August 9, 2020 | By Annie Prafcke
Fargo, ND – Dinesh Mishra is the owner of Himalayan Yak, a Nepali and Indian restaurant located at 1450 25th St S Fargo. Dinesh is originally from Nepal but he moved to the US in 2010 to attend college in Kentucky. In 2013, he joined the US Army, where he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. It wasn’t until after his deployment that he moved to Fargo to turn his cooking hobby into a career. In 2017, he bought the space that currently houses his restaurant.
Himalayan Yak is a family-run business, so nearly all of Dinesh’s family members work at this restaurant. When COVID hit, Dinesh was conflicted. His first priority was to maintain the health of his wife and kids, as well as that of the general public, but he also had a duty to preserve the business that supports his family. Prior to March, 50% of Himalayan Yak’s revenue came from the lunch buffet, which they discontinued mid-March. They tried making their restaurant exclusively carry-out, but they were unable to make enough money to continue without dine-in services.
“It was a big challenge for us . . . because my entire family works in this restaurant. And that’s like all our income dependent on our business.”
Dinesh shut down his establishment for 2 weeks, during which his entire family quarantined. None of them demonstrated virus symptoms, but they wanted to be cautious. At the end of this period, everyone got tested for COVID, with all tests coming back negative. As soon as it was evident no one was infected, the family returned to work. They deep cleaned the restaurant, moved the tables 6 feet apart, and added a hand sanitizer pump to every table. Dinesh hired an additional staff member to clean throughout the day. Dinesh says they meticulously follow CDC guidelines.
Dinesh says he and his family spend so much time together at his restaurant that it is difficult to distinguish between “home time” and “work time.” His heart is with the food as well as with those preparing it. He has high hopes that his business will thrive so he can carry out his dream with the people he loves most.
Himalayan Yak is open 12:00 PM-2:30 PM and 4:30 PM-8:30 PM Monday through Saturday for dine-in, delivery, or pick-up.
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