Sean Smith

For those of us hunting for a quick respite during the lunch hours, or contributing to the all-too-familiar hot honey craze, Bambino has become a household name amongst the Dublin food scene. Known for their quick, by the slice service, the shop has gained a favourable reputation amongst Dubliners for its unique flavours served on a white, paper plate.

TBR’s Editor-in-Chief Sean Smith spoke with Nick DiMaio, co-founder of Bambino, to learn a little more about the pizza joint’s history and the business model that made the shop so successful.

Bambino’s Story: A String of Events

Bambino’s start-up is an untraditional one. Being born in the United States, Nick was no stranger to the New York style slice shop. Moving to Ireland in 2001 to pursue a career in the restaurant industry, with the birth of Dublin favourite Token under his belt, DiMaio would “beat the 3PM slump by getting a pizza slice in any one of the pizza slice shops that were available back then – usually DiFontaines”, sparking a dormant idea for a market in quick-serve pizza.

Fast forward to 2020, this slice shop concept began to materialise. During the pandemic induced lockdowns, Nick met up with a few friends via Zoom, where he got talking with Shane Windrim, the eventual co-founder of Bambino. The two chatted about the potential for a slice-shop in Dublin, and with Shane’s background in fine-dining, the pair started generating inspiration for a future storefront. 

A year later, Nick received a message from a friend with a photo of a piece of paper saying ‘Manager/Business Partner Wanted – Must Have Experience Running Business”, prompting DiMaio to pursue the vague offering out of curiosity. Much to his delight, Nick soon learned the vacancy appeared for a unit on Stephen Street, near facilities he previously owned. With no particular inspiration for the space at the time, Nick viewed the property and it hit him: “…there was a brick wall immediately to my left when I entered the premises. In 5 seconds I said to myself – this is a slice shop. I had seen that brick wall before in so many pizzerias I had been to in my lifetime. It made so much sense. I was in the unit for about 10 minutes, and I had mapped the place out.”

Shortly thereafter, Nick phoned Shane to pitch the idea. The two were sold, preparing the facility for operation and opening toward the latter half of COVID regulations. Facing adversity, as most small businesses during the pandemic did, the pair were met with challenges during construction and denied a startup loan due to the ‘volatility of the hospitality industry”. Nevertheless, Nick and Shane opened the shop and have not looked back, amassing a swiftly loyal customer base. 

A Slice Worth Eating: A New Operating Model for Pizza

Acclimating the Irish market to a slice shop model was not an easy feat, as traditional clientele are often used to full pies in a restaurant setting. “Initially the idea of grabbing & going/eating at a ledge, no bookings, no cutlery, 1 slice of pizza for €4-6, not being ‘full’ after one slice, was a bit foreign to people” DiMaio affirmed. “I think people have gotten used to us, and what we do. Even for us, if we wanted more of a restaurant style pizza experience, we’d definitely just go to an actual restaurant.” 

With such a new operating configuration comes inherent obstacles. Nick cited issues like minimising wait times and handling queues out the door, as unlike their New York counterparts, “Our customer base probably wouldn’t wait outside, especially as it’d more than likely be raining”. As with any SMB, uniformity and a consistent product regardless of customer foot traffic and staffing is a prime goal that the team is striving to cultivate. 

On top of massive demand, Bambino has faced no exemption from the rising costs faced by Dublin businesses at present. While mentioning that the shop’s electricity bills surpass their rent at times, DiMaio maintains an optimistic perspective: “Inflation hasn’t affected us too much, which is why we haven’t raised our prices other than 25 cents per slice to accommodate the recent VAT rate increase…Perhaps it’s positively impacted our sales because what we’ve remained consistent with our pricing as pints, coffees, and other takeaway items have increased quite drastically over the last couple years.” A point of disruption however has presented itself in the form of supply chain issues, as Nick recounted a time when the type of tomato used for Bambino’s renowned sauce became unavailable. The team had to think on their feet, altering their sauce profile with other tomatoes, highlighting their growing concern over consistency.

A Cult Classic: From Tattoos to Tik Tok

Despite any operative challenges, the Dublin food scene has welcomed Bambino with open arms. DiMaio credits the shop’s high customer loyalty to its basic, convenient nature: “It’s just very easy to be a regular customer of ours – the slice is cheap, the wait isn’t too long, there’s a buzz outside the shop, and the quality is high, so we can kind of see how we’ve got a strong following.” Yet despite a convenient customer experience, Bambino has amassed a cult following, with a dozen loyal customers getting the iconic cupid logo tattooed; the owner of the inaugural tattoo received free pizza for life, with subsequent “copycats” as DiMaio puts it receiving a t-shirt and voucher.

In spite of a buzzing consumer base, Nick cites that this is not as a result of the shop’s social media presence. “We are, admittedly, crap at social media and marketing. What we do was always going to be a challenge,” DiMaio said. “We’ve been open for a year and a half and have only posted 40 things, most of which show me holding a slice in one hand and taking the photo with my phone. As before, we want the pizza to speak for itself”. Instead, external promotion has been a substantial driver for Bambino, with the Irish Times and Independent calling the slices the best pizza in Ireland and guests sharing their slices across different social media outlets. Nick even shared his delight at the shop’s Tik Tok fame, admitting “The Cassie Stokes segments where she interviews people in the food industry who have often said Bambino is the best pizza, went from flattering, and then transitioned to hilarity as repetitiveness set in and the memes began. The meme of the microphone being held up to the hole in the beach in Portmarnock with a speech bubble saying ‘gotta be Bambino’ was 10/10.”

For the Bambino cultists among us, fear not; DiMaio hinted at 2024 being a year of growth for the shop and its operations. At present, Bambino has just finished up a refurbishment of their kitchen facilities to streamline its pizza-making. Nick also exclaimed an expansionary project in the works, one that will “See us prepare our dough in a new space with a temperature controlled environment, that will also serve as a small restaurant for whole pies & pitchers of beers with its own slice shop element.” With almost two years of slices achieved, Bambino has solidified itself as a Dublin staple, and we join DiMaio in his excitement for a future full of Hot Pep slices.