The Dunedin Bowling Club, which rose to popularity with its $4 meals, will soon open its Caversham restaurant.
The food truck, which allowed people to bring their own bowls to be filled, was founded by Jackie Bannon and Liam Arthur in July last year.
The pair were serving between 200 to 400 customers a night, three times a week for about four months, before closing to prepare for the opening of the restaurant and spend time overseas, Mr Arthur said.
Food was expensive nowadays and they wanted to see if it was possible to run a viable business serving meals for such a low price.
They were inspired by Jane Beecroft, who founded and ran the Otago University Students’ Association lunches for many years, which started at $2 in 1997 and were still available now for $4.
Alongside that curiosity was a lot of frustration at the inaccessibility of food, Ms Bannon said.
It turned out making a lot of meals for cheap was possible, but it required purchasing food from wholesales in very large quantities.
"Instead of 2kg of paprika, we might have to buy 20kg."
Their experiment proved a big success.
They were quickly serving more customers than they could handle.
There were some nights where they served up to 600 people, all of whom had to order food and then wait outside to receive it, Mr Arthur said.
With a permanent store they hoped that many customers would no longer prove a challenge, as they could have food ready to go in large quantities as soon as customers arrived with their bowls.
Mr Arthur had a background in fine dining, which was important to the foundation of the restaurant.
Selling the food for cheap did not mean the quality could slip and they wanted everyone to enjoy their food.
The menu changed each day, but they would focus on good basic food to begin with.
During the day it would be open as a cafe, which they wanted to feel like a safe community space for anybody.
There was a lot to do before it was time to open, and the pair were inviting the community in to help with getting things ready.
Today they would be at the site scrubbing the walls.
Food and drink would be on offer for any volunteers who wanted to help.
They would be holding a few more cleaning days until the scheduled opening on February 24, he said.
