Eggholic restaurant opens in Cumberland County with Indian street food

A restaurant chain inspired by flavorful Indian street food has arrived in Cumberland County.

Eggholic opened earlier this month at 65 Gateway Drive at the Gateway Square Shopping Center in Hampden Township. It is joined by another Indian egg-based restaurant, EggMania at 5510 Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township.

Eggholic’s arrival in central Pa. stems from three partners, who together own gas stations/convenience stores and hotels in the region.

“We love eating the eggs, so we always go to eat the eggs in New Jersey,” said Harry Patel, one of the partners.

They decided to bring Eggholic to Cumberland County, where plenty of Indian restaurants operate but none focused on Indian street food. Some of the partners, including Patel, previously worked at restaurants.

It’s the first central Pennsylvania location for the Chicago-based chain, which operates a handful of restaurants in the United States. The chain was founded in 2018 by cousins Bhagyesh Patel and Lay Patel, who grew up in western India and were inspired by family egg nights. As the the restaurant’s name implies, eggs are the star of the menu.

“We might be Eggholics, but our love and skills have brought a twist to Indian street food not seen around America,” reads the restaurant’s website.

Upbeat Indian music plays in the restaurant, where diners order at a counter and wait for their food. White webbed chairs give a modern feel and designed to resemble eggs.

The menu offers endless egg-based Indian street food dishes prepared on the spot in different forms with gravies, sandwiches, wraps, rice and chaat. In India, the food is often found on lahris or street carts.

“It is completely different,” Patel said. “A lot of people don’t know how many different varieties you can make out of eggs.”

A surti gotalo made from shredded hard boiled eggs and mixed with two sunny side up eggs in special house sauce is not only Instagram-worthy, it’s sublimely flavorful. (Warning, the mild has some kick.)

The menu starts with “Eggetizers” such as plain boiled eggs to cheese katori, made with boiled eggs filled with spices and garnished with cheese. Chaats include dahi-puri, puffed wafers filled with chickpeas, potato and onion topped with yogurt and chutneys.

A section of “‘holic specials” features boil tikka made from sliced boiled eggs with garlic and chilies and a floating omelette stuffed with cheese and topped with gravy. Several egg grill sandwiches, curries, paneer and egg rice dishes, along with dozens of vegetarian options as well as those made with chicken, fill out the menu.

Diners can order food mild, medium or extra hot Indian spice.

Patel said response to the restaurant, which is located next to Plato’s Closet, has been encouraging with a line on opening day.

Eggholic joins a growing number of Asian restaurants and markets cropping up in Cumberland County, where the Asian population has nearly doubled. At least two Asian markets operate at the Gateway Square, including Apna Bazar Farmers Market, an eight-aisle store specializing in foods from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The restaurant is BYOB and offers a party room with seating for between 35 and 40 people. In the near future it will partner with third-party delivery services such as DoorDash.

It’s open 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

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