Zareen opens fourth Bay Area restaurant

Zareen Khan’s restaurant group has opened its fourth Bay Area location, adding a downtown Sunnyvale outpost as the Peninsula Pakistani-Indian chain continues to expand. The Mercury News reported on June 1 that Zareen’s had opened on Murphy Avenue after months of anticipation. (mercurynews.com) Khan was also listed by the James Beard Foundation as a 2026 semifinalist for Best Chef: California. The Beard Foundation said winners in its restaurant and chef awards will be announced June 15 in Chicago. ### Where is the new restaurant? The new Zareen’s is in downtown Sunnyvale on Murphy Avenue, the Mercury News reported. A separate local posting identified the address as 135 South Murphy Avenue, placing the restaurant in the city’s main dining corridor. (jamesbeard.org) Sunnyvale becomes the fourth Bay Area market for the brand. Zareen’s official locations page shows existing restaurants in Redwood City and other Peninsula cities, and the company’s materials describe the Sunnyvale opening as the latest addition to that footprint. ### How big is Zareen’s in the Bay Area now? (mercurynews.com) Four Bay Area restaurants now make up the chain, according to the Mercury News. The company says its first restaurant opened in Mountain View in March 2014, followed by a second in Palo Alto in October 2016. Zareen’s website says founder Zareen Khan started Curry Village Foods in 2011 after 12 years in corporate America, first through cooking classes and catering before moving into brick-and-mortar restaurants. (mercurynews.com) The company describes its food as contemporary Pakistani-Indian cuisine. ### Who is Zareen Khan? Zareen Khan is the chef and founder behind Zareen’s, according to the company’s website and outside coverage of the Sunnyvale opening. (zareensrestaurant.com) The business traces its roots to Khan’s family cooking traditions from Karachi, Bombay and Punjab, according to the company’s “About” page. The restaurant’s website says Khan built the business from catering into a regional chain serving the Peninsula. (mercurynews.com) The site also highlights Zareen’s as a Michelin Guide-recognized restaurant and promotes a cookbook released this year. ### What is the James Beard connection? The James Beard Foundation named Zareen Khan a 2026 semifinalist for Best Chef: California in its January 21 list of semifinalists. (zareensrestaurant.com) The Mercury News noted that distinction in its report on the Sunnyvale opening. The foundation later published its 2026 nominees and said the Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony is scheduled for June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (zareensrestaurant.com) Khan’s semifinalist status places the Sunnyvale opening in the middle of this year’s Beard awards cycle. ### What does the new location add for diners? (zareensrestaurant.com) The Mercury News described Zareen’s as a popular Pakistani-Indian chain on the Peninsula. Another account of the opening said the Sunnyvale restaurant brings the company’s established menu of samosas, kebabs and biryanis farther south along the Peninsula corridor. (jamesbeard.org) Zareen’s official site says the company built its following on dishes served first in Mountain View and later in Palo Alto and Redwood City. The Sunnyvale opening gives the brand a new downtown location as summer dining traffic picks up in the South Bay. (jamesbeard.org) ### What comes next? June 15 is the next clear date for Khan and the brand. The James Beard Foundation said it will announce the 2026 Restaurant and Chef Award winners that day in Chicago, while the new Sunnyvale restaurant is now open as Zareen’s fourth Bay Area location. (jamesbeard.org) (zareensrestaurant.com) (mercurynews.com)