The article outlines Public – Beer Hall & Snack Bar, a no-reservations neighbourhood beer hall in Versova launched by Auriga Hospitality. Positioned as an affordable, fuss-free space built around India’s regional “chakhna” culture, it brings together cold beer, straight spirits, and snack-led menus designed for long drinking sessions. The food is structured under clear sections — Touchings, Snacks, Sigri/Tawa, Tangra/Mountain Classics, and Meal Plates — drawing from regional bar food traditions across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata’s Tangra, and coastal communities. The drinks programme includes tap beers such as a Poha Lager alongside standard brews, while the space, designed by Shweta Kaushik (SKID), seats around 100 and balances old beer hall references with an open, laid-back layout.
What do you like with your beer? Salted peanuts? A plate of chaat? Something fried? Across India, drinking has always come with food on the side. In Mumbai’s old permit rooms, it’s masala peanuts and fried fish. In Hyderabad, it could be chilli chicken. In Kolkata’s Tangra neighbourhood, Indo-Chinese plates show up next to rum and whisky. In coastal Maharashtra, a fiery rassa makes sense with a strong drink. That culture of eating while drinking — ‘chakhna’ — is informal, regional and deeply local.
Public – Beer Hall & Snack Bar, which opened in Versova on 9th February 2026, builds itself around that idea. Launched by Auriga Hospitality, the team behind Bonobo, Public is positioned as a no-reservations neighbourhood beer hall, with cold beer, straight spirits, genuinely affordable pricing and Indian regional snacks. It’s a fuss-free hangout inspired by old beer halls, gymkhanas and Irani cafés — a place for long, easy drinking sessions.
Chef Sohini Bhattacharya’s menu leans hard into these regional references. It’s organised into Touchings, Snacks, Sigri/Tawa, Tangra/Mountain classics and a handful of meal plates for when hunger catches up. The food is designed to be eaten with your hands, with a drink in the other. There’s Bharuch Peanuts, a nod to Gujarat’s peanut-growing belt where roasted, spiced peanuts are everyday bar staples. Wai Wai Chaat references the street-style snack made from crushed instant noodles, popular across the Northeast and now a pan-Indian guilty pleasure. Lasaniya Batata Bhungla brings in the garlic-heavy potato snack associated with Gujarati farsan shops.
The coastal thread runs strong as well. CKP Prawn Khichdi comes from the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu community of Maharashtra, where seafood and rice are everyday comfort. Agri Mutton Rassa & Pav draws from the Agri community’s bold, chilli-forward gravies. Fish or Prawn Curry Rice uses coconut-based coastal masala with ambemohar rice. Prawn Patio & Brun hints at Parsi sweet-sour gravies served with crusty bread.
From Karnataka’s old Military Hotels comes Military Hotel Biryani & Fried Kebab, a reference to the straightforward, meat-heavy biryanis served in canteens and roadside eateries. The Tangra section brings Indo-Chinese favourites like momos, chilli paneer and green beans fry, recalling Kolkata’s Chinese-Indian food culture.
On the snack and grill sides of the menu, there are items with strong culinary identities of their own. Bandel Cheese, for example, comes from a tiny region in West Bengal where Portuguese influence in the 17th century led to an indigenous cheese that’s crumbly, lightly salted and often smoked. It’s rare outside speciality shops in Kolkata, and its inclusion here gives the plates a tangy, creamy bite that works with beer. Bhatti Murgh Tikka and Buff Sekuwa, found under the sigri/tawa section, lean into India’s skewered-and-grilled tradition — marinated chicken and buffalo meat cooked over charcoal with simple spices, which are the kinds of bites you’d historically find alongside local spirits in roadside joints across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Nepal. The char-grilled flavour lifts easily with a cold lager. Some of the tangmo and Rolled Parotta from the Tangra/Mountain section tap into the cross-border Himalayan street food culture, where steamed buns and layered breads meet saucy chops and chilli sauces, a favourite in hill towns from Kalimpong to Darjeeling and beyond.
Public’s beer list itself has a few things worth talking about, especially if you think about drink culture in India beyond the usual names. On tap you’ll find not just lagers and regular brews, but a Poha Lager — a beer brewed using poha (flattened rice) as one of the grains in the mash. Poha is everywhere in Indian kitchens, especially in Maharashtra and central India where simple breakfast and snack versions of flattened rice are everyday food, and Public’s version takes that breakfast staple and turns it into a light, crisp beer.
On the dessert side, the Orange Juice Cake comes with chocolate custard and toasted almonds — a moist, citrus-forward loaf that recalls the kind of syrupy tea cakes found in old Irani cafés and neighbourhood bakeries. The Coconut Tapioca Pudding, served with lemon curd and coconut crunch, leans coastal in flavour and texture. The pudding is soft and mildly sweet, the coconut deepening the flavour, and the lemon curd cutting through with acid. The simpler desserts hint at how Indian food often brings together sweet and savoury even after a long round of drinks — a reminder that in many parts of the country, eating through a session doesn’t stop at curry and kebabs but follows through to something that rounds the palate off.
Designed by Shweta Kaushik of SKID, the 1,700 sq ft space seats around 100 people. The interiors avoid dark bar clichés and instead use exposed beams, stone-inspired surfaces and simple materials to keep things open and relaxed. Public positions itself between high-end cocktail bars and old quarter bars, aiming to be a regular’s place with its regional drinking food. Order a cold one, add a plate of something salty and spicy, and stay for another round.
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