By Faye Mayern
A restaurant charging $125 for a Hawaiian to deter customers from the controversial pineapple topping has finally sold one of their pricey pizzas.
Lupa Pizza in Norwich, Norfolk, made their opinion on the topping choice very clear by slapping the hefty price tag for the dish on their Deliveroo menu.
The cheeky menu description reads: “Yeah, for $125 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on you Monster!”
Last week YouTubers “All The Gear” popped into the shop of their quest for the most expensive pizza in the country, tucking into the controversial 12″ dish.
When asked why they decided to charge such a large fee, the owner’s answer is simple – they hate pineapple on pizza.
Co-owner Francis Woolf, 41, said: “We had been getting a few requests for pineapple pizza which wasn’t on the menu.
“We thought it’d be funny to put one on the takeaway menu for $125.
“We thought if you really want pineapple pizza, you’re going to have to fork out for it.
“It went worldwide from there and we’ve had lots of fun dressing up in Hawaiian shirts with piña coladas and smashing pineapples up.
“It went bananas – or pineapples!
“The YouTubers got a margherita pizza for a tenner and then tin of pineapples on top for $90. We did give them a good proper feeding as well.”
Francis added they had no plans to take it off the menu.
He said: “We’re well aware the price tag is the joke. We never really thought we’d sell it.”
Lupa Pizza launched in June 2024 and is a small, independent eatery, specializing in beef shin rendang and garlic whipped tofu.
Though reviled by many, the Hawaiian pizza, does have its fans. A 2017 poll revealed 53 per cent of Brits enjoy the sweet-and-savoury combo, while 29 per cent consider it an abomination.
Despite its name, the ham and pineapple combo was believed to have been invented in Canada in 1962 by Sam Panopoulos, a Greek immigrant inspired by the sweet and savoury tang of Chinese-American dishes.
âIt coincided with a fascination with Tiki culture which followed Hawaii becoming an American state in 1959, with canned pineapple becoming a popular imported item.
