Himalayan restaurant partners with Groupon, social media

A couple of tech guys started the Himalayan Restaurant & Bar in Bloomingdale, Gurnee and Niles and now heavily use social media to offer discounts and get the word out about their food.

But it was their relationship with Groupon.com as well as a TV commercial that probably caught the nation's eye.

Himalayan Restaurant was featured in the Groupon commercial that became controversial after it aired during the Super Bowl in February. A wave of criticism hit Groupon for reportedly making light of the oppressed people of Tibet. In the ad, actor Timothy Hutton talked about the problems of Tibet, but said they still whip up an amazing fish curry.

So, why do something that was viewed as negative? Well, restaurant co-owner Kiran Byanjankar didn't think it was a problem.

“We took it as an opportunity to be on TV and since Groupon is huge (with its million subscribers) we thought it would be a good exposure of our business,” said Byanjankar. “We were also told by Groupon that a certain amount of their fund will go toward educating the people about the struggle of the Tibetan people against China's aggression. We didn't know that it was going to be part of the Super Bowl.”

Still, the restaurant got a mix of feedback from its new and existing customers.

“Some were negative that we chose to be part of this insensitive advertisement while others were pretty supportive due to the fact that the advertisement highlighted the plight of the Tibetan people and their struggle,” said Byanjankar.

Byanjankar, of Skokie, and his friend Vivek Raj Kunwar, of Glenview, were in the technology industry, but loved Indian and Nepali food so much they decided to go into business together. They opened the Himalayan Restaurant in Niles in 2003, and others in Bloomingdale and Gurnee followed.

Following the Groupon commercial, the restaurant has become busier than usual. But they also attribute the growing interest to their activity in social media.

The restaurant has continued to offer deals on Groupon and Living Social. The owners also entice customers with discounted perks if they keep up with the restaurant online via Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

They use the sites to provide information about the restaurant, the food, the history behind that food, and about the people behind the food. They also revamped their website, www.himalayanrestaurant.com, Byanjankar said.

“We try to be different,” Byanjankar said about the website. “And we focus more on content.”

Surfing: With all the hubbub last week about Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility getting bought out by Google, you probably didn't hear much about its latest smartphone, called DefyT+. It's water- and scratch-resistant and dust proof. It will launch this fall in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Until completion of the transaction, Motorola Mobility will continue to operate as an independent company with the same leadership and priorities, said Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson.

“We have an action-packed launch schedule planned for the second half of 2011,” said Erickson. “Executing on our plans, meeting our commitments and managing our costs will be critical to continuing our momentum in the second half of the year and beyond.”

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