The wait is over for local fans of Denny's restaurant, with the Woodlawn Road location set to open Friday.
The restaurant at 327 Woodlawn Rd. W. (just west of the Hanlon) will open its doors Friday at 10 a.m.
While the franchise is indeed opening, Javed Ali, chairman and co-owner of Inspiration Group of Companies which owns the restaurant, explains this is a soft opening. A grand opening will be held in three to four weeks, once more staff are more comfortable in their roles.
"We already hired approximately 60 people, they have all been trained," said Ali, adding that training was completed on July 27. "We're still looking to hire more people for our target, which is around 70 people."
Originally, the franchise was set to open in December 2020, but Ali explains the pandemic caused restrictions and delays in construction on the franchise, which bumped the restaurant’s opening date to August.
Despite how long it took to get here, Denny's is looking forward to offering all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner to hungry residents in Guelph.
“With almost two years of hard work in putting this together, we are really excited for the customers to come in,” he said.
"People are just knocking and thinking that we are open, and so I think there is a lot of excitement within the community, and I hope we are able to deliver."
Now that the province is in Step 3 of the Roadmap to Reopening, restaurants can offer indoor dining with no limit to the number of patrons per table. Ali mentions they will be taking the appropriate safety measures to keep customers safe.
"There is only one Denny's and I know people love the Denny's food, and I hope we meet the expectations of the customers and deliver them the best."
The restaurant will be open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Hours may be extended to midnight on Friday and Saturday once staffing levels are increased.
