It has been three years since Broadview Avenue was named as the location for an Odd Burger restaurant and it has yet to open.
The vegan restaurant chain started in 2014, and has 13 locations across Canada; 11 in Ontario. The restaurant’s website has six locations across Canada listed as coming soon, including one on Broadview. The restaurant at that location was first announced November 18, 2020 and has been facing delays since.
James McInnes, CEO and Co-Founder of Odd Burger, spoke with the Toronto Observer about the troubles the Broadview location has been facing.
The first delay happened after the city inspector came in to do a routine inspection. Construction at the site was nearing completion. The inspector noticed “at some point in the past there was a fire in the basement and it had burned the structural beams of the building,” McInnes said. The discovery resulted in the inspector shutting down construction.
McInnes said there was a lot of conflict with the landlord about who’s responsibility it was to fix the damage, how much it was going to cost and who was going to pay for it.
“Ultimately, it was the landlord’s responsibility,” McInnes said. But the process to get to that point took “a couple of years.”
Since then, the location was sold to a franchisee and they are completing the remainder of the project, according to McInnes. The original plan for the restaurant was designed more for COVID. The franchisee decided to change the design to add more seating.
“[The franchisee has] resubmitted the permits and that’s where it’s sitting right now.” McInnes said. “We’re just waiting for the permits to come back so they can finish the construction.”
McInnes wouldn’t give an estimated date for when the restaurant will open. “We don’t know how long the permit’s gonna take to get approved by the city. Once the permits are approved and construction begins again, at that point we will have an ETA. We are hoping to have an ETA in the next one to two months.”
The city of Toronto’s Media Relations states it takes 10-30 business days for permits to be reviewed and issued.
