THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After 75 days of lockdown, the food circuit in the city is limping back to normal. Despite being severely impacted by the pandemic and the lockdown, the majority of the eateries including fast-food chains in the state capital have decided not to serve food inside to their customers for the time being and are pinning all their hopes on parcel service and food delivery for survival.
Despite the relaxation in the lockdown restrictions, many eateries and thattukadas have decided to make customers wait for the dine-in experience owing to the pandemic threat and safety of their workers. It is learnt that only 25 to 40 per cent of the restaurants in the city limits are allowing dining-in. There are around 2,500 restaurants in the district. Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association district secretary B Vijayakumar said that the majority of hotels in the rural areas have opened their doors. “There are around 700 restaurants within the city limits and we have urged restaurant owners to open for dining-in only if they can comply with all the guidelines and norms put forward by the state government. Also, the police stations have served notices on restaurants in their jurisdiction on the rules to be followed for reopening of the restaurants,” said Vijayakumar.
He said that the association has recommended eateries to promote Kerala’s culinary specialties for the time being. “We depend on workers from other states for preparing Arabic, Chinese and north Indian cuisines. But now we don’t have enough workers as they have returned to their home states,” he added.
The fast-food circuit in the state capital is flooded with requests but popular food trucks claim parcel service is safer. There are around 400 fast food vendors in the city limits. According to them, it’s not safe to serve as people come in large groups to have food and is impossible to enforce the social distancing norms.
Sakeer A, who runs a food truck at Kuravankonam in the city, says requests are aplenty for food from customers. “I opened five days ago but we are still apprehensive about serving food. Business is dull but we hope it will catch up eventually,” he said.District Secretary of Fast Food Owners’ Association Mani R said that the prime reason for not serving food is the risk factor involved because of the pandemic. “The majority of customers prefer parcels. We are facing a huge revenue loss but at the moment we don’t want to take any risks,” he said.
“The Vellayambalam- Vazhuthacaud stretch has the most number of fast-food trucks and many customers come in Karnataka and Tamilnadu registered vehicles. Also, youngsters come in groups and don’t follow our instructions. We want to avoid such situations. Hence, our association has decided not to serve food for the time being,” said Mani. He said that the status quo would be maintained for the next 15 days.Abbas A of Irani food truck - a popular joint at Manaveeyam Veedhi, said that they have introduced temperature screening and hand sanitisers for their customers. “We are not serving but there is a huge demand for parcels. We have to bear with the loss because of the pandemic situation,” said Abbas.
A few wayside eateries are serving food to their customers. George C, who runs a small thattukada near Vazhuthacaud, is hoping to get back on his feet. “I opened the thattukada today. There were not many customers but I hope the business will catch up in the coming days,” he said. Pagoto, the popular ice cream truck at Kuravankonam, has also started serving its customers. “We were available online during the lockdown and we resumed direct service a day ago. We got more customers than expected,” said Sunil Kumar, owner.