Bad news: A star in Mumbai Parsi culinary landscape Jimmy Boy shut its south Mumbai restaurant shortly before its 100th anniversary.
Good news: You can still savour their iconic dishes, like berry pulao, mutton dhansak, patra ni macchi, mava cakes and Irani tea!
The closure of Jimmy Boy’s restaurant in south Mumbai’s heritage precinct of Fort was followed by an outpouring of social media posts from patrons that have sworn by the its scrumptious fare.
In response to the posts on social media, owners of the restaurant clarified that closure is just a pause in their dine-in journey. “Jimmy Boy continues to operate from our other locations in Bombay and are delivering the all-time Parsi favourites through the online delivery partners,” the restaurant’s Instagram handle shared in its stories.
Among these locations is the cloud kitchen in Mahim, where their bread Bimbo has been produced for over 50 years. This will allow their food to be delivered across the Colaba-Andheri stretch.
The building in Fort that houses Jimmy Boy has been declared dilapidated.
A Hit Among Locals, Tourists
When it opened in 1925, Jimmy Boy was called Cafe India. In 1999, the restaurant was renamed as Jimmy Boy as a tribute to the owner’s father. Currently, it is being run by the third generation of the Irani family, which continues to prepare food according to the same recipes that were followed almost a century ago.
The restaurant has its fiercely loyal patrons and remains a hit among tourists.
Why Jimmy Boy Ran Into Trouble
The restaurant shut its operations after the building in which it is housed was declared as dilapidated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. A formal notice issued on June 21 by the Assistant Engineer of BMC’s ‘A’ Ward, under Sec 354 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, directed the owners and occupiers to immediately vacate and demolish the four-storey Vikas building located on Green Street, Fort. This came after civic officials found vertical cracks in the building’s east wall.
The society’s structural consultant, M/s. Mahimtura Consultants Pvt. Ltd., said load-bearing walls, columns, beams, and slabs were severely damaged due to corrosion and age-related wear and tear.
The BMC classifies dilapidated buildings in four categories – C3 (requiring minor repairs), C2B (requiring structural repairs), C2A (requiring demolition of dangerous parts) and C1 (beyond repair, require to be demolished completely). The Vikas building, which housed Jimmy Boy, has been categorised as C1.
Three Years Ago, Another Iconic Eatery Reached Point Of Closure
In 2022, another popular Parsi-owned business K Rustom’s, renowed for its ice-cream sandwiches, was asked to vacate its premises in Churchgate. The order that shocked its large legion of patrons came after the shop’s owner Cricket Club of India asked for the premises to meet the needs of its ever-growing member base.
Almost a year and legal appeal later, the eviction order served to the over 80-year-old ice cream shop was stayed by a local court.
