Who opens first one dine-in restaurant during a pandemic, a year later opens a second location (still during a pandemic), and then, within three years, begins franchising other locations, doing as much of the construction as possible themselves, as well as hiring and training new staff? The answer: Karan Bajwa, owner of the Oh Bombay restaurants.
Karan Bajwa learned the restaurant business both through his studies, in Humber College’s hospitality management program, and firsthand, by working in someone else’s restaurant. There, he met head chef Balraj Chauhan. It was not long before the two were asking each other, “How much longer are we going to keep working for someone?”
Soon, opportunity knocked. A restaurant in Oakville was shutting down. Bajwa and Chauhan got a few friends together to put together an offer; they took over the old Montfort Restaurant space at 376 Iroquois Shore Rd (Montfort moved down the road). They rebranded Oh Bombay, already owned by a partner, to begin with their casual fine dining concept.
It was not all smooth sailing, though. The fire suppression system needed updating. There was back-and-forth with the city. Then, the pandemic hit. That first Oh Bombay opened in May 2020 with takeout service due to pandemic restrictions.
About a year later, Bajwa was finally able to welcome diners into his restaurant, albeit with limited seating capacity. He soon noticed that many diners were coming from Burlington, and still with a busy takeout service, it was getting to be too much to deliver to Burlington all the time. The Oakville restaurant seemed to be sustainable. So what to do next?
Open a Burlington location, of course.
The pandemic was, of course, catastrophic for many restaurants. But as Bajwa noted, the pandemic ended up being the right time to open another location for him, as “like the stock market, when the stock market is down, [you] buy stocks” — landlords were looking to fill up their spaces. So he was able to take over the lease on a complete restaurant, putting in maybe $50,000 to make it over to the Oh Bombay brand, and then open.
That low makeover price tag of $50,000 is at least partially due to Bajwa’s commitment and work ethic, though. He did as much of the work as possible himself, alongside a team of contractors, making trips to Home Depot for supplies, bringing his own tools for the contractors to use, and working long hours. Very long hours. Bajwa works seven days per week and only sleeps for five to six hours per night; the rest of the time, he’s “working, working, working.”
Though the Burlington location at 671 Appleby Line had been a restaurant previously, Bajwa found that there was very little storage space, a wall had to be built to separate the kitchen from the dining area, and a bar needed to be built. Working day and night, Bajwa managed to get all of this work done in two weeks from the day he got the keys to the space. There is now a customized shipping container in the back to store dry goods, as well as that all-important bar and separate dining area.
Again, service was takeout-only due to pandemic restrictions, but the demand was there; business became busier over time. Bajwa’s goal in that first month was to make $50,000 to cover expenses; the restaurant made almost $80,000 in month one.
The question still remains: how does a restaurant do so well during a pandemic? Bajwa is all about excellent service and high-quality, delicious food. “If you can produce the service and the food, people will come back.”
Clearly, it is working. This year, year three for Oh Bombay, Bajwa, Chauhan, and partners decided to try franchising, after thinking on how they could grow next. They quickly realized that a central kitchen was needed to franchise properly, and found a location in Hamilton to use, which also operates takeout service. There are already seven franchise locations booked. The Whitby location is already open, with Stoney Creek, London, and downtown Toronto locations set to open soon. The downtown Toronto location will have a smaller, more focused, menu, including Oh Bombay’s most popular dishes, as well as “extremely crazy drinks” made by talented bartenders.
Bajwa is applying that same work ethic that saw the Burlington location open in two weeks to the franchise locations. Indeed, he offers a unique level of support to new franchisees: he will come in and work on any construction needed, he hires and trains staff (Bajwa trains front of house staff; Chauhan trains back of house staff). He is still doing Home Depot runs and working late into the night. “If Home Depot were open 24 hours, I’d be going 24 hours,” Bajwa says, without a note of exaggeration.
The Oh Bombay franchises are also doing something different in that it is a full-service, fine-dining Indian restaurant with a full bar. While there are a few other Indian restaurant franchises, they are more of the fast-casual variety.
He works to pass on his commitment to excellent service to franchisees. In hiring, even if potential employees don’t have a lot of restaurant experience, they still have a chance: “If someone is straightforward, willing to grow, willing to learn, I’ll give them a chance.” Bajwa operates on the idea that making mistakes is natural, and should be taken as opportunities to learn. “Make mistakes, then you’ll grow,” he says.
Because he is constantly on the move and working, Bajwa says he ends up eating on the run most of the time, eating “a simple curry and naan” when he does find himself at his restaurant rather than on the road between franchises and the central kitchen.
And what’s on the horizon for Karan Bajwa? His aim is to have an Oh Bombay in every city. And after that, will he take some time off, make sure he gets some free time? Bajwa laughed and said he thinks he’ll just keep setting bigger and bigger goals.
