South Indian cafe culture, in Canada
We could not find the breakfast we grew up on. So we made it.
Two Toronto cafes later, we are looking for the people who will open the next one — in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Québec.
A cafe, the way South India does cafes
Thindi means “snacks” in Kannada. What it is, in Toronto, is the filter coffee house of Bangalore: a place people come to in the morning, sit in, and come back to. Everything is vegetarian, with gluten-free and vegan options as the standard rather than the afterthought.
Filter coffee from Chikmagalur, Karnataka
Beans from the hills where Indian coffee began, roasted for the way South India drinks it: strong, sweet, in steel. The first thing regulars order.
Made the moment you order
Benne dosa, idli, the melts. Nothing sits under a lamp. Fresh every morning, and — the harder part — the same every morning.
Something new, or something remembered
Some people walk in and find a breakfast they never knew. Some walk in and find the one they grew up on. The room is built for both.
Our story
Anuja Mehta and Abhilash Achar moved to Toronto from New York and could not find the breakfast they had grown up with. They started at food festivals and a weekend kitchen, with day jobs — a brand marketer and a product manager — and opened the first cafe at 400 College Street, then a second in Liberty Village.
There used to be a board by the menu with the story written on it, and people would stand and read it before they ordered. That is still the idea: a family-run cafe that is not your ordinary restaurant, and a room with a little hygge in it.
What we hold to
People first
The team, the regulars and the street the cafe is on, in every decision.
Fresh, and the same
Made to order, every morning, exactly the way it was made yesterday.
Sincere and authentic
True to where the food is from, and approachable to people who have never had it.
Sustainable
Eco-friendly practice and a smaller footprint, as a habit rather than a campaign.
You run the cafe. We built the system.
Every recipe, every checklist, every morning routine is written down and running in the software your cafe uses, set up before your door opens. Which leaves you the part that matters: the people.
- Training beside us. Seventy-six hours covering the kitchen, the counter and the running of the cafe, and our team in your cafe the week you open.
- The design and build playbook. Floor plans, equipment schedule and finishes, so the third cafe looks and works like the first two.
- The technology, set up for you. Point of sale, kitchen display, inventory and delivery, connected before you open and supported after.
- A brand people already know. Two Toronto cafes, a following, and a marketing fund that puts the name in front of your street.
- Family answers the phone. No call centre and no broker. The founders read every application and are the ones you talk to.
You have never run a cafe. Neither had we.
This is a cafe you run, not one you own from a distance: mornings, regulars, your name known on the street. It suits people from any career who want that day — and who meet the financial screen on the application page.
If you want to be hands-off, this is not it. If you want to be the person a neighbourhood has coffee with, it might be.
What it costs
Stated here plainly, and in full in the disclosure document you receive before you sign anything.
Initial investment
- Franchise fee$30,000 CAD
- Total investment range$150,000 – $240,000 CAD
- Liquid capital required$100,000 CAD
- Net worth required$200,000 CAD
Ongoing fees
- Royalty6% of gross sales
- Marketing fund1% of gross sales
- Technology fee$700 / month
All costs are estimates and may vary. The complete figures are in Items 5, 6 and 7 of the Franchise Disclosure Document.
How it goes
Apply
About five minutes. Anuja and Abhilash read every application themselves and reply within ten business days, either way.
Talk
A conversation about your background, what you want your days to look like, and your questions.
Read
You receive the Franchise Disclosure Document as one file, and at least fourteen days to read it — with your own lawyer, which we would rather you did than not.
Come and eat
A morning at 400 College Street. Order the benne dosa and a filter coffee, watch the kitchen, meet the founders.
Sign
The franchise agreement, and the initial fee, once the reading period has run.
Find the room, build it, train, open
Site, lease and plans reviewed with you, the build-out from the playbook, seventy-six hours of training, and the doors open within twelve months of signing.
