Zorba in Broad Street, Stamford goes viral on TikTok app
A Stamford takeaway is not only serving up doner kebabs and cheesy chips, but a tasty handful of viral videos too.
Based in Broad Street, Zorba had its first taste of fame when a video of a staff carving a kebab went viral on the social media platform TikTok in November last year. It has received a whopping 29m views to date.
And while the takeaway worker was showing off some knife-twizzling skills in the short clip, the number of viewers hungry to see more came as a shock.
Asked for his recipe to success, Zorba owner Cihan Kaya said: “We are good at what we do. We have a good time, it was a good video and we are based in a good town.”
There is no precise art to becoming ‘TikTok famous’ because the algorithm picks up videos randomly. Although using 'trending sounds' - music or a soundtrack that has already been used many times on TikTok - and posting regularly seem to help.
While the video was seen by millions of people, including many overseas, Zorba’s top fans are local people.
Many of its videos feature young people from Stamford who are keen to star on the page.
“A lot of people, particularly kids, come in to do videos which is great,” said Cihan, 35.
“We have no problem with it. They come behind the counter to do the videos, especially the younger people.”
The page has nearly 30,000 followers, which people may expect to come with pressure, but Cihan feels at ease in front of the camera.
Many UK takeaways, such as Binley Mega Chippy, have become viral sensations but Cihan says he doesn’t try to emulate others, instead aiming to create something unique.
He jokingly added that Zorba’s viral video has more views than the famous Binley Mega Chippy.
Cihan said: “I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t know about the TikTok in Stamford, which is really good.
“Twenty-nine million is half of the country. It has turned us into local celebrities.”
As well as making business boom, the new-found fame has brought new opportunities for the takeaway and Zorba’s food has been reviewed by social media foodie stars.
Reviewers include 'mashtag_brady' who boasts 893,000 followers and 'foodreviewclub' whose account has 124,000 fans.
With likes and followers still flooding in from the viral videos, the Zorba team is making videos once a week to grow their fanbase.
To watch the videos, visit @zorba4stamford on TikTok.
TikTok is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, founded by the billionaire Zhang Yiming.
The app allows users to share up to 60 seconds of video of their own content, or lip-syncing to songs, sketches, or film scenes.