham.
Mr Chintala said: “It’s not in the town centre because there are a few restaurants already there.
This is somewhere which is more convenient for people around Earley, Shinfield, even some people who have come out of the town, parking is not bad.
“It’s unlike the town centre, where you have a park and a walk, so at least here you can find some parking space quite easily.”
“Towards Wokingham, there are pubs that serve Indian food but not many proper Indian restaurants, so we’re trying to fill that gap.”
Bagaara will conduct deliveries both from its own staff and from a delivery service such as Uber Eats.
Rajesh Akula, one of the business partners from Shinfield, said: “I’ve tried many restaurants in and around Reading, but what we do is, I believe, is the best.
Bagaara won permission to sell alcohol from 12pm to 11pm each day in a licensing application to Reading Borough Council.
A statutory consultation ended in February with no objections.
Bagaara has taken over the restaurant previously occupied by Firezza, which closed in 2023.
