If you’re in search of good Indian food in the Triangle, you don’t have to look far. A short drive through western Wake County will take you past a dozen great options, whether it’s a casual curry joint with extra-spicy vindaloo or a strip mall eatery where you’ll be treated like family.
These are restaurants that offer more than just American interpretations of classic Indian dishes. On most menus, past the chicken tikka masala and garlic naan, you’ll find dishes local to specific South Asian regions: food from North India and the Punjabi region, South India and Tamil Nadu, and the Nepalese Himalayas.
The culinary diversity found in Apex, Cary, and Morrisville reflects the area’s growing international population. In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, Morrisville had the highest population of people identifying as Asian Indian, at 34.3%. That number doubled since 2010, when the percentage of people identifying as Asian Indian in Morrisville was around 17%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Thousands of people attend Cary’s Asia Fest each year, and in the fall, Cary and Morrisville each hold events for Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated widely across India. And as the community grows, so does an appetite for Indian food, represented this winter by a burst of new restaurants on the scene. Kaara Modern Indian, an upscale, modern space, opened in October. Just a few months later, in December, chef Preeti Waas opened a new café, Cheeni in RTP.
This April, popular Cary restaurant Urban Angeethi plans to reopen following a massive renovation. And later this year, the team behind Durham’s Urban Turban Indian Grill and Bar plans to open a new restaurant in northern Cary: Reserve—Elevated Indian Dining.
Indian restaurants in the area already had a strong customer base. But a growing demand for international food, combined with new construction, has created a golden opportunity for restaurateurs—particularly those specializing in fine dining. In 2024, 261 new commercial building permits were issued in Wake County, including 20 in Cary, 19 in Apex, and two in Morrisville.
New apartment complexes, mixed-use developments, and shopping centers have been springing up in and around Interstate 540 as Wake County’s population grows rapidly. From 2020 to 2024, the total number of residents in Wake County jumped by more than 140,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
That has created openings for restaurants to move in on the ground floor, including in new “live-work-play” communities like Sweetwater Town Center.
Kaara Modern Indian | 2700 Stokesdale Ave., Unit 120, Apex
With its pristine sidewalks and vividly green center lawn, the newly built Sweetwater Town Center in Apex has a polished feel. Inside the center, a new modern Indian restaurant offers an urban mood.
Kaara Modern Indian has its own sophisticated flair. With maximalist decor and soft instrumental music, even a simple lunch at the restaurant feels luxurious. For co-owner Bala Mummidi, it’s all in the details—like the unique bronze cutlery or custom wall panels with a stylized star anise symbol.
“We haven’t seen any place that is upscale in this area,” she said. “That gave us a motive to start a restaurant with ambience and good food, a combination of both. We’ve seen repeat customers from all the communities coming in. They love that there is something to go to here in Apex, rather than going to Cary.”
The restaurant opened on October 24 and has already seen success hosting large parties and corporate events, said Mummidi. Its white-tableclothed dining room seats about 80 or 90 and is connected to a more casual space that seats about 30. The restaurant also has a private dining room, outdoor patio, and bar, the latter of which is a visual pleasure in and of itself. Custom cocktails in vivid colors, topped with perfectly placed garnishes, use distinctive Indian spices and flavor combinations.
The menu includes a mix of northern and southern Indian cuisine, as well as a few Indo-Chinese dishes like Sichuan noodles. Diners can easily find familiar favorites like samosas and chicken korma, but won’t be disappointed if they’re in a more adventurous mood. The restaurant has a wide range of vegetarian options, including a rich, spicy gobi manchurian and the incredibly savory and addictive crispy corn, a standout appetizer that families are sure to fight over.
“We are keeping the traditional taste, but we are enhancing the richness and creams of it with the different masalas in it, the flavors,” Mummidi said.
Urban Angeethi | 5033 Arco St., Cary
Ten miles away, in a brick shopping center off I-540 in West Cary, an overwhelmingly popular local restaurant has plans to expand.
Urban Angeethi, known for its chic dining room, North Indian cuisine, and Punjabi dishes like butter chicken, first opened in 2021. From Day 1, there was a line out the door, said co-owner Chakshu Singh Agrawal.
Agrawal was surprised to see so much interest in the restaurant during its early days, she said. But the quality of the food kept people coming back, sustaining the restaurant during hard times and in the years that followed.
Four years later, the restaurant has seen major growth and is now at the point of having to turn down some reservation requests. Agrawal and her co-owners had already planned to expand when a space next door opened up, allowing them to keep the restaurant in the current location.
The renovation, planned for this spring, will double the restaurant’s size to an expansive 4,600 square feet. In addition to expanding the kitchen, there will be more space for customers, with the dining room growing from about 110 seats to 230 seats. There are also plans for a new outdoor space expected to seat about 70, says Agrawal.
The renovation won’t just revamp the space, however. Agrawal also plans to rebrand the restaurant and reinvent the menu. Don’t worry, traditional Indian dishes and customer favorites will remain untouched, said Agrawal. But she and her co-owners hope to introduce new menu items that will prove just as popular.
Over the last few months, they’ve already tested out some new dishes common to Kashmir—a region in the far north of India that borders Pakistan and China—like methi chaman, which has been a hit. Agrawal said they plan to keep experimenting, with plans to unveil a brand-new menu after the restaurant reopens. There are also plans to “elevate the ambience,” Agrawal said.
“I want to design a very unique and really aesthetically beautiful restaurant. When people come in, I want them to feel like, ‘Oh, wow,’” she said. “If you go to North Raleigh, there are a lot of good restaurants. I always thought we should have something upscale, a fine dining Indian restaurant, we can introduce to RTP people.”
Agrawal said she expects the restaurant to close for about a month for renovations but hopes to open again in mid-April, before Mother’s Day.
Cheeni in RTP | 3151 Elion Dr., Research Triangle Park
In Research Triangle Park, James Beard award-nominated chef Preeti Waas is bringing her simple but flavorful food back to Wake County.
Waas’ first full restaurant, Cheeni Indian Food Emporium, was located in North Raleigh. Locals will remember the spot’s chai and counter service fondly, along with its welcoming communal atmosphere. Unfortunately, after learning the building was being sold to an out-of-state company, and already struggling with high rents and operating costs, the restaurant closed in 2023. Around the same time, Waas expanded to the Bull City with Cheeni Durham.
Now, Waas is reviving her original concept in Research Triangle Park, with a community-oriented café that opened on December 17. RTP is the perfect home, Waas said, with a space designed for interaction.
Horseshoe at Hub, where the restaurant is located, “encourages strolling the green, children playing in the splash pad, live programming on the stage,” she said. Waas is already offering cooking classes in the new space, an element that was part of her original vision for Cheeni.
The menu at Cheeni in RTP doesn’t mark a big departure from Waas’ area of expertise—it’s simply a new place to enjoy her excellent South Indian and Punjabi dishes. One of the most popular meals on the menu is the kebab roll, which proves to be a perfect weekday lunch. People often visit Cheeni “for the freshness of our food,” said Waas. “Our samosas are made daily, naan made to order, the sambar chock-full of vegetables.”
“The biggest physical difference is in the space itself,” Waas said. “ We have intentionally carved out a private dining room to accommodate both corporate and private events, as well as having an open kitchen.”
The restaurant is currently open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday. But in the coming months, Waas also plans to begin dinner service that will be “completely different from that in downtown Durham—both in terms of menu, as well as service style.”
Look for more features like this on what’s coming to Western Wake in 2026 in The Line‘s Thursday newsletters this month. To comment on this story, email [email protected].