Although the doors officially opened to the public on Friday, The Rameshwaram Cafe had already drawn crowds through the week. Between Monday and Thursday, the all-day South Indian eatery hosted public food trials from 6 pm to midnight, offering a set menu of benne dosa, ghee podi idli, kesari bhaat (pineapple sheera with saffron) and filter coffee soft serve to anyone who wished to walk in. Long queues formed each evening, with diners waiting for hours. The four-day run culminated in dhol and dancing on Thursday night.
“We served over 20,000 customers,” Raghavendra Rao told The Indian Express, describing the exercise as more than a promotional campaign. “For us, it’s Annadanam (the ritual of donating food). It also gives us time to introduce the brand to customers, get their feedback and make small corrections because every city has a different palate. Plus, our teams and machines get used to the pace before the opening day.”
Raghavendra Rao co-founded The Rameshwaram Cafe with his wife Divya in 2021. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The scale of the response is perhaps fitting for a man who once came to Mumbai looking for a small space to start a South Indian eatery but couldn’t find one. “Everything was very expensive,” he recalled of his visit in 2016.
Cut to the present, and The Rameshwaram Cafe now occupies an 8,000 sq ft space across two floors at the heritage Eros building in Churchgate — a darshini-style quick service restaurant on the ground floor and a sit-down diner upstairs.
The beginning
Characterised by black basalt stone and a logo inspired by kolam (the traditional floor art drawn daily outside homes to invite prosperity), the brand began in 2021 as a modest 700 sq ft eatery in Indiranagar, Bengaluru. It was founded by Rao, who has worked in hospitality since the early 2000s, along with Divya, a CA and IIM-A alumna who initially approached him while looking for a franchise but eventually became his partner in building the brand. A year later, the two got married.
People dining at The Rameshwaram Cafe, which is characterised by black basalt stone and a logo inspired by kolam. The name is inspired from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birthplace. (Express Photxo by Amit Chakravarty)
“I look after the kitchen and operations, and she handles finance,” Rao said with a smile. “Honestly, I don’t understand business much. I’m all about customer relations. I used to pray to God to bless me with someone who could take care of the business side. He heard me.”
While Rao and his cafe are today seen as a success story, the journey to get here spans nearly 15 years of struggle and reinvention.
The cafe’s identity is deeply rooted in symbolism: black basalt stone, terracotta tones, kolam-inspired logo motifs. Rao insists he did not want to create just another restaurant. “I wanted to build a temple. The food should feel like prasadam.”
The inspiration comes from former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. “I have always been inspired by him. Whenever I felt low, I would read his books. So I named the cafe after his birthplace, Rameswaram.”
Days before the Mumbai opening, we met Rao for an interview where he also hosted a tasting for us. The spread was unapologetically indulgent: kesari bhaat fragrant with pineapple and saffron, khara bhaat (upma), ven pongal slick with ghee, Bisi bele bhaat with crispy boondi and raita on side, sweet pongal with jaggery, ghee pudi idli, Benne masala dosa, and lemon rice.
A spread at The Rameshwaram Cafe featuring benne masala dosa, idli, vada, kesari bhaat (pineapple sheera), khara bhaat (upma), ven pongal, bisi bele bhaat and sweet pongal with jaggery, served with chutneys and sambhar. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
Dessert arrived in the form of delicate pootharekulu — paper-thin rice sheets layered with jaggery, crushed dry fruits and a generous drizzle of ghee — followed by filter coffee soft serve topped with a hot shot of decoction, their playful take on an affogato.
The prequel
His tryst with hospitality began somewhat accidentally.
“I was studying mechanical engineering when a child once told me I looked like Hrithik Roshan,” he recalled. It was the early 2000s and Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai had just been released. The comment lingered in his mind long enough for him to decide to try his luck at acting.
His parents were unhappy, but Rao moved ahead with the decision, taking up a job at Le Meridien to support himself financially. “I started as a cashier but soon began working across roles. They had a course called ‘Commitment to Excellence’, where you get certified through their UK chain. I even did that,” he said. “I realised that while I didn’t know cooking, I knew how to feed customers.”
He eventually dropped out of engineering college and spent the next few years moving between Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai chasing the acting dream.
“Someone suggested I go to NSD in Delhi, so I did, but they needed a degree. Then someone said Mumbai, so I came here and tried meeting people, even tried getting admission to Anupam Kher’s institute but the fees were too high. Meanwhile, I kept doing theatre, thinking that’s how Shah Rukh Khan also got his break,” he shared.
During this period, Rao took up odd jobs at restaurants, dhabas and roadside eateries, anything that would help him survive. “I slept at railway stations many nights,” he recalled.
Eventually, he moved to Chennai where he worked collecting tickets at Satyam Cinema while staying in a slum in Saidapet. “It was close to a golf course where Mani Ratnam used to come,” he said, laughing at the memory. “I even joined a dance studio where many background dancers trained.”
By 2009, however, he realised he needed to reorient his life. “I had only worked in hospitality until then, so I decided to complete my engineering first.”
He returned to Bengaluru and approached his college principal for readmission. Rao had dropped out in 2003. It was now 2009. “He refused and said I wasn’t fit for ‘technical education’. But after hearing my story, he suggested I meet the chancellor in Belgaum. The chancellor also refused initially, but after listening to me he finally gave me two years,” Rao said. He completed his degree in 2011.
In 2012, he borrowed Rs 2 lakh from friends and opened a roadside outlet in Kumara Park selling idli and dosa. Sales were decent; profits were not. “Everything went into running the eatery and keeping the municipality happy,” he said wryly.
A 100 sq ft space in Gandhinagar followed, but he was forced out when a lodge upstairs complained that his business was eating into theirs. Next came a 450 sq ft outlet in Nagarapet. Loyal customers began expressing interest in joining the business. In 2016, he moved into a 3,000 sq ft space and made them directors.
“In hindsight, maybe I should have made them investors,” he admitted. “It’s a service-oriented industry. Their focus was only on business. I wanted ambience — natural stone design. They said even tiles would do.” The partnership unravelled.
“Phir interval hua, aur Divya aayi,” Rao laughed, his storytelling style unmistakably filmy.
The second innings
Together, Divya and Rao launched The Rameshwaram Cafe in 2021. What began as a modest Indiranagar outpost quickly multiplied — JP Nagar (2021), Whitefield (2022), Rajajinagar (2023), Madhapur (2024). Last year, the original Indiranagar branch was expanded to 15,000 sq ft and also opened another outlet at Bengaluru airport. Dubai is next. In Hosur, Rao has acquired 1.5 acres. “It will be the biggest QSR in the world,” he said, adding, “I plan to recreate a model of my first roadside stall there.”
All outlets are franchised, but the kitchen remains under central control. “Consistency is not a challenge because our staff is trained by us,” he said, adding that their staff has also remained with them for years. “Because I have been where they are today, I know how to look after them.” The master franchise for Mumbai where they are eyeing a handful of outlets in coming time has been given to Yash Parekh of Parekh Group.
The present – a yali carved in basalt, heritage and 5 am coffee
The Mumbai outpost is his most ambitious design yet, and the first with air conditioning. “Customers demanded it,” he laughed.
On the ground floor stands an imposing yali carved from black basalt, a mythical creature common in South Indian temple architecture. Upstairs, red Agra stone nods subtly to the detailings in this Art Deco structure of Eros building. Teakwood chairs meet granite tables, and soon, 40 Tanjore paintings will adorn the walls.
“We want to transport you to South Indian temples,” Rao said. “We visit temples every year and add their prasadams to our menu. We are planning a different payasam every day.”
An Annalaxmi thali is in the works, which Rao said will bring offerings from multiple southern states on a single banana leaf.
The cafe he said “will open at 5 am with National Anthem charging his team” and will be on till 2 or 3 am, taking care of everybody from those who want early morning breakfast to tourists wanting to satiate late night cravings.
