See update to this post from Todd of Gabbys restaurant at the end of this post.
[caption id="attachment_10623" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="The proposed location of the restaurant"]
[/caption]Concept overview from the corporate site, the concept was simply to create a cozy environment that was well suited to have great conversations, served quality freshly cooked meals and offered great draft beer and spirit selections...
Gabby's is a franchise that has several locations in Toronto. It is questionable if it is a proper match for the Junction Community, there has been a no chain store movement for sometime. We already have two chains with locations in the Junction now, Starbucks and the mini - conglomerate Crema Coffee - so does this argument even hold water now. In addition professionalism of a chain restaurant may force other establishments to improve their food offerings, service and environment to compete for the same community members dollars. What is known is that competition breeds good businesses.
Some of their restaurants have late night service with a special late night menu ...hope that happens here.
On Gabby's permit application, it states that it will have indoor and outdoor space. In the Junction, Axis now has the best patio in the area, and provides a great outdoor space when the weather is right. Axis's patio can be packed similar to how the Diplomatico on College is constantly packed in the summer. Patios in Toronto are prime real estate and another space will be a welcomed option in the Junction.
..and WOW the Newmarket site has Gluten-Free Menu (PDF of menu link).
..and here is a link to their regular menu. regular menu
[caption id="attachment_10624" align="aligncenter" width="135" caption="click image to view regular menu"]
[/caption]The blog wrote the Gabbys company last evening asking for some more details, below is their response.
Submitted on 2012/03/08 at 9:17 AM
Hi and thanks for the Gabby’s blog intro – just for the record my family owns and operates Gabby’s, we started it as a family business at Yonge and Lawrence in 1989. We still own and operate the majority of our location privately today. We live in Toronto and do have a few franchise partners. Its important that we are part of the community and that’s why on occasion we franchise our stores, we want the owners to be part of the community, to work at the restaurant every day and understand the community.
We feel that the Junction is a great community and has seen significant change over the last 5 years. We also feel it’s underserviced with family restaurant choices and feel we will add value to the area and bring other great operators to the area to provide more options for the community as a whole. We have applied for a patio licence and interior licensing and plan to open in June with a gluten free menu, our regular core menu of 50+ items, a great draft selection, high quality flat screens, well trained staff and a consistent high quality safe eating environment. We will feature a 12 seat bar and a 65 seat restaurant area with room for strollers!! Although we do have several locations around the city we are still a local Toronto family owned and operated business with strong value on community and improving people experiences in our locations as diners or for a casual drink.
I look forward to answering any questions or inquires any community members have and look forward to adding value to the block with a new business, more jobs and one more option for our neighbours to walk to.
Todd (of Gabbys)
