COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLYHAUNIS - WESTERN PEOPLE (JANUARY 28 EDITION)
A new Indian restaurant set to open on Main Street will bring a “unique” offering to Ballyhaunis.
Zameer Abbas, who also operates Sandro’s fast food restaurant in the town, took over what was formerly La Spezia restaurant and will open the Topgrill Indian Restaurant and Takeaway in the coming weeks.
“It’ll mostly be take away but we also have a few tables for eating in. We will serve Indian curries, perri perri that kind of thing,” he told the Western People.
From the city of Gujrat in the northern Pakistani province of Punjab, Zameer moved to Ireland 16 years ago and has for the past 14 years run Sandro’s takeaway in Ballyhaunis.
Zameer believes there is an opening for an Indian takeaway in Ballyhaunis as the town is already well served by fast food offerings as well as several eat-in restaurants.
Business has been good for Sandro’s recently, he said, while the fact that it’s staffed by family members means there’s less pressure from the recent rise in the minimum wage.
"Being a family-run business also allows the takeaway to open much later than other establishments," said Zameer.
The new Indian restaurant will open from four in the afternoon until 1am, the same hours as Sandro’s currently keeps, closing at 2am on Saturdays.
