New Indian Restaurant Opening In McAllister Place Food Court – Huddle

New Indian Restaurant Opening In McAllister Place Food Court – Huddle

SAINT JOHN — When Shabahat Shakeel first moved to the Port City in 2013, he quickly realized there wasn’t a place for him to buy food from his home country of India. He’s getting to change that with the opening of Delhi Street, a new Indian restaurant in McAllister Place.

“I had something in my mind that I should do something, but I got started with my job and there was a lot going on, so I could not pay attention to it,” said Shakeel.

In more recent years, Shakeel began working with his business partners, Anas Tavrez and Guljar Ahmed, to make the restaurant a reality. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit New Brunswick, those conversations took a brief pause.

Now that the province is slowly edging towards the green phase of recovery, Shakeel said there’s no better time to start.

“We have a pretty good circle here in Saint John, and we did some research and we found that this is something that the community in Saint John needs,” said Shakeel.

“In the last couple of years, I have noticed there was an influx in the number of new immigrants, so this is was an indication for me that maybe now’s the time.”

Shakeel said his initial plan was to offer dine-in service only, but he, Tavrez and Ahmed came up with a business plan to work out of a smaller space like McAllister Place. Being in the food court helps keep costs low while still providing dine-in service, in addition to delivery and takeout.

Saint Johners can expect authentic Indian street food and more traditional flavours like curry, butter chicken and homemade naan bread. There will also be vegan and vegetarian options available.

In addition, Shakeel wants to make food that is “100 percent Halal,” which is an Islamic practice of preparing meat. Shakeel says it’s a process that is less painful for the animal and results in a more tenderized meat.

“[With this], we can attract that extra population who are always wanting to try this kind of food, but they could never find out all options,” said Shakeel.

For Shakeel, the opening of this restaurant is a dream come true because he’s always wanted to run his own business. It’s another reason why it has taken him and his partners a bit longer to open because they wanted to educate themselves further about going into business.

But while he’s excited for his work to culminate together to an opening, expected around the first week of July, he admits he’s a little nervous.

“But nervousness is good, that will help [keep me] on my toes because we are ready to work hard,” said Shakeel. “We will give our best and then the rest we will leave for the customers.”

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Aaron Sousa is a summer intern for Huddle. Send him story suggestions: [email protected].

Published at Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:54:11 +0000