At first glance, Choolaah looks like a Chipotle so I was instantly drawn to it, but when I read the sign it said Indian cuisine so HAD to try it! I've never heard of a fast-casual Indian restaurant, nor never ate Indian food by choice (there aren't many restaurants). Once I walked in I spoke to the manager at the register and he said this is the first location, but they are looking to put another location in Virginia within the next year.
The menu has a lot of choices, but I went with the go-to and recommended chicken bbq bowl with tikka masala sauce and wheat nan. My husband got the same, but with lamb meatballs. The chicken was also served with a side of chipotle mango sauce and the lamb came with a mint yogurt sauce.
We poured half of our masala sauce on our dishes which were served over a bed of rice. We ate the rest of the masala with our nan. Wow! It was awesome. My chicken was nice and tender and the meatballs were on point. The sauces really tied the dishes together. Plus the portions were huge and they were priced relatively well ($8-9). I now live in North Carolina, but if I still lived in Ohio I would become a regular.
The atmosphere of this place is also awesome. Again it reminded me of a fancier Chipotle. What I loved the most is that there is a glass wall where you can see the people preparing the food along with the fresh ingredients in the fridge. They also had a nice outdoor patio and the restaurant was a pretty good size.
Overall I would highly recommend Choolaah for anyone who wanted to try Indian food for the first time or just try something different!