Today, cafe culture in Visakhapatnam is as much a necessity as it is a pleasure. From students tackling assignments to professionals meeting deadlines, none of it would be possible without the cappuccinos powering their day. Whether it’s Fresh Choice, a steady classic, or Beanboard, the trendy hotspot, cafes dominate the city’s streets. But they all owe a nod to the one that started it all: Siva Sankar Vilas.
Kolluri Jagannadha Rao, in his book, Vi(za)gnettes notes that Visakhapatnam saw the opening of its very first café, Siva Sankar Vilas, in the 1930s. It was the first cafe with proper tables and chairs, a place where one could sit down and enjoy a meal in a setting that was, by the standards of the time, refined. This café was started by a group of Iyers from Madras, near the Kanyaka Parameswari Temple in the heart of Old Town. It was a modest establishment, lacking the luxuries of electric lights and ceiling fans (as there was still no electricity then), but it introduced Vizagites to the pleasure of dining out in a way they had never known before.
One of the quirks of Siva Sankara Vilas was its billing system. With no printed checks or receipts, the waiter would simply shout the bill amount to the owner at the cash counter—always in Tamil—while identifying customers by their clothing. “The man in the yellow shirt,” or “the man in blue trousers” became the café’s own unique shorthand for settling dues.
For many old-time Vizagites, Siva Sankara Vilas was a memory they carried to their older years. B V Radhakrishna, a long-time resident from one of Vizag’s oldest families, fondly recalls the existence of the cafe even in the 1950s, and reminisces on the magic of their rava dosas. The café’s master cook, an efficient and skilled Palghat Aiyar named Mani, was a sight to behold. With practiced ease, he would spread the batter for nearly a dozen dosas at once on a large, thick griddle—his hands moving with a rhythm that was almost hypnotic.
For those who grew up in that era, the memory of hot, crispy dosas served fresh off the griddle, the warm bustle of the café, and the familiar calls of the waiters remain etched in their hearts. One can see a record of the first cafe of Visakhapatnam even in 1958, in the book “Large Industrial Establishments in India” by India Labour Bureau, where it has been penned as “Siva Sankar Vilas Coffee House”!
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