The Rameshwaram Cafe officially opened its doors on Friday in Mumbai's Churchgate at the heritage Eros building. Spanning 8,000 square feet across two floors, it features a darshini-style quick service restaurant on the ground floor and a sit-down diner upstairs. Founder Raghavendra Rao shared how he built the brand from years of struggle.
The Rameshwaram Cafe's Mumbai outlet represents founder Raghavendra Rao's most ambitious project. Ahead of the opening, public food trials ran from Monday to Thursday, 6 pm to midnight, featuring benne dosa, ghee podi idli, kesari bhaat and filter coffee soft serve. Rao told The Indian Express, “We served over 20,000 customers,” describing it as Annadanam, a ritual of donating food, to introduce the brand, gather feedback and adjust to local palates while acclimating teams to the pace.
The brand began in 2021 as a 700 sq ft eatery in Bengaluru's Indiranagar, founded by Rao and his wife Divya Rao, a CA and IIM-A alumna who became his partner. Rao's journey is inspiring: he dropped out of mechanical engineering to pursue acting in the early 2000s, worked in hospitality, slept at railway stations, and completed his degree in 2011. He started a roadside outlet in Kumara Park in 2012, but partnerships failed.
The design draws from South Indian temples, with black basalt stone, a kolam-inspired logo and inspiration from former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam—the name comes from Rameswaram, his birthplace. The menu includes kesari bhaat fragrant with pineapple and saffron, khara bhaat, ven pongal, bisi bele bhaat with crispy boondi and raita, sweet pongal with jaggery, ghee pudi idli, benne masala dosa, lemon rice, pootharekulu and filter coffee soft serve. The cafe will open at 5 am with the National Anthem and run until 2 or 3 am. Plans include an Annalaxmi thali with offerings from multiple southern states. Expansions cover JP Nagar, Whitefield, Rajajinagar, Madhapur and upcoming Dubai and Hosur outlets.