Cafe General & Stores

Marina Mansion is an old building and being here at Charni Road means we see a lot of different faces every single day. We are right near Sukh Sagar, so people use that as a landmark to find us. Being close to the Chowpatty Sea Face is nice because you get that salty air coming in, even if the traffic on the road is loud. Cafe General & Stores is a bit of a mix. We have the stuff people need to buy for their homes and then we have the space where people sit and eat. It’s been this way for a long time. People coming from the station often pop in because they’re tired from the train. It’s a short walk from the platform. The wooden shelves in the back have been there since we started. They’ve seen better days, but they hold everything just fine. Mumbai never really sleeps, so there is always someone looking for something. We spend a lot of time stocking the shelves and then switching over to help in the kitchen. It can be a bit chaotic when the evening rush starts. You see the students, the office folks, and the families headed to the beach. We don't have a big team, just enough of us to keep things moving. Most of the time we are just busy cleaning counters or talking to the suppliers about when the milk is arriving. It's just a regular local shop.