The merit of the invention of the rustic and delicious Vada Pav belongs to Ashok Vaidya. In the 1960s, Balasaheb Thackeray called on Maharashtrians to become entrepreneurs like the South Indians, opening restaurants in Udupi.
This inspired Vaidya to set up a stall opposite Dadar station (1966), which was frequented daily by hundreds and thousands of workers heading to textile mills in suburban areas like Parel and Worli. He began selling Vada and Poha alongside a stall that sold Omelet Pav.
Once, he experimented by placing a Vada inside the Pav along with a bit of chutney to add more flavor. The result of that experiment—the Vada Pav—became an instant success in no time.
In the 1990s, the American fast-food chain McDonald's arrived in India and expanded rapidly. However, it could not match Maharashtra’s obsession with Vada Pav. This was mainly because McDonald's hamburgers are made according to a standard recipe and with various equipment. This mechanization causes all burgers to taste the same.
However, this is not the case with Vada Pav. Almost all vendors boast of secret recipes and ingredients that make their Vada Pav unique. In a country like India, with its multitude of cultures, this is exactly what Indians desire. They want diverse flavors to satisfy different taste buds, and McDonald's did not achieve this at the time.
