Merzi, a fast-casual Indian restaurant, officially opens today at 415 7th Street NW in Penn Quarter — to celebrate, the restaurant will be offering free meals to those who come by between 11 a.m. and noon this morning. Self-defined by founder/owner Qaiser (Kaz) Kazmi as the “Chipotle of Indian food,” the restaurant serves a customizable plate of Indian food that will easily appeal to even the novice Indian food eater.

Much like Chipotle, you work your way down an assembly line that starts with a choice of rice, naan bread, chaat (a combination of chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, onions, peppers, and corn with spices) or salad. Then pick between chickpeas, black-eyed peas or onion-tomato-cucumber mix. For your heartier topping, you have a choice of beef, shrimp, lamb, chicken, chicken Tandisserie (a tandoori-style rotisserie chicken) or a combination of vegetables. Finally, you can select a mix of warm and cold sauces: hot tomato masala, medium tikka masala and mild makhani. The cold chutneys include a quite incendiary hot chutney with red chilies, a creamy medium chutney with green chilies, and a sweet and tangy mild tamarind chutney.