Pull on the j-shaped door handle at Jashan in Plano, and inside awaits an Indian feast in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Shops at Legacy restaurant, formerly a den for gamers and a brewery, has been reimagined as a palatial ode to Indian cooking, where diners can sit on one of three patios, tuck into a private room, order dinner a la carte or opt for 13 courses from a modern tasting menu in a restaurant-within-a-restaurant called Dil Se.
As maximalist as Jashan might seem — and owner Prasanna Singaraju is offering many experiences under one roof — the effort is deeply personal. To dine with Singaraju, as I did for more than three hours, is to understand his devotion to Indian cuisine and culture.
Even before he signed the lease for the space near the Dallas North Tollway, he’d sit in his car across the street and look at the restaurant.
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Executive chef Ramesh Thangaraj (left) and owner Prasanna Singaraju are behind Jashan and Dil Se, Dallas-Fort Worth’s newest Indian restaurants under one roof.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
“I’ve been manifesting this place for more than 20 years,” he said. He believes Dallas diners are “finally primed for these flavors.”
The restaurant opened Nov. 13, 2025.
Jashan’s menu includes Indian dishes like butter chicken and chicken biryani, though its chefs are leaving lots of room for creativity.
The journey to D-FW
Born and raised in Hyderabad, India, Singaraju moved to the United States to study at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. There, he met his wife Purnima. They were surprised to learn they went to the same high school in India.
“We had to travel halfway around the world to meet one another,” he said.
North Texas, it seemed, kept feeling like a place he was supposed to be.
Inside Jashan, an upscale Indian restaurant now open in Plano
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Singaraju owned a tech company for a decade and made smartphone and web apps. He’s confidently leaving that life behind to dive into restaurants, and he’s Jashan’s sole investor and its biggest cheerleader.
The owner has even enrolled in culinary school, giving him enough knowledge to be dangerous in the kitchen while he and executive chef Ramesh Thangaraj workshop the current 13-course menu.
Diners can opt for a tasting menu at Dil Se or an a la carte menu at Jashan. It’s all one building at the Shops at Legacy in Plano.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Singaraju said he interviewed 20 chefs before he found Thangaraj in Malaysia and convinced him to move to Dallas.
“I asked him if he was motivated and inspired enough to put Indian food on the world’s stage,” Singaraju said. It was a big ask, but Thangaraj said yes.
Nearly everything about Jashan, from the wall of antiques Singaraju bought himself to the 75 days of menu testing, were painstakingly analyzed. Joined by culinary director Ashish Bhasin, the three men created menus focused on the royal kitchens of India. Inspiration for the restaurant comes from the many invasions of India, going way back to the Mongols in the 1200s.
Khumb-e-galawat and pal payasam achu murukuu are two small-bite starters at Jashan’s Indian tasting menu in Plano.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
“When I was traveling for my research, I thought the royal kitchens were significant,” Singaraju said.
Menus are inspired by three areas of India: Lucknow in northern India, near Nepal; Hyderabad, known for its biryani recipes; and the coastal region at the southern end of the continent. Servers will guide diners through each meal, pointing out noteworthy ingredients from each region.
Jashan’s crown jewel
In the center of the restaurant, tucked behind a wall, is a horseshoe-shaped bar with seats that flank an open kitchen. This restaurant-within-a-restaurant is Dil Se, the owner’s crown jewel.
The restaurant has Indian antiques on display.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
For $175 per person, diners will enjoy an “omakase” menu, Singaraju said, using the Japanese word that describes the trust a diner imparts on a chef selecting each course.
In the past few years, Japanese omakase restaurants have proliferated in Dallas-Fort Worth, showing a rise in tasting-menu dining in general. But upscale Indian food, especially served with a dozen courses, is much rarer in North Texas.
Singaraju hopes to change Dil Se’s menu every 45 days. Options include meat and seafood, but a separate vegetarian option will always be available.
“My mom would kill me if there wasn’t!” the owner said.
Bademjan-e-shahi at is a bite of charred eggplant with yogurt.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Courses are mostly bite-sized offerings served in style, like the box that opens up to reveal two snacks: a peppery mushroom orb with truffle called khumb-e-galawat, and a cardamom and milk cream crisp called pal payasam achu murukku. Pasted inside the lid is a map of India, showing where the ingredients and techniques come from.
Another course honors a vegetable Singaraju hated growing up: kaddu, or squash. Chef Thangaraj stuffed kaddu inside a baked pastry called kachori — “one sinful thing,” Singaraju said of the kachori. He’s smiling, because that one sinful thing, fluffy and delicious, changed his view of the dreaded kaddu.
Many courses involve meat smoked in a tandoor, like the raan-e-dhungar, or goat leg served in a taco-like shape. Thangaraj’s first meal in D-FW was at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Plano, and it inspired the taco, Singaraju said.
Tender and moist, the dish will also feel familiar to Texas barbecue fans.
Singaraju grins again, glad to see the connection is made. This menu is so personal to him, down to the smoked meat that reminds him of India and of Texas at once.
“SMU brought me to Dallas,” he said. “Barbecue kept me in Dallas.”
The tandoor is used again in a fish dish of barramundi with mango butter.
Shikampuri-e-nazaakat is a small bite of minced chicken in curry sauce.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
A strong element of heat, so prevalent in Indian cooking, shows up in plenty of places, like with a corn soup called shorba-e-makai-o-dahi that finishes with lingering spice on the back of the palate.
Dinner at Dil Se crescendoes with a majestic presentation of goat soup, chicken biryani, slow-cooked lentils, butter chicken and a basket of bread. The evening already felt like a feast, but this grand finale is a sight.
Next comes the Royal Portrait, a series of desserts including a chocolate-peanut butter recipe from pastry chef Kashish Batra that seems beautiful enough for a queen.
As diners exit the restaurant, it’s worth a look back at the j-shaped door handle. A little heart dots the j, a small touch that’s big to Singaraju. The name of his tasting menu, Dil Se, means “from the heart” in Hindi.
Singaraju knows he is taking a risk with this new restaurant. It’s huge in size but full of heart.
“This is the story I want to tell for the rest of my life,” he said.
Jashan is at 7401 Lone Star Drive, Plano. Dinner only, for now. Open seven days a week. Reservations required at Jashan, the main restaurant, and Dil Se, the $175 per-person tasting menu.