Hotel Pilot

Down here in Basavanagudi Attawa, we’ve been running Hotel Pilot for quite some time. It's one of those spots where you know what you're getting. We don't put on any acts. The building is old, and it has that specific smell of spices and cooking oil that hangs around. We get a lot of students coming in because we’re close to the colleges, and they’re always looking for something cheap and filling. Then there are the older folks who have been living in the area since before the roads were paved properly. They sit in the same corner every day. Our kitchen is small but we make it work. The staff works hard, mostly sweating over the stoves from dawn. We buy our vegetables from the local market early in the morning. Sometimes the delivery is late and we have to scramble, but we always manage to get the doors open on time. We don't have air conditioning, just some ceiling fans that hum a bit too loud. It gets hot in the summer, but people don't seem to mind much as long as the food is hot and ready. We don't have a website or anything like that. People just find us by walking past or hearing about us from a neighbor. It's just a basic place to sit down and eat a meal without any fuss. We stay open late into the night until the last customer finally leaves.