Last Updated July 2026
Few restaurant comebacks in New York have been watched as closely as Adda's. The original Long Island City location helped kick off one of the city's most influential Indian restaurant groups, and after quietly closing, it returned in 2025 in a new East Village home, reworked from the ground up but built on the same foundation.
The Team Behind It
Adda comes from chef Chintan Pandya and restaurateur Roni Mazumdar, the team behind Unapologetic Foods. Since the original Adda opened in Long Island City in 2018, the group has grown into one of the most acclaimed forces in New York dining, going on to open Michelin-starred Semma along with Dhamaka, Naks, and Masalawala & Sons. Adda is considered the restaurant that started it all for the group, and Mazumdar has described the name and the values behind it as deeply personal to the team.
When the East Village location opened, the team was clear that it wasn't meant to be a simple copy of the original. The menu, space, and format were all reworked, though the group kept touches that longtime fans would recognize.
The Space
Adda's new home is at 107 1st Avenue in the East Village. One detail carried over intentionally from the old Long Island City space: the collage of Indian newspaper clippings that decorated the original restaurant's walls was moved directly into the new location, giving the room a tie back to where it all started even as the rest of the space was rebuilt.
Menu Overview
Adda's menu is built around regional Indian home cooking, with dishes drawn from research trips across India rather than a standard, generalized Indian restaurant lineup. The current menu is organized loosely around:
| Category | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Chaat & Snacks | Street-food-style bites, chutneys, and fritters |
| Tandoor & Kebabs | Grilled and charcoal-cooked meats |
| Curries & Mains | Slow-cooked regional curries and stews |
| Biryani | Rice dishes cooked and sealed with dough |
| Butter Chicken Experience | A tableside preparation of the restaurant's signature dish |
| Breads | Naan and other Indian breads, including stuffed varieties |
| Drinks | Cocktails built around Indian ingredients and flavors, plus a zero-proof menu |
The standout of the new menu is the Butter Chicken Experience, a $42-per-person tableside preparation available at only six tables a night, where a chef wheels out a smoker of charred heritage-breed chicken and finishes the dish in front of the table. Other highlights include bheja fry (a spiced goat brain preparation), baby goat biryani sealed with a dough cap and carved open tableside, lukmi pastries, and kharda scallop. The dal has also been consistently singled out for its rich, creamy texture. On the drinks side, the chutney trio and mezcal-forward cocktails, along with a roaming chaatwala serving bites tableside, have become signatures of the new space.
Reservations and Access
Reservations at Adda drop 15 days in advance. Given the restaurant's reputation and recent accolades, tables can be difficult to secure, particularly for weekend dinner service.
What Reviewers Are Saying
Adda has drawn strong praise both in its original Long Island City form and in its East Village reopening.
Time Out named Adda the best restaurant in New York City, highlighting the Butter Chicken Experience as a genuine standout rather than a gimmick, along with the reintroduced goat brain and paneer dishes and the restaurant's chutney trio.
Resy's editorial team called the original Adda a special, foundational restaurant for the Unapologetic Foods group, noting that it was the restaurant that first drew lines around the corner and changed the conversation around Indian food in New York. Their coverage of the relaunch pointed to the butter chicken, bheja fry, baby goat biryani, and lukmi as essential dishes at the new location.
The Infatuation's review of the original Long Island City Adda praised the goat biryani in particular, describing the dough-sealed presentation carved open tableside as one of the restaurant's best touches, along with the rich, aromatic butter chicken.
Across coverage of both versions of the restaurant, a few things come up repeatedly: the goat biryani and butter chicken are consistently called out as must-order dishes, the tableside presentations are considered a genuine strength rather than a distraction, and the restaurant has managed to hold onto its identity even through a full relocation and menu overhaul.
Menu items, hours, and reservation policies can change. Check directly with Adda for current details before planning a visit.
