‘You can taste the love in the food’: A story of resilience as Henrico restaurant reopens

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A beloved Henrico County restaurant reopened just in time for its 29th anniversary after facing a wave of hard times.

Inside India K’Raja, a satisfied customer gave his compliments to the chef.

“Thank you, for your kindness… you can taste the love in the food, which is important,” a customer said while shaking hands with India K’Raja’s owner, Tony Sappal.

The restaurant may have the same “love in the food,” but it has a new entryway, an expanded bar and an entirely new outlook. Trained chef Tony Sappal and his wife, Alka, opened the Henrico restaurant back in 1995. They aimed to share their passion for creating “unpretentious,” authentic Indian food for locals to taste their culture.

“I love seeing people here in the restaurant enjoying the food, being happy,” said Sappal.

The journey to becoming what one customer called a “local Indian landmark” hasn’t been easy. Back in 2022, vandals defaced the property, spray-painting hateful racist slurs on the building. Then, this past July, a pipe burst, forcing the restaurant to shut its doors and rebuild again.

8News asked the owner about the devastating setbacks.

“I don’t like to remember bad things, I look forward,” said Sappal. “And we came out of it, you know, our staff is fantastic.”

His team didn’t get angry or give up on the dream. Since July, they’ve re-designed and are officially open for business.

Sappal owner told 8News he believes that gratitude and a positive mindset are what help set the business apart.

“It really feels exciting and it’s promising to me,” Sappal said. “I’m really confident and looking forward to the future that, you know, it will be doing great things in the future.”

The restaurant thanks the community for its support — and, above all, they’re looking forward to the future and serving the community.

“We are open and will be striving and thriving again,” Sappal said with excitement.

8News asked the owner how people can show their support.

“Come here, enjoy a meal once a week!” Sappal said. “That would be the best thing, I would really appreciate that.”

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