The Local Cafe and Restaurant

What The Local Cafe and Restaurant does

The Local Cafe and Restaurant is a single-location educational training restaurant and cafe operated by Centennial College's School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2016 and located at 937 Progress Ave on the college's Progress Campus, the venue operates as a dual-concept food service: a quick-service Cafe open Monday-Friday 9:00AM-2:00PM offering Fair Trade organic coffees, espresso, teas, bakery items, breakfast sandwiches, and grab-and-go meals, and a full-service Restaurant serving globally inspired, locally sourced menus that is open for special events and closed during the summer semester. Everything is made from scratch with fresh ingredients, and the venue holds both Ocean Wise and Feast On sustainability certifications for seafood and alcohol sourcing.

Name

The Local Cafe and Restaurant

Legal name

The Local Cafe and Restaurant

Website

https://thelocalrestaurant.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Local Cafe and Restaurant is a single-location training restaurant and quick-service cafe at Centennial College's Progress Campus in Toronto, serving globally inspired, locally sourced meals to students, staff, and the Scarborough community while providing hands-on hospitality training.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant Services

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Casual Dining Restaurants (THAFACAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC)

Keywords

• Experiential learning restaurant
• Campus dining services
• Quick-service cafe
• Full-service restaurant
• Sustainable seafood dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: The restaurant generates revenue through direct food and beverage sales at both the full-service restaurant and quick-service cafe. The Cafe offers grab-and-go items including beverages (coffee, espresso, teas, soft drinks, juices), bakery items (cookies, muffins, scones, loaves, cakes), breakfast items, and meal items. The restaurant provides full-service dining.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Local Cafe and Restaurant is a dual-concept food service operation functioning as an experiential learning facility for Centennial College's School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. It offers full-service restaurant dining (open for special events) and a quick-service cafe serving Fair Trade organic coffee, espresso, premium teas, bakery items, breakfast items, salads, soups, sandwiches, and grab-and-go meals to Centennial College students, staff, and Scarborough community members.

Product overview

The Local Cafe and Restaurant operates as a dual-concept food service operation consisting of two distinct offerings under one brand. The full-service Restaurant provides globally inspired, locally sourced dining with an experiential learning focus for hospitality students, currently serving special events. The quick-service Cafe offers freshly brewed beverages including Fair Trade organic coffees and teas, espresso drinks, bakery items such as cookies and muffins, breakfast sandwiches, and grab-and-go meal options. Both offerings emphasize scratch-made food philosophy using fresh ingredients, Ocean Wise certified sustainable seafood, and are part of Centennial College's culinary arts program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Restaurant Full-service dining experience offering globally inspired, locally sourced menu items, operated as an experiential learning environment for Centennial College School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts students. Guests dine while students build hospitality skills under the guidance of industry-professional faculty and staff.
• The Cafe Quick-service cafe offering freshly brewed Fair Trade organic gourmet coffee, espresso, premium organic teas, soft drinks, juices, and mineral water, along with bakery items (cookies, muffins, scones, loaves, cakes), breakfast items (sandwiches, bagels, yogurt and granola, fruit cups), and meal items (salads, soups, sandwiches, wraps, meals-to-go) for grab-and-go convenience.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Centennial College - School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Local Cafe and Restaurant is operated as an experiential learning facility supporting the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Centennial College. Students gain hands-on experience in a live restaurant setting, guided by faculty and staff who are industry professionals.
• Ocean WisecoreOthersOcean Wise certification indicates the restaurant uses sustainably sourced seafood. This certification helps diners make environmentally responsible choices when dining.
• OpenTableminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorListed on OpenTable reservation platform, allowing diners to make reservations at the restaurant through the OpenTable system.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Dark Horse Espresso Bar: Toronto cafe chain offering specialty coffee, espresso, and grab-and-go food. Comparable cafe-format peer competing in the same downtown/Toronto specialty coffee market.
• Pilot Coffee Roasters: Toronto specialty coffee roaster and cafe operator with multiple locations. Directly comparable as a Toronto-based independent cafe serving gourmet coffee, espresso, and light food.
• George Brown College - Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts: Toronto-based college operating student-run training restaurants (e.g., STUDIO by George Brown) under an experiential learning model. Directly comparable as a Canadian post-secondary culinary training restaurant operation with cafe and full-service formats.
• Balzac's Coffee Roasters: Ontario specialty coffee chain serving Fair Trade organic coffee and bakery items in cafe settings. Comparable to The Cafe's quick-service coffee and grab-and-go offerings in the same Toronto-area market.
• NAIT Culinary Arts (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology): Runs a student-training restaurant and butcher program at its Edmonton campus. Comparable institutional restaurant combining culinary education with public-facing food service.
• SAIT Culinary Campus (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology): Operates student-staffed fine-dining and casual training restaurants on its Calgary campus. Strongly comparable as a Canadian college-based culinary training restaurant using student labor under faculty supervision.
• Centennial College Event Venues: Sister venues under Centennial College used for catering and events. They compete for the same institutional event/catering spend as The Local Restaurant's special events business.

Broad incumbents

• Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality: Established Toronto full-service restaurant group operating multiple upscale dining venues. Broad incumbent peer in the same Toronto full-service restaurant category, though not training-focused.

Emerging players

• Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa (culinary program): International culinary training institution with student-run restaurants. Comparable experiential learning restaurant model, though operates globally rather than locally in Toronto.
• University of Toronto - Chestnut Dining (hospitality training): University hospitality program with student-led dining components near downtown Toronto. Comparable college/university-based training dining experience targeting students and staff.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/thelocalcc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-local-cafe-and-restaurant

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Local Cafe and Restaurant