Mzoli’s – the ultimate user-generated restaurant

Posted on 02. May, 2007 by Jonathan Cherry in Uncategorized

Yesterday, being a public holiday, it was decided that lunch at a famous Cape Town institution was in order.
So we headed out on the N2 to Mzoli’s in Gugulethu (’Our Pride’), to soak up the vibe and enjoy what is widely reported to be the best braaied meat in the city.

Mzoli’s is a butchery, which doubles up as a very popular restaurant. But a restaurant with a difference – and soon we discovered it to be the ultimate social networking, user-generated business outside of Wikipedia.

You start off in the butchery – choosing from a vast selection of meat cuts, Your meat is handed to you in a huge enamel bowl (secret marinate optional), which you take to the braai kings at the back of the shop for a good grilling.
Head out to the ‘restaurant’ section of the shop, around the corner and take a seat.

The first thing you’ll soon notice is that there are no waitron staff. If you want drinks – you have to go to the house next to number 4 across the road.
You’ll probably be offered a seat at the game of cards already underway and a Jack on the rocks, but if you’re focussed on your mission – you’ll get the beer you’re after in the fridge in the kitchen
Bread (good with the marinade) can be bought at the spaza shop on the corner.

The idea is that Mzoli’s supplies the meat (and a wet cloth if you’re looking suitably messy) and leaves the rest to the neighbourhood business community to supply. Even the music is courtesy of restaurant goer’s parked cars.
The place was packed by 2pm, with loads of people waiting for tables throughout the rest of the afternoon.

It was crazy. A restaurant that doesn’t try to own the supply chain? But it totally worked. And the three ATM’s surrounding the place are a clear sign that people are spending much cash there.

For us – this classic user-generated restaurant makes you wonder why other Cape Town restaurants still insist on charging a corkage fee and now also a service surcharge of 10%.

UPDATE: Check out The Cherryflava Show pilot which we shot at Mzoli’s for more:

7 Responses to “Mzoli’s – the ultimate user-generated restaurant”

Rich...!

02. May, 2007

Dude, wanna go on Thursday?
Henk Kleynhans

12. May, 2007

I love Mzoli’s!
Here’s a post I wrote a while back about wine tasting at Mzoli’s:
http://www.yeahfi.com/2005/12/township-entrepreneurship-and-naked.html
Amien

05. Jun, 2007

Wow! Great info. I wish, I could have such a writing skills.
Jimmy Wales

17. Sep, 2007

Hilarious but true story…
I am Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. Today I was in Mzoli’s having lunch, and meeting with Mzoli himself, and explaining Wikipedia to him. I searched on my cellphone for Mzoli’s to see if we had an article about it in Wikipedia, and found this blog post comparing Mzoli’s to Wikipedia! How fun.
Didi

22. Sep, 2007

Mzoli’s is great its a good representative of township life in south africa!! love it! will be there with a bunch of friends on Monday!! its braai day!
max khumalo

01. Oct, 2007

Hi
just to let eveybody know that Mzoli’s outsells any butchery in the Western Cape province at any given weekend (an assumption i had made three years ago).It is no surprise that the place has become legend.Someday on Google Earth you will see the stretch of hundreds of cars converged around the Mzolis.
Go and see for yourselves.
Michael W.

16. Mar, 2008

MZOLI’s is a unique social experience no one should miss on a visit to cape town.
you missed to touch the aspect of safety in your video though. Include some history about the place (police trying to raid that place because of public drinking) and maybe an interview with one of the family of mzoli’s.
However, great video, guys!