Following a monthslong absence, one of the Bay Area’s masters of a seldom-seen Indian barbecue style is about to make a comeback.

Wah Jee Wah, No. 19 on the Chronicle’s 2025 Top Bay Area restaurants list, will reopen on Friday at a new location at 418 S. Main St. in Milpitas. Chef-owner Ron Dumra, who closed his original restaurant in Hayward last summer due to a reported rent increase, will resume grilling succulent meats and vegetables over charcoal in the tradition of the roaming street food carts commonly found in India and the Middle East. 

The new location will open with dinner only to start, the menu still focused on grilled skewer plates, such as aromatic lamb seek kebab, yogurt-marinated chicken thighs or spiced mushrooms, served with rice and naan. They are all cooked outdoors over live coals, which “gives his barbecue an invisible smoky jacket imbued with the taste of gentle fire,” associate restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez wrote in a 2022 review of Wah Jee Wah.

“I don’t like to grill any other way, and, to be honest, I don’t want to,” Dumra said.

With the new space comes a few additions. In about a month, Dumra will open the new Wah Jee Wah for lunch, focused on a set for workers looking for a quick midday meal. It will be formatted as a thali, an Indian platter with small portions of several items like a meat dish, vegetables, legumes, rice and flatbread. Dumra said that the mix of dishes served may change daily. He also plans to introduce new specials such as lamb birria, braised lamb shanks and vegetable dishes. And for the first time, Wah Jee Wah will serve cocktails, thanks to a full liquor license.

While Dumra’s grilled dishes are the core of Wah Jee Wah, other popular items include whole fried pomfret, a fish popular in southern India, served with curry; and Masala mac and cheese, gooey and enhanced with cinnamon and cumin.

The Milpitas location can accommodate 20 diners inside and another 20 at outdoor tables.  

Dumra said that looking for a new location and the death of his father, from whom he learned the finer points of grilling over charcoal, consumed his mental energy while the restaurant was dormant. Still, he feels reinvigorated by the prospect of serving customers again. 

“I’ve been on my grind and I want to raise the bar when we reopen,” he said.