More Than Chai’s Clovis cafe is serving chai again, with a broader food menu alongside its tea-shop offerings. The Shaw Avenue business reopened after nearly two months away, adding tandoori chicken sandwiches, personal pizzas, burgers and seven flavors of wings.
The cafe closed on August 14 and reopened about two months later, according to the Fresno Bee. The Bee reported that owner Surjit Gill said customer requests prompted the cafe to expand beyond its original vegetarian menu.
More Than Chai sits at 1175 Shaw Ave., Suite 101, inside the Sierra Pavilions shopping plaza across from Sierra Vista Mall, in a space previously occupied by Tulips and Tea.
From Vegetarian Chai Shop To Chicken Wings
Gill told the Fresno Bee that waiting for specialty spices from India contributed to the time it took the cafe to reopen. The Bee also reported that the Clovis location is currently the only More Than Chai branch serving chicken.
What The Food-Safety Code Establishes
The California Retail Food Code assigns primary responsibility for enforcing its provisions to local enforcement agencies, according to the code published by Santa Clara County Environmental Health. That provision alone does not spell out the specific food-handling requirements for adding raw chicken, identify the local agency overseeing this Clovis cafe, or establish that any permit or inspection action was tied to the menu change.
Gill told the Bee that customers had said they missed the cafe while it was closed. He said the broader group could consider serving chicken at other branches if customers there asked for it, but no such change has been announced.
Gill's View Of The Local Cafe Scene
Gill told the Fresno Bee that he believed More Than Chai was the Fresno area’s first Indian cafe, distinguishing it from the Indian restaurants already in the region. The shop opened at the end of April 2025. Its interior includes illustrated lobby posters and 8- and 12-ounce unglazed clay cups for serving tea, a nod to chaiwalas, or street tea vendors in India.
The Fresno Bee reported that More Than Chai franchise owner Aman Kalra, a family friend and business partner of Gill and his wife, offered Gill the chance to open a Central Valley location. The Clovis cafe is the group’s only branch not owned by Kalra. The company also operates in Fremont and Concord, and Gill has said two more branches are planned for Pleasanton and Sunnyville.
For now, the Clovis cafe keeps its food moving through DoorDash and Uber Eats in addition to in-person orders. Whether the chicken additions spread to the group's other locations may come down to the same customer demand that reshaped the menu in Clovis.
