For many South Indians, the perfect breakfast isn’t about a big spread. It was simple. A hot dosa soaked in ghee, coconut chutney on the side, and a steel tumbler of strong filter coffee.
One that made them feel at home, wherever they were. Rameshwaram Café brought that feeling back, but they didn’t wrap it in nostalgia for marketing. They recreated it in real kitchens, with real ingredients, and real speed.
The result is:
Launched in 2021 in Bengaluru, Rameshwaram Café is a fast-casual South Indian food chain founded by Vivek Shetty (an engineer with prior F&B experience) and Kiran Jonnalagadda (a chartered accountant).Despite the crowded food space in Bengaluru, the café made a mark by combining recipes, speed-focused service, and tech-enabled outlets.
They named the café “Rameshwaram” after the birthplace of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. At first, they had a single 150 sq. ft. kiosk in Indiranagar.
Today, it's a ₹50+ crore business and runs more than 15 branches in Bengaluru and Hyderabad with plans to expand into North India.
Rameshwaram Café didn’t ask people to promote them. They made the experience so share-worthy that customers did it on their own.
Here’s what fueled the buzz:
1. You could watch your dosa getting flipped, filled, and served in real time. It felt like a performance, and people love filming that.
2. Long lines at 2 AM became a hook. Videos showing midnight crowds created curiosity and FOMO. Even celebrities stood in line.
3. Banana leaves and stainless steel plates created nostalgia. They made people say, “You have got to try this place.”
Rameshwaram Café didn’t just grow fast.
They grew without chaos. That’s because they adapted technology to control operations, even as demand exploded.
Rameshwaram Café grew because they chose when and where to grow with complete control over quality.
Their expansion was smart because:
They didn’t scale because of pressure. They scaled when systems were ready, so every new outlet felt like a continuation, not a compromise.
Key Takeaways from
Rameshwaram Cafe’s Marketing
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Make the experience worth sharing.
If customers naturally want to talk about it or post it online, you don’t need to pay for promotion.
Simple sells, fast.
A focused offering with high-quality beats a big menu with average results.
Design for visibility, not just beauty
Live kitchens, generous portions, and clean setups create content, even without a marketing plan.
Let operations do the marketing.
When things run smoothly, from wait times to cleanliness, it builds trust and loyalty faster than ads.
Grow only when you can repeat the magic.
Scaling works best when you have already nailed consistency, not when you are still figuring things out.
