Hi friends
Me and my husband will land Canada soon and have plans to start an Indian restaurant.Im just sarting bit of research on business potential in Canada. My husband has over ten years experience in this industry here in US and will be grateful for your suggestions and feedback in selecting an ideal location.

What kind of cuisine you plan to serve?

Which clientele do you want to appeal i.e. mainly desis or mainstream?

What city do you have in mind?

Windsor is calling

Windsor has few Indian restaurants (4 or 5) and all of them suck biiiiigggg time. New areas are developing on the east side of the town (lakeshore, tecumseh area) with new plazas ready to rent. Need a good restaurant that is clean, has good food and decent service.

Good luck

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Dimple2001

As far as i know,
for low cost North Indian or South Indian restaurant,
Dundas Street west and Hurontario st. (Hwy. 10) intersection is an ideal Place. You already have an existing restaurant space at the northwest corner (Formerly Pakwanchi-Pak restaurant) ready to be leased. The place is small but has lot of parking.
Gerrard street is too crowded and satuarated. That is an Authentic indian part of this town.
I donot know about Scarborough but that is another desi filled place.
TK.
Disclaimer : I donot have any financial /lease interest at Pakwanchi restaurant

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

lana2005
We want to concentrate mostly on authentic southIndian cuisine and presently do the same in US. We get majority American guests during weekdays and Indian guests during weekends.We always have thought of Windsor and yet to do more study.
dimple2001 and tamilkuravan
Thanks for your feedback and hows the competition at Dudas and Hurontario intersection that you have mentioned.

I donot know about Windsor as i have never visited Windsor. Dimple can help you with Windsor.

If you want to concentrate on more desi crowd then Mississauga and Brampton would be good.

In Toronto you could go downtown or uptown. You could attract mainstream clientele there. If I not mistaken and if you feel adventerous, i donot think there is south indian restaurant in downtown. Most of the Indian restaurant in downtown provide north indian food. Uptown too I have seen only one south indian/thai food place. However, Mississauga, Brampton, Scarborough, India bazar at Gerard street have few south indian places.

Are you part of a south indian chain in US like Devi?

Amie from USA and 6 posts in CD. Hmm.........

Stay away from Mississauga/Brampton/Scarborough.

I know personally the workings of this business in particular the South Indian Type.

The biggies are already here. The word "Authentic" is very mis leading in mississauga. My personal assessment is that the only thing lacking in these areas is an "Iyer Mess" which already exists in the Bay Area of San Francisco.

Let me discuss some market segments for you:

South Indians are penny pinchers and they will complain about the quantity of rice or sambar and also about the price. They are also very Brand Conscious. They will pay triple the price for an existing south Indian brand in mississauga.They also expect a new menu every time they visit you. How many times can you keep changing the menu.

These areas are middle class and hence you would not get the corporates types. They are mostly in down town.

If you want to target take outs and also lunches, there are plenty of Sri Lankan tamils already in this market. You will never be able to meet their costing in Idlis or Biriyani or other stuff.

If you want a high end restaurant like Host, you will find it difficult to attract Goras and others on a repeat basis as Liquor does not go well with Spicy south Indian food.

Now what you are left with is the Punjabis and the North Indians. Their tastes of "Authentic" South Indian is very different from a Chennaite like me. The punjabis are the ones who are keeping the Indian restaurants alive in Mississauga/Brampton. Hence you need to change your recipe(s) to suite their taste bud. Immediately your South Indian Clientile will complain.

The above description is from my practical experience in this market segment. You have HSB, Komalas, Anjappar the biggies, people like Madras Dosa Hut and smaller players like Dosa Corner. In take outs you need to consider Curry Leaves as your major competitor. There were many restaurants in mississauga which folded when HSB entered the market for Eg: there used to be a place called Bamboo something which closed down and has been replaced by Bitunthavanam near Dundas/Hurantorio. If you visit it you will find that nobody eats there while it is used more like a take out place.

Do not rush. Please come and assess the actual situation on the market place. I can guarantee that you will not be able to compete on the commercial terms of the players already existing here.

Sorry for discouraging your intentions at locations of mississauga/brampton/scarborough.

Hence think outside these areas before HSB/Komalas are some one starts there.

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"