At this Ahmedabad eatery, you dine with the dead

In Ahmedabad, diners have long been drawn to an iconic restaurant where they can enjoy chai and bun maska while sitting next to graves.Lucky restaurant in Ahmedabad (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)One bun maska, one hot piping cup of tea and a grave-side seat. Sounds like an unusual visual? It's not. There's nothing spooky here.In Ahmedabad, this is simply what a chai pe charcha session looks like.Unique dining experiences are a thing now. People are looking for something experiential, for a story, for something that is beyond the usual. In Ahmedabad, diners have long been drawn to an iconic restaurant where they can enjoy chai and bun maska while sitting next to graves.At Lucky Restaurant, also called the New Lucky Restaurant, in Ahmedabad’s Lal Darwaja, tables are arranged around old graves, separated by little metal railings. People sit beside them, sip tea, enjoy bun maska and carry on with their conversations. Now, if you Google the restaurant, you will find no website or social media handle. It's just the word of mouth and the reputation they have built that's keeping the business running.And here's one contrasting yet very intriguing part: locals have long associated the restaurant with good fortune.Where the dead became part of the dining room The restaurant dates back to the 1950s, when it began as a small tea stall near a cemetery. As the business grew, the restaurant was eventually built around the graves rather than removing them. The staff cleans them every day and decorates them with flowers as a mark of respect.Over the years, the graves became less of an eerie oddity and more of a familiar part of the restaurant’s identity. Some recent accounts count 26 graves at the site.While it serves a full dine-in menu, what has remained consistent, however, is the restaurant’s most famous ritual: chai and bun maska.A little luck with your chai?Now for the good fortune association part.The owners are said to have believed that preserving the graves brought them good luck.Therefore, the idea that eating here brings good luck has become part of the restaurant’s folklore. Locals have reportedly dropped in before important occasions, business decisions and exams, treating a cup of tea here almost like a tiny pre-event good-luck ritual. The famous MF Husain painting still hangs on the wall. (Photo: AFP) Painter MF Husain was a regular visitor, and one of his paintings still hangs inside the restaurant, adding another layer to its cultural legacy.Cemetery cafesBut this is not the only such restaurant in the world. Many cities around the world have cemetery cafes.Berlin is one among them. The city has around a dozen cemetery cafes, tucked inside cemetery buildings, former chapels and even a decommissioned crematorium. Rather than being spaces for mourning alone, these cafes have become little escapes where people stop for coffee, lunch or a quiet break — making the experience feel less about death and more about finding a bit of calm, reflection on life amid the city hustle.While people have also expressed criticism over running a business near graves as “being disrespectful,” the restaurant has continued to draw diners who see the space less as something morbid and more as a part of Ahmedabad’s everyday history.Even today, it sells nothing fancy. Just a comforting bun maska and a sip of tea. And perhaps some luck as well.- EndsPublished By: Jigyasa SahayPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 18:34 IST