|
|
|
Menu
displays are rampant
on the block.
|
 he
competition for customers is fierce on this block, which is lined
from door-to- door with more than a dozen Indian restaurants.
Despite
their dogged struggles to attract diners, the restaurants claim
that most of them manage to make ends meet. Emdadul
Hoque, a waiter at Taj Mahal serves as many as 200 people on a
good Saturday night.
But
not all the businesses are flourishing. "Business before the last
two years was very good, but recently the business is very slow,"
said Gandhi's Ashraf. He blames this decline on the introduction
of Indian restaurants in other neighborhoods.
Instead
of driving each other out of business, these entrepreneurs have
found an advantage in sticking together. Urban lore has it that
all of the restaurants shared a common kitchen to cut costs.
Howard Weiss of the New York City Department of Business Services
said that this aggregation attracts curry connoisseurs who want
to browse several menus before choosing a restaurant.
"If the market is there and the neighborhood is known for those
types of restaurants, people may go there because it gives them
a choice of several restaurants in the same area," he said. Weiss
compared this phenomenon to Restaurant Row in the Theatre District
and the Czech restaurants on the Upper East Side.
|
|
|
Musicians
entertain diners by playing the sitar (right) and tabla (left)
at Raj Mahal restaurant.
|
|
