So, how many restaurants does Maneet Chauhan own?
As of 2026, the James Beard Award-winning chef and Chopped judge actively co-owns three restaurants: two in Nashville and one inside Walt Disney World, plus three craft beverage ventures in Tennessee.
At her peak, she ran five dining concepts under Morph Hospitality Group, the company she co-founded in 2016 with her husband Vivek Deora.
Maneet Chauhan's Current Restaurant Portfolio at a Glance
| Restaurant | Location | Concept | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chauhan Ale & Masala House | Nashville, TN | Indian fusion gastropub | ✅ Open since 2014 |
| The Mockingbird | Nashville, TN | Global comfort food diner | ✅ Open since 2017 |
| Eet by Maneet Chauhan | Disney Springs, FL | Fast-casual Indian fusion | ✅ Open since Dec 2023 |
| Tànsuŏ | Nashville, TN | Contemporary Chinese | ❌ Closed Jan 2024 |
| Chaatable | Nashville, TN | Indian street food | ❌ Closed Aug 2022 |
| Mantra Artisan Ales | Franklin, TN | Spiced craft brewery | ✅ Operating |
| Steel Barrel Brewery | Murfreesboro, TN | Craft brewery & taproom | ✅ Operating |
| Hop Springs Beer Park | Murfreesboro, TN | 84-acre brewery & beer park | ✅ Open |
Chauhan Ale & Masala House: The Nashville Restaurant That Started It All
Chauhan's flagship opened in 2014 inside a refurbished brick garage in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood and she went into labor with her son prematurely on the very same day it launched.
The 150-seat modern Indian gastropub was unlike anything Nashville had seen: hot chicken pakoras, garam masala ribs, and a craft beer program built specifically to complement Indian spices.
It's been Nashville's most acclaimed Indian restaurant for over a decade and remains the heart of the Morph Hospitality empire. If you're only eating at one Chauhan restaurant, this is the one.
The Mockingbird: Chauhan's Most Unexpected Nashville Hit
Opened in 2017, The Mockingbird is a whimsical global diner co-created with chefs Brian Riggenbach and Mikey Corona and it has absolutely nothing to do with Indian food.
Poutine, empanadas, boozy milkshakes, and retro-chic décor are the vibe here.
It's survived everything from a pandemic to the closure of two neighboring Morph concepts, which says plenty about how well it resonates with Nashville diners.
Eet by Maneet Chauhan: Her First Restaurant Outside Tennessee
In December 2023, Chauhan opened her first-ever out-of-state restaurant inside Disney Springs Marketplace in Florida - a bold fast-casual concept built around accessible Indian-fusion.
Chauhan has already hinted at a second Eet location, with Chicago and Atlanta in consideration, pointing to this as her growth model going forward.
It's proof that fast-casual Indian food at Disney Springs isn't just a novelty — it's a blueprint.
The Closed Concepts: What Happened to Tànsuŏ and Chaatable?
Tànsuŏ was Nashville's first upscale Chinese restaurant (opened 2017) and ran for six impressive years before Morph Hospitality declined to renew the lease in January 2024, citing a sustained post-pandemic drop in traffic.
Chaatable, the beloved Indian street food spot in Sylvan Park, closed in August 2022 under cloudier circumstances, coinciding with a staff unionization effort.
Both closures are a reminder that even critically lauded restaurants face brutal real-world economics, a reality well-known to anyone working in hospitality operations.
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Craft Beer Ventures: Maneet Chauhan's Under-the-Radar Empire
Beyond her restaurants, Chauhan co-owns three brewing ventures in Tennessee through:
- Life is Brewing — Mantra Artisan Ales in Franklin, Steel Barrel Brewery,
- and the flagship Hop Springs Beer Park in Murfreesboro.
The whole project was born from a frustration: most people pair Indian food with something sweet to "tame the spice," but Chauhan believed the answer was beer brewed with complementary flavors - cardamom IPAs, chai porters, saffron ales.
The Stats Behind Maneet Chauhan's Career
She appeared in over 150 episodes of Chopped and is the only two-time winner of Tournament of Champions, taking home $150,000 in 2024 after defeating 31 of the country's top Chefs.
She also holds a 2012 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award (one of the most prestigious recognitions in food television) and was invited to cook at the White House Easter Egg Roll by Michelle Obama in 2014.
Why Maneet Chauhan's Restaurant Model Is Worth Watching
At a time when Celebrity Chef restaurants often collapse without the owner's daily presence, Chauhan's model has shown real staying power.
She was the only Indian female ever to compete on The Next Iron Chef, and built a five-concept hospitality group in a city with zero Indian fine dining when she arrived.
For anyone working in or entering the restaurant industry, her career arc is a compelling case study in how culinary identity, media exposure, and business instinct can compound into something genuinely lasting.
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