Pizza Labomba's Explosive Eats

On a cold Saturday evening, we were scrolling the dark recesses of the interwebz on a search for something new to eat that would fill our bellies for an affordable price, without the guaranteed post-meal toilet activities. On the verge of dialing that final 19, we found something. It was magical; a mound of thick dough in a sea of angelic white flour, a centerpiece for a fresh bunch of rocket, lying next to a scintillating tub of spices and a sexy bowl of burning red salsa. It was the most beautiful (food) porn we’d seen from any Egyptian restaurant’s imagery. It turned us on, to be quite frank, and we had to know more about Pizza Labomba. Founded by the same people behind Pastaweesy last month, in collaboration with an authentic Italian pizza chef, Labomba is set to put Cairo’s taste buds into frenzy with their photo shoot fresh pizza deliveries…

Who started Pizza Labomba?

We are the same owners of Pastaweesy, Sara Fikry, Amr Fikry, Mohamed Zewar and Teymour El Derini, in addition to our partner Laila Naga who decided to exit the company and focus on her new career. 

How did the idea come about?

It wasn't really planned; we were in discussions to rent the first Pastaweesy store in Mohandessin from a guy called Hisham who was running a pizzeria. He used to live in Italy for a very long time, maybe 30 years or so, and had his own restaurant. The reason he was renting us the shop was that he was suffering from managing the business in Egypt, given all the challenges that we all know about, so his business wasn't doing very well. But we always felt his pizzas had the potential to become something really big. So we sensed the opportunity and decided to take a gamble by offering him a partnership deal whereby we create a new brand (Labomba), modernise the menu, help further improve the pizza (in terms of recipe and ingredients), manage the entire operation (on the back of Pastaweesy's relatively strong and established operation and team) and leave the pizza cooking to him. So basically, he will just focus on what he does best, which is make pizzas, a model similar to what you would do with designers, artists or any creative people in general. 

Why is it called Labomba?

We felt that Labomba should start as a delivery concept, where we would test the product in the market and, depending on the outcome we will decide on how to roll it out. Being a delivery concept, we thought we should make it catchy both in terms of name and branding. We worked very close with our good friend Ahmed Mansour and his agency BAM who helped us develop the brand; Labomba. It sounds cheesy we admit, but it grows on you in no time and, so far, we feel its serving the purpose! 

What kind of pizzas are on your menu?

Our pizzas are thin Italian pizzas that are very light, a rare feature in most pizza places in town. 

What makes a perfect pizza?

What makes our pizzas perfect is the special way we make our dough, plus the wood-fired oven that we use to cook them. 

What are your signature pizzas at Labomba?

Spicy salami, Rucola and Blue Cheese, and Chicken BBQ out of the pizzas. Then, of course, the Salami and Hotdog Pizza Sandwich and the Nutella Pizza Sandwich!

How has the feedback been so far?

Overall, feedback has been very encouraging so far, and demand has been higher than expected, so we are working extremely hard to get the operation up to speed. We made some mistakes and upset a few people in the first couple of days given the unexpected demand, but we worked hard to make it up to them and our operation is improving day after day.

Pizza Labomba is delivering in Zamalek, Dokki, Mohandessin, Giza and Garden City. For more information and to see the menu, click here.