Honest, a restaurant brand from Ahmedabad, is rewriting the rules of culinary enterprise. Started by three brothers as a street food kiosk during the1970s, Honest grew to become a highly successful chain of no-frills, moderately priced restaurants in Ahmedabad during the 1990s and has spread to other cities of Gujarat in the last few years. They have now entered new territories like travel restaurants on highways, trendy cafes and stand-and-eat bistros.
Vijay Gupta recalls the early 1970s, when he and his elder brothers, Lalbabu and Anil, introduced pav bhaji at their chaat kiosk at Law Garden, one of the streetfood hubs in Ahmedabad. “Pav Bhaji by then was a popular street food item in Mumbai. When we brought it to Ahmedabad it had to be changed. We kept giving free trials to customers who would come for the bhel, pani-puri or chaats for which the hand-carts and kiosks of Law Garden have always been known, getting their feedback and then improvising till we brought out the pav bhaji for the Gujarati palate. We then began to specialise in pav bhaji and vegetable pulao, both made for the local taste. By the ’80s, we tasted success.’’ The enterprise has borne fruit for the brothers, they now have more than 32 establishments in Gujarat, most of them in Ahmedabad and some extremely successful ones on the national highways in the state.
Inspired by the success of their cart, the brothers started an eatery at Panchwati around 1987. This became a huge success as it offered pav bhaji along with other street food items in a hygienic and congenial setting. Gupta says , “I referred to senior people in the hotel management institute of Ahmedabad and the hospitality industry, and their advise was that as these were essentially streetfood specialties, they would only be popular in no-frills, casual eateries with affordable price-points. Another focal area was ensuring a loyal human resource so that the consistency could be maintained as we grew. We kept building on our model of restaurants with modest interiors where a family would be comfortable walking in for a meal without worrying about dressing to dine out, with moderate prices.” However, there is no compromise on using branded butter, cheese and groceries, pure cow ghee and fresh veggies. Gupta adds, “We kept looking at new growth areas in Ahmedabad. As each neighbourhood, street or suburb began to emerge as an important residential or commercial area, we established our restaurant or outlet there. While we continue to run our kiosk at Law Garden, our newer and larger restaurants at Bodakdev and Prahladnagar are our major winners. Apart from our range of pav bhaji and pulao, we have over the years incorporated fast moving dishes like north Indian mains, popular Chinese snacks, baked dishes, sandwiches, western fast food, into our menu.’’
Abhishek Gupta, son of Vijay Gupta who has joined the Honest Group of Restaurants as a partner after his education in Ohio (USA), says they do not plan to rest on their success. “Our family restaurants are now also in other cities of Gujarat like Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bharuch and Bhuj. We have entered the travel dining sector with restaurants on key highways like Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, Ahmedabad–Mumbai, Ahmedabad-Porbandar, Ahmedabad–Bhuj, etc. Here, we introduced traveller’s staples along with our regular specialties, like South Indian and Gujarati snacks. For instance, at Limbdi, midway Ahmedabad-Rajkot, we serve fried dough snacks like ganthias, bhajiyas and gotas, which are very popular in the Rajkot region as a travel breakfast. This wayside restaurant is one of our busiest and most successful ventures. For our travel dining model, we have tied-up with well-known coffee bar and American fast food brands so that we offer a comprehensive solution for the urban family where different members want various things whether it is our pav bhaji, coffee, sub, burger, pizza, a local food item, all at one location,’’ he says.
They have recently launched Red Rush, on the trendy Prahladnagar restaurant and café strip of Ahmedabad, which is a café-type restaurant offering authentic Italian and local takes on Mexican food, besides Honest specialities. “This pav bhaji, pizza and pasta place is a pilot model that my cousin, Dushyant Agrawal, and I plan to develop into a chain in future. The fourth model we have just started is the ‘bistro’—it will have stand-and-eat facilities and takeaways. Our first one is near the Vastrapur lake, we propose to open this early for breakfast to cater to the morning walkers and office-goers, and run them through the day to normal closing hours about 10 or 11pm at night. This too will be our chain with modest prices compared to our restaurants because the capital expenditure on real estate and overheads will be lower,’’ says Abhishek
With such diverse models, what will be Honest’s USP? Gupta says, “The commitment to quality, service and consistency has driven the growth of Honest so far and will be part of our new ventures too. We have started our own bakery outlets, which are becoming popular for cookies, cashew nut and honey fudge and other products, and this ensures that we control the consistency of our pav and sliced breads.’’