At a Mobil gas station in Vienna, Virginia, customers can grab a homemade samosa while pumping gas.
About two years ago, in the aftermath of the pandemic, Vishal Sood told his wife he wanted to try something new.
A software engineer by trade, Sood spent a lot of time working from home and wasn’t having much interaction with other people. He unsuccessfully put in an offer to buy a gas station in Silver Spring, Maryland, and soon thereafter took a trip to India.
Sood’s eldest son enjoyed a lot of the country’s street food, and inquired about where they may be able to get similar cuisine when they got home. They did a Google search, and found Chit Chaat Cafe, an Indian restaurant tucked away in a Northern Virginia gas station.
Despite Sood’s wife’s initial reluctance to eat at a gas station, the family was blown away by the samosas and panipuri.
Sood now owns the restaurant, which has used a small kitchen in the back of the gas station for the past two years. He hopes to bring traditional food to new and returning customers, who often hear about the cafe through social media.
“The food by itself is very similar to what you get in an Indian home,” Sood told WTOP. “Homemade food as opposed to restaurant-quality food.”
In some ways, the Mobil station appears traditional — there are lottery tickets, a soda machine and coolers available — but there are also samosas in a self-serve case. Sood says they’re the restaurant’s most popular item.
There’s also a station to make Indian tea, and a countertop where customers can eat.
The restaurant gets busy for a few hours during lunch, and then again later in the day for dinner, Sood said. Popular items include the chicken, lamb or samosa burrito, and at night, Sood said many people stop by for the chicken or lamb biryani.
Tahira Ehsan has worked at Chit Chaat for about six months, and she and her husband are responsible for preparing a lot of the food on site.
“Convenient location and price,” Ehsan said of why she thinks the restaurant has become popular. “You can get homemade food, fresh. We make it on site. It’s fresh food, homemade, and the price is great. It’s in your budget. It’s a go-to place — you can come in, get your gas and get your food.”
The restaurant goes through about 20 pounds of chicken daily for its butter chicken, a popular item that Ehsan said doesn’t have nuts, so it can be more appealing to customers with allergies.
The shop does a considerable amount of online and DoorDash orders, Ehsan said, and customers who wait usually get their food within 15 or 20 minutes.
“People love it because they don’t have to go to a restaurant,” Ehsan said. “It’s more authentic because you’re cooking it and it’s fresh. It tastes like home instead of restaurant food.”
The lone restaurant sign is illuminated on the convenience store’s window, something Sood said he’s working to address. Some customers only hear about the restaurant from either social media or word-of-mouth.
Ubaid Khandwala stopped by to try the food Tuesday. He said he learned about the restaurant from TikTok.
“I was so surprised,” Khandwala said, when he learned the shop was inside a gas station. “I haven’t seen anything like that. But then I saw a lot of reviews, reading the comments, people really praising this. I was like, you know what? [I’ll] just give it a try.”
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