A little over a year and half ago, Bollywood Tacos opened up in Milledgeville with a vision from owners Sky Hinton and Deepak Kumar.
Hinton a Milledgeville native, and Kumar, originally from India and a local restauranteur, wanted to bring fusion cuisine with a casual atmosphere to the small college town, manager Chea Cliatt said.
“We are typically an in-and-out sort of diner,” Cliatt said. “When you have efficient prices, efficient service, fast food with good quality, how can you beat it?”
Bollywood Tacos likes to lean into their ability to offer a variety and they encourage you to mix and match dishes based on your specific tastes. Each ingredient in each taco feels very intentional with some fitting specific themes like their Peach Country that is a take on a Southern comfort taco. The goal for them is to try and provide a family-friendly environment that everyone kind finds something that they like.
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“Say your family comes in and you’ve got a vegan on one end and a carnivore on the other end, someone has something that they can really enjoy at the restaurant,” Cliatt said. “When you have those sorts of flavor combinations not only does it appeal to a broader audience but you feel like you can get the personal specified thing that you wanted. I think that’s what keeps people coming back.”
For Bollywood Tacos, they want people to leave the restaurant feeling satisfied and full whether from the food, the experience or the cocktail bar that they also specialize in. So far they feel like they are hitting the mark with that as the city of Milledgeville has been very supportive.
“I think we have something really special here,” Cliatt said. “Our staff works really hard. Our kitchen works really hard and our community comes back and supports us time and time again.”
We left Bollywood Tacos feeling full and satisfied in this week’s Foodie Friday from The Telegraph and Positively 478.
Appetizers:
The variety that they offer for starters is impressive. They have the typical salsa and queso with chips that we grabbed but they also have things like fried avocado and Mexican corn bites for those that want a bit more.
The salsa had a nice kick to it but it wasn’t overpowering by any means. Queso is really hard to mess up and they didn’t. I could’ve probably made myself sick off the chips and queso it was so good. Seriously, queso is life.
Entrees:
They have tacos in the name so they deliver a wide array of options there plus burritos, bowls, quesadillas, salads and “Bollykicks.” The Bollykicks are specialty tacos on naan bread. One of the most impressive parts of the meal was that each taco came packed full of ingredients. It is easy to get full off of a couple of tacos and some queso.
I got the Peach Country and the Honey Chipotle Shrimp tacos on flour tortillas plus the Delhi Belly on naan bread.
The Peach Country is fried chicken topped with pimento cheese, peach salsa and bacon. They make the pimento cheese fresh in house and it shows. There is an unexpected kick to this dish. It was borderline spicy but the flavor profile of sweet and spicy knocks this out of the park. The peaches provide relief and the fried chicken adds a nice crunch.
The Honey Chipotle Shrimp comes with the peach salsa and coleslaw with shrimp in the honey-chipotle sauce. The shrimp was good but again the blending of flavors is really what sets this dish off. The coleslaw is crispy and adds a layer that is needed for this taco.
My favorite part of the meal was the Dehli Belly on naan. It is a seared pork belly taco with coleslaw, pickled onions and a tangy sauce. The pork belly itself was cooked to perfection. It was crispy but still melts in your mouth. Pork belly done right is a rare find, Bollywood Tacos does it right. The naan bread was also really soft and was the perfect vessel to my mouth for the pork belly.
Jenna’s suggestions
Jenna ordered the Fried Avocado Taco and the Peach Country taco. The Fried Avocado taco was filled with fried avocados of course.
Slices of avocado were breaded, frozen and then fried for crunchy, salty flavor. The combination of avocado with coleslaw, pico and Baja sauce and fresco cheese was delicious, and the dish offers a great vegetarian option for customers.
The Peach Country was the perfect combination of savory, spicy and sweet flavors. “I love dishes that are intentional, and this dish definitely accomplishes a southern vibe while maintaining the fusion food style.”
Jenna said: “My only regret is that I could not try one of the cocktails.”
Bollywood Tacos
Cost:
Pick 2 tacos: $7.50
Delhi Belly: $5.50
Salsa and queso: $4.50
Location: 107 West Hancock St.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.- 10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Price range: $2-$12