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Delhi eateries aim to bounce back with new hope
Sales were slow in the beginning, but the number of guests stepping out to enjoy eating has been growing.
As the lockdown was gradually lifted in June, restaurants in Delhi geared up to start food deliveries. Some of them also opened for dining later. It was time to bounce back with new hopes. Sales were slow in the beginning, but the number of guests stepping out to enjoy eating has been growing.
“There is substantial increase every week. It’s definitely getting better. Weekends are good. Revenge consumption has played a huge role and after the guidelines of allowing liquor, we have seen a good hike,” says restaurateur Zorawar Kalra. Restaurateur Akshaye Anand says that around Diwali, he hopes for good business. “Innovations and strict safety measures have helped us bounce back.”
Many restaurant chains are now fully functional due to the rise in sales. “We are glad that it has been good. We opened one restaurant on August 1 and then opened another on August 15, and when they both started doing well enough, we opened two more this month. People have gained faith and we see much better footfall coming in. There has been a rise of about 30-40% in our sales ever since we reopened,” says restaurateur Amit Bagga.
Restaurateur Kazem Samandari says it’s because guests can see for themselves the extensive safety and hygiene measures adopted by restaurants. “The footfall has shot up by at least 100 per cent in the last two months. It’s so nice to see people return for meeting, catching up with friends and even to ‘work from café’, the new normal,” says Samandari.
