The Old Pallavaram Road, leading to the GST Road, has many small restaurants and hotels offering various mouth-watering fare, but what attracts people to the newly opened B.M. Restaurant is its tariff.
For jusy ₹25, a customer can eat, to his fill, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
Owner S. Paulraj, 48, has a simple mantra: what one receives from society has to be given back in whatever way possible, and his way is providing quality food at an economical cost.
Though the restaurant may not match the pricing of Amma Unavagam run by the State government, an individual offering unlimited food — that too non-vegetarian fare — at ₹25 has gone down well in the locality.
A construction contractor, Mr. Paulraj has started the hotel on Duraikannu Road at Old Pallavaram with the sole aim of serving locals, whose livelihood has been blighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant was inaugurated by social activist V. Santhanam recently.
Customers have been visiting the restaurant in large numbers since it opened on February 24. Locals who know Mr. Paulraj point to his philanthropic activities even before he started the hotel.
M. Krishnamoorthy, a resident of Old Pallavaram, says the contractor has been giving ‘annadhanam’ at his home to more than 20 persons daily for the past three years. He has also helped to fund the education of a few children.
Mr. Paulraj says, “I am happy with the money I have earned. So I wanted to give something back to the people, and the best way is to give quality food at an affordable rate because these days people do not prefer anything free. The price covers the cost of running the restaurant.”
The hotel functions from a rented place with two cooks. ‘Unlimited’ lunch is served for ₹25, he says, and based on the feedback, breakfast and dinner will be served soon.
Mr. Paulraj had also supplied drinking water in Old Pallavaram by engaging a mini-water tanker when there was water scarcity two years ago.
