Sri Sampoorni Vilas Biryani Hotel

Being right near the Old Bus Stand in Salem means we see all kinds of people every day. Sri Sampoorni Vilas Biryani Hotel is located on Arunachalachari Street, and it’s a spot where travelers often stop by when they’re tired from their journey. The smell of biryani starts filling the air by late morning. We use big copper pots for the cooking, and you can hear the clatter of plates starting from noon. It gets pretty loud inside because the place is small and the street outside is even noisier with the buses honking. We don't have fancy menus or anything like that. We just serve what we’ve cooked for the day. Sometimes we run out of certain items earlier than expected, and we just have to tell the customers we’re sorry. The staff here has been with me for a long time, so we all know how the lunch rush works. We’ve seen Salem change a lot over the years, but this corner stays pretty much the same. People come in, eat their fill, and then head back out to catch their bus or go to work. It’s a fast-paced environment, but we try to keep things friendly. We clean the floors multiple times a day because of the dust from the road. It’s not a glamorous job, but it’s our living. We just focus on making sure the food is hot and the water is clean.