Iconic Bengaluru Eatery Koshy’s Closes Temporarily Amid COVID-19

The St Marks Road restaurant has become a Bengaluru landmark for both young and old residents of the city.  

(Photo: The News Minute)

Bengaluru stalwart Koshy’s is temporarily closing down amidst the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the city, restaurant management confirmed. This is reportedly the first time that the decades-old restaurant on St Marks Road will close for a period of time.

Owner Prem Koshy told the Times of India that the eatery has remained open through thick and thin, even during wars, but due to the global pandemic and the worrying rise of cases in the city, this will be the first time that its doors will be closing.

Though some reports suggest that the restaurant may open in August, Santosh Koshy, who runs the restaurant with his brother Prem, told TNM that it could be longer depending upon the situation involving the coronavirus.

Prem told TOI that though they were open for a little over three weeks when the lockdown began to ease, there was low foot traffic and running the business amidst the precautions required proved to be challenging.

The St Marks Road restaurant has become a Bengaluru institution and landmark for both young and old residents of the city after it first opened its doors in the early 50s. The eatery has been run by the Koshy family since its inception, first as a bakery in 1940, following which the restaurant as it's known today was built next door.

Koshy’s is best known for its breakfast offerings, such as sausage, bacon, baked beans on toasts and eggs cooked in various styles that harks back to its roots in post-colonial India. It also featured a popular Sunday lunch menu that drew many from across the city.

The restaurant, however, isn’t the first to shut its doors, either permanently or temporarily, as the pandemic continues to push businesses to the brink. Forage in Indiranagar has shut down, while Ebony and 13th Floor, Phobbidden Fruit and Veena Stores each announced they would suspend operations until the situation improved and people were able to dine out again.

(The story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)