Skewers Middle Eastern Grill opens outlet in Argyle

Skewers Middle Eastern Grill opened its latest franchise at Pablo’s Supermarket, Argyle, on Wednesday.

The restaurant, which specialises in Arabid food, opened its first outlet in Crown point, Tobago, in March 2007.

It subsequently established another branch at a venue in Speyside but within recent years, outgrew that location.

During a simple ceremony at the opening, Skewers’ owner Yusuf Diab said while the response to their food in Speyside was overwhelming, they could no longer accommodate customers at that location.

“So, we decided to raise the bar in terms of service,” he said.

Diab recalled when the decision was taken to open a restaurant in Tobago, many people tried to dissuade them, saying Tobagonians will not be able to pronounce the food let alone eat it.

But Diab said Tobagonians have embraced the food, which he described as a “great and unique product.”

He said, since then Skewers has built a name for itself fusing middle eastern and local flavours.

“We have established a name that most Tobagonians are aware of.”

In his remarks, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine welcomed Skewers to the communities of Roxborough, Argyle and Kendal.

“It is an important sign when you see small businesses propping up everywhere and even in an economic climate like this one where doing business is difficult and the challenges are significant, when many have lost income and lost jobs and experiencing reduced incomes in some instances, to have business still flourishing is a sign that Tobago is still resilient and Tobago will bounce back and will get the kind of economy we hope to achieve,” he said.

Noting that deputy chief secretary and electoral representative for Roxborough/Argyle Watson Duke had recently established a Tobago East Chamber of Commerce, Augustine added, “We are in support of this kind of growth and expansion.”

He said having a successful Arabian-inspired restaurant on the island is also a sign that Tobagonians are maturing in their willingness to embrace foods of other cultures.

As such, Augustine believes Tobago should be better off as a tourism destination.

“Because one of the ingredients of being a good tourism hub is having diverse food offerings and you are a part of that. To be able to offer that all the way up in Tobago East is a good sign.”Augustine said Roxborough could reclaim its status as one of Tobago’s first towns.

“It is unfortunate that we allowed business in this area to die after a while and so efforts are being made to return Roxborough to its former glory and surpass and create a new kind of Roxborough/Argyle/Kendal.”