Food and Drinq

The Wharton MBA mind of Munish Narula has turned again. In 2006, he began Tiffin Store, an Indian delivery service, out of a Girard Avenue storefront into which he added a small dining room for walk-ins.

Tiffin Store quickly won raves from customers stretching from Fishtown to Temple U and down into Center City. Something cool about guys in ties shlepping tasty vindaloo.

Narula has taken over the former Hamlet Bistro at 7105 Emlen St. (at Mount Pleasant Avenue), which has a similarly small (24-seat) dining room, for a second location opening around July 18 to serve Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill. After a few weeks, Narula says, Manayunk and East Falls will be added to the delivery map.

Narula says a deal on the table for an Upper Darby location fell though. He's now targeting South Philly. He told Food & Drinq in March, he is also hoping to open in Center City; at least one of those planned locations (on 11th Street near Thomas Jefferson University Hospital) is still on the table.

Narula wants to buy his real estate -- and you don't have to be an MBA to understand that wisdom. Though prices are down and for-sale signs hang everywhere, Narula says it's a "tough market. People are just not ready to make deals."