By Katlego Sekhu
One of the co-founders of Smoke Houze restaurant in Soweto Bongikozi Mzila joins Tbose on My Top 10 at 10.
Speaking about how the popular restaurant came about, he says it was by chance.
“I’m driving with my friend Kagiso from a place called OG, we buy Eisbein while driving down Old Potch. He says to me my friend, imagine if this thing was smoked.
“Then Kagiso decides to pursue it, he buys a few chickens and Eisbeins, prepares them, and shares with the neighbours and they love it. That’s how we opened our first shop.”
In the earlier stages of their business, they started at a small spot.
“We had a very small shop. It was like a kitchen counter with outdoor seating. We had never sold food before.
“We decided to start on a Thursday and to our surprise, we were sold out that night.
“We tried to speak to the landlord about getting more space. We were trying to cater for bad weather and unfortunately, we couldn’t secure the space,” he adds.
Bonginkosi and his business partners decided to look for a bigger place.
“We had to make a bold decision to say that we are moving. Fortunately, my uncle had a shop in Soweto where we are based. He became very kind and gave us the space,” he shares.
He also shares more about his business, the business scene in Soweto, future plans, and more.
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