Some nights just have a different energy. You can feel it the moment you walk in.
March 12 was one of those nights. Brewtally Honest, Connaught Place, Delhi. 9 PM. And what followed was one of the most honest, energetic, and genuinely fun evenings we’ve had since starting the Reelo F&B Mixer series.
If Bangalore was where we proved this concept could work, Delhi was where it truly came alive.
The Venue Set the Tone
Let’s talk about Brewtally Honest for a second, because the space deserves its own mention.
There’s a certain kind of venue that just makes people relax. Where the lighting is right, the energy is warm, and you don’t feel like you’re at a “professional event.” You feel like you’re somewhere you actually want to be.
Brewtally Honest was exactly that. Warm, inviting, and full of character. The kind of place where conversations flow naturally, where strangers start talking and somehow end up exchanging numbers by the end of the night. It wasn’t just a venue. It was the right venue. And it set the tone for everything that followed.
Oh, and we couldn’t let Delhi have all the fun without a little something special. We had our very own Reelo Special Picante on the menu for the evening.
A drink as bold and full of character as the conversations that followed. Let’s just say it was a hit, and it added that extra touch that made the night feel truly ours.
The Room Was Different
By the time the evening got going, the room was packed with some of Delhi’s most interesting F&B minds. Restaurant founders. Brand builders. Marketers juggling ten things at once. Operators who’ve seen trends come and go and are still standing. People who’ve built something real and are still hungry to build more.
And then there was Tikku Ji, one of the most loved and recognised faces in the Indian F&B influencer world, in the house. When someone like that shows up, you know the room has the right energy.
This wasn’t a crowd that came to collect business cards and leave. They came for real conversation. And that’s exactly what they got.
The Panel: Raw, Candid, and Genuinely Fun
The centrepiece of the evening was a panel discussion titled “Beyond Loyalty: Staying True While Winning the Next Generation.”
We’ve run this conversation before, in Bangalore, and it was brilliant. But Delhi took it somewhere new. The panelists brought a different set of experiences, a different kind of candour, and honestly, a lot more jokes than we expected. In the best way possible.
On stage, we had:
- Sumit Gulati — Founder, Call Chotu
- Minakshi Singh — CEO & Co-Founder, Thirsty Three Hospitality
- Rahul Singh — Founder & CEO, The Beer Cafe
- Kabir Suri — Co-Founder and Director, Azure Hospitality
And joining them was our very own Parin Sanghvi, Co-Founder of Reelo, who brought the data perspective into what was a very human, very real conversation.
The vibe? Think part panel discussion, part honest group therapy, part stand-up comedy. There was even a bit that riffed on LPG shortages that had the whole room laughing while somehow also making a sharp point about the unpredictability of running a food business in India. You had to be there.
The Moments That Will Stick With You
Sumit Gulati on data and the chaos of customer behaviour
Sumit had one of the most memorable lines of the night. He was talking about how data reveals customer behaviour in ways that constantly surprise you. And then he dropped this gem: people order rajma chawal at 5 in the morning.
The room burst out laughing. But the point behind it was serious and really important. We all think we know our customers. We build personas, we study trends, we make assumptions. And then the data shows you something completely unexpected and humbling. Real customer behaviour is messier, quirkier, and more interesting than any framework we put around it. The lesson? Stay curious. Stay close to the numbers. And never assume you’ve fully figured your customer out, because you haven’t.
Kabir Suri on building multiple brands
Someone from the audience asked Kabir a question that a lot of people in the room were probably thinking but hadn’t said out loud: Why so many brands? Isn’t that spreading yourself too thin?
Kabir’s answer was calm, clear, and completely convincing. Every brand, he said, exists to fulfil a purpose. Each one serves a different segment, speaks to a different customer, and fills a different space in the market. It’s not about volume for the sake of it. It’s about intentionality. When every brand has a clear reason to exist, the portfolio makes total sense.
It reframed the whole conversation around brand strategy in a way that felt fresh and practical.
Minakshi Singh on relevance and Gen Z
Minakshi made a point that hit hard, especially for anyone who’s been watching how younger customers interact with brands. Even the biggest, most established names in F&B are working overtime to stay relevant. And staying relevant today means something very specific: being Instagrammable.
Not just visually. The whole experience needs to be shareable, talkable, and emotionally resonant. Gen Z doesn’t just eat at a restaurant. They experience it, document it, and tell their world about it. If your brand isn’t showing up in those moments authentically, you’re simply not in the conversation. Relevance isn’t a growth strategy anymore. It’s a survival strategy.
Watch the entire session:
Rahul Singh on loyalty being non-negotiable
Rahul said something that every single person in that room needed to hear: loyalty is not a good-to-have. It’s non-negotiable.
He recently launched Beer O’Crat, a membership program for The Beer Cafe, and spoke about how the idea of loyalty has fundamentally changed. It’s not about a stamp card or a birthday discount anymore. It’s about belonging. It’s about making your customer feel like they’re part of something. The brands that understand this are building communities. The ones that don’t are constantly fighting to win back customers they should have never lost in the first place.
The way he talked about it made loyalty feel less like a marketing feature and more like a philosophy. And that shift in thinking is everything.
The Questions from the Floor Were Brilliant
The conversation doesn’t live only on stage. Some of the best moments came from the audience.
People asked about equity and funding, about what it really means when a large conglomerate acquires a homegrown brand. Is it a win? Is the growth sustainable? What does the founder give up, and what do they gain?
There were questions about the future of QSRs and cafes in a world where big brands are consolidating fast. Is there still space for the independent, scrappy, character-driven restaurant to thrive? Or is scale the only answer?
Nobody on the panel gave easy answers. Because there aren’t any. But the fact that these questions were being asked openly, debated honestly, and met with real perspectives from people who are actually navigating these decisions, that’s what made the room feel so alive.
What the Mixer Is Really About
At Reelo, we build products that help restaurants drive loyalty and retention. But the F&B Mixer exists for a different reason.
Because technology can help you execute. But community is what helps you think.
Restaurant owners and marketers are solving genuinely hard problems, often without enough support, often without a playbook, often without anyone to call who truly understands the specific kind of chaos that comes with this industry. The Mixer is our attempt to change that, one city at a time.
Delhi showed us something we already suspected but needed to see confirmed: the hunger for these conversations is real, it’s deep, and it’s not going away.
And the Networking? Incredible.
After the panel, the room didn’t empty out. People stayed. They talked. They debated. They laughed. The kind of networking that doesn’t feel like networking at all, just good people finding each other.
Connections were made that will outlast the evening. Ideas were exchanged that will show up in campaigns and strategies weeks from now. And more than a few people walked out with someone they can actually call when things get hard.
That’s the whole point.
What’s Next?
Bangalore started the conversation. Delhi turned up the volume. And we’re just getting started.
If you’re a restaurant owner or marketer who wants to be in the room where these conversations happen, stay close. The next city is coming and trust us, you don’t want to sit this one out.
Want to be part of the next Reelo F&B Mixer? Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for updates or reach out directly. We’re building something real here, and we’d love for you to be part of it.
