Yahoo News New York style pizzeria opens in Middlesbrough serving up huge £2 slices
A 90’s themed “New York style neighbourhood pizzeria” has opened its doors in Middlesbrough.
A holiday to the Big Apple inspired Nimo Akser to open up his own eatery and leave his corporate career behind. The dad-of-one made his dream a reality last year and welcomed customers to his first restaurant in Newcastle which has queues out the door every day.
Fast forward 12 months to the day, the 39-year-old launched on Linthorpe Road in his “crazy” pizza journey. DoughDaze serves up huge pizza slice slices for just £2 - just like the ones you’d find in New York.
Full 20” pizzas are also on the menu for £16 as well as 12” pizzas from £6 which come in a variety of flavours. Speaking about his business, Nimo explained: “It all started about five years ago, myself and my wife went to New York for a holiday.
“We went to a well-known pizzeria and ate it on the sidewalk. I said to her I want to do this in Newcastle and she said ‘if you want to do it, do it’.” And Nimo has done exactly that.
The “passionate” businessman uses authentic Italian ingredients for his dishes, including fresh dough every day. He explained that his core pizza ingredients are sourced from the North-east and his fresh herbs and spices, used in the Middlesbrough branch, are from a Teesside business.
“That’s part of the reason why people come back,” Nimo said. “The ingredients but also the actual dough itself.”
Middlesbrough is Nimo’s second venue and admits that everyone involved is “passionate” about the venture. He explained that “it's not just a takeaway” but a restaurant, which can fit up to 14 people, opening 12 until 9pm every day.
Since opening the Linthorpe Road site - which Teessiders will remember as Size? - he said that it’s been “really good” with customers providing feedback on the “taste, food and price”. DoughDaze is the first franchise and is run by two brothers from Acklam. The eatery has also created six jobs.
“It’s kind of a quirky Instagram style place but that wasn’t the aim of it, it’s just worked out that way!,” he explained. Nimo describes the Middlesbrough DoughDaze as a ‘90s inspired pizzeria’ which has a ‘clean but messy vibe with 90s posters and memorabilia’.
DoughDaze is a play on words with customers feeling like they're in a “90s daze”. Nimo hopes the venue will transport punters back to the days of the Fresh Prince, Mega Drives and their PS1s.
Inside the Linthorpe Road branch, customers will spot an array of posters, from cartoons to New York scenes. The businessman collected the decor from Facebook marketplace and Etsy for one off pieces that would make the branch unique.
The business man gave us a rundown on what food we can expect in the restaurant. There’s a selection of all-important pizza toppings as well as the standard margarita option.
Nimo explained there’s a pepperoni option, which is drizzled with hot honey and chilli flakes, a buffalo chicken pizza with ranch dressing as well as a “questionable” ham and pineapple pizza. There’s also a “typical” North-east style pizza - the donner, a doughy delight with donner kebab and garlic sauce on top.
And of course, Teessiders have asked Nimo if there will be a parmo pizza. And the pizza boss has answered their prayers, confirming: “Loads of people have asked. But yes, it’s in the pipeline.”
Alongside the pizzas, Dough Daze also offers up a variety of sides including dough balls and mac and cheese - in an array of flavours. The two Teessiders who are running the franchise also explained that the garlic sauce is homemade and not bought in in order to get the perfect sauce to accompany pizzas.
Nimo is now “hoping to do many more” DoughDaze restaurants across the country.
He described the business as his “little baby that’s grown and developed” so he has big dreams for the future. You can view the full menu on Uber Eats here . You can also visit DoughDaze’s Instagram page here .Nimo added that DoughDaze will be available on UberEats very soon.
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