Hyderabad’s nightlife extension: a balancing act for restaurants and residents

Mixed reactions to extension of eateries' operating hours in Hyderabad from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m., impacting customers and owners.

Extension of operating hours of eateries in Hyderabad from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. has drawn mixed reactions. While most young professionals that The Hindu spoke to welcomed the decision, restaurant owners expressed diverse views regarding the change, some optimistic, some not so much.

Mohammad Asim of ‘Famous Ice Creams’ in Mozzamjahi Market said their customers are used to the earlier closing time (12 a.m.) and the business does not expect a significant influx of customers during the additional hour.

Anil Verma, CEO of ‘Mehfil Group of Restaurants’, echoed this sentiment, suggesting that the impact would be more pronounced in branches near the IT clusters. “In fact, our business [during the additional hour] might not match the investment we would have to make for keeping the outlets open for another hour,” he said.

Fahad Ahmed of ‘Sauced Up’ in Masab Tank, however, is among those expecting better returns, with a boost in sales offline and online. “About 10% of our last hour sales go affected when we were shutting down at midnight,” he said.

‘Naturals Ice Cream’ on Sardar Patel Road in Begumpet is seeing customer count go up by at least 20-25 between 12 a.m. and 12.40 a.m. daily. “These are generally youth who walk in as they see the outlet open; we expect more growth during the season,” said Raman, the manager.

Among the 75,000-odd eateries in the city, the impact is most felt in eateries operating in the bustling IT hub of Cyberabad. Avinash Kumar, owner of ‘Dome Cafe‘ on the popular DLF Street, said things have been better for the past month as the police do not push them to put up the shutters.

In Hyderabad, which has a large population of young professionals, the move was welcomed even by those who don’t eat out regularly.