Biz Bits: The Mango Tree off to ‘amazing’ start in Lewiston, staff says

The fragrance of spices like fennel, cinnamon and coriander mingling with the aroma of freshly baked bread greets customers at the entrance of The Mango Tree in Lewiston.

The seasonings give authentic Indian flavor to entrees such as butter chicken curry, coconut cream chicken and tikka masala, a tomato curry, said Hillary Yarno, an operations partner for The Mango Tree.

The restaurant makes almost all of its dishes with original in-house recipes, including more than half a dozen kinds of naan, a traditional Indian flatbread, she said.

Customers can order everything based on how hot and spicy they like their food, using a scale of one to five, Yarno said.

The Mango Tree has a limited but growing selection of canned cocktails, wine and beer, including some from India, to complement the food, she said.

Lewiston’s location of The Mango Tree is the sixth in the United States for the chain, which debuted in 2018 in Coeur d’Alene, Yarno said.

The Coeur d’Alene restaurant has since been joined by three in Spokane and one in the Spokane Valley. They are an extension of The Indian Kitchen, which was founded in Canada in 2015 and has four locations there, she said.

All of them are owned by Rakesh Kaushal, who was raised in Punjab, India.

The restaurant’s arrival in Lewiston is part of the success it experienced in Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane area, said Yarno, whose mother-in-law, Cindy Yarno, is a teacher at Clarkston High School.

It was seeking to expand in communities where its menu would offer cuisine not readily available in their areas, Yarno said.

Lewiston fit that criteria, and had a “gorgeous” space in downtown Lewiston that was recently renovated but empty after the closure of Tapped, she said.

Tapped’s original Moscow location remains open.

So far business at The Mango Tree in Lewiston is exceeding expectations and the customers have been gracious, Yarno said.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “We couldn’t be happier.”

The Mango Tree is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s at 524 Main St., across the street from Brackenbury Square.

Lewiston isn’t the only place The Mango Tree is expanding. A Sandpoint location is scheduled to open in March.