Even in the best of times, most restaurants operate on thin margins. Throw in all the challenges of 2025 and 2026 and no wonder so many in DC are struggling. One bright spot is Chai Pani, an Asheville, NC transplant that opened just north of Union Market last summer to both rave reviews and crowds. Unlike a lot of other out-of-towners–or a lot of restaurants, period–Chai Pani reached out to a local brewery for a collaboration beer of sorts. Say hello to Chai Pani Premium Lager.
The Chai Pani team first met the Right Proper crew last spring, at the 2025 iteration of New Kitchens on the Block at Mess Hall. RP poured Senate for the event, and Chai Pani found themselves at the next table, serving up Sloppy Jais, a lamb-based Indian take on the sloppy joe.
“They had our beers and loved them. They reached out to see if we could make a custom beer for them,” Right Proper’s Thor Cheston tells us. “We don’t have the capacity to do another custom beer; however I pitched them the idea of a white label and they were all for it.“ So yes, Chai Pani Premium Lager is Right Proper’s Heurich House and Lost Lagers collaboration beer, Senate pale lager. “Our crew loved the beer and how well it worked with the food, and it came together pretty organically from there,” adds Chai Pani’s Brandon Grogan.
There are plenty of area bars and restaurants with private label beers, though they’re draft only, kegged, for the most part. Before the craft boom hit inside the beltway, these beers came from Saranac, Fordham/Old Dominion, or Sam Adams, among other early craft breweries. metrobar’s metrobrau, The Harp’s house lager, and Cantina Bambina’s light lager all come from DC Brau, for example. They’re Tuk Tuk Rice Lager, Old Time Lager, and Old Time with lime, respectively. A pale adjunct lager will play just about anywhere, but dining at Chai Pani is a color-filled experience, and a beer can is a canvas in a way a keg is not.
We asked Grogan for pairing suggestions at Chai Pani. “A super cold, crispy lager is about as versatile as it gets, so it’s hard to go wrong pairing it with anything on the menu,” he writes. “That said, the combination of vada pav and bhel puri with the Chai Pani lager might be my favorite. Vada pavs are transcendent – they hit on a whole different level. Spicy, fried potato dumpling sandwiches just feel made for lagers. Add the bright, crunchy bhel puri alongside it and the whole thing really clicks.”
