Haveli Restaurant, Food Street Lahore

Haveli Restaurant (2017) 

Haveli Restaurant is located in the historic Haveli Khalil Khan, which is an architectural landmark of the Fort Road Food Street in Lahore. Nestled in the lap of history, the Haveli offers incomparable and outstanding views of the famous Badshahi Mosque built by the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb in 1673,which remained the largest mosque in the world for over 300 years, the Temple of Guru Arjun ( 1563-1606), or Dera Sahib, where Raja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab was cremated in 1839 along with his principal Rani the princess of Kangra and three other wives, the tombs of Allama Iqbal and Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, the Minar-e-Pakistan and last but not least, the impressive Lahore Fort with its fascinating history of one thousand years.

The Haveli Khalil Khan is in itself a unique representation of the rich heritage of Lahore. Its wooden balconies and jharokas, hand carved doors and windows, wrought iron railings, sun-dried flat bricks, handmade tiles and other antique features makes it an embodiment of the characteristic style of the old ‘Walled City’. It was constructed under a special permission awarded by the British Raj to a prominent Hindu grandee of Lahore during the First World War, but fell into disrepair and neglect after the Partition of 1947, and became divided into several portions, each occupied by a different family from the nearby ‘red light’ district.

With a visionary zeal to reclaim the Haveli to its original plan, the current owners, the brothers Habib Khan and Tariq Khan, painstakingly bought out the divided portions from different individuals in 2005-6, and carefully started the work of structural reinforcement, renovation, and restoration. When the Punjab government announced its intention to develop a Food Street on Fort Road in 2010, Habib Khan voluntarily assisted in the project execution and helped in delivering a unique concept of sustainable inner-city regeneration, with underground electric cables , round the clock availability of utilities, modern standards of sanitation, and new job opportunities for surrounding inhabitants.

While restoration work is ongoing, the current owners have named Haveli Khalil Khan after their father, Khan Khalil ur Rehman Khan, S.K, P.S.P.

Habib Khan and Tariq Khan are constantly striving to bring innovation and improvement to the Food Street and the Haveli, with stewardship from the Walled City Authority, and today it has become a ‘must see’ destination for visitors from different areas of Pakistan and from all over the world.

Haveli Restaurant Food Street Lahore (2021)