Chai Pani, Indian restaurant in Decatur, US
Chai Pani is an Indian street food restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, with a menu built around dishes from different regions of India. The dining room has a casual, contemporary feel, and the menu covers both snacks and more filling plates.
The restaurant first opened in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2009, before a second location was added in Decatur in 2013. The move to Georgia brought the concept to a city with a growing independent food scene.
The name Chai Pani is a Hindi phrase that loosely means "tea and water," used informally to describe a small snack or light refreshment. That name fits the spirit of the place, where the menu draws from the kind of food sold at roadside stalls across India.
Reservations are a good idea, especially on weekends when the place tends to fill up. Lunch and dinner are served in separate time slots, so checking the current hours before arriving helps avoid waiting.
Chai Pani won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant in the US in 2022, which is unusual for a place built around affordable street food dishes. That award is one of the most respected in the American food world.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
