City’s nightlife slowly getting back to pre-lockdown buzz

“It is pretty heartening to see people coming back and enjoying themselves almost after four months. The only restriction is that we can run only till 10 pm and should limit to 50 per cent occupancy. Though we reopened on Tuesday, we received a good number of people and the business was good. If there is no restriction, the response would be further better,” said Shafee Ahmed, General Manager, E Residences and Hotel, Express Avenue. 

He said since theirs was a food joint too, people start coming from the time it opened at 11 am onwards, and especially on the weekends people start coming for food. “In normal bars, predominately people come only in the evenings, but here we get visitors from morning for food and evening only party-hoppers step in,” he said. 

Club and pub managements ensure that the COVID-19 guidelines should be followed by the guests and staff. They said wearing face mask is compulsory while entering the bar and the place is sanitised at regular intervals. Besides, separate tables for guests are mandatory to ensure social distancing. 

“Since people had been staying indoors for almost four months they missed partying in groups. They are coming out especially on weekends. They missed getting along with their friends, and the ambience. On the first day itself, we received good number of guests, and it picked up quickly in the past three days. However, after the lockdown, the raw material costs have gone up which in turn have reflected on food prices,” said Chandran S, Bar Operations Manager, Level Up.