Tête-À-Tea With Sachin Pabreja: Arjun Yadav On Nightlife Narratives, Hospitality Hustle, And What’s Brewing Next At Downtown

The Downtown Group has made a name for itself in the city’s food and nightlife scene. With a sharp eye for trends and a good understanding of what today's urban crowd seeks, this brand stands for energy, experience, and innovation. Behind it all is Arjun Yadav, the founder of Downtown Group, who’s been building this brand with a mix of passion, creativity, and street-smart thinking. Even as the brand expands, its core philosophy remains unchanged—crafting memorable experiences that bring people together. In this exclusive chat, Arjun shares his journey of learning, growing, and trying new things along the way.

1.⁠ ⁠Downtown Group crossed ₹100 crore plus revenue by becoming synonymous with craft beer – what pivotal decisions drove this growth from your first 2011 outlet?

At Downtown, we have always felt that the customer experience needs to be our top priority. We have strived to organically achieve that by offering the best quality of food and service from the beginning. We have always focused on creating the right ambience setting along with an unforgettable dining experience for our patrons. We are the oldest microbrewery in Gurgaon. We have never shut any of our outlets, only added new ones as the right options presented themselves. We have never compromised on quality, irrespective of the cost. Have always treated our staff well despite the industry's ups and downs, which has led to a very low attrition rate in our Brand Outlets. We have a strength of more than 1000 people, and their hard work and dedication drive us forward one patron at a time each day, every day.

2. How did your influence impact Downtown’s focus on creating immersive, entertainment-driven brewery experiences?

Have always believed that our patrons should be offered an experience via the Screens, Music, and ambience in such a manner that they are always in a position to enjoy the entire setup. This is done by playing the right content at the right time, including the music videos, appropriate sitting areas and focusing on the music being played, which is always changing with time.

3.⁠ ⁠Your large-format restaurants (400+ seating) defy industry norms – why prioritise scale, and how does this shape customer loyalty?

We wish to ensure that we always have space for our patrons, who can be with their family or friends or even their colleagues. We have always strived to never turn away any customers. We don't believe in denying entry to people and creating hype and playing on the FOMO syndrome, this doesn't achieve anything in the long run. We wish to entertain every customer who comes to us and try to make them love our offerings, in terms of our offerings and shape an unforgettable dining experience.

4.⁠ ⁠Downtown’s German Wheat beers have a cult following – how do you balance international brewing techniques with local palates?

Since 2011, we have carefully come to understand the palate of our patrons and their likings, we ensure that each of our batches is in conformity with the parameters to match that. We import all our Malts & Hops from Germany and have an in-house team of Brewers who make sure that our craft beers taste remains consistent. This is the reason why our patrons keep coming back for the craft beers that they love.

5.⁠ ⁠With 10 outlets across NCR and Jaipur, what location-specific adaptations do you make to menus or ambience?

Each outlet has a different vibe because of the size, layout, etc. We ensure that we create a different vibe in our outlets so that our patrons, while enjoying the same multi-cuisine food and drinks, can enjoy a different set of ambience at our outlets. We also change the menus a little bit as per the location and demand of our patrons. We also make sure to change the theme and the interiors to echo an old English Pub vibe, to a luxurious dining & visual experience, to a club-like setup so that people can let loose and dance.

6.⁠ ⁠What innovation in your craft beer lineup surprised even you with its customer response?

We make some seasonal craft beers as per the demands of our patrons at various outlets, including Mango Beer, West Coast IPA, Guava Beer, etc. The West Coast IPA Beer at Downtown Luka at Cyberhub was a surprise, as we could barely meet the demand. Our patrons finished the beer batch sooner than we expected; that was a pleasant surprise. Didn't expect a crisper and slightly bitter Beer to do so well. So it's all a learning curve for us, also.

7.⁠ ⁠As a 100cr+ brand, how do you maintain the “neighbourhood bar” vibe while scaling operations?

We ensure that our patrons are made to feel comfortable by our trained service staff. We ensure that they are always treated with the principle of "Customer is Always Right" so that they can relate more with the brand and become a part of our story. We have had the privilege of being a part of millions of such stories.

8.⁠ ⁠Downtown pioneered India’s microbrewery culture – what gaps in the market did you identify initially that competitors now emulate?

Initially, the microbrewery setup was imported from outside the country. Now we have some manufacturers within India which has helped reduce the cost of such setups, and many places have opened as a result. Also the people prefer having fresh beers to canned ones because of the taste, the freshness, lack of preservatives and a better high. Initially, when we started, the customers took some time to get used to this new option that they had. Now they are clear about their choice, which is a behaviour change which takes time. We focused on ensuring that we use the best German Malts to make our beers the benchmark in taste and freshness. Many newer places have tried to do the same, but everyone's recipe is different, along with the skill of the Brewers, irrespective of the microbrewery setup.

9.⁠ ⁠Your global cuisine offerings complement the beers – how do you curate menus to enhance the brewpub experience?

All our places have Multi-Cuisine dining options, and we ensure that our patrons can get newer and better Starters to pair with their fresh beers and drinks. We keep innovating new dishes in this endeavour and also incorporating newer cuisines into our food menu.

10.⁠ ⁠What’s your blueprint to stay ahead as India’s craft beer market becomes more competitive?

Our strategy is to keep it simple and get the basics right. We intend to focus on giving our patrons an unforgettable dining experience in the ambience that they love, with the right vibes. We have never shut or left any of our outlets. Competition comes and goes, we are here to stay and serve our patrons.

11.⁠ ⁠⁠What’s the one non-negotiable habit you’d advise new entrepreneurs to adopt for sustainable growth in India’s F&B sector?

Being obsessed with the quality of your product and service. Focus should always be on the customer's demand & liking rather than imposing your will and ideas on them and expecting them to like them. It is very important to strive for excellence and to make constant strides to improve and better the dining experience for the guests.