Eateries & bars see higher footfall than last year’s

Eateries & bars see higher footfall than last year’s

Kolkata: Footfall at restaurants and bars soared past last year’s by at least 10%, according to Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAI), and the crowd is set to keep swelling. The current trend suggests that attendance could smash all previous records, said restaurant owners.
While several restaurants and bars in central and south Kolkata remained packed till 2 am on Christmas Eve, the crowd returned early on Wednesday for lunch. Park Street restaurants saw queues from noon. “Footfall on Christmas Eve and Christmas were significantly higher than last year’s. Even the lunch crowd on Christmas was huge, and it continued till dinner without any let-up,” said Nitin Kothari, owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat. Waiting time was more than an hour at Mocambo and Peter Cat. Bar-B-Q, too, saw a full house for lunch and dinner on Christmas. “Our newly opened confectionery at One Step Up has seen very good sales,” said Viraj Kothari of Bar-BQ and One Step Up.
“We had a good crowd on Wednesday, better than last year’s,” said Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis. “We had a full house from late evening till 1 am on Christmas Eve and on Wednesday. We had a small waiting crowd even after 12.30 am on Christmas Eve. On Wednesday, the crowd swelled steadily from lunchtime till late evening when all three of our restaurants had full occupancy with a waiting crowd,” said HRAEI president Sudesh Poddar, owner of Songhai, MS Bar & Lounge, and Manthan.
Chapter 2 organized carols with 150 children from NGOs listening to numbers played by the band Carolzingers. “We had a packed house till 1 am at Chapter 2 on Christmas Eve, and the crowd was just as good till late evening on Christmas,” said co-founder and owner Shiladitya Chaudhury.
What’sUp Cafe had an 85% attendance by Wednesday afternoon and was full by evening. “Our waiting time was one hour by 7 pm,” said owner Anirban Sengupta.

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