Famous chai cafe from the UK opens first Toronto location
If there's two things Toronto loves it's trying new types of cuisine and grabbing their morning fuel of choice. Now those two can finally be combined with the opening of Chaiiwala, Toronto's first ever location of an Indian style breakfast and chai restaurant that is massively popular in the UK.
Serving up South Asian style street food, all day breakfast, and traditional chai, it might soon become one of the city's most popular spots that you have never heard of.
Located at 55 Lebovic Ave in Scarborough, Chaiiwala's newest spot may be Toronto's first, but it won't be its last. The company intends to open up four new locations in the GTA, including several in Mississauga.
"We've been overwhelmed, we can't keep up at the moment," Procurement & Retail Development Director Musadiq Jivraj told blogTO.
Chaiiwala is a popular international brand with 45 locations in the UK before finally making the jump over to Canada. Currently, Abbotsford BC and Toronto have the only Canadian spots but there are plans to expand across the country into all major cities.
Those who love getting their chai from Starbucks may be interested in learning what real, traditional chai tastes like, and this is the place to be for those who do.
"When we talk about chai we don't mean a Starbucks chai latte, it's a traditional chai from South Asia," Jivraj said.
"Our signature drink is karak chai, karak means strong so it's a strongly brewed tea. We do a karak chai frappe, ice cold karak chais we even do a karak chai coffee. A strongly brewed coffee made in an authentic South Asian way."
Having opened their first store in 2015, the company's expansion has been rapid. The Toronto location is already constantly facing lineups throughout the day.
