With safety first, pubgoers in Bengaluru hit favourite watering holes

BENGALURU: The city welcomed the reopening of pubs and bars with a mix of nostalgia, relief and muted happiness. While some decided to pub hop, others decided to just hit their favourite watering hole to down a pitcher of beer.
“It is still risky to go out but I couldn’t stop myself from having a pint. And I decided to visit on the first day before the place sees more people in the next few days,” said Chaitanya G, program manager for a supply chain company, sitting in Windmills Craftworks brewery, Whitefield.
Communications lead Souvik C, who lives in Indiranagar, went pub-hopping.“I visited Toit, Bob’s Bar and Big Pitcher. All of them are close to my home and ever since the news of their reopening did the rounds, I have been planning to visit them because I like these places. I had a few beers at each place,” he said.
Publicist Gaurav M missed visiting pubs during the lockdown. “For my friends and I, meeting at our regular pub and having a pitcher of beer was a way to unwind after work, and I missed doing that these past six months. I decided to visit my favourite pub Windmills on the first day because it almost feels like hugging a friend,” he said.
“There are two kinds of people in the city — those who visit malls, and those who visit pubs, I belong to the second category,” said startup entrepreneur Keshav Marwah from Wanderers, a watering hole in Kammanahalli. “Pubs play an integral role in Bengaluru’s social culture. It’s where most of us meet, and for them to be closed brought a stagnancy to our lives. It’s good to have them back,” said Marwah.
As far as social distancing and hygiene being maintained are concerned, he said he was quite satisfied with the safety protocols. “The entire staff at Windmills is wearing masks and gloves, and there is a safe distance between tables. They’re also disinfecting the tables after customers leave,” said Gaurav.
While all pubgoers TOI spoke to seemed happy they could have a drink with friends, they were mindful of the fact that Covid-19 is still around. “It is still risky so my plan is to visit pubs once in a few weeks,” said Chaitanya. "We’ll have to follow all precautions. That said, I plan to venture out and explore pubs and breweries in other areas of the city too,” said Souvik.
Meanwhile, in Mysuru, though almost every bar and restaurant was open, there were hardly any customers. Some hotels claimed they had bookings and some offered reopening discounts of 20% on liquor and food. Narayanagowda C, president, Mysuru Hoteliers Association, said there are about 85 bars and restaurants, nearly two dozen clubs and as many as big hotels that serve liquor. “We’re all hoping something good will happen from here onwards,” he said.
Sri Harsha Road and Mother Teresa Road in the heart of Mysuru which have many bars, restaurants and hotels, got off to a slow start. A popular restaurant on Sri Harsha Road said they would reopen after three days.
(Inputs from Lawrence Milton)