Mzoli’s fires up again as iconic brand opens new Gardens venue
· The South African
Cape Town is shaking off winter, the days are getting longer and braai season is calling — and now Mzoli’s is back in the mix.
The iconic Gugulethu-born shisanyama brand has officially opened its new home in Gardens, bringing its trademark mix of grilled meat, music and good company into the city bowl.
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Western Cape Premier Alan Winde attended the opening earlier this week, marking the start of a new chapter for the much-loved Cape Town name.
The timing could hardly be better.
Spring usually signals the start of Cape Town’s outdoor social calendar, with weekend lunches, sundowners, braais and festive-season plans quickly filling diaries.
Mzoli’s will now be part of that energy again.
A Gugulethu favourite turned Cape Town icon
The reopening also comes just months after the death of founder Edwin “Mzoli” Ngcawuzele, who died in June 2026 at the age of 72 following an illness.
Affectionately known as Ta Mzo, Ngcawuzele built Mzoli’s from a modest Gugulethu butchery into one of Cape Town’s best-known shisanyama destinations. His family is now carrying that legacy into a new chapter in Gardens.
The Mzoli’s story began in Gugulethu in 2003, when Ngcawuzele opened a small butchery and gave customers the option of having their meat braaied on site.
The concept quickly caught on.
Before long, Mzoli’s Place became one of Cape Town’s most recognisable weekend hangouts, with Sundays drawing crowds for braaied meat, music and its lively township atmosphere.
Locals mixed with tourists, celebrities and other high-profile visitors, helping turn the venue into a destination in its own right and putting Gugulethu firmly on Cape Town’s food and social map.
The original venue closed in 2021 after nearly two decades in business, as economic pressures, safety concerns and the impact of Covid-19 restrictions took their toll.
A fresh chapter in Gardens
The Gardens opening now gives the brand a new address while keeping the spirit that made Mzoli’s famous.
The new venue will lean into the same shisanyama experience, with African food, grilled meat, music and a laid-back social atmosphere at the heart of the offering.
And with summer and the festive season just around the corner, Mzoli’s return adds another name to Cape Town’s growing list of places to eat, meet and make a day of it.
For a brand built around meat on the fire, music in the background and people coming together, spring feels like a fitting time to start again.