Passage to India Restaurant

What Passage to India Restaurant does

Passage to India is a privately held, family-owned Indian restaurant and bakery business founded in 1992 by Sushma Taneja in Mountain View, California, after she took over an existing 80-seat restaurant originally established in 1989. The company operates two physical locations — its Mountain View flagship at 1100 W. El Camino Real, which combines restaurant, bakery, banquet, and bar operations under one roof, and a second bakery in Fremont at 5149 Mowry Ave that is currently listed as temporarily closed. The Mountain View bakery, opened in 2001, is positioned as the first Indian bakery in California and remains the core retail anchor of the brand.

The product portfolio spans seven interconnected lines: full-service Northern Indian restaurant dining (dine-in and takeout), retail bakery sales (pastries, breads, biscuits, dry cakes), traditional Indian sweets (mithai such as barfi, kaju katli, gulab jamun), custom cake design including PhotoCake edible-image printing and wedding cakes, catering by tray and party platters, banquet room rental accommodating 30 and 45 guests, and a full bar. Underlying the offering is the founder's authentic culinary repertoire — notably eggless baking specialization — and proprietary recipes that differentiate the brand from generic Indian restaurants in the Bay Area. The business uses third-party delivery platforms (DoorDash, Eat24, FoodHub) for online ordering and reaches customers through its website, Facebook pages, Yelp, and email mailing list.

Revenue is generated through unit-based pricing across multiple small-ticket streams — per-person catering packages (from $10.25/person with a 25-person minimum), banquet room rentals ($450-$675 plus service charge), per-tray catering ($48-$160), retail bakery items, and bar sales ($3.50-$49). Customer segments include individual consumers, corporate clients requiring office catering, event hosters booking banquets, and bakery customers seeking custom cakes and traditional sweets. No external institutional investment is present, and the company operates as an independent, founder-controlled enterprise with 11-50 employees.

Name

Passage to India Restaurant

Legal name

Passage to India

Website

https://passagetoindia.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Passage to India is a family-owned Indian restaurant and bakery founded in 1992 by Sushma Taneja, operating two Bay Area locations in Mountain View and Fremont with dine-in, retail bakery, catering, banquet, custom cakes, mithai, and bar services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indian Restaurant and Bakery

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320), Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Dessert Cafes & Dessert Bars (Sit-Down) (THAFAGAI)

Keywords

• Indian restaurant
• Indian bakery
• Event catering
• Custom cakes
• Indian sweets

Headquarters

HQ city

Mountain View, CALIFORNIA

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Dining: Full-service dine-in restaurant serving Northern Indian cuisine with appetizers, main courses, biryani, breads, desserts, and beverages
2. Catering Services: Corporate catering, party platters, catering by tray, and bakery bites for events
3. Bakery Retail: Retail bakery sales including pastries, breads, biscuits, dry cakes, and other treats
4. Custom Cakes: Custom-designed cakes including wedding cakes, theme cakes, PhotoCakes, and specialty cakes
5. Banquet Services: Banquet room reservations for events with food and facility charges
6. Mithai/Sweets: Traditional Indian sweets (mithai) including barfi, laddoo, gulab jamun, kaju katli, and various Bengali sweets

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Passage to India Restaurant operates a full-service Northern Indian restaurant and Indian bakery in the San Francisco Bay Area. The business offers dine-in, takeout, catering (corporate, party platters, by-tray, bakery bites), custom cake design, banquet room rentals, traditional Indian sweets (mithai), and a full bar. Two bakery locations (Mountain View and Fremont) complement the main restaurant.

Product overview

Passage to India is a restaurant and bakery business operating as a unified brand with two main divisions: the restaurant offering Northern Indian cuisine, and the bakery (the first Indian Bakery in California, established in 2001). The business operates multiple locations in Mountain View and Fremont, CA. The product portfolio includes: the core restaurant service, a full-service Indian bakery, catering services (corporate, party platters, tray catering, bakery bites), custom cake creation (house design, themed, photo, specialty, wedding), banquet room rental, Indian sweets (mithai), and bar services. These offerings are interconnected, with the bakery providing sweets for catering and banquet events, and the restaurant supporting catering operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Passage to India Restaurant Full-service Indian restaurant serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine in Mountain View, CA, offering dine-in, takeout, bar service, and full menu of appetizers, main courses, biryani, breads, desserts, and beverages.
• Passage to India Bakery Indian bakery offering pastries, breads, biscuits, dry cakes, mithai (Indian sweets), and custom cakes at Mountain View and Fremont locations, specializing in eggless baked goods.
• Catering Services Comprehensive catering service including Corporate Catering, Party Platters, Catering By Tray, and Bakery Bites for events of various sizes, with vegetarian and non-vegetarian menu packages.
• Custom Cakes Custom cake design services including House Design cakes, Theme Cakes, PhotoCake (with edible photo printing technology), Specialty Cakes, and Wedding Cakes for birthdays and special occasions.
• Banquet Services Banquet room rental with two rooms accommodating 45 and 30 persons respectively, including buffet service and event hosting for private celebrations and corporate events.
• Mithai (Indian Sweets) Traditional Indian sweets including Barfi, Gulab Jamun, Kaju Katli, Laddoo, Rasmalai, Sandesh, and various other Bengali and Indian mithai varieties.
• Bar Services Full bar service offering wine, beer, and liquors including Scotch, Vodka, Gin, Whisky, Rum, and Brandy, with cocktails and mixed drinks available at the restaurant location.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• DoorDashminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party delivery partnership allowing customers to order online for delivery through DoorDash platform
• Eat24minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline ordering platform partnership for food delivery and takeout orders
• FoodHubminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline ordering partnership through passagetoindiamv.com for Mountain View location orders

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Curry Up Now: Bay Area-rooted Indian fast-casual chain with multiple locations, food-truck origins, and strong delivery/off-premise presence; comparable Bay Area Indian customer base with a more digitally native, scalable format.

Direct peers

• Tiffin The Indian Kitchen: Bay Area Indian restaurant and catering operator with dine-in and event services; overlaps directly with Passage to India's restaurant + catering dual offering in the same regional market.
• Amber India Restaurant: Multi-location Northern Indian restaurant group operating across the Bay Area (Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale), offering dine-in, catering, and bar service; the closest category peer to Passage to India in geography, cuisine, and service model.
• Aatish Indian Cuisine: Sunnyvale-based Indian restaurant serving dine-in, takeout, and catering with a focus on authentic North Indian preparations; direct same-geography competitor for authentic Indian full-service dining.
• Black Pepper Restaurant: South Bay Indian restaurant with dine-in, catering, and banquet services across Bay Area locations; comparable menu (Northern Indian cuisine), service model (full-service + events), and target demographic.
• Roti Indian Bistro: Bay Area-based Indian restaurant chain with dine-in, takeout, and catering across multiple locations; competes directly with Passage to India for the same Indian cuisine customer segment with similar full-service and casual-dining formats.
• Tandoori Oven: Bay Area Indian restaurant offering dine-in, takeout, catering, and buffet services; peers with Passage to India across both restaurant and event catering revenue streams.

Broad incumbents

• Anjappar Indian Chettinad Restaurant: Established Indian restaurant chain with a deeper regional cuisine focus and broader national footprint than Passage to India; competes for the same Indian dining customer and benchmarks operating practices in the Indian full-service segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/passagetoindiabakery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/passage-to-india-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Passage to India Restaurant