Hello everybody!

It was a long wait (4 years!), but my family and I will be going to Canada in September to get our permanent residency papers.

After our September recce we hope to move over next May/June.

My question is as follows...

I plan to open a gastropub, I manage a lovely gastropub in London at the moment. I have been looking at various internet sites (ICX portal being particularly good) and I am extremely flexible with regards to location (albeit within the GTA). Oakville, Beaches, Forest Hill, Mount Pleasant etc...

Does anybody know of any good sources of information on how to find properties for lease rather than buying going concerns? I have a minimal amount of savings which would be fine for a renovation and a bit of working capital, but I can't afford to pay the goodwill for a business.

If the site doesn't suit a gastropub as such, I'll switch to a bistro style operation (a gastropub without a bar area, just a dining room!).

Basically I need to find a landlord with a vacant premises suitable for bar/restaurant usage rather than a restaurant for sale.

Any pointers would be most gratefully received!

can't comment on the GTA, but gastropubs are all the rage in Vancouver at the minute and a ton have opened in the last few years of so:

http://www.straight.com/article-2775...-gets-makeover

there are at least 3 that are in the reno stages in gastown (Charles, Meat and Bread and Peckinpah).

Others that recently opened include, the pour house, the Diamond and Guilt. Others that have been around a while are the irish heather and the Alibi room all in the gastown area.

I doubt they are as nice as yours in London, but there is definitely a market and with Vancouver's emphasis on all things foodie, they area a natural fit here.

Anyway, maybe the gastos here can give you an idea of the Canadian market. Anyway I can talk you into locating to Vancouver

Scout magazine is a good resource here for various businesses in the city:

http://scoutmagazine.ca/category/res...s/anticipated/

I also like this one which is on Main Street - the Cascade Room - and has a understated British flavour:

http://www.thecascade.ca/drink.html

Thanks Dboy...

Vancouver is definately hot but all my family (Dad etc..) live in Ontario!

Can't comment for the GTA but this area is in dire need of decent places to eat. In my dreams I go to a waterside gastropub.

Peterborough has several good restaurants but outside the city the choice is limited to burgers, wings, assorted dead animal sandwiches served with dire salads and greasy chips

Please make sure your place is east of Toronto so we can eat there.

There was a restaurant in Warkworth that closed and the place was advertised for lease.

Sorry I can't help with where to find a leasehold place

Will you be serving cask-conditioned ale? I may come and visit.

Check out the distillery district in dowtown Toronto. Lots of trendy galleries and bar/bistro's http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/

http://queenandbeaverpub.ca/

Haven't been but has a good reputation. Personally (and no offence intended) I don't like gastropubs. The only food a proper pub should be serving after 7pm is scratchings, crisps and scampi fries. If you need more then you get chips and curry sauce on the way home. I offer an example (as always) from Norwich:

http://www.alexandratavern.co.uk/index.html

where the food choice includes:

"BAKED TATTIES
A decent sized spud, baked and topped with your choice of – Cheese... £3.50
Cheese & baked beans... £4.00"

Or the gastro alternative:

http://www.theunthankarms.com/

where you can have:
"Confit duck leg with tomato, red onion and thyme compote"

Duck confit in a pub! FFS

Is that tiny little pub just off the market still there (in Norwich)? I think it was called the Walnut tree?

Walnut Tree Shades? It was last year. Quite a strange place...

Many a drunken afternoon spent there, in fact almost every wednesday for nearly two years, used to arrive around about 2:30pm and leave around 8pm for Pedros, if we could negotiate that way or around the corner if we couldn't This was around 1993 and now I feel old

The only actual Gastro Pub I know of in Toronto is Pipers, which is in the basement of the Royal York hotel.

It sounds like a risky venture, and I wish you the best of luck. I personally think the GTA could benefit from more Gastro Pubs, or just more proper Pubs. You will probably end up having to incorporate the whole sports bar thing though. I'm not sure people really get the Gastro concept here.

Norwich... what a cracking 1970's pub scene! (just kidding, I'm from Nottingham originally and its exactly the same there!).

Personally I don't think its risky, quite the opposite in fact. Check out the spotted pig in NYC (www.thespottedpig.com). The trick is with a gastropub is to blend into its environment otherwise it becomes a cheesy theme pub. Use lots of local produce and utilise the new wave of cask conditioned beers brewed locally.

Does anyone know of a property owner or financier who fancies becoming involved in this kind of project????

Here's an example from Victoria, BC for reference purposes.

http://www.spinnakers.com/gastro-brewpub

What we need in our area is a proper country pub out in Central Saanich or Sooke, along the lines of the glorious Crow and Gate (south of Nanaimo):

http://www.crowandgate.com/

Don't agree with this. As I noted, they are becoming very popular in Vancouver and not a tv screen insight.

http://www.irishheather.com/

I shouldn't imagine the TO market would be much different than here. North Americans don't consider the pub the centre of the universe like the UK does (although having been in Manchester recently, the pub is definitely losing its appeal there - I was very surprised at how many were closed down).

http://www.fatduck.ca/

I really like this place in Guelph, Ontario - locally sourced ingredients, great food cooked from scratch and not too expensive

the only tv screens are in a separate bar area