THUNDER BAY — One of Canada's newest fast-food restaurant chains has chosen Thunder Bay as its first location in Northern Ontario.
A local franchise of Toronto-based Meltwich opened its doors in the Brentwood Village Mall on Arthur Street West about a month ago.
The restaurant specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches and other menu items featuring cheese, right up to gourmet poutines topped with chicken or steak.
It also offers hamburgers on grilled cheese buns with toppings such as bacon or mac and cheese.
"We like to brand ourselves as 'comfort food with attitude,' " said Dave Verge, executive vice-president of operations for the Meltwich Hospitality Group.
"We're always trying to innovate and find funky new ways to do cool stuff with the ingredients that everybody loves anyway. We're not just your average burger joint, but we do kind of a playful twist on everything everybody loves."
Verge said the grilled cheese sandwiches can be loaded down with chicken, bacon, homemade salsa, various vegetables and house-made sauces that can turn a sandwich into a full meal.
Meltwich began in Toronto in 2015 with one restaurant, and now has 55 locations in Canada, with expansion to the US market just starting.
"We took off like a rocket through COVID because we were doing really well with the online delivery growth. We adapted really quickly to that, so that helped us a lot. Since then it's just been a steady, steady growth, so we're in a good spot right now," Verge said.
Additional sites will open this year in both Canada and the US, where the company hopes to have up to 40 restaurants by the end of next year.
Harry Singh, the manager of the Thunder Bay eatery, came to Canada from India about 15 years ago.
He moved to Thunder Bay from Timmins earlier this year to operate the restaurant for his friend, who owns the franchise.
"I thought it would take some time to get going, but people really loved it, and quickly," Singh said, adding that he's found people in Thunder Bay generally to be very cooperative. "They are very nice, so it's just running very smoothly."
He said he has nine people on his staff.
"The store in Thunder Bay is doing really well," Verge added. "We're really happy with the performance so far, and with the way the community has received the restaurant. We're getting great feedback. We'd just like to say thank you to everybody in Thunder Bay."
