RAJA MAJID
Restaurateur
RAJA MAJID
England-based restaurateur Raja Majid moved to Las Vegas in the fall of 2005. Unsatisfied by the level of Indian food available in his new city, he took matters into his own hands, and in April 2006, opened Origin India Restaurant and Bar. Drawing from the restaurant experience in England, he knew that Las Vegans had not yet been exposed to refined Indian cuisine, the likes of which is found throughout London and its suburbs. To him, a true Indian dining experience coupled mouth watering cuisine with attentive customer service, framed within a warm and inviting atmosphere.
A native of Kashmir, Raja moved to England as a boy to attend school and started working as a waiter at Passage to India, a restaurant in Berkshire, to help pay his tuition. At the age of 18, while attending a college that specialized in hospitality, he was offered an amazing opportunity to become a partner of Passage to India and his passion for the restaurant industry was born. Raja continued as a successful restaurateur and over the next 20 years opened several restaurants from Portugal to Philadelphia, though his most beloved restaurant was in London and featured Indian fine-dining. After years of good press and critical acclaim, Raja's London restaurant Origin Asia (a “Best in Britain” or BIBA award- winner) was invited to cater former Prime Minister Tony Blair's Annual Summer Garden Party, one of London’s social events of the year, and an event Raja would cater for the following seven years.
The businesses have helped numerous charitable organizations both in England and Las Vegas. In addition to raising funds, Raja’s restaurant in Wokingham (UK) was the first in the county to welcome guide dogs into the establishment, something that was not typically tolerated. He also helped raise awareness that business should play a part in the community by recruiting his staff to help clean the town’s graffiti which had become a problem. Carrying over this belief in his new home of Las Vegas, Raja is an active member for several charitable organizations, and in 2008, received “The Good Neighbor Award” from The Nevada Restaurant Association given to a restaurateur who goes above and beyond in support of community activism. Nevada Governor, Jim Gibbons was on hand at the ceremony to award Raja. “Raja is a prime example of the generosity and philanthropy Nevada restaurants exhibit every day of the year in their communities.”