The new owner of Popular Pizza, Harcharan Singh, is bringing a taste of India to Bradford.
Singh welcomed members of council, the Bradford Board of Trade and the Ontario Young Liberals (OYL) York—Simcoe riding club to the pizzeria’s grand reopening in Unit 3, at 118 Holland St. E., on Monday evening, Sept. 11.
Mayor James Leduc began the ceremony by reading a statement from the town and council.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome you as the new owner of Popular Pizza to our vibrant business community. ... It is pleasing to see Popular Pizza has thrived and gained a growing loyal customer base. As you work to expand your clientele, I hope your experience as the new owner/manager of the pizzeria is both rewarding and profitable,” he said before presenting Singh with a certificate of achievement and extending his best wishes.
Jonathan Volpe and Nick Volpe then presented Singh with a certificate of congratulations on behalf of the Bradford Board of Trade.
“Congratulations on your grand reopening. We look forward to the much success you’ll have in the community,” said Jonathan.
Ensuring Singh would have plenty of certificates to decorate the walls, the York—Simcoe young Liberals, who helped organize the event, also presented him with a certificate of congratulations and extended their best wishes.
“Everybody thank you so much for your warm welcome to Bradford. I hope I will grow here,” Singh said.
He explained he was drawn to Bradford from Montreal by the opportunity to run his own pizzeria, which he started three weeks ago.
Prior to that, Singh said he worked for four years as a food supervisor for Pizza Pizza, and has worked as a delivery person, chef, supervisor and manager.
“This is something different. I want to make Canadian plus Indian style mix, so the Canadian, but we’re also going to have a taste of Indian flavours in their pizzas,” he said.
Those flavours include curry, tandoori chicken, butter chicken and shahi paneer — all on pizzas.
Singh also expressed his appreciation for the help he received from Bradford resident and representative of the York—Simcoe Provincial Liberal Association Fareed Abro.
“He helped me learn about Bradford. I didn’t know anybody else here, but he met me and he supported me as a brother here,” Singh said.
While the restaurant is tight for space, there’s still a small dine-in area where as many as four people can enjoy the pre-made slices, and there are also plenty of delivery options, including a dedicated delivery driver as well as partnerships with online food delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash and SkipTheDishes.
“I just want people to come here and try our new flavours,” Singh said.
Currently, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
For more information call 905-252-5353 or visit popularpizza.ca.
