The reopening of restaurants and bars in Gurgaon, after the order allowing them to reopen (from 10am to 8pm) came last Sunday, has been a gradual process.
Only a few restaurants and bars decided to reopen in the first week as many are still in the process of getting logistics in place and some believe that reopening with an 8pm deadline would only add to their losses.
The ones that decided to reopen soon after the order came are not complaining about the footfall and are happy to see guests returning to dine out.
“We have started reopening our restaurants for dining in phases.
It’s been about a week since we’ve reopened in Gurgaon and the response so far has been good.
The customer confidence is back as they have observed us last year on our safety and hygiene protocols and they are feeling safe to come back.
We have been seeing smaller tables with groups 2-3 people coming together and it is great to see people trust us for a safe dining experience.
Since only some restaurants have reopened for dine in, there’s a confusion among people on which outlets are open but we are confident that gradually more customers will start visiting for dine in,” says Mayank Bhatt, Business Head, Social, at Cyber Hub.
‘It’s not work from home, it’s been work from bar in Gurgaon in last one week’Varun Puri decided to open his outlets, Duty Free- The Vayu Bar at Sector 29 and Imly at One Horizon Center, DLF Phase 5, in the week following the order and says that he has been surprised by the footfall.
His restaurant, Duty Free- The Vayu Bar, also happens to be one of the first dining outlet in Gurgaon offering 50% discount to those who are vaccinated and he believes that this could be the reason that even when we are running operations with 50% of seating capacity (as per the SOPs)c almost 90% of our tables were booked.
Out of 58 functioning tables, 54 were occupied during the day on Thursday.
Footfall has been great and I think gradually people will feel confident in coming out.
Also, there were so many people who were attending meetings and working while sitting at the bar.
The outlet looked like a co-working space.
I think it is now work from a bar, instead of work from home for people, at least in Gurgaon.
Most common requests were for wi-fi password, printouts etc,” says Varun.
Restaurateurs feel that being allowed to serve liquor right from their reopening has resulted in higher footfallExpecting higher footfall over weekendAs many restaurants are still in the process of reopening and they can only run operations with 50% seating capacity, it is highly recommended that one goes to dine out only after making a reservation.
Says Zorawar Kalra, founder, Massive Restaurants, “We started operations on Friday and we are very hopeful for the weekend as we have seen a very strong response in Mumbai which is the other city we have opened in.
People are raring to go out to their favourite restaurants and revenge consumption should also come into play.
Though with 50% seating capacity tables will be limited so it is highly recommended to do advance reservations.” Mayank adds, “Last year, when the dine-in was reopened, we were not allowed to serve liquor.
However, this time, we have been allowed to serve liquor from the very beginning.
As a result, customer footfall has been higher, we have been seeing around 100 pax visiting on a daily basis per outlet and expect this number to grow in the coming days.
This will be our first weekend since reopening and we’re looking forward to increased footfalls.
Since we have been allowed to serve liquor this time around, we are hoping to see a lot more footfall.” ‘Opening hours restricted till 8pm is still a deterrent for many guests’Restaurateurs say that the 8pm deadline has been one major reason why many people are still not coming to dine out.
Vishal Anand, founder, Moonshine Food Ventures (SAGA, Cafe Staywoke, Pa Pa Ya Gurgaon), says, “We are only allowed to open till 8pm, and summer is not really the time when people get out in the day, evening is what we are really dependent upon.
If we talk about actual numbers, SAGA has only been able to get 5% of the pre-COVID revenue while at our Worldmark outlets, Cafe Staywoke & Pa Pa Ya, we are able to touch 10%-15% of our pre-COVID numbers which is further lower if compared to last year’s unlock time.
The entire situation is now dependent on the vaccine drive.
It will make people feel confident to step out.
We hope that the drive is executed at a pace so businesses can start getting back on their feet.”