Eateries had a tough time remaining in business during the two years of Covid-19 and now they are happy that eating out had become in-thing again, owners of different restaurants said.

"Our sales figures show that there has been a 25 per cent rise in sales and occupancy in fine dining restaurants across the city since the run-up to the festive season, in comparison to the same period two years back,” President of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, Sudesh Poddar, told PTI.

There were instances when eateries closed at 2:30 or 3 am instead of the usual 1:30 am. In one case, the last guest exited at 5 am and the restaurant opened again at 11 am, he said. “It has been an amazing run for us as such sales were not witnessed even in the pre-pandemic time of 2019," Poddar said.

The restaurant industry in Kolkata saw a “record-breaking” footfall this year as people took to revenge eating after almost two years of caution, said Azra Golam, sales director of Aminia Restaurant chain, famous for Mughlai delicacies.

“Restaurants have been waiting for such a time and it gave us the best sales in the last two years. We are super pleased with the response we got,” Golam said. Sales in restaurants suffered a little on Dashami (October 5), the last day of the Durga Puja, due to rains, but home-delivery orders were steady, he said.

Restauranteur Nitin Kothari, owner of iconic continental restaurants Peter Cat and Mocambo, besides Chinese eatery Peter Hu, said the eateries enjoyed full occupancy since the beginning of the Durga puja and the response is ‘phenomenal’.

“I think the trend will continue till Lakshmi Puja on Sunday. Then, as the offices will open, the crowd will thin a bit and again rise in the run-up to the Kali Puja and Diwali," Kothari said. Debaditya Chaudhury, the Managing Director of the Chinese restaurant chain Chowman, said all the outlets were choc-a-bloc during the pujas.

"After almost two years, people had the opportunity to enjoy Puja in a full-fledged manner like in earlier times. We were operating post-midnight and witnessed an inconceivable crowd queuing up at our restaurants,” he said.

According to the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, there are around 400 fine dining restaurants, some of which are with bars, in the city and its neighbourhood.

(With PTI inputs)