Cheap, cheap: $10 chicken and fries to beat high prices
TEN dollars might not seem valuable at popular fast food restaurants in Trinidad and Tobago.
But that same $10 can buy hot-on-the-spot chicken and fries from Leela’s Home Style Flavour.
With the recent increase in selected options at fast food outlets across the nation, fast food is quickly becoming a luxury item for consumers.
However, a social media post advertising chicken and fries for $10 at a local shop in Endeavour Road, Chaguanas has captured this newspaper’s attention.
The Express visited the Endeavour shop yesterday and spoke to business owner and cook Leela Ramkissoon.
Ramkissoon, 55, shared that she is dedicated to making food affordable for customers because she understands the added financial stress consumers now face.
“It have so much people out there who maybe only have a $20 in their pocket and they want something to eat or something to drink. They have to travel, they don’t have (money)…I know how my pocket used to be,” she said.
After living in Switzerland for two years, she moved back to Trinidad in December 2023, and took the decision to open her own business. She said, for as long as she could remember, she had always hoped to run her own shop.
“I have always loved cooking. I am cooking since I was eight years old. Feeding people brings me joy,” she continued.
While this new shop is only a month old, Ramkissoon said she is no stranger to the food industry, as she prepared and sold doubles and pies before she had migrated. However, this new venture has been her riskiest, she said.
“At first it was a little bit scary because when we started, it was so dead. Nobody knew we were here because they (were) accustomed with here being a phone place…we started with the little sign and we say we going to do it like that. We going to do $10. Let we just try it.
“We not making much in it. We making something; but other people could at least eat something and feel good about it,” she continued.
With her chicken and fries being the bestseller, Ramkissoon’s menu also includes chicken roti priced at $10, $20, or $30.
She added in the mornings, sada roti with bhagi, bodi, baigan, or avocado were available at $5.
But while most customers were “blown away” by the “cheap” prices, she said there were still customers who struggled to afford these prices.
“Sometimes some people come and say: I want it (a meal) for myself and my child, but I only have $15. I will give them it. I won’t do that for everybody. It depends on (the person),” she continued.
She said while the business was still juggling the costs of purchasing, preparing, and selling food, she was happy she could bring joy to people.
Throughout the start and operation of her business, she said she has been supported by her son Dinesh Ramkissoon, who helped her build her business from scratch.
When asked if she intends to keep her prices at the current rates, she said that depended on the cost of the ingredients.
“As long as the chicken don’t go up, we can maintain it (the prices). So far, it is okay. It’s good. People love it. Every day they come back. They just give you the money and say, give me this,” she said.
She pointed to one customer, who frequently supports her business.
When the Express asked the customer what brings him back to the shop, he said: “The food tasting good and the price is very good—excellent. For $10, you get your money’s worth. I’m not cooking again. I coming out cheaper to buy food here.”
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