Aug 2019 - Lowveld

A bigger bite at
ABEEGA!
Roadhouses and drive-in theatres... Are they just good memories of a bygone era?
Who still remembers the excitement when your dad parked his car in the parking
area of the roadhouse, flickering his lights to call the waiter to come and get the
orders? The fun started the moment the highly stacked baskets were carried to the
car and the grid trays clipped onto the window. Good times, indeed.
People living in Mbombela or visiting
our city now have the opportunity
to again experience the fun of a visit
to a roadhouse with their friends or
family.
The big red flashing neon signboard
that spells Abeega has quickly
The big red neon sign has become an important landmark in Mbombela
30 Get It Lowveld August 2019
become a well-known landmark on
the corner of the City Centre shopping
mall situated next to the Old
Pretoria Road/R40 intersection.
This establishment, which opened its
doors for the first time last December,
is a dream come true for Arnaldo
Paulo. He mentioned the idea of a
roadhouse to Petru Pretorius, who
ran the popular A Bica Coffee Shop
at Belladonna centre with him, but
Petru wasn’t convinced.
After she and her daughter Yandè
visited a few modern roadhouses
Text: ALITA STEENKAMP. Photographer: TANYA ERASMUS
in Gauteng, she realised that this
might just take Mbombela by storm.
She and Yandè also decided on a
name for it: Abeega. All the food
served here should be bigger and
better!
“I have dreamt about opening a
roadhouse in Mbombela ever since
I arrived here in 2006,” says Arnaldo.
“What always inspired me was the
idea that this establishment is
synonymous with family time. You
get in your car, put away your
cellphone for a while and sit and
kuier with one another, while waiting
for your food.
“Petru and I both believe in giving
people their money’s worth. I hate
going to a restaurant, paying a lot of
money and still feeling hungry when
I leave. At Abeega we give the client
the best quality food for the best
price and at the same time, it’s tasty,”
he grins.
One thing: it
might be fast
food, but it
is top quality
Petru, who is in charge of the kitchen,
laughs and says they were actually
overwhelmed by the public’s enthusiasm
for the new roadhouse when
they opened their doors last year.
Although she has been working in
the catering business for many years,
she didn’t have any experience in
serving fast food.
At first, she wanted every hamburger
that went out to be pictureperfect,
but when the orders just
came without pause, she realised
that she would have to change her
line of thinking. But, on one thing she
stands firm: it might be fast food, but
it is top quality.
The slap chips are made from
hand-peeled potatoes, the hamburger
patties contain only pure
meat and are bound with egg and
brown breadcrumbs. You won’t find
any preservatives, soya or MSG in
An Abeega square hamburger is good value for money
Abeega’s food. That was a steep
learning curve, but nowadays things
run very smoothly.
Customers should remember that
everything is prepared fresh on the
premises. This is not just another fast
food outlet where the food comes
readily prepared from elsewhere.
A very nice feature of Abeega is the
wonderful music which is played in
the evenings. It adds to the joyful
atmosphere and people often get
out of their cars and start to dance on
the stoep of the building.
During the hot days, some of the
customers rather get out of their
cars and eat in the dining area, which
is similar to typical American diners.
The inside of Abeega is decorated
with bright pop art stickers and
helps to make you feel as if you have
stepped back into the ‘50s, when
roadhouses and rock ‘n’ roll were big.
As you would expect from the menu
of a roadhouse, Abeega lists a variety
of hamburgers, club sandwiches,
excellent ribs and a food item that
was imported from the Cape: a
Gatsby. This monstrous foot-long
bread roll is stuffed with meat or fish
and topped with slap chips, and has
soon become a huge favourite at the
establishment.
The food selection is amazing and
you can even order a number of
different pizzas here. You will also
find milkshakes and sweet surprises
like the legendary Banana Boats and
Choc Nut Sundaes on the menu.
Loyal customers who got their daily
R50 meal from A Bica Coffee Shop will
be glad to hear that this is also now
available on the same premises at
Abeega. Petru and Arnaldo’s catering
business is also still going strong. It
just makes it so much easier to
combine the three legs of their
business on one property, they say.
“I enjoy every moment of working
at Abeega. Our operating hours are
from 7am to 10pm on Sundays to
Thursdays and from 7am to 11pm
on Fridays and Saturdays. It is only
a pleasure to be here and to watch
people enjoy this experience.
“We have a wonderful team that
works with us and without them,
Arnaldo and I wouldn’t have been
able to achieve what we have. His
daughter, Michelle Veloso, does an
excellent job with our Facebook
marketing and we are thankful to
both her and Yandè who helped with
the roadhouse designs,” says Petru.
Arnaldo echoes her joy. “I am so
proud of everything that we have
accomplished here. It took a lot of
hard work, but we did it with our
own hands. We might have made a
few mistakes along the way, but that
was a wonderful learning curve. We
really hope that anyone who hasn’t
yet experienced this, comes over and
enjoys something to eat and drink.
Here at Abeega, size does matter!”
Details
Abeega Roadhouse: 062-095-7698
A Bica: 062-422-6842
August 2019 Get It Lowveld 31