Borza celebrates 50 years in business in Tallaght Village
Liliana, Teresa, Alberto, Fabrizio, Maria, Gennaro and Marisa in Borza, Tallaght Village

Borza celebrates 50 years in business in Tallaght Village

WHEN Teresa Borza Di Nardi’s parents, Donato and Mariantonia Borza, decided to set up the Borza chipper in Tallaght 50 years ago in 1972, the then-14-year-old was unsure of the move.

Her parents, originally from the Italian town of Casalattico, had opened their first chipper in 1955 on Parnell Street, before opening a chipper in Churchtown in 1958.

The couple decided their next move would be to open a chipper in the growing village of Tallaght.

In 1972, the Borzas made the move to Tallaght, where they initially lived above the shop while a teenaged Teresa was still grappling with leaving the familiarity of Churchtown.

“My parents were just looking to expand, and they had six kids in the family,” Teresa told The Echo.

“The shop had a Spar in it before they bought it. Tallaght was a big change for us, all of our friends were in Churchtown.

“Tallaght was quite small at that time. There was no Castle Park or Tymon – it was all fields.

“They were building in Kilnamanagh but nothing had opened by that point. There were houses in Millbrook Lawns, and pubs like Bridget Burke’s and Molloy’s.”

Teresa also remembers Tallaght being a hub of employment at the time, mainly with the presence of factories like Jacobs, Urney’s and Gallaher’s.

In fact, when the Borzas moved into the shop there initially wasn’t a gas connection – until they realised they could be supplied by an existing gas connection to Jacobs.

Teresa has clear memories, initially in the Churchtown chipper and then Tallaght, of helping out behind the counter throughout her childhood and adolescence, right through to the present day.

“Now, it would be called child labour,” she reflected. “But in those days, it came automatically to us, and we enjoyed it. “I’m still at the shop every day, even if it’s just doing admin in the back.

There’s always a member of the family there.” The Borza Tallaght currently has a staff of ten, many of whom are relatives of Teresa’s, including her daughter, her son, her brother, her husband and her sister-in-law.

When asked about the biggest changes she’s witnessed while running a chipper over the years, Teresa said the expansion of the menu has been a notable one.

“When we opened up, our menu was batter burger, batter sausage, plain burger, plain sausage, fish and chips,” she recalled.

“But now, if I was to go through the menu, I wouldn’t remember everything that’s on there.”

The Borza also expanded into making authentic Italian pizza under the name Main Street Pizza, which is next door to the Borza, using wood-fired ovens and 72-hour cold fermented dough.

Over the years, while watching the Tallaght population grow, Teresa also had a bird’s eye view into the changing appetites of Borza customers.

“Our older customers would be more inclined to get fish and chips,” she said.

“Younger ones would be more inclined to get pizzas, kebabs and burgers.”

The Borza in Tallaght has gone on to be a firm favourite in the area, and they also support a number of community initiatives, such as donating food to the homeless service VISIT and sponsoring local sports clubs.

For Teresa, she no longer has the reticence about being in Tallaght that she had in her early teens and is proud to be from here and live here.

“If you were to ask me now, I wouldn’t live anywhere else,” she said.

“When people ask me where I’m from, I tell them I’m from Tallaght and I’m proud of it.”

She added: “We had a fire in the shop in 2010 or 2011, one of the chip pans went on fire, and we were closed for a while, about six to eight weeks.

“But the amount of people that rang, sent messages and sent cards…I actually got overwhelmed, I was in tears.

“I never expected that people would be so nice, and when we reopened, people came in with bottles of wine and prosecco for us.”

Reflecting on the longevity of the Borza in Tallaght and its continued success over the last 50 years, Teresa said there’s a simple mantra which is always at the forefront of her work.

“Mammy always said, ‘Don’t serve food to customers that you wouldn’t eat yourself’.”

To celebrate 50 years since the opening of the Borza in Tallaght, all food in the chipper will be half price next Wednesday, June 8.

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