New Portuguese restaurant bringing spicy food to Granger
GRANGER, Ind.—A new Portuguese restaurant is bringing spicy chicken and veggie options to Granger!
Meha Zackariya’s family moved to the United States when she was 20 years old. She’s spent the last 14 years living in Granger. As a family, they always knew they wanted to do something with their love of foods from different cultures.
In May, Zackariya’s family signed a lease on what is now the new Port of Peri Peri location in Granger’s Heritage Square.
The family spent three months renovating the space into a restaurant they’d always envisioned.
“People who know us and come [to our] home, they know we feed them, so this was a good opportunity for us to branch out a little bit. We love hosting people,” Zackariya said.
On September 9, the restaurant held a soft opening and were excited by the response by the local community.
“We’ve had people walk by and come in, we’ve had people who had walked in because their friends ate here, Facebook, Instagram, everything,” Zackariya said.
The new location’s menu offers dishes like Peri Cassava fries and chicken wings, using African Bird’s Eye Chili, also known as Peri Peri.
“The Michiana area was ready for this. There are so many new restaurants, we absolutely have tried so many of them, we’ve enjoyed all of them, and we just wanted to bring a new fresh flavor to town,” Zackariya said.
In addition to serving vegetarian options like the Peri Peri Beyond Burger, the restaurant serves halal meat, which is meat that has been prepared as prescribed by the religion of Islam.
“It’s similar to how if somebody walks in and you have allergies, we try to make sure that your requirements are taken care of, in the same way that we take care of the requirements if you have any religious obligations,” Zackariya said.
The Port of Peri Peri is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. It’s located at 7130 Heritage Square Driver Suite 410.