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Today at Mumbai Grill, I overheard the real reason for the name change: apparently there's another local restaurant with "Bombay" in the name that threatened to sue or something. The owner has a prior claim to it through family connexions (apparently the original restaurant is in Champaign) but proving that would be enough of a hassle that he decided just to give in.
My source is an energetic young desi I don't recall seeing there before. I also overheard a customer questioning him in Hindi regarding his origins and discovered that he was Panjabi. Just to confirm, I said, "ਕੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਹੋ?" (Stupidly omitting the pronoun, thus making it somewhat ambiguous whether I was speaking Panjabi with a respectful verb but Hindi with a familiar one. I think he parsed it as Panjabi, since he in turn asked me if I spoke it and I had to confess I knew only a few words.)
Ever since I started going there, I've been trying to suss out the background of the staff, but without much success because my spoken comprehension just sucks. I even thought they might be Gujjus. (Frankly, the way to bet given their dominance of the local retail market.) Well, that goes a ways to explaining the lack of any Bombay specialties there. At first I thought the cuisine was generic North Indian to cater to Gora expectations, but it could be that that's just what they know how to cook.
My source is an energetic young desi I don't recall seeing there before. I also overheard a customer questioning him in Hindi regarding his origins and discovered that he was Panjabi. Just to confirm, I said, "ਕੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਹੋ?" (Stupidly omitting the pronoun, thus making it somewhat ambiguous whether I was speaking Panjabi with a respectful verb but Hindi with a familiar one. I think he parsed it as Panjabi, since he in turn asked me if I spoke it and I had to confess I knew only a few words.)
Ever since I started going there, I've been trying to suss out the background of the staff, but without much success because my spoken comprehension just sucks. I even thought they might be Gujjus. (Frankly, the way to bet given their dominance of the local retail market.) Well, that goes a ways to explaining the lack of any Bombay specialties there. At first I thought the cuisine was generic North Indian to cater to Gora expectations, but it could be that that's just what they know how to cook.