International Day of Disabled Persons: These 5 restaurants are run by specially-abled teams

When it comes to the show of grit and perseverance, no one can beat these five restaurants in India. To spread awareness and empower differently-abled people, these five restaurants in big cities have employed persons with disabilities to run the show. Their move has helped boost confidence, provide financial independence to these people and break stereotypes.

Bangalore’s Mitti Café is a chain of inclusive cafeterias run by the non-profit organisation Mitti. Mitti is an organisation that supports a team of specially-abled people, battling physical, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. All members hail from low-income families. The chain has cafes in Jayanagar and Koramangala and also runs cloud kitchens. Mitti Café is open from 11:30 am to 10 pm.

Echoes in Satya Niketan, New Delhi, employs more than 40 deaf and mute staff members. The café uses placards, a call button, and a notepad to make the communication between the visitors and the staff effective. Echoes is open from 12 noon to 11 pm.

Located in Juhu, Mumbai, Café Arpan is an inclusive cafe started by Yash Charitable Trust in 2017. The café is run by differently-abled people with developmental and intellectual disabilities including autism and Down’s Syndrome. It drew its inspiration from a similar joint Puzzle Café in Manila, Philippines, which was started by the family of Jose Canoy, an autistic boy. Café Arpan is open from 11 am to 8 pm on all days except Mondays.

Apart from the lip-smacking delicacies, Vitthal’s Kitchen in Jaipur provides customers with a 5-minute crash course on sign language, teaching them how to order in a specific manner to understand and be understood by the staff there. The restaurant is open on all days from 11 am to 10 pm.

Pune’s Terrasinne Café employs specially-abled staff with speech and hearing impairment. Orders are taken from a specially designed menu. The café is open for all from 11 am to 11:45 pm.