Next time you're picking up a lotto ticket while filling your gas tank, snag some butter chicken, too.
That is, only if you're at the Chevron on the corner of Broadway and Fancher in Spokane Valley.
Fluttering feather flags outside the gas station advertise Fancher Food Mart to passing traffic. Some might think it's just a fancy name for a typical convenience store. But past the vape pens and energy drinks is a kitchen with fresh, from-scratch Indian food made six days a week.
It's a far cry from the typical gas station rollers of corn dogs and pretzels. And, in just three months, it's become one of the most talked about take-out spots by Facebook foodies this year.
Operator Benny Kumar and his wife, Soni, bought the Chevron gas station in April. They originally moved to Spokane in 2018 from a small town outside Walla Walla to get proper medical care for their 6-year-old son, Aarav, at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital. Kumar had originally considered opening an Indian restaurant, but realized a gas station could provide both the stability and opportunity he was looking for.
"Our dream was to buy a gas station and put in a side hustle in our actual business," Kumar says. "Then we got the right place to include it — a gas station with a kitchen."
So now, across from the motor oil aisle, a hot case displays mango chicken kebabs or veggie fritters called pakora, while vats of curry simmer behind the counter.
Kumar and his family are from the Punjab state of India, a northwest region of the country famous for rich, buttery dishes. Its milder spice levels and proximity to ancient east-west trade routes like the Silk Road helped make Punjabi food famous around the world — especially its best-known export, butter chicken.
Fancher Food Mart rotates its menu daily, but butter chicken is a mainstay. Other chicken favorites so far have been black pepper cashew curry and mango curry chicken. Achari lamb is also popular — achari means "pickle" in Hindi, and the lamb is flavored with spices often used to make Punjabi pickles, like fenugreek, cumin, nigella, fennel and black mustard seeds, plus dried chilis.
Every dish is spooned over a large portion of perfectly tender, long grain jasmine rice for a grand total of $9.99. That's part of the reason Facebook users have been raving about Fancher Food Mart — it's one of the highest quality and most affordable lunch options in the area.
Kumar starts serving around 9:30 in the morning every day except Sunday and serves until he sells out, usually around 5 pm.
Since you're in a gas station, you could pick up your favorite candy bar for dessert. But the foodies recommend grabbing a mango lassi ($4.99) — pronounced "lassie" — instead. It's a yogurt-based drink that's similar to a smoothie, but with more tang from the yogurt and an earthen hint from a few drops of rosewater.
Not sure what you'll like best? Just ask for a sample.
"My goal is to be like Costco — sample first," Kumar says. "You guys decide if you like it. Otherwise we'll not push it to you guys. Customer smiles make us rich. That is the main goal."
Before he moved to the U.S., Kumar was a produce wholesaler in Punjab. He sold fruit and veggies to chefs cooking for large gatherings, like weddings, and would often score an invite to the communal event. He carefully watched how the chefs turned his ingredients into his favorite dishes. Then, he'd go home and try to recreate their techniques.
After years of practice, Kumar got pretty good. When he and his family moved to Spokane, he asked a new friend to try some of his food. The friend told Kumar it was good enough to sell. Kumar started teaching Soni his recipes so they could cook together once they found the right place to start a side business.
Kumar's initial dreams of a restaurant are sort of coming true. He's renovating the back part of the gas station with booths for sit-down meals. He's hoping to put up traditional Indian art and decoration to enhance the experience — there's already Punjabi music playing in the store for the right ambience. It seems like an important improvement, considering he's got plenty of people coming from pretty far away.
"I got customers from Deer Park, Cheney, Medical Lake, Post Falls," Kumar says. "One guy came yesterday from close to Coeur d'Alene. They said they had seen me on Facebook."
One of the main things reviewers mention in their social media posts is Kumar's friendliness. The owner is immediately outgoing and welcoming. He greets everyone with the same enthusiasm and gratitude, and sometimes doesn't even realize who he's serving.
"One day, we had 30 to 35 people inside the store," Kumar says. "And then somebody told me in my ear, 'You know who just bought your food?' I said, 'No, I don't know.' She said, 'She was the mayor.'"
Kumar ran out into the parking lot and got to take a picture with former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward, who'd just stopped in for lunch. It's been one of the highlights of his three-month operation so far.
But the best part, he says, is getting to work with his family. He and Soni prepare the next day's food every evening while Aarav, who's now completely healthy, watches videos or does homework at a booth. Kumar's older son, Dru, works the register and already knows most of the people who stop in the shop.
Kumar is forthcoming about the secret ingredient that makes his food and his food market so irresistible — it tastes good "because we put the love in there," he says.
As any side hustler knows, money is important. But it's not the most important thing, Kumar says.
"Serving people, that's my goal," he says. "Money does matter, but a smile is more." ♦
Fancher Food Mart in Broadway Chevron • 5821 E. Broadway Ave., Spokane Valley • Open Mon-Sat 9:30 am until close • 509-534-2347
