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As Tandoori Oven Expands, Family And Community Stay At Heart

Katherine Taylor

On any given day, the majority of the people at the Sinclair on 1000 North in Logan probably aren’t buying gas.

The gas station is home to Tandoori Oven, a popular local restaurant. Mohit Arora, the restaurant’s manager, learned how to run the business from his father, Sham. Sham opened the restaurant nearly 15 years ago.

“He was a head chef for another restaurant, and he worked at a convenience store before too,” Mohit said.

When they decided to start their own business, they didn’t want to give the other restaurant competition, so they moved away from Salt Lake, where Mohit grew up.

“We came to Logan, and there was a gas station with a small kitchen and we said, ‘Okay. Let’s start. Who knows what the future’s going to hold.’ But I think the future’s holding really good,” he said.

Since then, their business has grown with their family, and Mohit has taken over for his father.

“We were small when our dad started, so we worked in the front, and he was doing all kitchen stuff and everything. Then as we grew, our arms grew, because we got big,” he said. “And that’s how we started doing all the expansion.”

As the business grew, they maintained a strong sense of family. Mohit and Sham said they’re there from open to close every day, and often on Sundays too. They said they try to treat their customers and their employees as part of the family.

The restaurant is under construction now, and will go from seating about 35 people to about 75. But the gas station isn’t going anywhere.

“Yeah, there’s still a gas station. Gas station is our identity, because a lot of people know: Sinclair, Tandoori,” he said. “We should remember where we came from.”