Tarka Indian Kitchen

Regina Pradam came to the United States from Nepal with an unexpected path to entrepreneurship. She graduated with a degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington and was accepted into a master's program in Vermont. That summer, she met her husband at his cousin's suggestion to visit Austin and help open an Indian restaurant—a pivotal moment that changed her entire trajectory. "I was on the way to Vermont for fall and in summer he said, well why don't you come hang out with us and then go off to Vermont. And came over to Austin and we bought the really, really old building on 16th and 11th of April" in 1998.

Before founding Tarka, Regina and her husband opened Clay Pit, a fine dining Indian restaurant housed in a historic 160-170-year-old building in downtown Austin. To fund this venture, Regina drew on an unconventional source of capital: while waitressing in Seattle, she had invested $5,000 on a credit card in Microsoft stock after a conversation with a Microsoft employee customer. "The same thing I have doubles and doubles and you know, whatever. Didn't know what all of that was." That investment turned into $20,000 during the stock splits, providing crucial seed capital alongside contributions from her husband and their cousins' parents. Clay Pit became successful and was eventually sold in 2007 to their current business partners at a multiple of bottom-line profitability.

With Clay Pit's success, Regina and her husband spotted an opportunity: if Peiwei could bring Chinese casual dining mainstream, why not do the same for Indian food? They launched Tarka in 2009 during the recession—"Not a good time. You just did it anyway. You did it anyway, and it worked out really well." Rather than relying on instinct, Regina's husband posted a Facebook question asking where customers wanted to see a quick-casual Indian restaurant. The response overwhelmingly pointed to the underserved south side, past Highway 290. They found a location in a strip center in Sunset Valley/Brodie that offered affordable rent. The first year results shocked them: "It was north of a million, a little shy of two, I think." Regina attributes this to the price point, the underserved neighborhood demographics, and the casual model's appeal.

Tarka's unit economics revealed strong operational execution. Average ticket size was $11-12, with cost of goods sold at an impressive 27% (achieved through sourcing discipline, bulk buying, and training staff to minimize waste). Labor represented 32% of revenue and rent roughly 10-11%. This left healthy margins for utilities and profit. Regina became data-driven, using LogMeIn to check daily numbers from each location every morning with her coffee. By 2016, five years after launch, the business had grown to five locations across Texas. Rather than franchise (which she actively declined despite constant inquiries from doctors and engineers), Regina focused on company-operated growth. "What I tell people is it's not the easy, there are much easier ways to make money. So if you get into it, do it because you are passionate about it."

As of the interview in 2016, Tarka had achieved significant scale with five operational units. Regina was in growth mode with confidence: "Our target is to open five more. It doesn't matter what we do. I mean, we've done our homework. We know we're going to do well." The plan was to double the unit count to ten locations within 24 months across Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Regina credited her success partly to mindset: "I think that's the key to success, I think, is you have to brainwash yourself first. It's going to be very successful." Drawing on her early career volunteering as a legal advocate, she had learned to "fake it till you make it"—building confidence that became self-fulfilling. By consistently checking data, understanding unit economics deeply, and making deliberate location decisions, Regina had transformed a casual restaurant concept into a scalable multi-unit operation.