A plate of chole bhature may sound like an ordinary food order, but for a small restaurant in Mumbai’s Chembur, one such order became part of an extraordinary turnaround story. Delhi Se, which was once preparing to shut down with around Rs 18 lakh in debt, later expanded to four outlets after a chain of social-media moments brought it unexpected attention.

A nine-seat restaurant was near closure

Brothers Jaspal Singh Khalsa and Mahinder Singh Khalsa opened Delhi Se in Chembur in October 2021. The roughly 250-square-foot restaurant had just three tables and nine seats, serving Delhi-style food. The business struggled as sales declined in 2022. By September that year, the brothers said they were considering closing the restaurant. "From January, our sales started declining. By September 2022, we were planning to close the restaurant,” Jaspal told Pinkvilla.