Ganesh Indian Cuisine

Address: 145 Fort Union Boulevard, Suite 204

Telephone: 801-569-3800

Website: ganeshindian.com

District: Midvale

 

“My dad has a very helping nature. He is always telling us, ‘The point is not for someone to show it back to us. It is always doing what we can for others.’ That is what we learn from him - to always give and never expect.” For Ramu Lakireddy, owner of Ganesh Indian Cuisine, those words from his daughter Nithya say as much about the man as they do about the restaurant he has built. Sitting beside her fourteen-year-old brother, Pranav, she helped translate and fill in pieces of their father’s story, not only because his accented English can sometimes be difficult to understand, but because both children wanted his journey to be clearly comprehended and appreciated. Their pride in him filled the room.

Ramu grew up in a small town in Andhra Pradesh, in South India, where his family spoke Telugu and life was not easy. “We were in a very poor family,” Ramu said. He was one of five brothers, and although there was not much money or formal education, there was hard work, family, and food. Ramu went to school only through the tenth grade before he began working to help support the household. His mother was a wonderful cook, and in the home where he grew up, the food was bold, spicy, and full of the flavors he would later carry with him across the world.

At eighteen years old, Ramu came to the United States through a family friend who owned restaurants and other businesses in California. “I did not  begin as a chef,” he said. “First it was dishwashing, then learning to be a waiter, and slowly cooking.” He spent years in Berkeley and other places, working hard, learning every part of the restaurant business, and building the foundation for a life he could not have imagined as a boy in India.

When Ramu was twenty-one, he returned to India to marry Vijaya, known lovingly as Mani. Their marriage was arranged through their families, as was common at the time, but what followed was anything but simple. Because of visa issues, Mani was not able to join him in the States for seven years. “They struggled with staying far apart,” Nithya explained. “My mom was back in India and he was here. They were newly married, and they never got to spend time together. That was very hard for both of them.”

During those years, Ramu kept working. He moved from California to Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis, Phoenix, and eventually Utah, always in Indian restaurants, often helping friends or people from his village open new places. “Whenever my friends opened a new restaurant, they contacted me. They gave me an offer, and I would go there and open, set up the restaurant, and train.”

Mani finally received her visa approval on September 11, 2001, and arrived in Memphis shortly afterward. After so many years apart, husband and wife were finally able to begin their life together. Their daughter, Nithya, was born in Phoenix in 2002, and their son, Pranav, was born eight years later in Utah.

Ramu arrived in Salt Lake City in 2005 to help open and train staff at an Indian restaurant. By 2007, he had opened Ganesh Indian Cuisine in Midvale, near Its present location. It was his first restaurant in Utah, and although there had been an earlier attempt in Phoenix, this was the beginning of the Ganesh story that continues today. “At that time, there were not many Indian restaurants,” Ramu remembered. “We had five years doing well. We really enjoyed it, especially the good people. The community helped and supported us a lot. We were so happy and thankful.”

From the beginning, Ganesh was a family effort. Mani helped in the kitchen and in the dining room,  supporting Ramu in every way she could. “She was actually the main part,” Nithya said. “When they first started, she helped quite a bit. She used to do some of the cooking and help outside waitressing." Ramu added, “Otherwise, I could never have grown." Then he smiled and said, “She is the boss actually.”

Over time, Ganesh expanded. There is the Midvale restaurant, an American Fork location operated with family, a Park City location, Ganesh Express in Lehi, and even a Portland, Oregon restaurant connected through friends and partners. But the Midvale location remains the heart of Ramu’s story. During the Covid years, he pursued a long-held dream of building his own space. The previous Midvale restaurant had been rented, but Ramu wanted something permanent, something of his own. 

The name Ganesh comes from the Indian god of wisdom and knowledge. For Ramu’s family, that meaning seems fitting. His life has been one of learning by doing - washing dishes, waiting tables, cooking, training others, opening restaurants, building a center, supporting relatives, and quietly helping people who come to him for advice.

The current Ganesh Center in Midvale was built from the ground up and opened in 2021. Inside is Ganesh Indian Cuisine. Attached to it is an Indian grocery store and market filled with rice, spices, snacks, teas, frozen foods, packaged goods, and other products used by Indian families and curious cooks alike. The market had originally been rented to others, but eventually Ramu and his family took it over. Fresh vegetables arrive every Tuesday and Friday, and the store offers delivery for larger orders. 

For diners, Ganesh offers Indian food from many parts of the country, with beloved dishes such as tikka masala, butter chicken, chicken coconut korma, naan, dosa, and weekend buffet specials. Ramu also does extensive catering and has upstairs party rooms for celebrations, many for the Indian community, but open to anyone. Today, Ramu's sister-in-law helps lead the kitchen, and he still steps in for special dishes and big catering events.

Many customers have followed the family from the original Midvale location to the new building. Some remember Nithya as a little girl in the restaurant. With a big grin on his face, Ramu says, “So many customers come here and ask, ‘You are that same little girl?’

Nithya laughed as she listened. Now twenty-three, she has finished her bachelor’s degree and is working toward a master’s in information systems at the University of Utah. She helps when needed but is also building her own path. Pranav, meanwhile, already has his own relationship with food. He enjoys experimenting in the kitchen at home and dreams. “I do want to have my own thing,” Pranav said, “but along with my own thing, I want to make the restaurant better.” His sister jumped in with the tenderness of someone who knows exactly what her brother means. “He wants to develop and advance this more.”

Pranav’s dream is big: a Michelin star one day. But even in imagining that future, he is clear where the credit belongs. “It is going to stay under my dad’s name,” he said. “I will never take credit. He has worked hard. If it ever does get a Michelin star, I would say, ‘My chef, my dad.’ Then hang a big picture of him.”

Nithya knows her father would not say these things about himself. So, she said them for him. “People back then, from his area in India, it was very hard for them to dream, especially the dream of coming to the U.S. It is very rare for people to come here and achieve this much. Considering his studies and his background, I think he has done a lot, and he has made it so far. He has built this big of an empire all by himself. That just shows his passion. Something that not very many people do or can do.”

Ramu listened as his children spoke, humble and quiet. His story is one of ambition, but even more than that, it is one of patience - waiting seven years for his wife, moving from state to state, and building slowly, but most importantly he was staying true to himself. “My dad always says, no matter how badly someone treats you, just be nice,” Nithya said. “To get angry or be rude does not get you anywhere. That is what he has taught us. My brother and I try to show kindness as our first thing.”

For Ramu, Ganesh Indian Cuisine is food, family, work, and welcome. It is the restaurant he built, the market he added, the community that supported him, and the children who now carry his lessons forward. “My dad has worked hard,” Pranav said, and we are incredibly proud of him."