SHILLONG: Eateries in the city have chalked out their lockdown strategy to keep business afloat.
Laitumkhrah, the city’s café hotspot and a favourite hangout for the youth, is now a deserted locality with partially opened eateries and cafes along the way, eagerly waiting for customers.
The eateries which The Shillong Times visited on Saturday said they get around 20 orders a day.
Geraldine Nongbri, who works at the cash counter of Nat’s Chinese Restaurant in the locality, said, “Pre-lockdown, our cash counter had two staff working in shifts. We would not get time to rest for a moment and now we are sitting without any business.”
The restaurant, which is among the eateries offering a staggered menu for the lockdown, is listed on Netfoodish and gets 5-6 orders through the food delivery app. It has also started home delivery that is “not more than 3-4 a day”. “Takeaways are more, around 20 a day,” said Nongbri.
Vicky Vishal Kharkongor, the proprietor of Hashtag café, was worried about the number of customers that was zero till 5pm on Saturday. The café is on Netfoodish and there is direct home delivery option too.
The owners of the restaurants and cafes said their businesses were down by at least 70 per cent and for some it is close to 90 per cent. “Our sales have taken an 80 per cent plunge. We wanted to start hot beverages but because of the lockdown, it became difficult to procure the items,” said Samar Hajong at Keventers, which gets around 20 orders a day, including on delivery apps.
Eateries and restaurants — which earlier offered takeaways, besides the usual service — have started home delivery post-lockdown. Jeeve’s eatery at Don Bosco Square delivers food around the city “but the minimum order amount has to be Rs 300”, said Uttam Banai at the counter.
Every restaurant had its shutter half-open. A table, and sometimes benches for takeaway customers, was kept near the door of each eatery and a person was stationed to ensure that customers sanitised their hands before placing the order. Some like Keventers were allowing buyers to enter but after placing orders, they were requested to wait outside.
Tyngshainlang Marbaniang, owner of Inequale Food Hub, said the restaurant started only a few months before the lockdown. Inequale is on Swiggy, Netfoodish and two more new delivery apps. It has also started home delivery of orders placed on call or WhatsApp.
“The average number of orders is 15-22 as the new apps are not fully functional. We are new… we are giving our best to offer best quality food to our customers even if it means less profit for us,” said Marbaniang, adding that the restaurant has reduced its 10-page menu to two pages.
The number of staff at the eateries is also less as many have left the city and some owners could not pay salary. For instance, Nat’s is running with six of its 30 staff. “Appa’s Indian Cuisine, run by the same owner as Nat’s, is closed because we do not have employees,” Nongbri said.
Neither Nongbri nor the two young men at the door is from Shillong and they stay in an accommodation provided by the restaurant.
Kharkongor, who has already incurred around Rs 15 lakh losses in tourism business, said four of his seven employees at the café have left but he is paying them 50 per cent salary “because I need them”.
Laitumkhrah is only a part of the story and all restaurants and small food joints across the city are struggling amid the lockdown.
Kharkongor has a suggestion for the government that may help restaurateurs and café owners break even. “The government should allow cafes to sell local wine. At least, that will help us earn something,” he said.
