Restaurateur Narayan Ramjali’s is offering the culinary heritage of India, Nepal and Tibet in Steamboat Springs after opening the doors of Sherpa Spice at 1106 Lincoln Ave.

“Many of our dishes are Nepalese and Himalayas food,” Ramjali said. “We are different than other Indian restaurants because we got yak, because in Nepal, Sherpas love yak, which is like the Himalayan mountain cow.”

Ramjali, who owns two other restaurants — including one in Brighton and another in Denver — has been in the business since 2012. He said his Steamboat Springs location offers a unique menu featuring yak meat and various Himalayan dishes served in a mix of mild, medium and hot spice levels.

His plans to start a lunch buffet in mid-December that will include Indian, Tibetan, Nepalese and Chinese dishes. Sherpa Spice is currently open daily from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

“I’m very familiar with the restaurant business,” Ramjali said. “I was a server at the beginning, and then I went on to become a manager at a popular Indian restaurant.”

After that, Ramjali went on to open two of his own restaurants and said that Steamboat Springs will be in third location.

“I’m pretty familiar with the Steamboat area,” Ramjali said. “I just came here for visits, but I love this town, and it’s been great.”

The menu at Sherpa Spice includes a large selection of tandoori sizzling dishes including chicken, shrimp, salmon tandoori as well as a tandoor combination plate.

Customers will also enjoy lamb, paneer tikka and yak kebab. The new restaurant offers a section of Nepali food including chicken, vegetable and chili momos (dumplings) as well as a long list of vegetarian and non-vegetation entrees.

There is also a selection of appetizers including pakora, pani-puri and chicken wings and a variety of naan, an oven-baked flatbread that is a staple of Indian and Pakistani cuisine. The Sherpa specials section of the menu also includes sherpa stupa and yak chow mein.

He said the restaurant will continue to serve customers at its large sit-down bar, which will offer a selection of western adult beverages and has plans to add Indian beers in the future.

Sherpa Spice takes over the former location of the West End Sports Grill, which closed its doors in early November. The new owners are operating the business out of the kitchen and dining area but will not take over West End’s former pool room.

Ramjali said Sherpa Spice is focused on bringing authentic Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan flavors to the new location and is excited it will be offering its customers in Steamboat Springs a buffet option — hopefully before the ski season is in full swing.  He added that he and his staff are looking forward to serving customers for lunch and dinner.

“We are trying to put some typical Indian foods on our menu and buffet because we don’t have that many items in Nepal,” Ramjali said. “We wanted to give our customers more options so that’s why we are offering popular dishes from India, popular dishes from Nepal and then popular dishes from Tibet as well as some noodles items, and dumplings.”