Meet The 'Pizza Man' Of Kashmir, Who Started With An Idea Of Just Putting Chicken On Roti

If you have a dream and passion to do something extraordinary then no one can deter you, believe me. This is the story of 40-year-old Kashmiri entrepreneur Tariq Ahmad Bhat, the owner of Amgio¡¯s- the valley¡¯s popular and first local brand of pizza.

Tariq is known as the ¡®pizza man of Kashmir¡¯ for introducing the Italian food in the valley for the first time.

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¡°In 2008, I opened my first venture in Gogjibagh area of Srinagar when nobody had an idea what pizza was. I opened it along with my two brothers,¡± he says.

He says the idea was to set chicken on the roti and sell it to the customers in wazwan (the traditional Kashmiri cuisine prepared from mutton) loving Kashmir. ¡°I got the idea when in the same year Smokin¡¯ Joe¡¯s opened their outlet in Srinagar. More experience came when we used to visit outside the valley and witnessed people eating pizza and our place was lacking this food. That¡¯s when I decided to take this idea forward and get the best chefs,¡± Tariq told Indiatimes.

Starting with three employees including himself, Amgio¡¯s is now the most sought eatery in the entire valley for its best, delicious and crispy pizza. ¡°That was a time when I used to serve, bake and handle the counter myself. People would visit us and they had no idea what we were serving but gradually people started remembering and trusting us,¡± he says.

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A 2003-batch graduate from Amar Singh College Srinagar, Tariq says many relatives would visit their house and suggest them to business like opening stationery or a photocopying shop as the place was located outside a popular city college. ¡°Many boys would come inside and ask for mobile recharge but it was hard enough to make them understand that we sell pizza,¡± he says.

Tariq is happy now as he recalls his old time and says ¡®a lot has changed since then.¡¯ ¡°Now, I have seen kids holding the hands of their parents or elders and asking them to enter a pizzeria. It is a proud moment for us,¡± he says adding, ¡°We have customers between 5 and 45 years age group.¡±

Losses Due To Article 370, COVID-19 Lockdown

During the abrogation of Article 370 and later followed by coronavirus lockdown caused extensive losses to the business Industry in the valley and Amigo¡¯s was also one of them. ¡°We faced losses in lakhs,¡± Tariq says.

But Tariq didn¡¯t resort to lay off or salary cuts. ¡°Though we couldn¡¯t operate that time, I paid the salaries of each and every employee on time,¡± he says.

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Amigo¡¯s has three functional outlets. Two in Srinagar- Gogji Bagh and Hazratbal areas and one in south Kashmir¡¯s Anantnag district. They are also planning to open two more outlets by this Eid- one in Budgam and another in Baramulla.

With a staff of 200 persons, Amigo¡¯s cater a rush of over 700 customers per day. This venture has also created the jobs for the young and educated pass-outs of the valley colleges and Universities.

When asked about the challenges he faced till date, Tariq says, ¡°Pandemic and 2014¡¯s floods.¡±

Serving Beyond Pizza

Tariq believes that serving pizza only couldn't have taken him to long run and made a brand. ¡°We decided to serve more and started offering Lebanese, continental, Indian, Chinese, fast foods and other Italian dishes,¡± he says.

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He added, ¡°Why would customers come only for pizza at our restaurant so we introduced others stuff as well and made it a complete house.¡±

Currently, Amigo¡¯s is serving 50 varieties of pizza that includes veg and non-veg. The stuff like sandwiches, tandoori, tikka, kababs, pasta, noodles, rolls, soups is also sold there.

No To Copy And Paste

Suggesting good to the young entrepreneurs, Tariq says that newcomers should never go for copy and paste ideas. ¡°In Kashmir, I have seen many young entrepreneurs who have studied from the outside Universities and if they take business ideas from somewhere they don¡¯t want to explore it further and instead go for copy and paste which is wrong. They must remember the customers want creative and new things,¡± he says.

He tells them to follow the mantra of three things. ¡°Idea, planning and execution are important before you start something of your own,¡± he says. ¡°But you need to learn to be patient first because many lose a lot due to their impatient behavior,¡± he added.

Customers Everywhere

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Tariq says Amigo¡¯s clients are not only from Srinagar but people from far-off places like Kupwara, Bandipora and Shopian who come to eat at the restaurant or takeaway. ¡°They are also students who live in Kashmir University hostels,¡± he says.

¡°In fact, sometime back I met a few non-locals in Delhi who had visited Kashmir and said they were also our customers. It gave me immense happiness,¡± he says.

It also has free home delivery facilities in most of the areas of Srinagar city.

Tariq says his biggest priority is the customers¡¯ satisfaction. ¡°We can¡¯t negotiate on our quality, quantity and we will continue to produce the best every day that our customers demand,¡± he says.

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