FOO wields its own house-brewed "Japanese rice beer" to set itself apart through drinks

FOO, India's upscale pan-Asian restaurant chain, has opened its third outlet in the city in Bengaluru's Indiranagar. At about 2,660 square feet, it is the company's largest location in the city. What stands out is not the interior or the more than 100 Asian tapas dishes, but the addition of "Foo Brew," a house-brewed Japanese rice beer, to the drinks lineup — the first time it has been brought to the Bengaluru market. For Japanese sake breweries and craft beer makers looking for a way into India's restaurant scene, this one outlet's move is worth watching.

At its largest Bengaluru outlet, FOO makes "rice beer" its signature

The new outlet is run by Pebble Street Hospitality, a restaurant company led by brothers Ryan Tham and Keenan Tham. The FOO brand has 15 outlets across India, including 10 in Mumbai (as of May 2026). This latest Indiranagar location is Bengaluru's third FOO outlet, featuring a red-tiled exterior, a cobalt-blue arched entrance, and a bar counter carved from stone at its center.

The menu offers more than 100 Asian tapas dishes, including sushi, dim sum, and Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) plates. Alongside cocktails made with yuzu, miso, and sake, and a curated sake selection, the headline offering is the house-made Japanese rice beer "Foo Brew." It is described as light and dry, designed to pair with sushi, dim sum, and small plates. This is the first time the company has served Foo Brew in Bengaluru.

Why would a restaurant chain brew its own "Japanese alcohol"?

What Japanese companies should notice here is not the drink itself, but the structure: a chain has started using alcohol as a tool for differentiation. Pan-Asian restaurants are multiplying in India's cities, and food alone tends to make them look alike. So on top of its yuzu-miso cocktails and sake, FOO added its own-brand rice beer that cannot be found anywhere else, creating "a drink you can only get here." It is a strategy of standing out through drinks rather than through food.

Put differently, India's upscale dining scene now has strong demand for Japanese alcohol. Globally, sake consumption is centered on restaurants; a Japanese Sake Market survey found that in 2024, more than 45% of global sake sales went through restaurant and izakaya channels. In other words, Japanese alcohol is a product that spreads more through "a glass at a restaurant" than through "a spot on a retail shelf," and in India, these upscale pan-Asian restaurants are the entry point.

Implications for Japanese alcohol makers — enter through the "menu," not the "shelf"

In India, alcohol regulations, licensing, and taxation vary by state, and imported alcohol tends to be priced high. Going straight for nationwide distribution or supermarket shelf space is a heavy lift. That is why a more realistic approach is to pick one multi-outlet upscale chain like FOO and get your own label onto its drinks menu. Partnering with just one chain that has 10 or more outlets across Bengaluru and Mumbai can reach affluent customers in multiple cities at once.

As a concrete first step, small and midsize Japanese sake breweries and craft beer makers would find it easier to approach a chain's beverage development team with a proposal to co-develop "a drink that pairs with sushi and dim sum, like Foo Brew," rather than simply pushing their own brand as-is. The idea is to bring it in on the premise that it will blend into the restaurant's own menu design. This way of thinking also overlaps with the trend of Japanese-style bars becoming a brand pillar of upscale Indian dining The more a restaurant builds its identity around a bar and drinks, the more it needs Japanese alcohol.

Read this as part of a broader move to import a "drinking culture"

The launch of Foo Brew is not an isolated event. In India's restaurant scene, a broader trend is emerging: designing the "drinking experience" — having a drink after a meal or with friends — as a product in its own right. Efforts to bring in Japan's highball and after-work drinking culture restaurant examples built around the highball are also emerging, and there is room for Japanese alcohol brands to ride that wave. Within the same framework that let FOO stand out with rice beer, a path is opening for Japanese beer, highballs, and sake to make it onto the menu.

Restaurants that sell the drinking experience tend to extend dwell time and raise spend per customer more easily than food alone does. the emergence of bars selling a nighttime experience that combines sound and food and other examples show, India's urban "nighttime experience market" still has plenty of white space. For Japanese alcohol makers, getting onto the menu of a restaurant filling that gap from the start is a more efficient path than trying to win shelf space later.

Practical notes — things to check before partnering with a restaurant

For companies considering supplying alcohol through India's restaurant channel, here are the practical points worth checking.

• State-by-state alcohol licensing and import regulations: can your product actually be served in the state where the restaurant is located?
• Format of supply: will you export a finished product, or brew locally and co-develop it, as with Foo Brew?
• The partner chain's cities and customer base: how many cities and outlets can you reach through a single partner?
• Positioning on the menu: will it be sold as a standalone drink, or paired with food?

The choice between "making it locally" and "importing it" in particular makes a big difference on both price and regulation. The fact that Foo Brew is house-brewed offers a useful example of localization that sidesteps import costs and regulatory hurdles.

Summary — the next move to make

The fact that a single outlet, FOO, differentiated itself with rice beer is a sign that India's upscale dining scene needs Japanese alcohol. What Japanese sake breweries and craft beer makers should do now, before dreaming of nationwide distribution, is pick one multi-outlet upscale restaurant chain and propose a drink tailored to its beverage menu. A good place to start is approaching pan-Asian restaurants with multiple locations in Bengaluru and Mumbai to explore co-developing an own-brand drink that pairs with sushi and dim sum.

Sources

• Commercial Design India: FOO opens its newest restaurant in Indiranagar, marking its biggest Bengaluru launch yet
• Business of Food: FOO Scales Up Bengaluru Footprint with Third Outlet
• FranchiseTv: FOO Opens 15th Outlet with New Restaurant in Mumbai's Juhu