With just a few hours to go before many pubs and restaurants in the city are forced to stop selling liquor as a result of the Supreme Court order banning its sale within 500 meters of a national highway, regulars to pubs and bars on M.G. Road, Bridage Road, Church Street and parts of Indiranagar have started hitting their favourite watering holes.
Kumar H. for whom Pub World on Residency Road has been a regular hangout place with his friends, the news of its closure is saddening. “I am going to miss this place,” he said.
Patrons of Pecos said that it was “an adda” for family and friends for two generations. “It’s been like that for our fathers, too,” said Kunnal Jena and Asavari. “We've been coming here since 2002. We are going to go to all the four branches to relive the memories and have one last Pecos beer,” they said.
From liquor to coffee
Meanwhile, restaurants and bars are looking at ways to continue serving people. The bar at the Gateway Hotel on Residency Road for instance is going to be turned into an Italian Cafe. “We are almost finishing up the stock. We will convert the bar into a cafe. The business will obviously go down and we will lose customers, but we hope to recover soon,” said its manager.
Pecos at Indiranagar will stop serving liquor from July 1. "We will be serving only non-alcoholic drinks at the three outlets from July 1. The last order on Friday will be at 10.30 p.m. We are hoping to finish the stock by then," said Collin Timms, owner of the outlets, adding that he is hopeful that the order will be revoked in a few days.
Staff at the Beer Cafe Beer More in Indiranagar have been asked to shuffle between the other two outlets in Koramangala and VR Mall. “We were baffled by the news. It was very last minute. We still have a large inventory of beer and it will all go waste. Also, we are worried about the employees,” said Vignesh Jayaprakash, owner of the outlet.
Discounts
With these establishments forced to finish stock before midnight, many are offering discounts and offers on drinks.
- Reporting by Prerna Dadu, Arza Safiya, Supriya Roy
