Restaurant and pub owners of Bengaluru breathe a sigh of relief after the relaxation of night curfew

The hospitality industry, which has suffered a great blow owing to the pandemic and consequent lockdowns, is finally heaving a sigh of relief. The night curfew, which was put in place in April, in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19, has finally been lifted.

"It's like a Deepavali gift from the state government to us. We have been waiting for this. We get a lot of walk-ins for dinner so it’s really relieving to hear this," says Mahesh Lunch Homeowner Suraj Shetty.

According to Nirav Rajani, partner at Patios and Hanoi, their dinner sales have shot up in the last three days since the curfew has been lifted. "We are now looking at reaching our pre-COVID sales by this December and hope it sticks this time," he says.  

In fact, restaurants seem to be experiencing a high footfall in the last three months, with a 20 per cent increase in business week-on-week. "We are expecting this number to go up significantly now that the night curfew has been lifted.The removal is definitely a move in the right direction as Indians culturally eat out late and most restaurants make 80 per cent of their total business during dinner time", says Hitesh Tulsani, operations manager of Raahi Neo Kitchen and Bar.

"With the earlier curfew, dinner time business was next to zero. We are hoping this also yields in added employment in the sector as an additional shift would come into play," adds Tulsani.

"The return of nightlife is a good sign for the struggling hospitality industry as everyone is eyeing pre-COVID sales targets. We want to start a new chapter. Even the public is eager to get back to partying like pre-pandemic times," says Otto's Restobar owner Abhishek Reddy.

Owner and chef Udayshankar Shenoy, Lazy Suzy, the removal of night curfew restrictions is definitely a morale booster for the industry and public alike. "Now, people will think of going out to dine in the evenings without the scare of not reaching home before the deadline. This will also mean the restaurants need to be careful and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour," he says. 

FLO co-founder Ajith GS can't wait for their patrons to get grooving. "It's relieving to hear about the Covid cases coming down to lowest possible numbers," he says.

Although Chowman Hospitality had quite a good number of orders coming in every day, dine-in sales were not as per their expectations because of the restrictions during the peak hours. “Now that the curfew is lifted, restaurateurs are all geared up for a new beginning,” says Debaditya Chaudhury, managing director of the chain.