Kolkata: Prohibition when entering a pandal can result in a 20% decline in footfall in the restaurant.
With Pandalhopping no longer in it, the restaurant owner expects lunch hours and a shrinking dinner while demanding home delivery to shoot when people gather for parties and sessions of Adda at home and housing complexes.
During Durga pujas before the pandemic, the people came to the restaurant around the middle of 12.30 a night, lunch quickly and went to see a pandal.
Or they came very late, around 3:30 p.m., was really hungry and tired after a pandal tour.
With the sidewalk on this year’s pandal entry, the restaurant owner expects most of the customers to walk between 12:30 a.m.
and 2:30 a.m., which leads to a long time to get a table.
“Usually during pujas, the first group will quickly end up lunch and go for hopping pandal while those who arrive late after doing the pandal are tired and hungry.
If there is no hopping pandal involved, people will come around the usual lunch and leisure hours , “said Manthan owner and Songhai Sudesh Poddar.
Although there will be no gap between lunch and dinner during the prior puaj durga when lunch time almost spilled into dinner with customers walking for lunch even at 5pm, the restaurant owner expecting lunch to end at 4:30 p.m.
At 7:30 a.m.
“The last walk-in will depend on whether the government expands closing hours outside at 10:30.
If people do not roam the streets, they may go further around 11:30 a.m.,” Felt Trinca’s Cooper Anand Puri.
However, the owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat Nitin Kothari believes eating at a restaurant will not be affected by the ban on entering Pandal.
“I have told people who deal with excise for my restaurant to look for additional license hours and to take it for as many puja days.
People are sick of sitting at home for half a year and want to enjoy it.
We have a protocol in place, all People are vaccinated and safe, “Kothari said.
Many restaurants also expect a lot of people to stay inside and arrange parties and sessions of ADTA at home during the Puja and prepare for a sharp surge in the order.
“We have doubled our own shipping fleet and arrange separate porch-porch shipping parts,” said Debaditya Chaudhury, MD Chowman, Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2.
Monica Lieu, which has many Chinese restaurants, including Beijing, Kim Ling, Tung Fong and Mandarin , expecting a good selection in restaurants and high demand for home delivery but said the last one would greatly depend on how much restaurant support was obtained from shipping partners.
“We all hope and pray for the great business of this puja,” he said.