Economy of a Watering Holes

Have you ever thought why people want to sit in a bar and enjoy a drink or two despite the fact that in the price of one or two peg in a bar, they may buy khamba (sorry for street lingo, I mean a bottle) and enjoy it with a friend or two for the entire evening. The reasons are many, one : the drinker do not have courage to drink sitting at home due to repercussion from family(read - wife), two : to show his children that papa is the most idealist person in the entire world, three : sitting leisurely and some one else (sometime even a lovely lady) making perfect drink for you.But again, making a perfect drink or a perfect cocktail needs lot of skill, so whenever a new bar opens in an area people flock there just to break monotony, search good ambience and of course quality munch and a perfect drink.

So, the entrepreneurs come up with out of the box ideas, innovative drinks and perfect drink. Recently Mihir Desai came up with Bar Stock Exchange here in Mumbai. The alcohol sales based on demand and supply just like stock exchange. Sales begin at MRP when it opens at 6 pm. According to an estimate from industry voices, at least 350 to 400 watering holes  (Bars, pubs, lounges) have shut in the past three to four years. Many more like Blue Frog in Delhi could manage to reopen after sorting few regulatory issues. However some iconic names like Manchester United Bar in Banglore, Zinc in Mumbai and Ai-The Love Hotel in Delhi closed shutters due to long list of problems.In Mumbai, the real challenge is large real estate bill, many of the funky night spots shut shop after a year or two. Another challenge is strong legislations, you need 19 licences to get a night club operational in Mumbai and a dozen to open in most of the other cities. And a microbrewery  licence is given only after excise clearance and the bar is set up.

The real challenge of the bars is the well travelled customers, who know their cocktails and that fact bring an establishment to its knees for poorly crafted drinks.

There is a thin line between a clever business idea and an over the top gimmick. While one attracts and keeps customers, the later is seen as a flash in the pan, with people abandoning the place after weeks if not earlier.Most of night club goesr wary of patronising places that serve sub standard food. Hiring high profile chefs cost a lot when one of the promoter is a trained chef things go easy.

I do not have fair idea about watering holes in metros other than Mumbai, except few pubs, clubs and microbreweries  oversea, so based on my own experience, I tried to list some good places, where you may have different kind of experience (not only in terms of quality but also weight on pocket) :   

  

Toto's Garage

More after-party than a bar, this neon-lit bunker has the body of a VW Beetle suspended above the bar, a DJ playing in a Maruti van, and a traffic jam of hubcaps, number plates and bonnets jutting out from its brick walls. It gets as crowded as a local train, so get there early, pull up a stool and pass the time with a copy of Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis – a tale of Mumbai's underworld – while waiting for Bandra's loyal locals to descend after work for Kingfisher, chicken in wire mesh, and chilli paneer.

30 Lourdes Heaven, Pali Junction, Bandra West

AER

Biceps, chest hair and Amazonian women fill this Bollywood-star magnet, but don't be put off by the air-kissing gloss. On a Friday night, South Mumbaikars flock to the open-air rooftop bar on the 34th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel.Cocktails at sunset are popular, with the city's lights on one side, the sea on the other, and a laid-back crowd moving in between – but by midnight you'll have to weave around a dancing mob to get to the bar. Dress up or dress down, but leave the trainers at home.

Four Seasons Hotel, Worli

Janata Restaurant

Not for dates, this no-frills, no-clean-crockery joint is jammed night and day with students, idlers and anyone reluctant to produce more than fluff from their pockets. Meaning "the people's" lunch home, Janata is the place to share a quarter-bottle of rum and half a tandoori chicken for under a fiver, on Formica-topped tables. Serving beer from noon until at least 3am – even when the shutters are down – it's cheap, cheerful and worth foraging for in Bandra's backstreets.

78a Dr Ambedkar Road, Pali Naka, Bandra

Tote on the Turf

A massive revamp has shifted Tote's focus from a design-led, superior space with inferior food, to a more informal venue where chargrilled kebabs are ferried over from Neel, its adjoining restaurant. With numerous awards for its interior – a wood-panelled bar, suspended mezzanine, and rain trees at the entrance – Tote draws a mixed crowd. It stocks a wide variety of beers and Indian wines, depending on the theme of the night – a thumping Halloween party and Mumbai's biggest New Year's Eve bash grabbed their fair share of headlines.

 Mahalaxmi Race Course, Keshva Rao Khadye Marg, Mahalaxmi

Woodside Inn

Cosy, bordering on cramped, this is a lifeline for travellers craving a taste of home – and free Wi-Fi. Popular with students early evening, and an older business crowd a little later, it's an ideal alternative to Leopold'sdown the road (made famous by the novel Shantaram, and now so commercial it stacks copies of the book by the till). Housed in a 120-year-old heritage building, with wooden floors and low ceilings, the bar is hung with sepia prints of Victoria Terminus and serves everything from blueberry pancakes and French toast to San Miguel, Hoegaarden and Jagermeister – a rarity in Mumbai.

Wodehouse Road, opposite Regal Cinema, Colaba

Amadeus

An award-winning Spanish restaurant during the week (try the fabulous pork belly), Amadeus has a stylish, low-lit lounge that morphs on a Friday and Saturday night into a sangria-fuelled hotspot for SoBo-ites – South Bombay's old-money crowd, who steer clear of Juhu and Bandra. Between live music and DJs, Amadeus mainly rolls out western dance, but will throw in a few Bollywood teasers. Energy pulsates wall to wall, and if it can get a little too busy at times they're still a hospitable crowd.
• NCPA, Nariman Point

Ghetto

Ghetto by name and ghetto by nature … dive bars don't come more thrillingly dingy than this Breach Candy classic, whose doorway is a hole in the wall. Not so much a student hangout as a beloved bar of media-trendies who've been coming here since their teens, and regulars glued to the bar stools. Power-ballad-tastic, Ghetto is a billiards-and-beer joint, with walls covered in graffiti – including a mural of a bemused-looking Jim Morrison – and lit with bizarre black lighting; it feels like Halloween every day.

30 Bhulabhai Desai Marg, Breach Candy

Elbo Room

Like much of laid-back Bandra, cosy, cupboard-sized Elbo Room is the place to "slum it" with cheap martinis, salami pizzas and pints of Leffe with the locals. The owners rig up a temporary outdoor screen for major sporting events (mostly football and cricket), though an indoor, smaller screen is a permanent fixture. Music leans towards retro pop, and a DJ booth stubbornly wedged into the corner often kickstarts a makeshift dancefloor by night. Guest DJs play 70s, 80s and 90s rock on a Wednesday, but don't expect much by way of elbow room, or access to the toilet – there's one unisex loo for all to share.

Plot 500, Sant Kutir Apartments, Linking Road, Khar West

Olive

Olive is a Mumbai tradition, drawing a mix of Bollywood actors, Bollywood wannabes and amused locals to its TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday) see-and-be-seen night. The beautiful Mediterranean restaurant is soft white, candlelit and casual, with pebbles underfoot, and one set of bathrooms at the back of the venue that allows everyone to check each other out en route. Tables are cleared to make way for the dance floor, which moves from lounge to house music until two or three, depending on when the police close it down. International wines are moderately priced, but specify your choice of vodka or they'll hit you with a Grey Goose.

Pali Hill Tourist Hotel, 14 Union Park, Khar West

WTF!

Like the bedroom walls of a first-year student, WTF! is plastered with posters of Pulp Fiction and Bob Marley, and dotted with old vinyl. Lipstick red lacquered booths are lit with low-hanging giant bulbs and quickly filled by a mid-week, post-work crowd nursing local beer and mandarin mojitos until 1am. When Mumbai's heat takes over, crowds shift to the gravelled courtyard which feels much like a no-frills version of Olive and is kinder on the ears once the DJ's retro rock, pop and odd bit of country starts pounding the walls inside.

Vora Building, 3rd Road, Khar

BlueFROG

Those who want to enjoy drink, some innovative starters and food, unusual good ambience, good acoustics, and of course live music then this is the most happening place, inside Mathuradas Mills Compound in Parel area. Close to new Corporate Cluster of town this is one of the best option. Some of the world class bands and singers have performed at BlueFROG. Closeby The Barking Deer which is microbrewery. 

Mathuradas Mills Compound, Parel.