Al Rabba’s Masala Style Grand Opening
Houston: Al Rabba – 61,000 sf grocery store & Chat Hut restaurant, put on a dhamakedaar Masala Grand Opening event on one of the prettiest days of the season last Saturday September 19th from 10AM – 2PM. Against backdrops of wedding style décor and balloons, owner Amir Patel celebrated the “official” opening by giving away 100 silver coins to the first 100 customers, next 200 received Idli Makers, and free Laxmi Brands and Ramdev Snacks, free Deep Food’s New Frozen Dal. Bindi Mehta said “I was in line for a long time, but when I finally got in, the mood Masala Radio created, I couldn’t help dancing to Bollywood and Garba songs and the store is soo huge!”
Indeed the Masala Crew got so many customers to dance, led by Belly Dancer Mariam and with hit after hit by DJ Nish. Sunil T said “Amir Patel wanted something big for his big store and he wanted the thank the people of Houston who welcomes Al Rabba with open arms” RJ Shruti added live vocals to DJ Nish’s tracks. One of the highlight comedy events was the Pani Puri eating contest, where the winner cleared 12 pani puris in just 11 seconds by eating 2 at a time! Amir Patel said, “Sunil T has done 2 grand openings for me in the past but this event that Masala Radio put together was the best of the best. I knew Masala Radio brings in a big crowd but this time we had 1000 people in line before 10am. I couldn’t believe it. I had six lanes open non stop all day. Because of the super success, I am continuing the grand opening sale till Oct 11”
Al Rabba actually opened in the beginning of April, but could not do their planned Grand Opening due to COVID. The store had plenty of time to stock 61,square feet of a huge variety of Indian, Pakistani, Middle Eastern, and even African groceries. Prices were dropped to incredibly low levels, like 40 limes for a $1, onions for 19 cents a pound; so low that even with a cartful, customers were finding it difficult to reach $150 to get the free prize of 3-tray Serving Set. CHAT HUT, the Indian vegetarian fast food restaurant inside served over 2000 plates of freshly made Samosa Chat within 4 hours. Kalpesh Dave, Prachee Dave and the entire family srved customers with hot samosas and cold ice cream. The checkout lanes were all backed up with shoppers buying by the cartful! Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls, currently running for Congress, officiated the Grand Opening along with Fort Bend County Sherriff candidate Trevor Nehls, South Asian for the Republican Party Bangar Reddy, Precint 4 Constable Candidiate Nabil Shike. Later Fort Bend Country Judge KP George offered congratulations and commendations for one store serving so many sub-communities within the most diverse county of Texas. Highness Collection presented its latest jewelry designs, adding some excitement for the upcoming Festival Season. Highstar Medical Diag did drive through COVID tests all day in the parking lot at no charge to the customers. Their clean state of the art booths will be present every day outside AL Rabba for anyone that wants to get the nasal swab COVID test. Dr Singh said “Many countries are COVID tests for travel. HighStar has 3 locations in Houston and we do these tests at no charge to you.”
Amir Patel bought out the old Randalls property and converted it to Al Rabba. He has years of experience with his Manpasand superstores in Austin and San Antonio, and this would be the third venture in Houston after opening 2 Manpasand in Southwest Houston already. Asked if he was done in Houston, AmirAli just smiled and said “Three more big stores in Houston are coming soon” Take some time out to survey the unique varieties and rate brands at Al Rabba at 5800 New Territory Blvd. Open 7 days a week 9AM to 9PM. Sale continues till Oct 11. Alrabbaworldfood.com (281) 277-0138. All Photo by Gaurav Hariyani Studios.