Osmow’s

OSMOW’S SPECIAL FEATURE BY WALEED ASLAM

WELCOMING IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS TO GREY-BRUCE-OWEN SOUND!

My friend Patel Hiren has opened Owen Sound’s newest eatery! Osmow’s is a Mediterranean chain that started from a food truck in Toronto and has tantalized our taste buds for the past two decades. I decided to grab lunch the other day and was amazed when I saw the lineup outside the door and the scores of people stopping by and giving the owner a thumbs up!

Patel came to Canada in 2014 as an international student and in a span of six years has set up two restaurants with a business partner – one in Owen Sound and another in Orillia. Patel hires dozens of people and serves hundreds of meals a day. When asked why he chose Owen Sound as his second location, he told me he fell in love with the community and its residents after spending many weekends here while driving up to Tobermory with his family to enjoy the picturesque Bruce Peninsula.

Patel and his partner had planned to open in April, but the pandemic postponed their opening to June 1st. “We had already hired our staff for April, so when June came around, we spent some money on PPE, floor decals, signage and sanitizer and got ready for our opening,” he explained. “We were surprised when opening in the middle of the pandemic, even head office was surprised at the amount of business we were receiving. We are really thankful to the community in helping us during the pandemic and welcoming us during this COVID-19 situation”.

It makes me so happy to see so many immigrant and migrant businesses moving up to our great City/ County/Region. I’ve said time and again that this is indeed one of the best places to live, invest and raise a family. I also feel we are at a crossroads; this is our opportunity to attract and retain newcomers and migrants and their investments to our area. Not only will this add to our amazing community, but it will also generate the investment and employment that our region needs.

In the past two years that I’ve been up here I know of so many immigrants and migrants including my own family that have invested millions into this economy while generating dozens of jobs.

The recent pandemic has taken a devastating toll on small businesses and estimates show that one in four restaurants might have to shut down permanently. I feel we must all do everything we can to support our local businesses and eateries. As for me I’m going to go back to enjoying my amazing SHAWARMA POUTINE!

For more information on Osmow’s, visit Osmow’s on Facebook.