The Instagram Thing: Let the likes roll in on these bicycles at GupShup Indian restaurant

The Instagram Thing is an occasional column spotlighting things you’ll want to Instagram. Our previous editions highlighted the ten-foot snake topiary at the Standard East Village, the pegasus at Serendipity3 and the beef tartare at Little Mad.

From its initial opening in 2018, the highly-regarded Indian restaurant GupShup has been rich with design details: lovely light fixtures, jewel-hued textiles, vibrant art and a wall of black and white glamour shots among them. Diners are so spoiled for effortless snapshots here that it’s easy to overlook GupShup’s premier Instagram Thing: its bicycles. 

Lean back and imagine that you are on a bicycle. There isn’t any traffic, and it is a beautiful day, and you are beautiful, too, newly empowered like a person in a pharmaceutical commercial. And this isn’t just any bicycle, it is an eye-catching, primary color gem that looks like it just rolled out of the Crayola factory. It is one of the bicycles from GupShup Indian restaurant, and, even considering the whole space’s splashy design, it is The Instagram Thing. 

Bicycles can be so romantic, which is why people rent them to ride through the countryside between bed-and-breakfast buffets and hot air balloon rides. But here in New York, they are largely a mode of transportation, more associated with commuting than romantic day trips. Luckily, GupShup’s yellow and red bicycles will rekindle your love affair with pretending to do something on the internet for attention. 

The darling two-wheelers were formerly positioned right outside the restaurant’s entrance, which was the optimal staging for documenting delight on and around bicycles. That staging allowed you to actually mount the bikes; an invaluable opportunity in an era where people use untethered toilet seats to forge the appearance of being on an airplane. 

We recently spied the bikes displayed a few feet off the ground on the edges of GupShup’s outdoor dining shed, and we’ve known them to be situated on the sidewalk, too. Obviously, the most interactive photo-opp is when they’re rubber to the road, but you can still get some mileage out of their present positioning, too. We suggest gently resting an elbow on the back rack, palming one handlebar and glancing over your shoulder, or curling a finger under the crossbar as though you’re handily hoisting the vehicle into the air. 

The best Instagram Things inspire and spark envy, causing your friends and stealth social media monitors to whisper I wish to be the one having fun in the phone. Snap a shot with GupShup's bicycles to ensure that the one having fun in the phone is you.