Inside new Lambados takeaway in Bradford city centre

Choni Khan and Ifnan Malik have long dreamt of bringing back the popular takeaway on Morley Street.

Now, the new Lambados is set to bring 12 inch square pizzas, doner kebabs, burgers, milkshakes, and parmos.

It is expected to create five new jobs in the area, Choni said, with new recruits already in training.

Choni Khan and Ifnan Malik, pictured (Image: Newsquest, Mike Simmonds)

“Lambados was quite popular in the night scene and that community of Asian people around there,” Choni said.

“I’ve been in the fast food trade since the early 90s.

“For years I’ve been looking at this shop. It shut down about three years ago and it was owned by my cousins. I’ve been pestering them to reopen it or sell it to me. About six months ago, I approached them. Me and my friend we said we’ll buy it off them and reopen it as it was before.

“I’m excited because I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I know this area has got a lot of things coming up with the new LIFE Centre opening up down the bottom and a couple of new clubs have reopened again.

The new Lambados menu (Image: Newsquest, Mike Simmonds)

“We wanted to create a pizza place in Bradford that no one’s doing. Nobody’s doing square pizzas. 

“We’re doing a really spicy dip burger that’s the new ‘in’ thing. People want spicy dip burgers, it’s like a Manchester craze.

“We want people to come that used to come in the past and try our food and see if we can make any more improvements. We’ve had a lot of phone calls from old customers of support.

“Come and try us out. We’ve perfected it to the T.”

Choni Khan and Ifnan Malik (Image: Newsquest, Mike Simmonds)

To mark Lambados' opening night from 6pm today (Friday, September 8), Choni is offering £2 12 inch pizzas to the first 100 customers.

The Shipley entrepreneurs have been good friends for the last 20 years. 

In that time, Choni and Ifnan have worked on different online businesses. 

But Lambados is set to be the product of their experiences and life lessons.

“We’ve always wanted to,” Choni said.

“We’ve grown older and learnt from our mistakes.”

In a message to the city’s young generation, Choni said: “My advice would be just work hard, if you can study make sure you study, and if you want to get anywhere in life you’ve got to work hard for it. 

“If you expect things to fall in your lap they’re not going to come.

“I’m almost 44 years old. I started working at 11 years old, I went to sell food outside a nightclub in a catering van.

"Put effort into anything and you'll be successful."