2000–2012
Chapter 4: Two counters
2024Bidhan reached its silver jubilee in 2000, modernised the kitchens in 2006, and opened a second outlet at Semiliguda in 2012. Semiliguda was chosen because it sits on the Vizag–Koraput road, where a full-meal kitchen made sense in a way it never had at the standing counter.
The issue
Twenty-five years in, the Sunabeda counter had a problem that only a successful shop gets: it could not seat anybody. It was built for standing tiffin, and it still is.
The 2006 kitchen investment was about capacity without changing the product — larger traditional ovens, so the same slow roast could be done more times a day rather than faster.
Semiliguda opened in 2012 as a full-service outlet with seating, air conditioning and a meals kitchen. It is a different building doing a different job, supplied by the same sweets kitchen.
What changed: Two outlets instead of one, Air conditioning and table service, A full meals menu.
What never changed: One sweets kitchen supplying both, The Sunabeda counter staying a standing counter.
Why we publish the history rather than a blog
Every chapter here carries a date, a number or a document — and says so plainly when a year is only approximate. That is a harder thing to write than an adjective, and it is the only kind of history worth reading from a shop.