A new restaurant in Wyoming is betting diners will fall for its butter chicken so hard that owner Navdeep Singh is willing to put money behind it. Haveli Authentic Indian Restaurant and Sweets opened last month at 1020 28th St. SW, serving traditional North Indian flavors and Punjabi cuisine alongside a menu of street food dishes Singh says aren't easy to find elsewhere in Michigan.
A Family Recipe With a Guarantee Attached
Singh told MLive that the restaurant's butter chicken, priced at $17.49, comes from a family recipe built on his own Indian spices and flavors, with tomato-based chicken simmered in spices, fenugreek and butter. He's confident enough in the dish that he offered a money-back guarantee to anyone who doesn't like it, according to the same report. It's the kind of bold promise that signals how personally Singh is attached to what's on the plate, and it fits a menu he says reflects his own upbringing.
Haveli isn't Singh's first restaurant. He opened his original location in Indianapolis in 2024 before expanding his business into Michigan, per MLive's reporting. The Haveli concept itself traces back to his hometown of Jalandhar, India, and the name refers to a cultural heritage building in India that resembles a castle, a nod reflected inside the restaurant's decor, which features life-sized figures in traditional Indian attire, pottery and a decorative spinning wheel called a charkha.
Street Food Not Found Elsewhere in Michigan
Singh told MLive that Haveli has introduced Indian street food specials he says aren't available anywhere else in the state, including a Punjabi-style noodle burger, pani puri, dahi bhalla and aloo tikki chaat. On its own website, Haveli brands itself as an Indian street food and chaat house with Indo-Chinese fusion dishes, tandoor delicacies, soups, vegetarian and nonvegetarian entrees, breads, biryani and family meals.
The menu backs that description up with specifics. Samosas arrive stuffed with spiced potato and peas, chicken or lamb, while paneer pakora features paneer slices dipped in seasoned chickpea batter and deep-fried, according to the restaurant's own menu listing. There's also a Mumbai-style pav bhaji, mashed vegetables cooked in butter and spices and served with toasted pav, plus steamed dumplings filled with seasoned veggie or chicken mixtures and served with an in-house spicy dipping sauce and mayo sauce.
Tandoor, Curries and a Range of Spice Levels
Beyond the street food counter, Haveli leans into its tandoor and curry offerings. Murg malai tikka, priced at $16.49, is made with chicken marinated in cream, cheese and mild spices before being grilled, per MLive. Singh told the outlet the broader menu includes curries, freshly baked naan and sweets inspired by his own heritage, and that food is prepared according to each customer's preferences, with spice levels ranging from mild to medium, hot and Indian hot.
For dessert, Haveli's sweets are made with desi ghee, caramelized milk and dry fruits, and the restaurant also offers pastry cakes in butterscotch, red velvet chocolate, mango pistachio and black forest flavors, according to MLive's report. As a brand-new opening, Haveli has not yet introduced any menu specials. The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Another Option on Grand Rapids' Indian Food Map
Haveli joins a small but growing roster of Indian restaurants in the Grand Rapids area. Downtown, Punjab Grill has carved out its own niche at 40 Pearl St. NW specializing in the distinctive flavors of the Punjab region, run as a family business with Gursharn Singh as executive chef and his son Simran Singh as general manager. That restaurant makes its own paneer cheese in-house, prepares meats on a tandoor grill and serves a daily lunch buffet of appetizers, entrees, soups and desserts for $10.99, according to Rapid Growth Media.
With Haveli now open in Wyoming, diners in the area have two distinct takes on Indian cooking within a short drive of each other, one built around a Punjab Grill buffet and in-house paneer, the other staking its reputation on Singh's family butter chicken recipe and a menu of street food dishes he says stands apart from what else is available in Michigan.
