Haldiram's first London restaurant draws long queues, viral video sparks discussion

Haldiram's London outlet.

The crowd, the excitement, the long queues... all for Haldiram's first outlet in London. ????

Safe to say, almost every desi had the same plan this weekend !

Indians visited : 100

Dahi consumed : 100000 pic.twitter.com/U5QIZPWDrS

— The Lie Lamaa ???? (@The_LieLamaa) July 13, 2026

Haldiram has opened it's first full service restaurant in London this June 2026 in the iconic Leicester square at 19- 20 Irving Street. pic.twitter.com/QJ7NslX6Mk

— puzzle (@puzzle_100) July 3, 2026

Haldiram's London outlet.

Haldiram's has recently opened its first restaurant in London, at 19-20 Irving Street, Leicester Square, and videos of long queues outside the outlet have gone viral on social media.The 3,000 sq ft restaurant seats 120 people, with an additional 20 heated outdoor seats, and opened in June 2026. It is Haldiram's first restaurant in the UK, though the brand's packaged snacks and sweets have long been sold in British supermarkets.Haldiram's has run a production facility in Southall, west London, since 2018, supplying the UK and Europe with Indian sweets.The London menu includes choley bhature, a chickpea curry served with fried bread, pao bhaji, a Mumbai-style vegetable curry, and raj kachori, a crisp shell filled with chaat. The site also has a retail section with a sweets counter and shelves of packaged Haldiram's products.In a viral video, dozens of people queuing outside the new outlet can be seen. A text overlay on the video says the opening became a shared weekend plan for Indians in London.The footage shows customers of different backgrounds waiting to enter, though many viewers linked the turnout to London's Indian community. Haldiram's responded to the video with a comment referencing Delhi and Leicester Square.The clip drew mixed comments. Some users were enthusiastic, asking for the chain to expand worldwide and recommending dishes such as khatta meetha. Others noted the irony of Indians, often seen as reluctant to queue, lining up patiently this time.Some comments were critical. A few questioned the quality and freshness of the food compared with other packaged or frozen products already sold in Indian stores, arguing the new outlet was therefore unnecessary.Others compared the length of the queue with that at a bakery in Gurgaon, or suggested the turnout said more about a lack of things to do in London than about the brand itself.Haldiram's was founded in 1937 as a dessert shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan, by Ganga Bhishen Agarwal. It has since grown into one of India's largest sweets, snacks and restaurant companies, with a presence in more than 80 countries and over 200 restaurants across north India, besides one in Dubai.Rhea Agarwal, a third-generation member of the founding family, is leading the brand's expansion into the UK and EU, and has called the London launch a step toward making Haldiram's a household name beyond India.