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Photo: K.R. Deepak

Filling station Youngsters eating out at an eatery in a shopping mall

This concept seems to have caught up with most of the super market chains and the concept is paying big dividends. In some of the shopping malls, the eating out places have become the hot spots. “Whether, I go for shopping or not, I make it a point to visit the Nasta Gali, an eating out place attached to the CMR Shopping Mall at least twice a week. The food is hygienic and trendy and suits our lifestyle,” says Sujatha, a BPO executive.

The food joints at the shopping malls appear to be the most happening place in the town, both for the traditional housewives and the Gen X.

“For us, visiting a mega shopping mall is like a picnic. You can shop till you drop and then have a relaxed bite or two. At times, we simply go for window shopping to spend some time and then chill out at the restaurant,” says Sarita, a housewife.

The general impression is that the food is good and there is variety, whether it is at CMR, Big Bazaar or Spencers. And most importantly it suits the budget of all.

The joints are multi-cuisine and the spread ranges from lip smacking Chinese dishes to burgers and pizzas and from traditional tiffins comprising idlis, dosas and wadas to Mughlai biriyanis.

“The idea of attached restaurants fit perfectly into the ‘needle to aeroplane’ concept of the shopping malls and the hypermarkets. The markets are big and one has to move around the store to make the required purchases, and that consumes both time and energy. We want to give the customers a relaxed ambience, so that they can spend a few hours for their shopping and at the end unwind at the joints,” says the manager of a mega store.

In all, the mega stores the restaurants are outsourced to private parties, but the management ensures quality checks from time to time to keep up the brand image.

“People have now changed their itineraries. They prefer to go for shopping on weekends, especially on Sundays to movies and other entertainments. The restaurants have added value to the stores. On weekdays the traffic ranges between 200 to 300 customers, on Sundays it goes up to 500 and during the festival seasons it is over 1,000. Serving the customers during seasons become hectic and difficult,” says Srinivas, the manager of a restaurant at a mega store.

Most of the restaurants do not have permanent seating arrangements and that stands out to be an advantage for them, when it comes to handling the crowd. “Come, order, pay and take delivery and leave. We also have parcel service,” says he.

The food is prepared in front and served steaming hot, whether it is ‘pau bhaji’, chicken roll, chilly chicken, vadas or idlis.

“For me it is the best place to be on a holiday. Leisure shopping or shopping for provisions, one need not hop from one shop to another, as everything is available under one roof and in the end have a fill and get back home.

One need not worry of entering the kitchen to prepare the food for dinner. Troop in with kids and family members enjoy the shopping and the food and just chill out,” says Radhika, a housewife.

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