As with any business venture, the key to running a successful restaurant is to differentiate your establishment from its competitors. Earlier this month, for example, we talked about a pub in Kyushu called Sacrifice that accomplished this by filling its interior with creepy mannequins and props that would be right at home in any horror movie.

But for those of you who take issue with the inauthenticity of Sacrifice’s fake corpses and skeletons, might we offer this alternative: a restaurant in India where diners sit among coffins with centuries-old bodies inside.

The unique eatery is found in Ahmadabad, one of India’s largest and fastest growing cities. Ahmadabad has the countless restaurants you’d expect in a town with over six million residents, but we’re pretty sure that the New Lucky Restaurant sticks out in people’s minds.

The restaurant began as a simple stand selling chai to passersby and visitors to the Islamic graveyard it was located on the edge of. Business was brisk enough that eventually the owner, Krishnan Kutti, decided to expand into a full-fledged restaurant, with the new construction taking his establishment even further into the grounds of the cemetery.

However, soon after work got underway on the New Lucky Restaurant, construction workers started unearthed things that were neither new nor traditionally considered lucky, in the form of multiple 16th century caskets with their deceased occupants still inside.

While the minute specifics would vary from individual to individual, most business experts would say the appropriate response for an entrepreneur in this situation would incorporate the following four protocol:

1. Scream in terror or wet pants, according to number of caskets discovered

2. Reinter the coffins, preferably at twice the depth they were found at

3. Relocate business to alternative site as far away as project budget allows

4. Sleep with lights on for next 10 years or until night terrors subside, whichever comes later

While we don’t know Kutti well enough to say for sure whether he went through with steps 1 and 4, we’re going to venture a guess that he did neither, seeing as how he nonchalantly decided not only against building his restaurant somewhere else, but didn’t even see the need to rebury the dead.

Kutti figured that while any restaurant can offer customers food, his would attract publicity by giving them the rare opportunity to dine with the deceased, proving that the owner of the New Lucky Restaurant is braver and/or crazier than us.

▼ Pictured: The entryway of the New Lucky Restaurant.

Also pictured: A straight-up coffin

Of course, if we’re making a list of titles to describe the differences between ourselves and Kutti, we may have to add “more business-savvy” to his column, since just as he expected, the bodies of those for whom the bell has already tolled have been great at drumming up business.

▼ When you stop and think about it, what’s the big deal, really? In this seating section, the living outnumber the dead at least 15 to two.

Customers seem to be attracted to the uniqueness of the restaurant, and some also hold that communing with the deceased, who are believed to be followers of the Sufi branch of Islam, blesses them with health and prosperity.

▼ Thankfully, railings are placed around the caskets to keep customers from accidentally stepping on them as they move about the restaurant or flee in terror.

Those who have visited the restaurant recommend its chai tea and bread rolls for their delicious flavors. It’s also worth pointing out that neither should take too long to prepare, just in case you’re worried about your courage running out between the time you put in your order and your meal arrives.

The New Lucky Restaurant does have more substantial fare as well, although being located inside an Islamic graveyard means you’re unlikely to find any alcohol on the menu. Even if you don’t have much chance of fortifying your bravery with a stiff drink, though, you can still enjoy a leisurely cup of tea amongst the stiffs.

Sources: YouTube, Mirror News, International Business Times

Video, images: YouTube

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