Ahmedabad’s restaurants embrace expansive, alcohol-free dining experiences

Ahmedabad’s restaurant scene is undergoing a shift towards large, specialised and alcohol-free dining venues, with restaurateurs presenting food and hospitality as immersive experiences. The trend is represented by venues including Sora, an 11,000-square-foot Asian-Peruvian restaurant, and Cacaoté, a 15,000-square-foot chocolate brasserie. Other examples cited include Bottega, Burma Burma and Komo By Kaffa, a 23,000-square-foot café.

The city’s dry status has encouraged restaurants to focus on food, design and elaborate zero-proof drinks. At Sora, a Nikkei restaurant, a yuzu and panca soup is prepared at the table using a siphon. Burma Burma is described as serving botanical, smoked and clarified non-alcoholic drinks with theatrical presentation.

Sujit Mehta of Ahmedabad-based consultancy We Serve said the availability of large spaces was a major attraction for restaurateurs. He said venues occupying between 18,000 and 45,000 square feet could combine restaurants, banqueting and catering operations, allowing different parts of the business to support one another during different seasons. Mehta estimated that establishing such venues generally required ₹5-7 crore, while average spending was about ₹1,200-1,500 per person.

He said operators typically recovered their investment within 1.5 to two years, supported by nine-year land leases. Restaurant owners and consultants also linked the change to greater access to international ingredients, post-pandemic interest in home cooking, travel habits and younger consumers’ willingness to spend on premium food. Ahmedabad is increasingly being used as a testing ground for specialised concepts before wider expansion, the report said.