Kathmandu has been serving homemade Nepalese and Indian cuisine in Nederland since 1999. Resham Gurung and her husband, Lok Malla, own and operate the local favorite. Kathmandu Restaurant brings award-winning authentic Himalayan cuisine to Colorado, according to the website.
The restaurant was so successful that a second location was opened in Boulder in 2015, managed by her husband Lok Malla. The restaurants are family owned and operated, and meals are prepared from the finest ingredients.
Gurung came to Colorado from Nepal, and in 1989, she was sponsored to stay in the United States for three years, but she had to find a job by herself. Her first job was at the Wondervu Café in 1993. She was on the way to Boulder on the bus when they stopped at the Wondervu Bus Stop. She was 23 years old at the time.
The café said they just needed bussers. She said she didn’t drive at night, and the manager said she would take care of her. The first day she received a payment, and the money was important to her.
“I was so proud,” she said. She saved some money, and then met a Nepali girl who said Gurung had some paperwork to do. She found a lawyer and got a work permit.
She found a new sponsor, Margaret Wyss, who lived in Pinecliffe. Wyss was like a mother to her, Gurung said, and she lived with her for three years. They would go south in the winter. Then, Wyss re-married, and Gurung was by herself. She would go to the Boulder Public Library.
She would continue to find work cleaning houses, working at laundromats and cooking for private parties. She decided to start a restaurant and looked at the site across from the Visitors Center on 119 where the Blue Moon is located.
The restaurant went well. They were at the location for five years before the building on Jefferson Street became available.
The building at 110 Jefferson Street underwent renovations in June 2020.
During construction, the restaurant served takeout at 95 East First Street with some outdoor seating.
Gurung said the building construction was expected to take four to six months. The building has a flat roof, and the water was leaking. They also worked on the foundation.
They wanted to put an apartment on top, and they applied for a permit. After renovation, Kathmandu moved back to the Jefferson Street location.
Gurung said this restaurant is different from others in the area because there is no one other like it, and the Boulder location has been doing well. She has eight employees and the business is growing.
She said thank you to the people of the area. “We can’t grow without local support,” she said.
Kathmandu Restaurant is located at 110 N. Jefferson Street in Nederland. The phone number is 303-258-1169. The website is at https://kathmandurestaurant.us/ nederland/. Facebook is Kathmandu Restaurant.
The Boulder restaurant is located at 1964 28th Street, Boulder, 80301 and can be reached at 303-442- 6868.
Sponsored by the town of Nederland, with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
