California Pizza & Restaurant Opens In Dundalk Shopping Center

Sometimes a great business idea is the combination of many good ideas from business and life. Madgy Elghannan culled a bit of knowledge from many different places to create California Pizza and Restaurant in the Dundalk Shopping Center. He's pulled the taste sensations from one locale, atmosphere from yet another, and set them down in the form of a Dundalk restaurant meant to cultivate good food and good times.

California Pizza was a natural idea for Elghannan for a number of reasons. Magdy isn’t new to pizza. When he left Egypt after graduating college, he came to Baltimore and worked as a pizza delivery boy for Dominos, then inside for Papa Johns. So he thought he knew a little something about pizza.

Then he moved to California for five years where he worked in another restaurant. There he learned new ways to use ingredients in standard dishes. He returned to Baltimore, his “home away from home,” he calls Charm City, with the idea of sharing what he had learned about cooking and ingredients in California.

“In California, it’s about quality of ingredients and quality of product. Baltimore focused more on quantity,” said Elghannan. “Food is like a drug, but food needs to be good for you.”

At California Pizza and Restaurant (not associated with the California Pizza Kitchen franchise) he's created a menu focused on fresh vegetables and unusual sauces for pizza – such as teriyaki – in place of the traditional, tomato-based pizza sauce. He added cooking methods to make the finished product healthier. He did the same for his pasta and salad dishes and accompaniments.

“I want to create a healthy meal for my guests,” said Elghannan.

He also wants to create an atmosphere that’s conducive to families and friends to gather, a tradition he carried over from his upbringing in his homeland, Egypt.

“In Egyptian culture, hospitality is a priority. We like to have people around all the time,” explained Elghannan.

He chose the Dundalk Shopping Center because of its historic nature, as well as its high residential component. As he looked for a spot to open his new business, he noticed that in this historic portion of Dundalk, residents (or those who work in the area) have few dining choices.

“I noticed that if people wanted to stop somewhere for lunch or pick up something for dinner, they had to leave the area,” Elghannan said. “I want to give them options to keep them in the area…I don’t want people to think they have to go to Little Italy for good pasta.”

He chose Dundalk, as well, because he saw it as a place where he could become involved in the community. “I want to engage with the community,” he said. Most of his employees are local residents. “I want to make people feel good about their neighborhood.”

A construction worker who helped build California Pizza and Restaurant is starting a Tex-Mex eatery down the street with Elghannan’s help. It’s all about keeping people in the neighborhood when it comes time to look for food. What’s good for one business is good for all business, he said.

“If there’s more variety in food choices, people will stay around the neighborhood.”

Elghannan is at the restaurant seven days a week, a trait he learned from his late father. It’s not a matter of money. Between the four Elghannan brothers (three in the United States, one in Egypt), they own multiple businesses, including the family farm back in Edfina, Egypt.

“My father taught me that no matter how much money you have, a man should work every day. It’s the man’s job to be working,” said Elghannan.

His father lived what he preached to his sons. The elder Elghannan served as mayor of Edfina for several decades, according to Elghannan. People in the neighborhood came to his father with their problems, and he made their problems his own. So, Magdy learned the concept of community involvement at an early age.

In various endeavors, Elghannan's been working seven-days-a-week for more than the past year. His wife and 5-year-old are looking for him to take a break, but it’s all a quest to become financially self sufficient, he said.

When he first came to the United States, he told a friend his plan was to become financially self sufficient, as his family is in their homeland. The friend’s dad explained to the new immigrant that if he worked hard, he’d get to a point that he would probably own his own home, but financial independence would be a stretch.

Elghannan, however, appears well on his way.

“I can see that in 5-6 years I will be financially free," he said. "I will be able to say ‘I did it.’”

FYI: California Pizza and Restaurant

Address: 81 Shipping Place

Phone: 410-288-0291