By Jill Draper
A new restaurant featuring northern Indian Punjabi cuisine is scheduled to open by the end of September at 8436 Ward Parkway in the former Marble Top Café location.
Shagan’s Chicken and Parathas currently sells lunch and dinner in an Overland Park cafe at Metcalf and W. 143rd Street, and owner Shagan Bajwa says she is “super-excited” about having a second business in south KC.
She describes the menu as home-cooked food made fresh daily, with staples such as butter chicken, curry chicken, butter paneer, vegetable korma and lentils. She also makes flatbreads—most popular are the parathas stuffed with potatoes or cauliflower. Condiments include yogurt and pickles.
Born in India, Bajwa attended high school in New York and lived in Canada before moving to Kansas City, where she worked at Mazuma Credit Union. In 2016 she showcased her culinary skills at a cultural appreciation event held at the bank. Soon afterward she began cooking lunch for staff members twice a month. She loved it.
“I just couldn’t stop thinking about what I would cook for them the whole coming week,” Bajwa says. Eventually she gave two weeks’ notice and began cooking fulltime from her Raymore home with the help of her husband and three sons, later opening a restaurant in Overland Park where she now lives.
The new south KC location is just north of the Ward Parkway Shopping Center (next to uBreakiFix) and will have dine-in and takeout service. See the current menu at shagansop.com.