Serving Up Love

Goodluck Cafe,FC road

I have been working here for 40 years. The current owner is much younger to me; he grew up in front of me. I have seen people from all walks of life come here,doctors,MBAs,and more. After all,this is an economical restaurant. You can have a stomach-filling meal,and two glasses of water,for Rs 150 here and go out happy. There are some who pick up fights with us,but most are good. I remember,when I had just joined this place,the then owner had a word of advice for me. He asked me to imagine a 10kg weight of ice on my head while coming to work; he was asking me to have a lot of patience. And I have followed that; my blood pressure never goes up,I am always just laughing.

Atul Joshi,

Sri Krishna Misal,Tulsi Baug

I guess some customers have become like an extended family. They were regulars when my father used to run this place,but have now all drifted away. But every once in a while,they come back to eat here and regale the younger staff with stories of their older counter parts. We have a customer who drops in occasionally. He has been coming for a very long time. I still don’t know his name,but every time he eats here,he gives a Rs 5 tip to all the staff members,saying they are like his own family. Their love is one of the reasons why we look forward to having them here.

Sujata Upadhye,

Janaseva,Laxmi Road

When we renovated the place and changed the old bench and desk type tables and modernised the interiors,our older staff members were transferred to the kitchen inside,with newer and younger members coming out to serve the customers. Whenever our older customers would come in,they would promptly inquire about the servers who had been waiting on them for years. One customer had even walked into the kitchen to check whether one of our older staff members was there. He met him,spoke to him and only after he was fully satisfied that he wasn’t leaving the place did he come out and order his food.

Prakash Dhanwani,

Poona Cold Drink House,Camp

We have had all kinds of people come in here. Rich,poor,from the middle class,everyone. Some of them have been coming here for decades now. After we renovated the place recently,a lot of our customers who were regulars started inquiring about the older staff and how they were doing. Sometimes,when you have been frequenting a place for long,you automatically build a relationship with the place. It goes beyond the business aspect,and that’s wonderful to see.

Balkrishna Shetty,

Vaishali,FC road

I joined this place in 1980. For all the people who come here,this restaurant is like home. Everyone who walks in is different,but I guess 95 per cent of them are respectful and well-behaved. I remember cricketer Javagal Srinath had come here 20 years ago,and then he had come recently again. He was so happy to be here and to see me. Old-timers always come meet us. M F Hussain used to come here every time he was in the city; I even have an autograph of his. Political leaders from all parties too come here regularly. For many of them,it’s a daily morning ritual.

Ganesh Pujari

Sai Sagar Restaurant,Kondhwa

It has been a pleasure to work with the restaurant for 10 years now. We deal with all kinds of customers; some are kind and some are rude. But we deal with every person with patience. Most of the customers ask for south Indian snacks or Punjabi dishes and we’re glad to provide them. The restaurant is often flooded with customers,and it gets hectic at times,but we enjoy it. We are happy when people enjoy our hospitality. They ask for the Russian Sandwich,the Veg Cheese Grill and the Club Sandwich most often.