By
Benjamin Kim
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Business has increased every day since UA-area restaurant opened
After nine successful years of serving pizza and pasta in England, Cafˇ Pizza & Pasta manager Zana Hassan decided to expand his business to the United States.
"I never expected it to be this busy. I expected to build slowly, but really we're having a lot of regular customers already," said Hassan, 26. The restaurant has attracted about 120 to180 students, faculty and local residents daily.
"It's amazing," Hassan said. "People come when I open at 11 a.m., and it's non-stop until we close."
Just south of North Park Avenue and East University Boulevard, Cafˇ Pasta & Pizza has been attracting the attention of hundreds of students with their pizza and special offers.
When classes at the university began, Hassan decided to offer customers a three-topping, 9-inch pizza for $2.95.
"From that day business has been doubling everyday and getting really busy," Hassan said.
"They actually make quality pizza," said Ryan Morrison, a women's studies sophomore. "It's pretty fast, you sit down, and they bring it to your table."
Morrison, who has been to the restaurant five times in the past week, said that while the pizza is good, the offer is what attracted him in the first place.
While business has been good for Cafˇ Pizza & Pasta, it is only making slight profits.
"When you start you have a lot of bills coming from everywhere," Hassan said. "I've paid off everything now, and we are starting to make profits."
The family-run restaurant opened in late July, but business was slow at first.
Hassan and his family run three other restaurants in England. While in England, he started working for a pizza restaurant, became the manager and eventually bought out the business. Hassan, who is Kurdish lived in England for 10 years before coming acorss the Atlantic Ocean. He visited Tucson in 1997.
"I felt (Tucson) was great for, especially, food business," he said "This is a very large university, and I'm used to busy areas."
The restaurant, which is leased by the Marshall Foundation for the next seven years, is colored in bright orange and pale yellow.
"The colors are bright and people like to eat more because it's relaxing," Hassan said. The style is based on a European design, a look that has been successful in his European restaurants, he said.
"It's a good time, good atmosphere, good food," said P.J. Saffer, an engineering sophomore. "I come here with my buddies a lot."
"Customers love our food, and they keep coming back," said Hassan's brother and chef, Dana.
