During this year’s Durga Puja, Kolkata witnessed an unprecedented surge in footfalls and sales at its restaurants and bars. This high demand persisted well past midnight until Nabami. According to the Hotel and Restaurants’ Association of Eastern India, there was a remarkable 20-25% increase in business during this puja compared to the previous year. Notably, many restaurants in central and south Kolkata remained open throughout the night, a unique occurrence for the city.
HRAEI president and owner of MS Bar & Lounge, Sudesh Poddar, estimates that the combined revenue of restaurants in the city, from Tritiya to Nabami, is likely to have exceeded INR 1,200 crore.
In contrast to previous years, there was little to no decline in foot traffic between lunch and dinner hours.
Durga Puja Sales in Restaurants and Bars of Kolkata!
“We had an unprecedented late-night surge which continued till 3 am and sales smashed all previous records. The peak was reached on Nabami evening. It all started from Tritiya and went on soaring till Nabami. Last year, too, puja was good for us but this year it was even better,” said Poddar.
Park Street remained more crowded than previous years, according to Nitin Kothari, owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat. “This time, footfall had started rising a fortnight before pujas. It just continued to grow and exploded during the pujas. Every day, we had a large crowd waiting to get in. We stayed open till 2 am from October 21 to 23 and had a relentless stream of people coming in. It was definitely higher than previous years, including the pre-Covid times,” said Kothari.
Anjan Chatterjee, the chairman of Speciality Restaurants, which includes brands such as Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta, Haka, and Asia Kitchen, noted that the occupancy rate remained consistently at 100% throughout the puja period.
“We had extended the closing hours but still if we had more accommodation it would have been full. Lot of non resident Bengalis came for fine dining,” he added.
With the exception of a brief interval during the Ashtami afternoon and early Nabami evening when the city experienced two brief episodes of heavy rainfall, nearly all restaurants in the south and central parts of Kolkata had eager patrons waiting for a table.
“Like every year, we had erected a shamiana for the waiting crowd and it overflowed with people. Despite the rain, we had a full house at all outlets of Oudh 1590 and at Chapter 2. We stayed open till 3 am and the attendance remained full. There was never a dull period even between lunch and dinner hours,” said Shiladitya Chaudhury, owner and co-founder of Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2.
In fact, the rain proved to be advantageous for certain individuals.
Kolkata’s Restaurants and Bars’ Owners Views!
“We had people, who had been waiting outside some of the big restaurants, scampering in when it started pouring,” said the owner of a central Kolkata restaurant.
Throughout the festival, Oasis on Park Street experienced a continuous flow of customers entering the establishment.
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“We stayed open till 1 am and had a full house which has rarely happened. Occupancy never dipped below 80% even after lunch hours,” said owner Pratap Daryanani.
“Most of the time the place was almost full and there were people waiting outside for their turn,” said Sandeep Sehgal of Broadway Hotel on Ganesh Chandra Avenue.
Numerous discotheques and resto-pubs organized special performances featuring DJs, singers, and other artists.