Oct 11, 2025

The Story of Olympia Masala: A Parkville Favorite That Grew With the Community

A Restaurant That Became Part of the Neighborhood

Some restaurants open quietly, serve a few good meals, and eventually people forget they were ever there. Then there are places like Olympia Masala, which settle into a neighborhood and slowly weave themselves into everyday life. For more than twenty years, Olympia Masala has been that spot inside the Parkville Shopping Center, the place people stop by after work, the place families meet up, the place students grab lunch when they’re tight on time, the place locals recommend without even thinking twice. Part of that is the food, of course. But a bigger part is the story behind it, a story built on long hours, community ties, and owners who believed from the start that a restaurant should feel like a friendly stop, not just a business.

Harry and Ashu: The Heart of the Place

If you’ve lived in Parkville long enough, chances are you recognize Harry or Ashu Kumar. They aren’t the type of owners who sit in an office all day. You see them walking around the dining area, chatting with customers, dropping by local events, or cheering on a little league team they helped sponsor. Not because someone told them to, but because they genuinely care. Their involvement over the years hasn’t just been for show, they’ve supported school groups, neighborhood programs, local teams, and area festivals. People notice when a business does more than serve food. Olympia Masala built relationships the way good neighbors do: slowly, honestly, consistently. That’s why the restaurant feels familiar, even to newcomers. The owners created the kind of space where people don’t hesitate to stop in, whether they’re hungry, in a rush, or just needing a place that feels welcoming.

A Menu Built From Many Cultures, Many Tastes

What makes Olympia Masala different from most places is how wide the menu stretches without losing focus. You can walk in wanting a pizza, and the fresh-dough options make that choice easy. But then you notice the subs. Then the Indian dishes. Then the Greek plates. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, the menu keeps going. It doesn’t feel confusing. It feels like a place built for families where every person wants something a little different. The kid might ask for wings. Someone else might crave a cheesesteak sub. Another might be in the mood for Chicken Tikka Masala. Nobody argues because everything is there, and everything is treated with equal care. That mix of American, Italian, Indian, and Greek cuisine could easily feel chaotic somewhere else. Here, it feels natural. It feels like it grew exactly the way the Parkville community grew, diverse, friendly, and full of different tastes living side by side.

Breakfast to Dinner, Seven Days a Week

A lot of places close early or take days off that don’t fit people’s schedules. Olympia Masala doesn’t. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day. That reliability means something, especially for people who work long or inconsistent hours. The weekend brunch adds a different layer, a mix of comforting breakfast favorites and dishes with a cultural twist. Families come in after sports games. Couples wander in slowly and take their time. You see people chatting over hot plates and steaming cups of coffee in a setting that feels relaxed rather than rushed.

The Kumars have always taken pride in the quality of ingredients, especially with items like their fresh-dough pizzas or the Indian dishes that require slow cooking and attention to flavor. They never went down the route of cutting corners or simplifying recipes to save time.