The Dishoom Conundrum: Double Down in the UK or expand to the US?
What should this iconic brand do?
Raised in a joint family in London’s North Barnet neighborhood, Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar (cousins) grew up steeped in stories of India and entrepreneurship. Their grandfather, who twice fled as a refugee (first from Gujarat to Uganda, then to the U.K. during Idi Amin’s expulsions), founded the famed Tilda rice brand. Shamil earned an MBA from Harvard and became a Bain & Co. strategy consultant, later helping run the family rice business and even starting a rice farm in Africa. Kavi, a decade younger, studied at Eton and Edinburgh, then worked in finance as an analyst at the International Finance Corporation before a stint at Tilda as well. By the late 2000s, however, the cousins found themselves drawn back to their cultural roots and a nagging sense that something was missing in London’s food scene.
Shamil felt Indian culture had been reduced to clichés. On visits to Mumbai, the Thakrars were enchanted by the old Irani cafés: All-day eateries established by Persian immigrants in Bombay that brought together people from every walk of life. Those cafés, mostly faded from their mid-century heyday, embodied an inclusive, cosmopolitan spirit and a comfort-food menu that cut across religions and classes. “We felt there was something to say which was intrinsically Indian, but new to the UK: somewhere all-day, democratic, and which hinged on Bombay’s comfort food and stories,” Shamil recalls.
In 2010, along with brothers Amar and Adarsh Radia (early partners who later exited in 2017), the Thakrars opened the first Dishoom in London’s Covent Garden. They painstakingly crafted it in the image of a 1960s Bombay café – from the chequerboard tiles and bentwood chairs to sepia-toned family portraits and vintage Bollywood posters on the walls. Even the menu told stories: Nalli Nahari lamb stew named after a Bombay tradition of mornings at a Muslim eatery, or a signature black daal slow-cooked for 24 hours, harkening to the food of communal Irani cafes. The founders’ aim was to evoke a time and place. Every Dishoom restaurant would come with an imaginative backstory – a sort of “time-capsule fan fiction” about who might have run a café in a particular Bombay neighborhood and era. That narrative approach, Shamil says, only works “if you genuinely care about that story and believe in it”
Building a Cult Following
Dishoom’s Covent Garden debut in 2010 generated buzz from the start. The food was heartfelt and accessible (famous bacon naan rolls for breakfast, family-style biryanis and curries for dinner), and the prices reasonable. But early on, Shamil admits, he was “too committed to hard-headed business principles” learned in consulting, worrying about margins and costs more than the experience. After a decent first year but slower growth than hoped, the founders had an epiphany: focus on quality and trust the rest will follow. “We refocused the business around awesome food, awesome service and having a happy team. The best way to lower costs is to get your revenues up,” Shamil says, “people forget that.”
That pivot to a “quality over revenue” ethos became Dishoom’s North Star. The team doubled down on hospitality – famously offering unlimited free “chai” to waiting guests (no matter the expense) just to make them feel cared for. They “embraced complexity” instead of cutting corners: each new Dishoom location would have a unique design and backstory, and each dish would be as authentic (and labor-intensive) as possible. This unorthodox approach yielded something special. By the mid-2010s, Dishoom’s restaurants (expanding to Shoreditch, King’s Cross, and beyond) had become phenomenally popular. On any given evening, queues spilled out the door.
Dishoom was voted Yelp’s Best UK Restaurant two years running and climbed the rankings of Britain’s Best Companies to Work For. By 2018, the company employed over 700 people and was lauded for its vibrant, “big-hearted” staff culture – from regular values workshops to an annual “Bombay Bootcamp” where long-serving team members are treated to a trip to Mumbai for inspiration. “Seva, the Hindu concept of selfless service, informs everything we do,” says Kavi Thakrar, describing why Dishoom doesn’t mind handing out free chai by the gallon.
As the brand grew, so did its footprint beyond London. Dishoom opened major locations in Edinburgh and Manchester, and more recently Birmingham. It even spun off a quirky sub-brand – “Permit Room” cocktail bars – in Brighton, Cambridge and Oxford, extending the Bombay nostalgia into spirited late-night territory. Along the way, Dishoom published a best-selling cookbook (2019’s “From Bombay with Love”), and during the COVID-19 pandemic it pivoted to meal kits and charity initiatives – donating a meal to underprivileged children for each one sold, through Magic Breakfast in the UK and Akshaya Patra in India.
Inside the Numbers: A Booming Business (EBITDA and All)
The “Dishoom model” of heartfelt hospitality and steady expansion has also yielded robust financial results. In fact, Dishoom today stands as one of Britain’s most successful independent restaurant groups. Annual revenues have surged from roughly £45 million in 2018 to nearly £117 million in 2023, as the group added new sites and attracted ever larger crowds. According to company filings, Dishoom’s 2018 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was £4.33 million on turnover of £44.9 million – a healthy profit that reflected a ~9.6% margin. Fast forward to the post-pandemic recovery: in the 12 months to December 2023, Dishoom’s revenue jumped 23% to £116.8 million, with EBITDA climbing to £13.3 million. That EBITDA figure – up ~42% year-on-year – represents roughly an 11% operating margin, suggesting Dishoom has managed to scale while improving its profitability. Notably, 2023 was the first year fully free of COVID disruptions, and pent-up demand clearly played in Dishoom’s favor as diners flocked back to restaurants.
The group now runs 13 restaurants (10 core Dishoom sites and 3 Permit Room bars) and employs about 1,800 people, serving an astonishing 100,000 diners each week. To put that in perspective, Dishoom’s weekly footfall now would fill Wembley Stadium. Even the challenges of 2020 only paused the momentum: after weathering lockdowns (Dishoom tapped food delivery and at-home kit sales to get by), the company emerged with renewed growth. In 2022 and 2023 it opened its biggest site yet – a 235-seat café in London’s Battersea Power Station – and invested in its bar concepts. It also achieved coveted B Corp certification in 2024, reflecting high standards in social and environmental performance. In short, Dishoom enters 2025 as a financially strong, culturally admired brand. The question now: what’s next when you’ve conquered Britain?
For Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, the answer seems to be to boldly go where many have gone before – the United States – but to do so on their own terms. Dishoom’s leadership insists they have no interest in reckless expansion or “growth for growth’s sake”. “We only open another restaurant where we feel we’ve got a story to tell that’s better than the last one,” says CEO Brian Trollip, a veteran brought in to help steer the company’s next chapter. That next chapter, if all goes according to plan, will involve Dishoom’s first international outpost – in New York City.
