Hicksville brothers hope changing brand of Glen Cove Nepali eatery boosts business

As brothers Bikash and Parash Kharel worked to introduce Glen Cove to Nepali cuisine, a customer base largely unfamiliar with the food, along with rising tariffs, left them in a difficult position just two years after opening their restaurant.

They had brought While in Kathmandu, renamed Delhi to Kathmandu in August, to Glen Cove in 2024 after years of success at the original location in Ridgewood, Queens.

When the eatery opened on Glen Street, Bikash Kharel, 32, of Hicksville, said he envisioned that at least a third of its clientele would be young adults and college students. But they didn't show up in the numbers he had anticipated.

Parash Kharel, 37, also of Hicksville, said he and his brother, both born in Nepal, fell in love with Glen Cove on childhood fishing trips and had hoped to re-create the lively atmosphere of the Ridgewood establishment, where twentysomethings often fill the bar seats.

"In the initial phases, we definitely saw good local reception ... but we experienced that it was an older eating group ... and their palate, with our food, was not the best match," said Bikash Kharel, referencing both the spiciness of their dishes and an unfamiliarity with Nepali cuisine as the reasons.

Tariffs take a toll

President Donald Trump's new tariffs on imported products in 2025 exacerbated the issue.

Month after month, tariffs on key ingredients imported from Nepal, like fermented leafy greens called gundruk, and low foot traffic at the restaurant started to weigh on them. After labor and operating costs, Parash Kharel said, the eatery was barely profitable.

He began to ask himself if the restaurant was worth the sacrifice. 

But their father, Bed P. Kharel, pushed the brothers. After emigrating to the United States from Nepal in 2001, the elder Kharel worked at an Indian restaurant. Bikash Kharel said this was common among Nepali immigrants at the time.

Eventually, their father opened his own Indian restaurants, one in Ridgewood on the same street where Bikash Kharel would open While in Kathmandu, with his brother soon joining him.

"The thing about being a small-business owner, you can never give up. I mean, that's something our daddy instilled in us. ... If something doesn't work out, try another way," Parash Kharel said.

So he leaned into adjusting to the Glen Cove market, bringing live jazz music on Friday nights and decreasing the spice level of the food based on each customer’s preference.

Bestsellers after rebranding

In August, the duo rebranded the entire spot to an Indian-Nepali fusion restaurant with a new menu and name. One bestseller has been a Nepali staple called momos, which are dumplings, with an option to add Indian butter sauce — an American favorite often paired with chicken. 

"Water buffalo momo is something that is more than comfort to us. When we're kids, especially my generation, we used to get a couple of bucks to go to lunch. You could get a water buffalo momo with jhol," Parash Kharel explained. Jhol is a savory soup. "Every day I'm pretty much retelling the whole story again and again."

The business issues weren’t unique to the Kharel brothers' establishment.

Before Delhi to Kathmandu, the space had been occupied by an Indian restaurant called Tava, which opened in 2021 and closed in 2024. Right next door at 63 Glen St., Parash has seen three restaurants come and go: a Thai restaurant named Thaiana, a fast-casual Asian eatery called Coo Coo Kitchen and most recently a Hawaiian restaurant called Lulu Hawaii.

Even at the Ridgewood location, things are changing.

When Bikash Kharel opened While in Kathmandu in 2017, he said, Ridgewood was in the early stages of gentrification, which was initially great for business. But as the neighborhood continued to evolve, he began to worry about the restaurant becoming a "has-been."

It's leaning into Ridgewood’s new fine dining landscape with dishes like lamb chop braised with chhyang, which is a sweet, tangy, mildly alcoholic fermented grain. The entree is served with tomatoes and a wild perilla seed called silam on traditional bronze plates called chares.

"We’re using primarily Nepali ingredients to showcase a dish that is already readily popular in the American marketplace ... using both sides of where I come from and where I am," Bikash Kharel said. The new Ridgewood menu debuts later this month.

Parash Kharel said he has seen more foot traffic after changing the menu but still has concerns.

"We're doing good, but then again doing good business and being profitable is another thing ... just making enough to pay the bills," he said.

Realistically, it would help to increase prices. While customers were understanding of that decision in Ridgewood, Parash Kharel added, it would be less welcome in Glen Cove. With a faltering economy, he said, even regulars who used to frequent the restaurant several times a month told him they can’t afford to come in as often anymore.

"We are looking for a solution, but we're also hoping it'll pass," he said. "It's not only me, as a small business, hurting. I think it's the everyday people. Everyday folks are hurting, too."

Newsday's Erica Marcus contributed to this story.