4.7–4.8 stars · around 130–180 reviews depending on the platform · 8 am–9 pm, most listings show it closed Wednesdays · Bir Colony, near the landing site · under ₹200 a head, the cheapest in this guide. Ratings and hours checked August 2026.
By day four in Bir something predictable happens to your appetite. You have eaten a great deal of cheese. You have had pancakes twice. You would trade all of it for a plate of rajma chawal made by somebody's mother.
Cho Cho's is that plate. It is a tiny pure-vegetarian place run by a couple who came to the mountains to spend their retirement feeding travellers — which is not a marketing story, it is just what they did. It carries the highest rating of any café in this guide and costs the least of any café in this guide. Those two facts sitting together tell you most of what you need to know.
What to order
Home food, and the word people keep using is homely. The pav bhaji is the star, and there is a lovely detail buried in the reviews: it is cooked in proper Mumbai style by a woman who has never been to Mumbai. Order it.
After that: chole kulche, vada pav, misal pav, poha for breakfast, rajma chawal, aloo parathas, poori subzi, and gajar ka halwa when the season is right. There is a thali if you want the full spread, Maggi if you want the mountain default, and banana shakes that foreign visitors keep mentioning. It is pure vegetarian throughout, and Jain food is available on request — one of the few places in Bir where that is a genuine offer rather than a shrug.
None of this is clever cooking. It is cooking done properly, with the seasoning of a home kitchen rather than a restaurant one, and that is exactly why people rate it so highly.
Where it actually is
This needs saying plainly, because the directories disagree. Several listings, including Justdial, place Cho Cho's opposite Alfresco near the paragliding landing site. Others still show it on the Chaugan road near Emaho Cafe, over in the Tibetan settlement. Both are in Bir Colony and they are a good fifteen minutes apart on foot, so check the pin on the day rather than trusting a blog — including this one.
The closure day carries the same warning. Most current listings show it shut on Wednesday; a few say Tuesday. If you are making a special trip mid-week, phone first. The number is on their Google listing, and calling ahead is a good idea anyway — see below.
Two practical warnings
It seats about ten to twelve people. That is the whole café. On a busy evening you will wait for a table, and there is nowhere to wait.
And there is one kitchen with one pair of hands in it. Service is slow — reviewers say so plainly, and then in the same breath say they did not mind. If you are on a schedule, ring ahead and order before you walk over. Regulars specifically recommend this, and it is the single most useful thing to know about eating here. Dogs are welcome, which is worth knowing if you have acquired one.
The reason to go anyway
Read the reviews and the same note keeps sounding, from Indian and foreign visitors alike: this place feels like family. People describe the couple as aunty and uncle by the second visit. One reviewer, exhausted by café food, wrote about coming here wanting the feeling of home and getting it.
That is not something you can build into a business plan, and it is a very different experience from the Instagram cafés at the landing site. If you are in Bir for more than two days, eat here one evening. It will probably be the meal you remember.
If it's closed, or full
Twelve seats means full is the normal state, and Wednesday is likely to be shut. AVVAs is the other kitchen in Bir cooking properly seasoned Indian food rather than café food, open every day. Café Buransh does the Himachali version at similar prices. If you simply want to eat cheaply and quickly near the landing site, Siddu Point on the Bir road does Himachali siddu and Maggi for under ₹150.
Cho Cho's is the cheapest and warmest meal in Bir. The full roundup: the best cafés in Bir. Basing yourself here for a while? Our Bir Billing workation guide covers where to work, eat and wander, and Bir beyond paragliding covers the monasteries, the tea factory and the Rajgundha trail. Flying while you are here? See paragliding in Bir Billing.
← All blog postsQuestions, answered
Where can I get simple Indian home food in Bir?+
Cho Cho's Pure Vegetarian Cafe. Pav bhaji, chole kulche, misal pav, rajma chawal, parathas and poha, all for under ₹200 a head — the cheapest proper meal in the village.
Is there Jain food in Bir?+
Yes — Cho Cho's does Jain food on request, and June 16 Cafe near the landing site does too. Both are genuine offers rather than a shrug, which is not true everywhere in Bir.
Do I need to book at Cho Cho's?+
There is no booking, but with only ten to twelve seats and one cook, phoning ahead to place your order will save you a long wait. Listings also disagree on the address and on whether it shuts Tuesday or Wednesday, so a call before a special trip is doubly worth it.