New eatery highlights Palapye�s rapid expansion
Bonte Seepi | Monday June 22, 2015 18:04
Palapye is in line to become the third largest urban centre in Botswana, with several major establishments having taken place or due to do so, such as the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, expansion of Morupule Coal Mine and the power station, a steel pipe factory and others.
Developers of Grill & Braai, which is located in prime position along the main A1 highway, say the new eatery will take the town by storm.
Restaurant manager, Daniso Nkemo, told Business Monitor that the restuarant provides residents, travelers and tourists with the much needed refreshments, meals and relaxation. He said that their business is currently in Palapye only. However Nkemo said that they are looking forward to expand the palace to Gaborone and other places. He said they chose Palapye because they were attracted by the way the village is rapidly growing hence a business entity.
“We believe that Palapye needs services like this one because it has potential to grow. When someone is in the place, they should feel like they are at Gaborone or Francistown, there should be no difference. We had tried some businesses before, but they failed because of unstrategic location. So this time around we were very strategic when we chose the location of our business. We realised that fast food business needs a very busy area, so A1 is forever busy throughout the day and most people pass through Palapye, hence our location” he explained.
According to him the Grill & Braai Palace aims to provide a variety of safe, healthy, tasty meals, timely and offer an excellent food service at competitive prices in a secure environment with supreme customer service. So the restaurant prides itself in the vision statement; towards a variety of healthy, safe and tasty meals.
Nkemo also revealed that the menu list to be found on the up-market restaurant include, fish, pork, lamb, steak, papa, rice, burgers, kebabs, wraps, tea/coffee, milkshakes and a whole list of food items. He stated that already the restaurant has hit the right cord with Palapye market as scores of residents and business people utilise the venue.
“Also, several businesses in Palapye have started placing business breakfast, lunch or dinner orders for their employees. Some are even using the venue for corporate functions, baby showers, birthday parties and other such social and leisure activities. Tourists en route to or from greater North have also found the restaurant very convenient because of the spacious parking area,” he said.
Whilst the restaurant provides both sit-in and take-away foods, Nkemo stated that their biggest business comes from outside catering. Just like other businesses, Nkemo stated that their businesses are faced with some challenges. One challenge that he outlined is that of high operational costs associated with a fast food restaurant as compared to conventional eateries.