PARKERSBURG -Despite the recent closure of its restaurant in Parkersburg, demand for the Star of India's food keeps on trucking.
When the Star of India restaurant closed late last fall, manager Avtar Singh said demand from customers remained.
"Since we closed out the business, people kept calling us," he said. "They need the food, so we made plans for the food truck."
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Photo by Jolene Craig
The Star of India food truck started operations this week, shuttling between City Park and Bicentennial Park. When the Star of India restaurant in Parkersburg closed late last fall, manager Avtar Singh said demand from customers remained.
To meet demand, restaurant officials rolled out the Star of India food truck.
The truck started operations last week, shuttling between City Park and Bicentennial Park.
Singh said the truck has a full complement of food similar to the former restaurant's menu: chicken, lamb, shrimp, fish and vegetarian meals.
The Star of India restaurant, owned by Amar Jit, who also owns and operates a location in Athens, opened in 2007. It closed last fall when Singh said they were unable to get enough help to maintain operations.
Singh said the Star's cuisine remained popular in the area.
The truck is in operation six days a week, Monday through Friday, splitting time between Bicentennial Park from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and City Park from 5 p.m.- 9 p.m.. On Saturdays the truck operates only at City Park.
Singh said since opening last week, customers are slowly coming to them. They hope to see a much larger crowd when the city's Downtown Farmers' Market opens May 11. The Star of India will join Napoli's and Blacksmith Barbecue as vendors at this season's market.
"They will make a nice addition," said Rickie Yeager, city planning administrator.
Yeager said officials are hoping to add additional hot and prepared food vendors to the marketplace.
"It draws people to the market."
Singh said for now the plan is to continue to operate the truck between the two locations in Parkersburg. They may make an occasional shuttle to Marietta.
The Star of India has a Facebook site, and Singh said any changes to the truck's route will be posted on the Facebook site in advance.
