Zareen opens fourth Bay Area restaurant

Zareen Khan has opened a fourth Bay Area location for her Pakistani-Indian restaurant chain, adding a downtown Sunnyvale outpost as the business continues an expansion that began with its Redwood City restaurant in 2020. Mercury News reported on June 1 that the new restaurant had opened after months of anticipation, and Hoodline said the site is at 135 S. Murphy Ave. in Sunnyvale. Zareen’s now lists locations in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City and Sunnyvale on its website. The company says its first restaurant opened in Mountain View in March 2014 and its second in Palo Alto in October 2016, before the Redwood City location followed at 2039 Broadway. ### Where is the new restaurant, and what does it add to the chain? (mercurynews.com) Sunnyvale is the newest stop in a Peninsula-focused footprint that has grown over more than a decade. Hoodline reported that the Murphy Avenue restaurant is serving signature menu items including samosas and kebabs. The restaurant’s opening extends a pattern of measured expansion rather than a one-time jump. (zareensrestaurant.com) Zareen’s own locations page shows the Redwood City restaurant at 2039 Broadway, confirming the chain’s growth beyond its original Mountain View and Palo Alto bases. ### How does this fit into Zareen Khan’s recent profile? Zareen Khan’s name has gained wider visibility this year through the James Beard Awards. (hoodline.com) The James Beard Foundation listed her among the 2026 semifinalists in the Best Chef: California category when it announced semifinalists on Jan. 21. March 31 brought the foundation’s finalist announcement, and Khan was not among the California chef nominees who advanced to the final round. (zareensrestaurant.com) The foundation said winners in the Restaurant and Chef Awards will be announced on June 15 in Chicago. ### What else has Zareen been doing outside the restaurants? (jamesbeard.org) Last year, Zareen Khan and her husband Umair Khan released a cookbook titled *Zareen’s Pakistani Kitchen: Recipes from a Well-Fed Childhood*. A Redwood City Pulse Q&A described the book as a collection built around family recipes and discussions of Pakistani food and women’s empowerment. (jamesbeard.org) Zareen’s homepage is also promoting the cookbook alongside the restaurant business, tying the book directly to the brand’s signature dishes. The site says readers can recreate items including chicken tikka masala from the book. ### How established is the restaurant group in the Bay Area? The company’s own history places Zareen’s start in 2014, when Khan launched the first restaurant in Mountain View. (rwcpulse.com) Its press page says Zareen and Umair Khan opened that first location in Mountain View in 2014 and built a following among Peninsula diners seeking homestyle South Asian food. (zareensrestaurant.com) The restaurant group has also highlighted Michelin recognition on its website. Zareen’s homepage and locations page describe the business as a Michelin Guide 2020 restaurant. ### What happens next? June 15 is the next named date tied to Khan’s awards-season profile. The James Beard Foundation says the 2026 Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony will be held that day at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where this year’s winners will be announced. (zareensrestaurant.com) (jamesbeard.org) (zareensrestaurant.com)