Alok Restaurant & Bar

This place is over in Shivaji Nagar in Pune, inside the Rajaram Building. It’s easy to find because we are right at Shivaji Putla Chowk. Being in a building like this means we have a lot of stairs and hallways around us. Alok Restaurant & Bar is a bit of a mix; we get people coming in for a full meal and others who just want a drink after their shift ends. The lighting inside is a bit dim, which helps people relax after being out in the bright Pune sun all day. We spend a lot of time stocking the bar and moving crates around. The furniture is heavy and dark, and it’s seen a lot of use over the years. You can hear the city outside, but once the doors are closed, it gets a bit quieter. Our staff is usually busy running between the kitchen and the tables. It’s not a quiet place, especially on the weekends when the cricket is on. We don’t really have a theme or anything like that. It’s just a place to sit down. We make sure the glasses are clean and the food is hot. It’s a basic operation, really. We’ve seen the neighborhood change a lot from our spot here in Shivaji Nagar, but we just keep doing what we do every day. The staff stays late most nights to clean up the bar and mop the floors for the next morning.