New Delhi: A controversy erupted after a restaurant in Delhi's Pitampura allegedly denied entry to a couple for wearing Indian attire. However, after facing backlash, the restaurant, Tubata, allowed entry to people in all types of Indian attire. The incident took place on Friendship Day on Sunday, August 3.
The restaurant had also put a note on the entry mentioning, "all types of Indian attire are allowed".
Neeraj Agarwal, the owner of the restaurant, issued a clarification over the incident. Agarwal told ANI that the restaurant did not deny entry to anyone. He said that it was a new restaurant and the waiting time was 1-1.5 hours, and for this reason, the couple might have felt bad.
"There is nothing like that, we welcome everyone, irrespective of whether they are dressed in Indian attire or Western attire...This is a new restaurant, so there is a lot of waiting here, anything between 1-1.5 hours. This was the case that day too. It was a Sunday, Friendship Day. Maybe they felt bad because they had to wait," the owner of the restaurant said.
"There is nothing about dress code here...We did not deny entry to anyone...We just have one requirement, visit by making a reservation so that there is no inconvenience to anyone. The restaurant has been running at full capacity for 15 days now. What can I do? People are visiting here, we offer good food and quality service. We have experienced staff here. Everything is very good," he added.
After the video went viral, the Delhi government also took cognisance of the incident. "CM took cognisance of this. She instructed me to look into this incident. Officials spoke with the restaurant owner, he accepted that he will not continue with any cloth-based entry rule at the restaurant," Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra said as quoted by ANI.
Video Of The Claiming To Have Denied Entry By The Restaurant:
In his X post, Mishra called it "unacceptable".
The alleged incident took place at a restaurant on the Pitampura metro premises on August 3. In the video, a man in a T-shirt, accompanied by a woman in a 'kurta-salwar,' can be seen complaining about allegedly being denied entry for wearing Indian clothing. The couple also alleged misbehaviour by the restaurant staff.
