Where Your Grocery Run Becomes an All-Day Hangout: Inside Foodstories’ New Mumbai Hybrid

Foodstories brings its ‘That Grocery Café’ and ‘Bev Bar’ to Mumbai, merging a premium grocery store with an all-day café and bar. Explore the new 10,000 sq ft third space in Bandra/SoBo.

FoodBars

Where Your Grocery Run Becomes an All-Day Hangout: Inside Foodstories’ New Mumbai Hybrid

Foodstories Mumbai: A New ‘Third Space’ for Gourmet Groceries & All-Day Dining

The Accidental Three-Hour Grocery Run

You walk into Foodstories intending to grab a wedge of aged Gouda and a loaf of sourdough. Forty-five minutes later, you’re at a marble table, fork-deep in an avocado-and-smoked-salmon tartine, a flat white cooling beside your laptop. By early evening, that quick errand has shape-shifted into a glass of Sancerre and a charcuterie board at the Bev Bar. This is the seamless, slightly seductive rhythm of Mumbai’s newest hybrid space—a 10,000 sq ft gourmet playground in the same building as Broadway, where the boundaries between premium grocery, specialty café, and evening bar dissolve completely. It’s a concept that plugs directly into the city’s love affair with food-as-lifestyle, and it’s redefining what a ‘quick shop’ can mean.

The Third Space Wave Hits Gourmet Retail

Mumbai’s café culture has long outgrown the simple coffee-and-a-croissant model. Post-pandemic, the city has craved ‘third spaces’—comfortable, semi-public environments that are neither home nor office, but feel like both. Bookshop cafés, design stores with espresso counters, and co-working lounges have paved the way. Foodstories enters this ecosystem as something more ambitious: a fully realised food destination where you can browse artisanal olive oils, take a work call over a grain bowl, and transition into evening drinks without ever reaching for your car keys. It’s experience-led retail at its most immersive, designed for a demographic that sees a jar of small-batch pesto as both a pantry staple and a social signifier.

From Delhi to Bandra: The Evolution of a Concept

Foodstories began as a Delhi-born gourmet brand, first making waves at Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj, where it combined an in-house café with a curated selection of imported and artisanal groceries. The model proved sticky, leading to outposts in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills and Bengaluru’s Lavelle Road—each refining the blend of department store, coffee shop, and social hub. The Mumbai debut, however, feels like the concept’s most mature expression. Branded around two distinct identities—‘That Grocery Café’ and ‘Bev Bar’—this location is explicitly positioned as a day-to-night hangout. It’s a single-brand, highly curated ‘food destination’ dropped into one of India’s most café-obsessed markets, and it arrives with a built-in audience of Bandra and SoBo residents who already treat gourmet shopping as a leisure activity.

A Walk Through the 10,000 Square Feet

Spread across a ground floor and basement, the space reads more like a mini food hall than a conventional store. The layout is zoned intuitively: retail aisles flow into café seating, which in turn gives way to a more intimate bar area. The design language is warm and contemporary—neutral palettes, generous shelving, smart lighting, and an international gourmet-store feel that’s sleek without being cold. Mornings hum with espresso-seekers and early shoppers; lunchtime brings the laptop crowd and grazing friends; by evening, the energy shifts as the Bev Bar becomes the focal point. It’s a space engineered for lingering, where the aromas of fresh bread and brewing coffee mingle with the visual pull of beautifully packaged ingredients.

Warm interior of Foodstories' That Grocery Café with marble tables, specialty coffee, and gourmet retail shelves in Mumbai. — The café seating area blends seamlessly with the gourmet retail space, encouraging all-day lingering.

Must-Buy Products: The Edible Souvenirs

The retail section is a treasure hunt for home cooks and hosts. Imported cheeses and charcuterie form the core of the cold counter—perfect for building a spontaneous cheese board for a Bandra terrace gathering. Artisanal breads, from crusty sourdough to buttery croissants, sit alongside shelves of small-batch condiments: olive oils, vinegars, pestos, and hot sauces that feel like discoveries. There’s a strong snack and confectionery aisle stocked with bean-to-bar chocolates, gourmet nuts, and granolas—the kind of things you’d bring to a dinner party or keep on your kitchen counter as quiet flex. Health-forward shoppers will find gluten-free, vegan, and keto-friendly options woven throughout, reflecting the brand’s curation for modern dietary sensibilities.

That Grocery Café: An Ingredient-Led Menu

The all-day café menu operates on a simple, clever loop: nearly every plate is an advertisement for something on the shelves. Expect breakfast and brunch plates built around eggs, avocado, smoked salmon, and roasted vegetables, with toast-centric dishes using the in-store breads. Bowls and salads are ingredient-forward—grains, seeds, cheeses, and dressings you can later find in the aisles. Deli sandwiches feature cold cuts and cheeses from the retail counter, while sharing plates like hummus, dips, and charcuterie boards encourage social snacking. The coffee program is serious, with specialty drinks, cold brews, and signature beverages that hold their own against standalone cafés. It’s a place where you can ‘eat your grocery haul’ in plated form, then buy the components to recreate the experience at home.

The Bev Bar: Where Evenings Unfold

As daylight fades, the Bev Bar takes over. The beverage program leans into wine and cocktails, with a curated list that likely incorporates house-made syrups and ingredients from the store’s own shelves. Low-ABV options, aperitifs, and craft beers cater to the after-work and early-evening crowd, making it an ideal pre-dinner or pre-theatre stop. Food pairings double down on the gourmet inventory: cheese boards, charcuterie platters, crostini, and bar snacks that feel elevated rather than afterthoughts. There’s a conceptual elegance here—you can pick a bottle of wine from the retail section, taste it at the bar, and take the rest home. The atmosphere shifts into something more convivial, a natural extension of the third-space philosophy that carries you from afternoon into night.

Charcuterie and cheese board with red wine at the Bev Bar in Foodstories Mumbai, with wine shelves in the background. — The Bev Bar pairs curated wines and cocktails with cheese and charcuterie sourced directly from the store’s shelves.

A Day-in-the-Life for Bandra and SoBo

For the neighbourhood’s food-obsessed residents, Foodstories slots effortlessly into existing routines. It’s a weekend ritual spot—brunch with friends, a leisurely browse through new product drops, and a grocery stock-up rolled into one. On weekdays, it functions as an ‘office-away-from-office’ for freelancers and hybrid workers who need reliable Wi-Fi, good coffee, and a lunch menu that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. In the evenings, it becomes a low-key bar alternative, perfect for a first date or a catch-up that doesn’t require a reservation. This is a venue designed for the way Mumbai’s food-forward crowd actually lives: fluid, social, and always half-planning the next meal.

The Future of Gourmet Third Spaces

Foodstories’ Mumbai debut is part of a broader wave reshaping Indian retail and hospitality. As multi-city gourmet brands treat Mumbai not just as another branch but as a flagship lifestyle lab, the hybrid model is proving its viability. The combination of premium grocery, all-day café, and evening bar creates multiple revenue streams and, more importantly, multiple reasons to visit. It competes with standalone cafés, wine bars, and gourmet stores simultaneously by bundling their functions into one compelling space. Whether this becomes the dominant template for future openings remains to be seen, but for now, Foodstories has drawn a clear line: the grocery run is no longer a chore—it’s an outing.

Practical Details for Your First Visit

Foodstories operates in a format that’s open from late morning through late evening, typically around 10 am to 10 pm, covering the full arc from coffee runs to nightcaps. The 10,000 sq ft space can get busy during peak lunch hours and weekend brunch windows, so plan accordingly if you want a quiet corner for work. Spend per head varies widely depending on whether you’re just grabbing a coffee and a pastry, settling in for a full meal, or mixing drinks with a shopping spree—but expect premium pricing that reflects the curated quality. No reservations are typically required for the café, though the Bev Bar may fill up on weekend evenings. It’s a space designed for spontaneity, so the best approach might be to walk in with one intention and let the space suggest the rest.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the concept behind Foodstories Mumbai?

Foodstories Mumbai is a hybrid gourmet destination combining a premium grocery store with an all-day café (‘That Grocery Café’) and an evening bar (‘Bev Bar’). It’s designed as a ‘third space’ where you can shop for artisanal ingredients, enjoy specialty coffee and meals, and transition into evening drinks—all under one roof.

Where is Foodstories located in Mumbai?

The Mumbai outlet is a 10,000 sq ft space spread across the ground floor and basement of the same building as Broadway, positioning it in a prime area accessible to both Bandra and South Bombay residents.

What kind of food and drinks does the café serve?

‘That Grocery Café’ serves an ingredient-led all-day menu including breakfast and brunch plates, grain bowls, salads, deli sandwiches, and sharing platters. The coffee program features specialty drinks and cold brews. The ‘Bev Bar’ offers curated wines, cocktails, low-ABV drinks, and paired bar snacks like cheese and charcuterie boards.

What products can I buy at the Foodstories gourmet store?

The retail section stocks imported cheeses and charcuterie, artisanal breads and baked goods, small-batch condiments like olive oils and pestos, gourmet snacks and chocolates, and health-forward options including gluten-free, vegan, and keto-friendly products.

What are Foodstories Mumbai’s operating hours?

While exact Mumbai hours may vary, Foodstories outlets in other cities typically operate from around 10 am to 10 pm, covering morning coffee, lunch, afternoon work sessions, and evening drinks at the Bev Bar.