Today – Thursday, October 16 – is opening day at the new Hashtag India restaurant in Loudoun County – and we got our first look at some of the unique features inside.
As The Burn has been reporting, Hashtag India is part of a Texas-based fast-casual Indian chain. It’s moved into a vacant space in the Broadlands Village Center in Ashburn. This is the first location for the company in all of Virginia.
Outside the restaurant, a crew was installing the new Hashtag India sign over the door.
Inside, customers order at a counter and then take a seat in the large dining room. And you might notice some interesting tables in said dining room.
One of the tables sits inside a large “jail cell. Other tables sit inside small cubicles with swinging “saloon” style doors on them.
We asked the owners about them and they said these special seating areas are a tradition in some parts of South Asia, specifically as a place for groups of family or friends to gather and dine on mandi.
Mandi is a rice and meat dish that is served on an oversized platter and can be shared by a group. The platters can get really big – like the size of a table – for a large gathering.
It doesn’t hurt that seating like the jail cell also makes for fun social media photos.
Besides the mandi dishes, the menu at Hashtag India includes curries, biryanis, kebabs, momos, and more.