FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Bistro Nota, a French-Americana style restaurant in downtown Fort Wayne, recently unveiled its “Bistro Bus” mobile restaurant to provide customers with a convenient, COVID-friendly food option.

“The bus is our answer to the issues of dining-in in a time when people don’t really want to do so,” said Cam Kaminski, owner of Bistro Nota. “We spent the last couple of months working on how we can make it work in a very safe way.”

Before being transformed into a mobile restaurant, it used to be a school bus.

“The idea is we will drive into people’s neighborhoods or businesses and they can order online and they can pick it up,” Kaminski said. “It’s like a drive-thru that comes to your location. You can drive two minutes down to the cul-de-sac [and] pick it up while it’s still hot and fresh.”

Customers can schedule their order for online. The pick-up process is contactless, as a Bistro Bus employee will place it on a shelf that is attached to the bus.

Kaminski said typically, most food trucks shut down in the winter, however, he and his business partner spent the last few months “winterizing” the Bistro Bus so they can continue to serve food throughout the colder months.

The bus is also a solution for Bistro Nota to stay in business if restaurants close down again because of COVID-19.

“As far as we’re concerned if it’s not inside of a building, it doesn’t follow [the state’s] jurisdiction so we can serve people safely,” Kaminski said. “It’s more of an alteration to closing down.”

Kaminski and his business partner are still working on coming up with a schedule to determine where the bus will be on each given day. The goal is to be at a certain location on a reoccurring, weekly basis.

“It kind of depends on what’s available. We’re looking to reach out to people individually and some associations and see what they are okay with us doing and then parking there,” Kaminski said

The Bistro Nota restaurant, located on Calhoun Street, is currently still open a 50% capacity.

On Monday, Nov. 23, the Bistro Bus will be parked at Towles Intermediate School. Customers can place their orders at bistronota.com.