East Village Pizza Is Coming to The Meadows, Dubai

Frank Kabatas started as a delivery driver at East Village Pizza in 1997. He was let go, came back, and bought the shop outright in 2003. More than two decades later, the shop is still running the same dough recipe out of the same style of oven, and it's now opening its first location outside New York, in The Meadows, Dubai.

From Delivery Driver to Owner

It's easy to assume a shop that's stayed in one place for almost thirty years would resist ever leaving it. What changed wasn't the recipe. It was the idea that the recipe could travel at all, as long as nothing about it got simplified along the way.

Why The Meadows

The Meadows was chosen deliberately: a residential pocket of Dubai spanning The Meadows, The Springs, The Lakes, and Emirates Hills, with no craft or New York-style pizza brand currently running out of its own community mall.

What's on the Dubai Menu

The Dubai menu covers the same ground as the original: slices and whole pies at 14 or 20 inches, the double-stacked format the Manhattan shop is known for, starters, dips, desserts, and a full drinks program. Nothing about the recipe or the process has been changed for the new location. The dough still proofs cold for 72 hours before it ever sees the oven, and the oven itself is the same style Frank installed back in 2003.

Inside The Meadows Village

What is new is the setting. East Village Pizza Dubai sits inside The Meadows Village, the Emaar Malls community center anchored by Spinneys, right next to Emirates International School, with visitor parking on-site. Dine-in, pickup, and delivery through Talabat and Deliveroo are all available from opening day, no reservation required, and the site runs bilingually in English and Arabic from day one, not as something added later.

What's Next

Dubai isn't the last stop either. Istanbul is next on the roadmap, another test of the same question this location is already answering: whether a 145 1st Avenue recipe holds up exactly as is, thousands of kilometers from where it started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is East Village Pizza Dubai run by the same people as the Manhattan shop?

Yes. It's the same East Village Pizza that Frank Kabatas has run on 1st Avenue in Manhattan since 2003, using the same dough recipe and the same style of oven.

Where exactly is East Village Pizza Dubai located?

Inside The Meadows Village, Al Thanyah Fourth, an Emaar Malls community center anchored by Spinneys, next to Emirates International School.

Do I need a reservation to dine in?

No. Dine-in, pickup, and delivery are all available without a reservation from opening day.

Is the menu different from the New York location?

No. The Dubai menu covers the same ground as Manhattan: the same dough, the same oven style, the same double-stacked format, plus the full range of slices, whole pies, starters, and desserts.