The Nirulas chain traces its origins to “Hotel India”, which opened at the L-Block in Connaught Place (CP), New Delhi in 1934, by “Nirula Brothers”, L.C. and M. Nirula. It had 12 rooms, a restaurant and a bar. In 1940, on request of the Indian Coffee Board, they opened the Indian Coffee Shop on Queensway (now Janpath) introducing espresso coffee, which became an instant success. Soon afterwards they launched two theme restaurants —‘La Boheme’, a Hungarian restaurant; and ‘Gufa’, an Indian restaurant. In the 1950s, the ‘Chinese Room’ was opened, the oldest Chinese restaurant in Delhi. It is still on its original premises.
The 1970s saw Nirula’s venturing into the fast food business with the opening of what became Delhi’s first fast food restaurant in 1977 to which was later added: a pastry shop, snack bar, hot shoppe, and an ice cream parlour. A subsequent addition was the adjacent, waiter-served “Potpourri” salad bar. By that time Nirula’s was already a CP landmark, offering Western fast food such as burgers, pizzas, and submarines, plus an ice cream parlour offering 21 flavours.
Expansion of the fast food business continued in the next two decades, with the opening of the ‘Central Kitchen’ and at the Chanakya cinema complex, Chanakyapuri, Defence Colony, Noida, Vasant Vihar, and various other locations in the NCR. Before the arrival of several international restaurant chains in the 1990s, Nirula’s remained a major draw for young people in the capital. In the following years, even after chains like McDonald’s made inroads into its share, Nirula’s retained 40 per cent of the Delhi market in 2000. Even then, facing stiff competition from Nirula’s, McDonald’s had to “Indianise” its menu to suit Indian palates, while on its end, Nirula’s added competitive pricing and revamped its interiors.
To diversify its business, the group opened hotels, one in Noida and another in Panipat, and set up food processing plants in Noida, near Delhi.