Dodo’s Chicken Brings Peri Peri to Halifax
HALIFAX – A new restaurant is bringing Portuguese flavors to Halifax’s North End.
Dodo’s Famous Peri Peri Chicken opened its doors to customers for the first time over the weekend. The restaurant features the Classic Portuguese Peri Peri spice mixture and boasts an array of sauces to compliment a variety of chicken dishes.
Sound familiar?
Long-time Halifax chicken aficionados may recognize the name Dodo’s from Quinpool road restaurant that opened in 2006. Ali Beghari was the owner of Dodo’s Café and Barbecue, which garnered praise for its food.
Unfortunately for Beghari, the restaurant was forced to close that same year. Recalling the closure to Huddle, he became emotional.
“For 22 years I’ve tried to be successful, but when you fail on the first try… that hurt me a lot,’ said Beghari.
In the 17 years since closing the original restaurant, Beghari has made a name for himself franchising several restaurants across the H.R.M. However, being able to open his own restaurant with the same recipe as the first time around is special for him.
“I had to go back 17 years ago in my mind to create the exact same recipe again,” said Beghari.
The peri peri recipe that Beghari uses at Dodo’s is a hot pepper sauce of Portuguese and South African origin. Peri peri chicken specifically has gotten more popular in recent years with chains like Nando’s bringing the flavour to different markets. Dodo’s is one of the first restaurants to offer peri peri in Halifax.
Family and first impressions
Baghari is excited for customers to try the food at his new restaurant and says that opening this version of Dodo’s has been much different because he is being helped by his family this time around.
“I’m not alone, as I was 17 years ago. I have good teams working with me and my family. And I really appreciate my wife, she has been patient with me and parked by my side,” said Beghari.
In the first few days of the restaurant being open, Beghari says business has been great. Despite not having much time to dedicate to marketing, customers are still coming by in bunches after hearing about the restaurant through word of mouth.
“This is the fourth day of business and we are getting more and more customers coming in and wanting to try the chicken,” said Beghari.
Located in Montague square on Young Street, the restaurant features a clean design with eclectic touches to mirror the Portuguese flair of the chicken. Portuguese tiles and murals done by local artists help to brighten up the space. Dishes are served on live-edge wood slabs designed to distinguish the restaurant from the standard fast-casual experience.
Made with pride
On top of the atmosphere, Beghari has taken steps to ensure that the food is prepared with the customer in mind.
“We are making everything from scratch. There is nothing factory made here, we’re bottling our sauces here, it takes us three days to make a sauce. We’re putting care into it,” said Beghari.
Dodo’s has even decided to use leftover lemons from their sauces and spice mixes to make their own in-house lemonade.
After the first Dodo’s location didn’t turn out as planned, Beghari is using the experience he’s gained over the last 17 years to make this his best venture yet. Despite facing challenges along the way, he’s glad to be able to open his dream restaurant once again.
“There’s been a lot of challenges but I don’t seem them that way because I enjoy it all,” said Beghari.
Joe Thomson is a Huddle student intern, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected]