NY flavor can’t stop Fresno restaurant closure after 4 months. Road work took toll
A Fresno restaurant that received numerous positive reviews online and even won a monthly award as the “#1 Fast Food Restaurant” in town has suddenly closed.
Big Apple Platters NYC, a restaurant inside a 76 gas station that served New York City street cart-type foods, has shut down for good just four months after opening.
Owner Shaan “Sunny” Singh said lengthy street construction along Herndon Avenue just west of North Riverside Drive in northwest Fresno caused two frequently used entryways into the 76 gas station to be closed off.
He added that Uber Eats and Door Dash removed his restaurant as an online option because of the difficulty for drivers to get to it (one of three entryways to the gas station remained open during road construction).
And with little to no foot traffic into the gas station, Big Apple Platters NYC didn’t attract customers for nearly two weeks.
“It hurts,” Singh said. “We were doing really well. Unfortunately, we had some very heavy construction around here. It cost me almost two weeks without a single sale — without a single dollar coming in.
“I ended up throwing out a lot of inventory during those two weeks. With no new inventory to make food to sell, and funds dried up, and the banks aren’t issuing loans, unfortunately, I will be joining the majority of people forced to shut down their restaurant.”
Singh, 28, said he’d exhausted all other options, including asking family and friends for money to help him stay afloat, before making the decision to permanently close. He said he had just bought out his mother and cousin to become sole owner of Big Apple Platters NYC a couple of months back.
Big Apple Platters NYC opened in January.
Closure, curiosity
Construction signs still were on display on Herndon Avenue near the 76 gas station/Zippy Mart that housed Big Apple Platters NYC. But the entryways to the gas station now were open.
Inside, a large television screen hung up high that typically would display the Big Apple Platters NYC menu had been turned off. Tables and chairs had been stacked on top of each other and pushed up along a window.
A different sign suction-cupped on a glass window, which allowed customers to watch their food being made, stated the place was closed.
But once Singh turned on the television screen to showcase the Big Apple Platters NYC menu, it didn’t take long for folks who had gone inside the gas station to walk toward Singh’s food kiosk area and check out the menu.
“Oh, I’m sorry Miss, I’m closed,” Singh told a woman who was examining the menu.
“Oh really,” the potential patron said. “Menu looks interesting.”
Signh’s idea behind opening Big Apple Platters NYC was to bring a bit of the East Coast to the West Coast.
He served halal street food, such as lamb gyros, falafel over rice and masala fries — things Singh said he often ate while growing up in Brooklyn.
“I thought: Let’s bring something new and fresh to Fresno,” Singh said. “How you guys all have taco trucks here, we have halal carts at every corner in New York.”
New York style
The food wasn’t the only element that exuded East Coast vibes.
Singh speaks with a heavy New York accent, and he brings that unbashful confidence often associated with New Yorkers.
He has legitimate reason to be proud of his food.
Among the 29 Google reviews posted online, 27 posts rated Big Apple Platters NYC as 5 star.
However, there were two others were 1 star, including one in which a reviewer provided a detailed account for their dissatisfaction. While most businesses might read such feedback and stay quiet, Singh had no problem providing feedback of his own at the reviewer.
Singh said the New York attitude and quick tongue response isn’t an act.
But a product of being raised in New York City as an Indian American in a post-9/11 environment in which racism occurred against those who looked somewhat Middle Eastern.
Singh said he got bullied growing up.
“Do you know what it’s like when you’re a little kid and people say your family are terrorists,” Singh said.
But Singh eventually learned how to stand up for himself by embracing his family’s culture, as well as a New York City mindset that required toughness and tenacity and some talent. Singh said he speaks six languages and has visited 76 countries.
“I got pride and I got ego for days,” Singh said. “No matter what you throw at me, I am prideful, and I am egotistical beyond imagination. I love that for myself because nothing can knock me down.”
Singh’s toughness, however, is being tested to a whole other level with Big Apple Platters NYC closing despite its early success.
In March, BusinessRate officially recognized Big Apple Platters NYC as being the No. 1 fast food restaurant in Fresno for the month.
Singh said he will work to find funding to open Big Apple Platters NYC again at some point down the line.
“I thank everyone for their love and support,” Singh said. “But I’m from New York. I ain’t going nowhere. ... I will open up again. I promise youse that.”
