McDonald’s, Mani Square

A 200-seater restaurant bursting at its seams on a Saturday evening. There are about 30 people in queue at any given time. But no one is fretting or fuming. They are happily awaiting their turn for the big bite.

LAST IN LINE: Tapan Bhandari

From: Salt Lake

With: Family (1 adult, 4 children)

Time: Saturday evening, 7.15pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? 10 minutes.

Why wait? The service and food are good. And the kids don’t want to go anywhere else!

When do you think you’ll get a table? The queue is moving pretty fast. Should get in soon.

What are you doing while waiting in queue? Chatting. Looking at shop windows.

Will you come back here again? Definitely. Despite the wait, McDonald’s promises good quality and efficient service. Besides, it is a global food chain.

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? Not really; don’t think McDonald’s is that generous!

How often do you eat out? Twice a week.

How often do you stand in queue? At least once a week.

RESTAURANTSPEAK:

Rudra K. Sen, head of operations, McDonald’s India (eastern region)

Longest queues: Sunday evenings.

Average waiting time on weekends: Usually, not more than 10 minutes.

Queue cut-off point: Our customers have made us the popular brand that we are today. We will never turn our patrons away.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: When our Park Street store opened, we did offer drinks to patrons waiting in queue. The queue during those early days went as far as 80-120 metres from the store entrance.

BAR-B-Q

The busiest restaurant on Park Street is characterised by queues on weekends — and often on weekdays — stretching from the top of the staircase down to the pavement. Some are looking forward to the Dal Makhani, others to the Konjee Crispy Lamb.

LAST IN LINE: Scott Chiu

From: Tangra

With: Two friends

Time: Saturday, 9.20pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? 30 minutes

Why wait? The set-up is good here. And so is the food. And I know the people running the place. Besides, every other place on weekends is also crowded.

When do you think you’ll get a table? I have just been told in one minute!

What are you doing while waiting in queue? Chatting.

Will you come back here again? Of course. It’s one of my favourite places.

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? No.

How often do you eat out? 3-4 times a week.

How often do you stand in queue? On most weekends, especially if it’s dinnertime.

RESTAURANTSPEAK:

Rajiv Kothari, partner

Longest queues: Sundays; dinners are busier than lunch.

Average waiting time on weekends: 20 minutes to half an hour.

Queue cut-off point: We get an early dinner crowd, starting from about 7pm and the restaurant closes at 11pm. So there is ample time to accommodate everyone.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: None.

PETER CAT

The queues in front of this (off) Park Street eatery are as famous as its Chelo Kebabs and sizzlers. Even Dada’s culinary debut across the road has not dimmed Peter Cat’s popularity.

LAST IN LINE: Soumil Bera

From: Lake Town

With: A gang of eight

Time: Saturday, 8.30pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? 45 minutes.

Why wait? We did try our luck at Moulin Rouge and Bar-B-Q but they are packed to capacity. Besides, we really like the food at Peter Cat.

When do you think you’ll get a table? Hopefully in the next 15 minutes.

What are you doing while waiting in queue? We just drank tea from across the street. And we have been chatting.

Will you come back here again? Peter Cat is one of our favourite eating places. We will surely come back.

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? No.

How often do you eat out? Once a month.

How often do you stand in queue? Whenever we eat out on weekends, we stand in queue for 45 minutes to an hour.

RESTAURANTSPEAK:

Nitin Kothari, proprietor

Longest queues: Weekends are obviously the busiest. Friday and Saturday evenings are extremely busy. But at Peter Cat, we get a sizeable crowd even during the week. That is if there is no bandh or rally!

Average waiting time on weekends: Generally 15-20 minutes, which may extend to half an hour.

Queue cut-off point: None. The instruction to my staff is to give the patrons the exact waiting time and not mislead them.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: None.KFC, City Centre

The wait’s worth the fried chicken, they all seemed to think. So this 82-seater address is a sight to be seen on most weekends, with a long line, albeit orderly and fast moving.

KFC, City Centre

LAST IN LINE: P.K. Mohanti

From: Garia

With: Family

Time: Saturday, 8.25pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? Five minutes. (The first in queue had been waiting for 15 minutes.)

Why wait? Normally, I don’t wait in queue to eat. I only wait for KFC because it’s a foreign brand and my family likes to eat here.

When do you think you’ll get a table? In 15 minutes.

What are you doing while waiting in queue? Thinking how exhausted I am but I still think it’s worth the wait!

Will you come back here again? Yes.

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? No.

How often do you eat out? Once or twice a month.

How often do you stand in queue? Whenever I eat out, although I do not wait for more than five minutes, after which I leave.

RESTAURANTSPEAK: Unnat Varma, MD, KFC

Longest queues: Weekend evenings.

Average waiting time on weekends: We try our best to serve everyone within five minutes.

Queue cut-off point: We have never turned people away.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: When the queues are very long, we try and offer water and soft drinks.

Mainland China, Gurusaday Road

It is one of the few restaurants that actually have a reception — with seats — to hold the people in queue. Almost full of hungry people waiting their turn at the table, we saw some flipping through the menu to kill time. Others were entering the dine den.

LAST IN LINE: Suman Bose

From: South Calcutta

With: Six family members

Time: Saturday, 9.40pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? 15-20 minutes.

Why wait? We are regulars here and don’t want to miss out on the food.

When do you think you’ll get a table? In another 15-20 minutes.

What are you doing while waiting in queue? Wondering how fast the people inside can finish their meal! I think when one is hungry, he should be served as soon as possible!

Will you come back here again? Yes.

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? No.

How often do you eat out? Once a week.

How often do you stand in queue? Not often. We usually book a table in advance but today it was an impulsive decision to eat out.

RESTAURANTSPEAK: Debasish Ghosh, regional business manager of Speciality Restaurants

Longest queues: Sunday lunch and dinner on Saturdays.

Average waiting time on weekends: It may be anything between 10 minutes and 45 minutes.

Queue cut-off point: Before our second Mainland China opened, we had to turn people away. Now we give them the option of trying our South City Mall restaurant for tables or any of our other restaurants.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: If the waiting time is longer than usual, then we do offer light vegetarian starters (at times) and soft drinks (regularly).

Kaafila, City Centre

The Afghani restaurant on the third floor is a hit. A hit, when it comes to foodstops, is measured by the family crowd waiting to dig in. And there was quite a healthy, hungry one when we landed up.

LAST IN LINE: Nabamita Chatterjee

From: Salt Lake

With: Husband Sudip and friends from Bangladesh

Time: Saturday, 8.45pm

How long have you been waiting for a table? For the last 10 minutes, so we are planning to leave soon.

Why not wait? I can’t wait for half an hour!

When do you think you’ll get a table? In half hour, maybe less.

What are you doing while waiting in queue? It’s a normal feature in Calcutta these days; wherever you go you have to wait! [Sudip adds: “I hate waiting.”]

Will you come back here again? Depends on my mood!

Have you been offered anything to sip or bite while you stand in queue? No.

How often do you eat out? Once in two weeks.

How often do you stand in queue? Whenever I eat out, usually. But some places have queues, some don’t, it depends on the restaurant.

RESTAURANTSPEAK: Vivek Jaiswal, owner

Longest queues: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Maximum on Sunday.

Average waiting time on weekends: 10 to 15 minutes.

Queue cut-off point: We take the booking and ask them to come back.

On-the-house offer for those in queue: None. But if we know that they will be getting the next table, they can order their meal while in the queue if they want.