The former Indian restaurant Bombay Gaylord is not coming back to downtown Silver Spring, but its chef and owner Kalistus Gomes is moving on with a new concept.
Gomes and his family are opening a new restaurant—Nirvana Indian Cuisine—in Olney next month. The restaurant is scheduled to open July 5.
Bombay Gaylord, which was on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring, closed after it was damaged in a March 2015 fire that also heavily damaged the Quarry House Tavern below it. Quarry House has since reopened.
Gomes said in an interview Thursday he tried to reopen Bombay Gaylord, but ran into issues including rent that was no longer affordable. He said he eventually decided on Olney partly because there’s a lack of competition from other Indian restaurants.
Nirvana will open in the Olney Shopping Center at 3474 Olney Laytonsville Road, which is also home to a Rite Aid, Popeye’s and Ledo’s Pizza.
The menu will be similar to that offered at the Bombay Gaylord and many of the former restaurant’s staff will be returning, according to Gomes. Dishes will include Tandoori lamb chops, Indian curry, tikka masala and fresh naan bread. The restaurant will have a Buddhist theme and seat about 60 people.
In a press release, Gomes stated, “From the ashes of the Bombay Gaylord fire, we invite you to experience its reincarnation, Nirvana.”