Restaurants, bakeries & take-outs
Of all
the illegal business run out of condo residential units this one has
got to
be my favourite as it takes so much nerve, breaks so many
municipal, health and condo laws and is so obvious to even the most
casual
observer that it is amazing that they can stay open.
In some of the ethnic enclaves of the GTA, there are families that
run illegal takeout restaurants out of rental and condo
residential units.
The
business model
The food must be convenient, delicious and, at the same time, undercut
the low prices offered by the legitimate ethnic restaurants.
The customers are usually working mothers who do not have the time to
do all preparation and cooking of home-made food so they want to pick
up dinner on the way home. During the day, they phone in their order
and on the way home they telephone the "restaurant" to say they are
almost there.
A family member brings the take-out food down the elevator and out to
the front driveway where the customers are waiting. That makes for a
fast and easy drive-through service.
Some of these "restaurants" offer free delivery for large orders.
Advertising
You can find some of these take-out "restaurants" on the ethnic
Internet sites. A few may place claffied ads in the local ethnic
newspapers. Mostly they rely on word-of-mouth.
Bakeries
The condo bakeries are different. They have arrangements to supply one
or more local restaurants and coffee shops or they sell their goods at
local flea markets.
Low-cost
providers
To make this work, they prefer that the cost of all utilities—including
gas, water and electricity—to be part of the common element fees. That
keeps their overhead low.
Health
inspections
Obviously there are none. Still, I don't think that the customers are
taking much of a risk.
A health
inspection
would include checking the temperature control of potentially hazardous
food, how food is handled, improper handwashing, cross-contamination of
food from improperly cleaned food contact surfaces or food stored in
non-food grade containers, contamination of ready-to-eat food from raw
food items stored or handled nearby, the source and condition of the
food, the health of the food handlers, the presence of pests such as
insects or rodents, and the potability of the water used in the
restaurant.
Restaurants in private homes — sharing economy's latest trend
Sharing economy now serving home-made meals for dining-in or takeout.
Here is a link to a CBC news story on how young people in downtown
Toronto condos are running restaurants out of their condo units.
Halima Iqbal cooks up meals in her Toronto condo and posts them for takeout online. (CBC)
Another way to make money from your tiny downtown condo. A couple of
eat-in guests is one thing, running a full-blown sit-down or a take-out
restaurant is something else.
Having one condo unit as a black-market restaurant may go unnoticed but
having a several of them may be far more than what the residents will be
willing to tolerate.
MealSurfers offers hungry people authentic food from home cooks
Start-up website aims to create the Uber of home-made meals.
MealSurfers connects people who love to cook with people who
love to eat. The difference is the home-cooked meals are provided and
the customers must visit a house or condo to pick up their grub of
choice.
So what condos wants a stream of strangers flowing through their
lobbies and elevators picking up food orders? Where will they park?
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