The First Indian Restaurant in America

New York City Firsts describes the introduction of Chinese food and Japanese restaurants in America. Another Asian cuisine—Indian—also made its American restaurant debut in New York City.

The man who introduced Indian food to America was K. Yaman Kira. Born around 1884 in what was then Ceylon and is now Sri Lanka, Kira visited the United States a couple of times performing with a dance troupe before settling here. When he married in 1913, he changed careers and opened a restaurant in New York. It was the first Indian restaurant in America.

A few years later, Kira moved Ceylon India Inn a few blocks away, to 148 West 49th Street. South Asians who lived in nearby boardinghouses as well as Indian and Ceylonese sailors who were passing through New York came to the restaurant for inexpensive but hearty meals that reminded them of home. Before long, daring New Yorkers looking for a new culinary experience also frequented Kira’s restaurant.

But it was more than a restaurant. Ceylon India Inn became a gathering place for New York’s South Asian community. They came from all walks of life. Kira even extended a helping hand to sailors who jumped ship in hope of creating a better life in America.

In the 1950s, Kira and his wife were ready for a different life themselves. They sold the business to a Bengali restauranteur and moved to Long Island. He died in 1961, his wife a few years later.

The structure that was the long-time home of America’s first Indian restaurant is no more. A thirty-two story, mixed-use building was erected in 1999 at that Midtown address.