Masala Dosa On Wheels [Banana Leaf In Newport]

It was only a few months back, that I was chatting with my friend Sri about the competitive advantage of Raaz, the only Indian restaurant in Newport/Pavonia, NJ — big market (hundreds of Indians live in the area), good foot traffic (lots of office and residential buildings) and light competition (only Indian restaurant, and a handful of other restaurants within walking distance). Well, that has changed very quickly (sort of).

There’s a new Indian take-out place in the area. it’s called the “Banana Leaf”, and its run by 3 brothers originally from Tamil Nadu, India. It’s basically a converted van, looks likey an ice cream van except it has a stove and a dosa pan. While this is not the first mobile van in the area that sells Indian food, there’s another one called “Taste of India”, the Banana Leaf has quickly become popular. There were only a handful of people the first couple days, but more recently people have been queuing outside the van waiting for 15-20 mins for their food order. Banana Leaf sells variety of dosas, rolls and curries, and they’re parked in Newport by the PATH station every evening from 6PM to 10PM.

It’s an ingenious idea – low investment, very low fixed cost, mobile (not constrained by location). I’m not quite sure if they have to pay taxes or a parking fee. They don’t have a fixed parking spot, so my guess would be they don’t pay anything. I’m still waiting for a slow day so I can talk to the Banana Leaf owners and find out more. Know more about the owners and/or the mobile van business? Feel free to share in the comments section.