Malgudi Garden Opens in Richardson as D Magazine Maps the Best Indian Restaurants Across DFW

Richardson's Indian dining scene is in the spotlight on two fronts this season: a plant-based South Indian concept has taken root at a familiar Campbell Road address, and D Magazine has published a sweeping regional guide celebrating the best Indian restaurants across Dallas-Fort Worth. Malgudi Garden opened in March in the former Masala Twist space, bringing a fully vegan and vegetarian menu of South Indian favorites to a neighborhood already known for its Desi culinary density. Together, the two stories affirm that the Plano-Richardson corridor remains one of North Texas's most compelling destinations for authentic Indian cuisine.

🍛 Masala Twist Rebrands to Malgudi Garden, Expanding Vegan South Indian Dining in Richardson

Malgudi Garden, a vegan and vegetarian South Indian restaurant with its established original location in Plano, officially opened its second outpost in Richardson on March 19, moving into the former Masala Twist space at 955 E. Campbell Road, Suite 200. The rebrand preserves a long-standing tradition of South Indian cooking at that address while giving the concept a sharper, fully plant-based identity that distinguishes it from many of its Desi dining neighbors along the corridor. The menu centers on South Indian dishes reimagined with vegan and vegetarian ingredients: soups built on layered spice profiles, chilli gobi that delivers a fiery brightness to cauliflower, steamed rice dumplings rooted in South Indian tiffin culture, and tofu tikka masala — a creative plant-protein interpretation of a North Indian-influenced classic. The decision to expand to Richardson rather than simply operate a single Plano flagship reflects the brand's confidence that the area's large South Asian residential base and its growing population of health-conscious and vegetarian diners represent a substantial and loyal customer pool. Fully vegan-dedicated Indian concepts remain relatively rare along the Plano-Richardson stretch, giving Malgudi Garden a clear niche in a competitive market. The Richardson location keeps the same focus on accessible, affordable South Indian comfort food that made the Plano original popular. Full menu details and hours are available at malgudigardentx.com, and the restaurant is located in a suite-style retail center convenient to the surrounding Desi community. [1]

🍛 D Magazine Guide Celebrates the Depth and Range of Indian Dining Across Dallas-Fort Worth

D Magazine has released a comprehensive and updated guide to the best Indian restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, casting a wide lens over a dining scene that has grown dramatically alongside the region's expanding South Asian population. The roundup surveys establishments across a breadth of regional Indian culinary traditions — from North Indian Mughlai kitchens turning out slow-cooked curries, rich gravies, and clay-oven breads to South Indian restaurants offering crispy dosas, steamed idlis, and tangy chutneys, as well as street-food-inspired counters serving chaat, pani puri, and other quick-bite favorites that have found enthusiastic audiences well beyond the Desi community. Communities along the Plano-Richardson-Allen corridor feature prominently in the guide's recommendations, a reflection of decades of culinary investment by South Asian entrepreneurs and families who transformed these northern suburbs into a de facto Desi food belt. The guide takes in both long-standing institutions that have been anchoring their neighborhoods for decades and newer restaurants that are reshaping what Indian cuisine looks like in a contemporary North Texas dining room, with menus that blend regional authenticity with updated presentation. For DFW diners seeking to navigate the full breadth and depth of Indian food available locally, the D Magazine list functions as both a practical directory and a cultural argument: that the Dallas-Fort Worth area has earned genuine recognition among the country's most compelling destinations for South Asian cuisine, with Richardson at the center of that story. [3]

Sources: [1] Community Impact · [3] D Magazine