Karak Cha House is the chai spot Philly didn’t know it was missing

Asad Ghumman would always hear the same thing from regulars at his restaurant Kabobeesh, which has been open in University City since 2000. “You need to open a chai spot,” they’d urge. But it was his 19-year-old daughter, Halima Ghumman, whose voice was the loudest. “I’m always in the city and never find, number one, a spot that’s open late and, number two, a spot that’s Pakistani,” she said.

Ghumman finally convinced her father to take the leap by coming up with the plan — and a pitch to run it. “The whole concept is just what I would want to see in Philly that hasn’t happened yet,” she said. “So let me just do it myself.”

In Philadelphia, chai is regularly found on restaurant menus — there’s masala chai at Amma’s South Indian Cuisine and Masala Kitchen in Center City. But across the country, there are chai spots that serve as “third places” — a term that describes social environments outside home and work, most commonly associated in the U.S. with Starbucks, thanks to its assiduous co-opting of the concept — for South Asian communities to gather while they drink tea and eat traditional snacks. “We all know that chai is a must,” Halima said. “It’s the one thing that every brown person can agree on.”

After visiting chai spots in Virginia, New Jersey, and Toronto, Ghumman’s father decided that “it’s a need in Philly” he wanted to fulfill.

Karak Cha House officially opened inside a renovated deck next to Kabobeesh in University City on Friday. Open until midnight — the Ghummans tentatively plan to extend the hours until 2 a.m. — guests can play board games, sip chai, and eat street food late into the night.

A pink neon sign with the words “chai & friends the perfect blend” welcomes visitors into the cafe. The walls are adorned with wood paneling, greenery, Urdu phrases (“loog kya kahengy,” which translates to “what will people say”) and handmade roti plates from Pakistan. There are hanging bamboo lights, colorful chairs, and a plush couch perfect for lounging in for hours. “It’s a mix of keeping it modern and not too desi-style, but it also has a lot Pakistan in there,” Ghumman said.

There are four kinds of chai (which just means “tea,” for the record) on the menu, all brewed with milk: masala (what most people in the U.S. think of as “chai,” with an aromatic blend of spices); doodh pathi (similar to masala chai, but brewed entirely in milk); Kashmiri (a pink-hued tea); and Peshawari qahwa (green tea with cardamom). The Kashmiri and Peshawari qahwa tea leaves are imported from Pakistan. Currently, all the drinks are made with cow’s milk, but the Ghummans hope to offer alternative milks in the future.

In addition to chai, Karak Cha offers a halal menu with a variety of classic and reinvented Pakistani street food dishes and plenty of board games, including Ludo, a popular Pakistani strategy game, to play as you dine.

Food-wise, there’s the “pappu burger,” inspired by the popular snacks often found on college campuses in Pakistan, which is filled with shami tikki (pressed beef kebabs), onions, and an egg, all slathered with sweet chutney.

You’ll also find katori chaat (chickpea salad topped with chutneys and herbs nestled in a fried samosa shell) and gol guppa (crispy puffed balls, made of flour or semolina, filled with spices, herbs, onions, chickpeas, and chutneys). Ghumman’s father will also serve freshly made jalebi (deep-fried batter twisted into pretzel or circular shapes then soaked in sugar syrup) with a recipe he brought back from his travels. “There is a very famous place in Lahore called Grato Jalebi, and the last time I went there, I requested their jalebi recipe,” he said. “They were so kind and gave me the recipe.”

Also inspired by fusion recipes Instagram and TikTok, Ghumman created a waffle dripping with sticky, sweet gulab jamun syrup topped with homemade kulfi ice cream and rose petals, as well as a milkshake that mimics the taste of meetha paan, a sweet, triangle-shaped betel leaf treat that’s often filled with rose jam, shaved coconut, candied fruit, and other aromatics.

“I’m trying to appeal to people like my dad and his generation and the older generations, but I’m also trying to bring in kids who are my age, maybe even younger,” she said.

📍4201 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104, 🌐 instagram.com/karakchahouse, 🕙 Monday to Sunday, 3 p.m. to midnight