BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Cover photo: Archana Reddy
Atlanta, GA, February 6, 2020: Well over 1000 people lined up at Sankranti, one of the premium Indian restaurants in Johns Creek area on January 19. The crowd had gathered to celebrate Sankranti, the Indian festival after which the restaurant is named.
The restaurant’s “Dress, Pose, Click and Win” contest invited guests to pose at the door or the idol of Lord Ganesha at the entrance, click a picture to post on the restaurant FB page to enter the contest and win first, second or third prizes. The winners were decided by maximum shares, likes and comments.
Kishore Tadikonda took home the first prize of $250. Ramya Raj won the second spot worth $175. Archana Reddy won third place and $125.
“In many ways, Sankranti is similar to Thanksgiving where families meet and celebrate the festival with sumptuous food, love and gratitude. The festival is a time for communal celebration for a bountiful harvest,” said owner Srinivas Nimmagadda.
“It took us two years to build the restaurant,” said Nimmagadda, adding that since its opening a year and half ago, the restaurant had come a long way, hosting many events on its sprawling 20,000 sq. ft property which houses three banquet halls, a two-story restaurant and a 4,000-square-foot kitchen with the ability to cater up to 10,000 people.
“This is the second Sankranti we are celebrating here at Sankranti and both times we have had at least 1000 people coming in for lunch. And since we introduced the contest inviting guests to wear traditional Indian clothes to pose and win, it has become more of a cultural center. Even the City of Johns Creek uses the restaurant for their official events and they want to recognize it as a cultural center,” said Nimmagadda.
“Sankranti brings back sweet memories from back home. We enjoyed the traditional décor and food served here today,” said Neelima Singh, Mrs. Bharat USA, runner up 2019.
“I enjoyed being here with my family and this is one of favorite Indian restaurants,” said Manvi Voleti Ms. Teen Bharat USA, both present at the venue.
“The selection for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian is very good. Sankranti catered at the AAPI convention and it was wonderful,” said Dr. Shailesh Gandhi, who said he had been a regular at the restaurant for over a year.
“We have a full-service elegant bar, and our ambience is quite unique to the north American continent. We happen to have one of the largest buffets in North America upstairs and the menu and service is unprecedented in our fine dining area during the evening. We specialize in our mixed sizzler platter, and our fish in the banana leaf. We have a massive vegetarian selection and an assortment of halal meats also,” said Aurang Nasiri, General Manager, Sankranti.