বাংলায় পড়ুন
The city’s party hub saw a surge in food and liquor sales on Christmas after a two-year lull, with pubs and restaurants across Park Street staying choc-a-bloc on Tuesday, with most doing far better business than the last 2 years.
The owner of popular restaurants Mocambo and Peter Cat, Nitin Kothari, claimed that its been a far better year for both the restaurants, stating that the last 2 years had seen a major dip in business due to demonetization and GST confusion. Restaurant businesses are now expecting a 4-day year-end celebration with a 20-25% rise in footfall. Food and liquor prices have remained unchanged this year. Additionally, tax structure has been pretty unambiguous, unlike last year, when GST was implemented.
On Christmas Day, crowds started building up as early as 11 am, and was at its peak between 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm. Crowd management was quite efficient, with no vehicles being allowed on Park Street in the evening. Diners had a smooth passage despite the sea of people. There were more families at the restaurants which even boosted discipline. Though the closing time for restaurants has been extended to 3 am, on Christmas day, restaurants shut by 1 am. Business owners feel that people are more likely to stay out later on New Year’s Eve rather than on Christmas Eve. Even Boxing Day, 26th December, saw these restaurants pretty much packed unlike other years.
It looks like Kolkatans are ready to welcome the New Year with a bang!
