The Happy Tummy has secured a permanent indoor space in downtown Yellowknife to keep running throughout the winter.
The restaurant, at 5125 51 Street, had its soft opening on Tuesday and is now offering dine-in, takeout and delivery. The venue was previously occupied by Te Adoro Café and Bar.
Owner Palak Sharma, who has been living in Yellowknife for two years, began exploring ideas to start a food business this summer. She considered setting up a tent at the farmers’ market but eventually launched a food truck at the end of May.
Sharma flew to Calgary to design the truck and drove it back to Yellowknife with her husband. The truck operated outside the downtown Greenstone Building until October.
“It was a success,” she told Cabin Radio.
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“We initially were surprised by the crowd that was coming in to try our food. The smash burgers were a big hit and people still ask about them here. Things lined up slowly but surely.”
Sharma said on average, the food truck received about 150 orders a day. During the weekly farmers’ market, parked on the event’s periphery, that would go up to 300.
She said the plan was to keep it going during the winter months but while the team invested in winterizing the vehicle, that was a difficult task to accomplish.
Still, there are no intentions to sell the truck and it will likely make a comeback next summer at the same location, she added, or for catering and local events.
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As winter set in, Sharma said she started looking for a space to reopen “because people love our burgers.”
“We explored a few places but when we moved here, we liked the atmosphere,” she said of the former Te Adoro space. “The kitchen was huge. We thought this might be The Happy Tummy space.”
Sharma said her team, with five staff members including herself, painted the walls baby blue – like the food truck – and filled the room with Christmas decor, all in 20 days.
She said she had experience painting her own house, which made it easier to take on that task.
She now hopes to grow the business in the new spot.
“We’ll put in our effort and finger crossed that this will be a success, too,” she said.
“We’re just going with the flow. I really want Happy Tummy to go on for the next 10 or 20 years, maybe even 30.”
