Kolkata: Footfall crawls up at restos after a brief lean period – Times of India

KOLKATA: Restaurants and bars across the city have seen footfall crawl up to 50% of capacity after a brief lean period since restrictions were issued on January 3.
With the number of affected slowly climbing down, the Hotel and Restaurants’ Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) believes this weekend could see a turnaround but attendance will remain relatively low till the shutdown time is extended from the present 10pm.
“We saw attendance drop below 10% in the second week of January. But with Covid numbers now coming down, footfalls are rising and we expect it to remain stagnant for some weeks now. On an average, Kolkata restaurants now have a 50% attendance with a cap of 50% on seating capacity,” said HRAEI president Sudesh Poddar, who owns Songhai, Manthan and MS Bar on central Kolkata.
Footfall has gone up to 50%-60% of the reduced capacity at Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2. “Since the peak of the third wave seems to be over, people have now started venturing out and that has been reflected in the attendance at our outlets since last Monday. This weekend should see a further increase in footfall,” said Shiladitya Chaudhury, co-founder of Oudh 1590 and Chapter 2. He added that most of his outlets had a capacity crowd for lunch on Saturday.
Restaurateurs, however, are keeping their fingers crossed for this weekend. “The transmission rate has come down over the last one week and the fear has started receding. At the same time, many are yet to recover from the after-affects of Covid and have cough and cold. Some have family members in isolation. So the crowd wont’ swell overnight. But it is inching towards normalcy, so the footfall should get better this weekend and the next,” said Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis on Park Street.
Patrons have started trickling back at Mocambo and Peter Cat, which have remained fully occupied for lunch and dinner this week. “The fear seems to have gone and people are ready to come out for meals. Even though the previous two weeks had been bad, this week has been better. Though many more got infected this time, the illness was mild and recovery quick. Once the 50% restriction is lifted, the attendance will swell further,” said Mocambo and Peter Cat owner Nitin Kothari.
Others like What’s Up! Café on Southern Avenue are yet to get over the lean period. “Since we must shut down by 10pm, guests are forced to wind up by 8.30pm and have been skipping dinner. Till the closing time is deferred to 11pm, the evening crowd won’t swell. But we have still had a rise in footfall this week,” said What’s Up! Café owner Anirban Sengupta.