“This is my pride,” said Ramakant Kharel, who opened Mt. Everest Restaurant on the 600 block of Church Street in the year 2000. “I don’t want to let it go.” Like most restaurateurs, Kharel is facing a dramatic loss of business since the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as huge increases in food and labor costs. The restaurant Viet Nom Nom, three doors away, closed in February. The Celtic Knot, two doors away, closed just two days ago. Kharel, born in Nepal, says. “There is no profit margin.” But he intends to hold on because of what his restaurant means. “It represents me,” he said. “It represents our culture. It represents our food and represents our identity and Nepal.” (Photo by Richard Cahan)
Richard Cahan
Richard Cahan takes photos for the Evanston RoundTable. He also is publisher of CityFiles Press, a small but mighty media company that believes in the power of words and pictures. You can reach him at... More by Richard Cahan
Mt. Everest is a gem–such good food. They’re open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner but closed for a couple of hours late afternoon. Once we discovered this restaurant, we stopped going down to Devon for Indian food.
Bring back the buffet!
So many people, (including me, my wife and friends,) would gather there during the week and on weekends and you will be doing the Indian culture and the community a wonderful service.
Many of us appreciate the buffet because we aren’t that familiar with the dishes to be able to comfortably order from the menu!
After the buffet closed, the only time that I went there was when I was with a visiting friend from India.
I so hope that you don’t close!!
I walk by this restaurant almost every day and it always looks closed. The Celtic Knot was similar. They may want to promote it better by improving signage.