Eatalica, one of Chennai’s oldest burger joints, turns 25 and relocates to a new space

Eatalica's nostalgic journey from a burger joint to a modern cafe with iconic dishes and new flavors.

In the week since Eatalica’s sign has gone up at their newly relocated spot on the busy streets of Cooperative Colony, patrons seem to have only one question in mind.

“‘Where the hell have you guys been?’ is something I’ve been asked a lot,” says Pravesh Kumar, its proprietor. “Others have come in and told me about the times they have lounged, dated, chatted and even kissed, on that iconic red sofa at the first location in RA Puram. One customer said that she and her husband (then-boyfriend) often met at Eatalica for dates. Now she has a 10-year-old. A second generation of Eatalica customers,” he says.

Everyone seems to have an Eatalica story. Back when they started in 2000, Pravesh’s father and uncle, Suresh Kumar and Prakash Kumar who were running the iconic video rental shop, TicTac, decided that it was about time that Chennai had a decent burger joint. Quickly, it became a hip spot full of college folk from across the city thronging the place for cheap, cheesy burgers, hot dogs, pastas and most importantly, French fries.

Pravesh still has a copy of the original menu where the burgers was priced between ₹40 and ₹60. Since the family was obsessed with movies, the names of the burgers were puns on iconic Hollywood titles and celebrity names. Have you tried ‘Jennifer Showpez’, ‘Hamfree Bogart’ or ‘Monica Chewinsky’?

Pravesh says that he has always considered the restaurant a small entity in his head. “But the number of times people come and reference the name of their favourite dishes on the menu is so validating. It gives me a lot of joy. That’s when I realise that maybe it isn’t all that small,” he says.

Most restaurants in the city back then made burgers with frozen meat, sweet buns and store-bought ketchup. Eatalica decided to switch it up. They ground their own meat for the patties and made their own sauces. Till date, their punchy yet dense barbeque sauce and the near-perfect mayonnaise — light, fluffy, with a hint of yellow from the mustard — have fans who ask for seconds and thirds of these dips. Until recently, the refills were free but now, they cost an extra ₹40 on Swiggy and Zomato.

Back in 2016, after I thought I had established a decent connection with Raju, a long-time, mostly-quiet wait staff at Eatalica, I lured him into a rare conversation (he isn’t chatty), hoping to elicit the secret behind the sauces. “But what do you guys add to the mayo? Is it cheese? Is it mustard? Is it cream?” He looked at me like I was thick in the head. “If I tell you, how will you come back?” he said.