I can gobble up a gourmet sandwich in no time, at any hour of the day or night, so I am almost always hunting for new delis in Delhi.
When a friend tipped me off about the Savage Sandwich Shop in Hauz Khas, I was quick to plan a visit. The only mistake was assuming I could go after work, around 8 pm. Instead of the sandwich shop, the map took me to a cocktail bar called “Painkiller.” Clueless, I asked the guard where the deli was. He pointed toward the Painkiller board and said, “It is here.” Of course, it wasn’t there.
The space had transitioned from a sandwich shop into a cocktail bar in the matter of an hour. Savage shuts every day after 6 pm, but the space doesn’t. It takes an hour’s break, and at 7 pm, Painkiller is ready to serve you your favourite sips.
While this trend has been around in the capital for a while, it seems to be growing on restaurateurs even more now. However, it would be a mistake to believe that the trend is limited to Delhi. Across the country, restaurateurs are trying to house two or more concepts under the same roof, and this article looks at why that model is catching on. While these spaces allow diners to visit the same place at different times of day, they also enable restaurateurs to use their rented spaces more effectively, making running a restaurant more economical and profitable.
Another benefit is that it makes spaces more inclusive. Shapeshifting spaces don’t ask or expect people to approach a place for the same reason and in the same way. While you might want to visit a place to dine, someone else might like to go there for a night out with friends. That means you are helping make the space relevant to you while choosing what you wish to make of a visit.
The Pan-India Prevalence Of The Concept
Apart from Savage and Painkiller, which have been part of the capital’s dining scene since December 2025, several newer openings across India are also building their identities around spaces that change with the clock. In Gurugram, Odd Culture, founded by Sunaina and Himanshu Makhija, shifts from a serious coffee-and-breakfast destination by day to an energetic, food-, drink-, and music-led social space by evening. “While multifunctional spaces are becoming a trend, we opted for the concept for Odd Culture because we wanted to provide our diners with a third space between home and work where they can come together, create relationships among themselves, while also creating one with the space,” said Sunaina.
During the day, coffee and tea receive particular attention; in the evening, the same approach applies to cocktails and mocktails. For now, the teams remain separate, although Sunaina says the restaurant hopes to eventually cross-train its staff, turning bartenders into baristas and vice versa.
In Delhi’s Defence Colony, Genre similarly transitions from a brunch-led café into a cocktail bar and dinner destination. “We are spread across three floors, and for the first six months, we were a simple coffee bar. But when we transitioned to becoming a cocktail place, we had to put in great effort to find the rhythm in the day and then in the night too,” said Sahil Marwaha, founder of Genre (and Mr. Button).
Bengaluru, meanwhile, is home to what its founders describe as India’s first shapeshifting restaurant. Co-founded by Chef Pradyumna Harithsa, his wife and biotech engineer Sudhiksha Kaushik Anantharamu, and his childhood friend and partner Ankit Agarwal, Circa 11 in Indiranagar takes on a different character through the day. Coffee gives way to craft cocktails, while the food evolves from light, easy preparations during the day to heartier dishes at night.
In Hyderabad, the concept takes a more playful form at Oxymorons and Fussy Ccat. Housed in a 130-year-old heritage building in Begumpet, the space changes identity with the hours: Fussy Ccat operates as a lunch-only concept before Oxymorons takes over in the evening as a cocktail bar. Under the “Cats by Day, Morons by Night” concept, the same address offers two distinct experiences, moving from daytime dining room to cocktail-led bar.
Speaking to Outlook Traveller Eats, Rehan Guha, Founder of Oxymorons and Fussy Ccat, explained that the idea emerged when they were looking to do something new. “After opening Oxymorons, we were looking for a space to do something different. That’s when we realised that we already have a space vacant during the day and thus started a lunch-only edit concept,” he said.
For all its appeal to both diners and restaurateurs, operating a space that changes character through the day comes with its own challenges. A restaurant may have to work harder to establish a clear identity, particularly when its audience has already associated it with one particular offering. “It was one of the most difficult things for us to create an audience that accepted Genre as a cocktail bar. Since they had associated us with good coffee, it took a strong marketing strategy and team to make that shift. After all, we are serving what cures dizziness and causes dizziness under the same roof,” said Marwaha.
Guha sees the distinction differently, arguing that the format works precisely because the two experiences occur at different times of day. “If you are an Indian restaurant by day and an Italian restaurant by night, you are running the risk of confusing the diner. But a cocktail bar is often associated with a night out, while a cafe is associated with mornings and afternoons. Thus, these concepts make shapeshifting easier,” he said.
For some, the transformation extends beyond food and beverage. At The Foundry Nagao in Arpora, Goa, design itself becomes part of the transition, as the space moves from a mellow daytime food lab to a vibrant, music-forward evening venue. Its kinetic architecture allows the room to physically change character: a suspended iron platform drops at night to accommodate the DJ decks, making the shift from day to night tangible rather than merely atmospheric.
The Economic Logic Behind The Concept
Apart from providing diners with a space that can transition across formats, there is a very clear economic logic behind multiformat places becoming a favourite among restaurateurs. “We want every square foot to perform optimally and increase profits. Since we are in a business where costs are very high, we have to create a formula that allows us to increase our revenue and utilise the equipment and infrastructure we have,” said Sunaina.
Talking numbers, Marwaha said, “If I run an only coffee spot, a customer is likely to leave with a coffee which won’t be priced for not more than INR 400, but if a group of friends is coming over for drinks and dinner, I am likely to bill the table for more than INR 4,000 too.” He also mentioned that paying a hefty rent for an entire building in Defence Colony, where Genre is located, meant they had to do everything they could to increase their revenue and profits.
Taking the conversation further, Guha mentioned that shapeshifting restaurants offer a model in which costs don’t go up, but revenue does. “We already had a space, the staff, and the audience. We only hired a few new people, and when I compare my investment to the profits we are receiving from Fussy Ccat, the latter is superseding the former by miles,” he said.
He also mentioned how the concept works for him, not just for the revenue model it offers, but also for the way it allows him to experiment and put different ideas into action. “Fussy Ccat has now become a testing ground for me because I have a lot to gain, less to lose,” concluded Guha.
