The final weekend of the year brought a wave of festive diners to Kolkata, with restaurants and bars across the city reporting a massive and consistent surge in customer numbers. Unlike the typical pattern where footfall dips after Christmas and peaks again on New Year's Eve, this year saw a sustained rush that kept establishments fully occupied.
Full Houses and Extended Wait Times
From the iconic Park Street to central Kolkata and major mall outlets, most restaurants remained packed throughout Saturday and Sunday. Patrons faced significantly longer waiting periods compared to previous years as tables were in high demand. To manage the overwhelming crowd, many eateries implemented advance table booking systems.
Shiladitya Chaudhury, owner and co-founder of Chapter 2 and Oudh 1590, highlighted the trend, noting, "We received several bulk bookings for the next three nights." This indicates that the rush is expected to continue leading up to the New Year's Eve celebrations.
Restaurant Chains Report Higher Footfall
The surge was not limited to standalone restaurants. Major chains also felt the positive impact. Anjan Chatterjee, Founder & Chairman of Specialty Restaurants, reported that footfall at his group's outlets—including Café Mezzuna, Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta, Hoppipola, and Siciliana—was 5% higher this Christmas season compared to previous years.
Innovative solutions were employed to ease customer experience. Outlets like Songhai and MS Bar & Lounge leveraged a food delivery app to accept advance table reservations. Sudesh Poddar, owner of these venues, explained the rationale: "The idea is to allow our customers to avoid the rush and the wait for a table, which could be long over the next three nights, especially on Dec 31."
Festive Attractions and Tourist Influx Fuel Demand
Iconic restaurants like Amber in central Kolkata experienced a full house with waiting crowds throughout the weekend evenings. Sanjay Khullar, the restaurant's owner, observed that the crowd was larger than in recent years and anticipates the trend to persist until December 31st.
"We have a tandoori festival going on, which is an added attraction," Khullar said. He also pointed to an increased number of visitors from abroad as a key factor, adding, "Despite the good weekend crowd, we expect the surge to continue on Monday and Tuesday since the city now has a lot of visitors from abroad."
The combined effect of local festive spirit, special culinary events, and an influx of tourists has set the stage for a bustling end to the year for Kolkata's vibrant hospitality sector, with high demand predicted to last through New Year's Eve.
