Pal Indian Cuisine
Photos by: JOHN BURNS & RACHEL LOCK
Mohinder Pal moved to California from India in 2001 hoping to secure a crew position on a ship. When his only acquaintance in the country said he was moving to Lawrence to work in a restaurant, Pal decided to follow him. Pal honed his cooking skills at area Indian restaurants for several years before joining Payless Shoe Source in 2012. He later took over the global entrée station in the Payless Harvest Café and eventually became head chef. He incorporated favorite Indian dishes into the menu and won over employees reluctant to try unfamiliar fare with two-ounce plastic cups and spoons so they could taste before committing.
“It made me so happy when people ate my food and then came back with such happiness on their face,” he said. “One man came to me with tears in his eyes. He said that after three years, he’d found a dish like one his mom had cooked for him.”
When Payless closed the café in 2019, Pal worked in other restaurants before deciding in 2020 to open his own place, Pal Indian Cuisine, at 2620 SW Sixth Ave.
“The space already had the expensive things I would need to open a restaurant like a grease trap and a walk-in cooler,” said Pal, who remodeled the casual dining space with bright, white walls and blown-up endorsement letters from his Payless days.
His Payless reputation continues to serve him well as word-of-mouth recommendations and glowing Google reviews negate the need for advertising.
“I’ve spent very little on advertising aside from the sign out front,” said Pal. “In addition to the regulars and people in Topeka coming to my restaurant, we get people traveling through Kansas who say they’ll come back again when they pass this way.”
Each day the restaurant is open, Pal cooks multiple specialties like butter chicken, tikka masala and korma along with appetizers and vegan dishes. Pal offers a daily lunch sampler that often offers items not on the regular menu as a surprise for curious customers with more adventurous appetites. The lunch sampler allows patrons to experience up to three entrees or go all-in with a single choice. The two-ounce plastic cups and spoons that Pal used to win over Indian cuisine converts at Payless are a staple at his own restaurant too.
“I think I made 800 people at Payless fall in love with Indian food because of those two-ounce cups,” said Pal, laughing. “They often took food home to their families too.”
Pal credits the popularity of his flavorful combinations in part to a VISA glitch that forced him to separate from his family for nearly two years and return to India. Making the most of a difficult situation, Pal worked for a successful Indian catering company that refined his approach and broadened his expertise. Today his clientele includes a three-year-old regular who likes a chicken and rice dish, college kids, empty-nesters and senior citizens, a cross-section of the community who appreciate the quality consistency heprovides.
“Sometimes you order something at a restaurant, and it tastes really great and you go back three weeks later and it’s not as good because the chef ’s probably changed,” he said. “Here people get the same flavors they got the last time because I’m doing it all as the owner and the chef. I pay attention to every single dish.”
Despite working 90-hour weeks overseeing all aspects of the restaurant, Pal sometimes continues working even as he sleeps by literally dreaming up new dishes.
“In my dreams, I came up with a Pomegranate Kofta I serve on Valentine’s Day and a pistachio chicken recipe too,” he said. “I can see the vision and then when I wake up, I figure out how I can make it to differentiate myself from anyone else. It keeps me excited and engaged.”
Pal’s daughter, a University of Kansas student, and his two sons sometimes assist him with the business, but Pal said, “This is my passion, not theirs, so I pay them.”
His wife, Mardi, often helps too.
“I love what I do, and I love that my customers invest their money here,” he said. “We have a friendly environment and a lot of mutual respect.
