Kolkata: Footfalls soared across restaurants over the weekend as the city moved into a festive spirit, riding on new Metro routes. Most saw attendance rise by around 20%-25% since last weekend. Several restaurants received visitors from the northern and southern fringes of the city who availed themselves of the Metro and had an easy commute to the central business district.
The new Metro connectivity could be a game-changer just as it helped Park Street restaurants when the North-South services started in 1986, felt Nitin Kothari, owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat. "Metro has made commuting easier and more comfortable over last four decades, and the new routes will surely have a positive impact," said Kothari.
Park Street restaurants saw footfalls swell on Saturday and Sunday, with waiting queues getting longer. "It was a great weekend, easily the most crowded in recent months. While Friday saw full occupancy throughout the day, it was even better on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, especially, saw a large turnout, possibly since puja shopping has commenced," said Siddharth Kothari of Peter Hu? off Park Street.
| Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataPark Street and central Kolkata restaurants will now have more visitors from New Town and Salt Lake, said Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis. "While a footfall surge is already on since puja shopping has begun, we expect people from the fringes to come more frequently now that travel is easier," he said.
Mughlai chain Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2, a ‘retro-dining' restaurant, saw a similar surge this weekend. "Our online orders, too, remained brisk, and this is hopefully the beginning of a busy season. While table sales dropped marginally last Saturday, this weekend it remained high and peaked on Sunday," said Shiladitya Chaudhury, co-founder and owner.
Outlets of Specialty Restaurants, including Mainland China, Café Mezzuna, Oh! Calcutta, Haka, Asia Kitchen, and Flame & Grill, saw a full house this weekend. "Kolkata is not an easy place to move around, so the new Metro routes will definitely provide easy access to South City, central Kolkata, or the other parts which are now connected, to more people," said Specialty Restaurants founder and MD Anjan Chatterjee. He added that this weekend saw a larger turnout at most outlets, and online orders were high. Spurred by footfall surge, Songhai and MS Bar & Lounge have decided to offer specially curated North Indian and Chinese dishes leading up to the pujas in late Sept. The Asia Cup starting Sept 9 will help the build-up and pull in cricket lovers, said owner Sudesh Poddar. "Metro offers comfortable travel, which will lead more to eat out with families. Footfalls started picking up on Aug 15, and this weekend has been very crowded," said Poddar, also the President of Hotel and Restaurants' Owners Association of Eastern India.
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