Food street

The Anarkali Food Street in Lahore, Pakistan

The Port Grand Food and Entertainment Complex in Karachi, Pakistan

In Pakistan, a food street is a street that has been designated for eating out. The food street is lined with food stalls, restaurants, and other food shops, and are typically pedestrianized.^[1] Food streets, and food parks, exist in several metropolitan cities in the country, and attending them has become a social norm, with people using them as both formal and informal meeting areas.^[2][3]

The first food street in Pakistan was Gawalmandi Food Street in Lahore.^[1] This has been followed by Melody Food Street and the food street in Blue Area in Islamabad,^[3][4] Burns Road in Karachi,^[5][6] the food street near Ghantar Ghar in Peshawar,^[7] and a second food street in Lahore at Anarkali.^[8]

In Islamabad, prior to the creation of Melody Food Street, restaurants were scattered around the city. Members of middle class society prefer them because they are less expensive than hotels or high-quality restaurants.^[3][9]

The development of food streets has faced some opposition, from local traders objecting to the competition and to the overcrowding and pressure on parking and other facilities that the rush of people to a food street causes, to Islamic Clerics objecting to food streets on the grounds that they encourage mixing of the sexes and contribute to prostitution.^[4][8][10]

See also

• Street food
• List of restaurant districts and streets

References