New York’s most acclaimed Indian restaurant group is opening its latest hit in Philly

New York City’s Unapologetic Foods, whose establishments are acclaimed for their bold, no-holds-barred approach to Indian cooking, has told The Inquirer that it will open a branch of its restaurant Adda in Philadelphia later this year.

Unapologetic owners Roni Mazumdar and James Beard Award-winning chef Chintan Pandya, whose restaurant collection includes the Michelin-starred Semma, signed a lease last summer for the space at 1700 Frankford Ave., a new, three-story building across from the Fishtown post office.

They said Wednesday that they have decided to brand it Adda (Bengali for “hangout”) after their first restaurant, which they opened in 2018 in New York’s Long Island City. In May, they moved Adda to larger quarters in the East Village, updating the menu but keeping the hodgepodge decor with walls decorated with newsprint.

For a recent article about Adda’s new New York location, Mazumdar and Pandya told Resy that while the original focused on the “canteen food” of India, the new Adda serves “reimagined classics,” with a focus on northern Indian regions. Over the restaurant’s seven years, they explained, New York’s Indian food scene evolved and they want to match patrons’ growing sophistication.

Among the dishes are new presentations of the bheja fry (fried goat brains), baby goat biryani, lukmi, and kharda scallop.

Unapologetic is also bringing to Philadelphia its Butter Chicken Experience, the tentpole dish of the newly relocated Adda.

Butter chicken, known for its creamy tomato sauce, is a staple on any number of Indian menus — and not typically the kind of palate-bending dish that diners might expect from Unapologetic’s restaurants.

“It has become embarrassing for Indian restaurants to have this on the menu, while it has been one of the greatest additions to our cuisine,” Mazumdar told Resy. “Which is exactly why we’re doing it. Adda is reclaiming butter chicken with full force.”

Adda’s Butter Chicken Experience is a full-table, preordered feast, priced in New York at $42 a person. Diners choose wood chips to cold-smoke the chicken tableside, and choose from a selection of house-churned butters to personalize the flavor profile of the sauce. Adda’s signature dal makhani, basmati rice, or lacha paratha are served on the side. The chicken is sourced from Lancaster County’s Green Circle. There is a mezcal-based large-format cocktail that can only be ordered with the chicken.

Adda’s Philadelphia location, whose opening date is targeting late 2025, will have what they say will be a neighborhood hangout spirit as it “brings its own voice to the table while staying true to the heart of the original,” they said through a representative.

MSC’s Jacob Cooper and Stefanie Gabel represented the landlord, Jordan Claffey of JSC Real Estate; Gabel also represented Unapologetic.