Kolkata restaurants packed on New Year’s Eve, sales cross pre-pandemic level – Times of India

KOLKATA: City restaurants saw an unprecedented footfall surge on New Year’s Eve, surpassing all recent records, including in the pre-pandemic years. Several restaurant officials said they have had ‘record sales’ after a two-year Covid lull. New Year’s lunch also saw most restaurants chock-a-block, with long queues outside.
Most restaurants across Park Street and south Kolkata had extended their dining hours and witnessed a full house till they shut down well past midnight. Most Park Street restaurants remained full till 2am. With traffic being allowed on the road on New Year’s Eve, unlike on Christmas, many could drive down to their favourite restaurants, which brought the regulars back.

“We had most of our regulars back and the footfall was higher than what we have seen in at least seven-eight years. We remained fully occupied till we shut down. Lunch on Sunday was equally crowded,” said Nitin Kothari, owner of Peter Cat and Mocambo. Both had stayed open till 2am on Sunday as well.
Peter Hu?, too, saw a large turnout till midnight on Saturday. “We were initially skeptical about the crowd, but it so happened that we had families coming in, which has been the tradition on days like these,” Kothari added.
Pratap Daryanani, owner of Oasis on Park Street, said, “The traffic flow allowed regulars to enjoy a meal.”
Central Kolkata restaurants saw an early crowd surge on New Year’s Eve, that began at lunchtime. “We had a full house from lunch till we closed at midnight. This rarely happens even on a New Year’s Day, and occupancy invariably drops from late afternoon to early evening. But this time, we had people streaming in without a break. It pushed our food and liquor sales to an all-time high,” said Sudesh Poddar, owner of Songhai, Manthan and MS Bar & Lounge on Waterloo Street.
“Other than food, liquor sale, too, has been high this time, with beer and white spirits dominating at lunch time and whisky being the top-draw in the evenings,” said Poddar.
In south Kolkata, too, the footfall was higher than in previous years. At Oudh 1590, all seats were occupied till 1am, said owner and co-founder Shiladitya Chaudhury.
What’s Up! Cafe on Southern Avenue was packed throughout Saturday. “We have never seen such a high single-day footfall. Our food and liquor sales were similar in terms of revenue,” said owner Anirban Sengupta.