Tag Archives: Local Business

Good Things Come in Slightly Larger Packages

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The Best Microbreweries in Toronto

A few weeks ago, I was dining at a restaurant and something on the menu happened to jump out at me.  The establishment was offering what they called “shared bottles” of beer.  It turns out that these bottles were about one and a half times the size of a regular bottle of beer, and the idea was that it is too much for one person but perfect for two people to share.  As it so happens, I’m not a big beer drinker but was with some other people who enjoy trying different beers, so it was perfect for the occasion.

The company that I know of which offers this feature, is a microbrewery in the Toronto area called Blood Brothers Brewing and is located at 165 Geary Avenue.

I really found this to be a great idea, and I’m sure there are other breweries that do it as well, but I thought It was an interesting marketing tactic to get people to try your product.  Often, my wife says that a bottle of beer is too much for her, but half or 75 percent of one is the perfect amount.

Given that in today’s marketplace, there are hundreds of different beers and breweries, and even more beverages available, you really have to be creative to succeed.  Normally, companies just come up with a catchy name or label but don’t do anything else to change up their product.

Alternatively, I’ve noticed that one of the tactics US companies use is to simply increase their price and portion size.  However, Blood Brothers is taking a different approach, and I applaud them for doing so.  I encourage other companies to think outside of the box as well.

In the meantime, give Blood Brothers a try.  I’m told that their beers are all quite enjoyable.

Blood Brothers Brewing
647-628-6062
http://www.bloodbrothersbrewing.com/

 

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The Buzz About Great Customer Service

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For many years, whenever I was driving along Wilson Avenue, to the west of my neighbourhood, I noticed a small restaurant in a strip mall, called Buzz Buzz Pizza Family Restaurant.  Despite driving by the location numerous times I never had the opportunity to stop by until a few weeks ago when, ironically, after going to a restaurant in the area for dinner we found ourselves still hungry.

A few of us decided to stop off at Buzz Buzz for a quick bite and to check the place out.  It’s a small restaurant, with seven to eight tables, the prices are reasonable, and is known for their Italian food, Greek food, and most of all…their pizzas.  Other popular items are their veal parmesan, veal sandwiches, meatball sandwiches, souvlakis, and salads.

Since the pizza on the first visit was absolutely delicious, about a week later, we decided to order the veal parmesan dinner, for delivery.  When it arrived we were surprised to see it included a big piece of veal, tons of pasta, garlic bread, salad, and a can of pop for $12.99.  The food arrived hot and fresh, however, I was told that depending on how busy they are, sometimes it takes about an hour for delivery.  Nonetheless, you can’t beat the price of their items!

Buzz Buzz is a family-run restaurant, operated and owned by a Greek gentleman by the name of Tony.  He runs the restaurant with his wife, daughter, and a few other people.  Although they are also well-known for their delivery and take-out, they do have regulars in the area that stop by and eat while watching TV. The place also has a liquor license, so if you wanted to, you could grab a beer or glass of wine with your meal.  Perhaps the most telling sign about the business, is that every time I’ve been to the restaurant, it’s been consistently busy.

Tony and his daughter are a pleasure to deal with—they are amazingly friendly and are willing to bend over backwards for special requests.

In a day and age when the pizza business is dominated by big chains, it’s nice to find a local, friendly business that provides good food at a reasonable price.

Buzz Buzz Pizza Family Restaurant
416-630-7777
http://www.buzzbuzzpizza.com/

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Prioritize the Customer….Not the Size of the Project

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A couple of years ago, my wife and I were travelling and went to the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville.  While we were there, we bought a poster that displayed the musicians that were playing that night but was done in a style that had probably been used since the early days of this venue.

Given that the Grand Ole Opry is a country music establishment, I thought it would be interesting to frame this piece of art in a different way, than simply using a frame.  In particular, I thought it would be cool to mount it on barn wood—wood from a barn—to play with the country theme.  After doing a bit of research I discovered barnboardstore.com: a store known for selling barn board and what is generally known as reclaimed wood.  In addition to barn board, they are also known for selling wood with live edges—in other words, wood with the bark still on it.  Both types of wood are high-quality and can be used for furniture, floors, and walls.  For me, I only needed a small piece of wood because I had a relatively small poster.

When I went to barnboardstore.com, they were very accommodating.  Even though this was a small project for them they let me pick out a piece of wood with the nice colouring I was looking for.  They also spend a few minutes helping me the size and cut it, so all I had to do was glue everything together and put the poster on.

Because they took such good care of me I kept them in mind for other projects. My wife and I are currently in the process of creating some built-in bookshelves, and we wanted the counter of the bookcase to be barn wood.  Just like my first experience the staff were extremely helpful and came up with ideas that made more sense and were more cost-effective.  All the staff are a pleasure to deal with, and this was something exceptionally notable because, in a day and age where many companies are just looking for the “big sale” and spend as little time as possible with customers with smaller projects, it’s nice to see a company that puts the customer first.

If you have a project involving wood and are looking for something a bit different, I definitely suggest checking them out.

Barnboardstore.com
416-471-9452
http://barnboardstore.com/

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Hungry for Hungarian Food?

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A few weeks ago, I visited a popular, Toronto restaurant, that has been around for many years….Country Style Hungarian Restaurant. It’s a cozy Hungarian restaurant located at 450 Bloor Street West, and should not be confused with the larger donut chain, Country Style.

Country Style Hungarian Restaurant has been around for over 50 years as a family-run business. It’s an old-school restaurant with classic red and white checkered tablecloths and wooden chairs and tables. They’re famous for their schnitzel, but some of their other go-to dishes include cabbage rolls and perogies. They of course, also have goulash soup and cucumber salad, and their wiener schnitzel is absolutely to-die-for.

Aside from ordering a la carte, they also have a delicious platter prepared for two or four, which comes with a variety of meats, sausages, and potatoes. For those who are less hungry, there are schnitzel and chicken sandwiches. If you’ve saved a little room, they have great desserts including palacsinta…a Hungarian-style crepe with chestnut puree, as well as apple and cherry strudel. All of their desserts are tasty and most are homemade. Lastly, one of my favourite items on the menu is their raspberry soda…..a cold drink that is somewhat different from most pops.

Their food always comes out hot, fresh, and very quickly, and in addition, the service is great. All of the waiters are friendly and helpful, and if you ask for the sauce on the side or other dietary requests, they are very accommodating.

I find the restaurant is busy at any time, especially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, but you usually do not have to wait too long to be seated. After dinner, if you want to listen to live music, there’s are some bars in the area, as well as live theatres, all of which are accessible via public transit.

If you’re looking to experience a different, homey kind of restaurant, head on over to Country Style Hungarian Restaurant…you will not be disappointed.

Country Style Hungarian Restaurant

416-536-5966

http://countrystylehungarian.com/

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A Taste of Good Customer Service

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Lady York Foods is a unique, one-off grocery store, often frequented by folks in the Italian and Portuguese community who live nearby. They’re well-known for their butcher shop, deli and cheese section, locally baked goods, and their produce. I also go there for seasonal items, like figs and fresh olives. If you happen to be making prosciutto, you can easily get the leg of a pig and similar items—all high quality.

Last Friday my wife and I decided we wanted to make a rack of lamb for dinner. I headed over to my neighbourhood Costco and much to my sadness and shock, they didn’t have any lamb in stock, which was a rare event.

Although they had other meats, my wife and I were both craving lamb. I put my thinking cap on and while I was at Costco, I called up Lady York Foods to see if they had a rack of lamb in stock. I spoke to a young, friendly guy in the butcher shop and told him what I was looking for.

When I arrived, it was all wrapped up and ready to go. I thanked the young man for his help and headed home, eager to start digging in. When I got home my wife opened the package and was surprised because it looked different from the usual rack of lamb.

Usually, it’s Frenched so it looks very presentable, and so we were surprised it wasn’t Frenched already but we didn’t think anything of it. When we went to cook and slice it, we realized there was an extra bone in there, and when we went to continue slicing it we realized there was no actual meat, just bone and fat.

I called up Lady York Foods again and asked to speak to a manager. I told her there might have been some miscommunication and confusion, and that I was sold something that wasn’t butchered and properly presented for sale.

The young man from the butcher section told me to come in whenever it was convenient, and he would be happy to refund me. I took a picture of the lamb so I could prove I wasn’t yanking his chain and stopped by the next day.

When I approached him we ended up having a nice chat and he apologized for not having the product I was looking for, and for making me return to the store to get a refund. Lady York Foods was willing to step up to the plate to ensure customer satisfaction and the young man in the butcher shop was willing to make things right.

I showed him the picture I took of the lamb and we had a good chuckle. He ended up taking the picture for training purposes for the rest of the butchers.

I applaud Lady York Foods because they stood behind their product standards and readily refunded the money in the case of a simple miscommunication.

Lady York Foods

416-781-8585

www.ladyyorkfoods.com

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A Special Thank You

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Many years ago, SQM did a project for a gentleman by the name of Wassim, who works for a Canadian company called The Travelway Group. The company is a distributor of various travel-related products: suitcases, gym bags, and travel accessories. One of the products to which they have the licensing rights to are for various cartoon and superhero lunch bags, overnight bags, and knapsacks, such as Dora the Explorer, Frozen, and The Avengers.

Although it’s been several years since we last did any work for the company, I’ve kept in touch with Wassim. From time to time I’ve asked Wassim for a favour, related to some of the charity initiatives that SQM is involved with. In particular, when I’m working on any children’s related initiatives, I’ve called up to see if it’s possible to get some old or extra items that may be sitting around the warehouse, to pass along to the various organizations we are working with.

While I try not to take advantage of his generosity, whenever I’ve asked for something, without hesitation he takes down the delivery information and within days I’ll have a box full of items at my front door.

During my time in business, I’ve always made an effort to support those companies that actively support charitable causes…and especially the ones that and SQM is involved with. As a result, I wanted to do a shout out to the team at the Travelway Group for being a great partner and a great supporter of myself, and SQM. Thank you very much!

The Travelway Group

http://www.travelwaygroup.com

 

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7 Numbers Restaurant is Number One in Customer Service

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For many years, there has been a restaurant in Toronto known as 7 Numbers. It’s a quaint and casual Italian restaurant, with food that could be best described as homemade meals and cooking.

The original restaurant is on Eglinton Avenue between Bathurst and Avenue Road and the second one is down on the Danforth. The owner of the restaurant, Rosa, is often standing right in the kitchen and is an absolutely lovely woman.

You have a couple different options to choose from when you come in: appetizers, primi / first courses, and your secondi / main entrees. In addition, there are the options of ordering a prix fixe family style meal, that includes a sampling of appetizers and several kinds of pasta, along with your choice of the main course.

While there are some staples on the menu, they do change it up from time to time, so there’s always something new or different. While all of the food is quite tasty, my absolute favourites are the calamari, the fig and goat cheese salad, and the veal lasagna. As for mains? My go-to dishes are the duck leg, the lamb shank, and one of the other popular choices….the veal meatballs. You get two huge meatballs with a tasty cheesy treat inside. In terms of drinks, there are several options for non-alcoholic and alcoholic, with wine served by the glass or the bottle.

The seats and decor are very casual, with brown paper-covered tables, chalkboard menus, and colourful lighting. The kitchen is right at the front of the restaurant, so whether you’re looking inside or standing out, you can see exactly what is going and how your food is being prepared.

It’s an awesome family business, with Rosa running the uptown restaurant while her son runs the downtown location, and both provide great service. Between the atmosphere, the service, and the amount of food you get, it’s a guaranteed fabulous meal for a reasonable and fair price.

A number of my friends and colleagues have made 7 Numbers their go-to place and it’s become a place where regulars hang out all the time.

If you’re looking for some authentic, homemade Italian food, 7 Numbers is always a top choice. Buon Appetito!

 

7 Numbers

www.sevennumbers.com

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