Fran's Restaurant, Toronto
Encyclopedia
Fran's Restaurant is a restaurant in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was once part of a chain known chiefly for one of its branches being a haunt of pianist Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...

.

The flagship location was opened in 1940 by Fran Deck near the intersection of St. Clair Avenue West and Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...

. Fran's originally had only ten seats, but later expanded to a small chain of restaurants in Toronto, including locations at Yonge and College and Yonge and Eglinton
Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...

, and one in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. Fran's operates five corporate-owned locations, including three in Toronto, one in Barrie, Ontario, and its first US location in Kansas City, Missouri.

Deck died in 1977 in a car accident, and the business was continued by his family.

In the 1990s, the family-owned chain was sold to a group of investors who intended to expand the chain throughout the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...

. In 1997, the College St. location was purchased by an independent restaurateur. The College St. location retained the Fran's menu and restaurant name. In 1998, the Fran's Restaurant company was purchased by the owner of the College St. location. Once again, Fran's Restaurant became a family-owned and operated restaurant.

Because of the proximity of the College St. location to Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...

, many of its clients were hockey fans catching a meal before or after a Maple Leafs hockey game. Moreover, many of its long time customers continued to frequent the location.

In 2004, as apart of a gradual expansion program, a new location was opened in the Pantages Hotels and Suites at Victoria and Shuter. With the opening, Fran's modified its menu to include new food items alongside its traditional favourites by doubling the food choice.

Following the opening of the Victoria and Shuter location, Fran's expanded to Barrie
Barrie
Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...

, Ontario, opening a restaurant on Bayfield Street in December 2006. This location became the first location that is not open 24 hours a day.

In 2009 Fran's Restaurants opened its first corporate United States location in downtown Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, in the Power & Light Entertainment District.

In August 2010, Fran's opened its third Toronto-based location near the intersection of Yonge and Front Street across from the Sony Centre for Performing Arts. Along with its modern decor, it also the first Fran's Restaurant to have a full-service bar in its substantial outdoor patio. This location is the first to expand its brand from a diner-concept to a Restaurant and Bar and includes a Fran's Express/Grab and Go, a full size outdoor bar and patio with both patio table and lounge chair configurations.

Fran's Restaurant is the originator of the term "Banquet Burger".

Fran's was a constant haunt of pianist Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...

. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

profile of Gould notes:
"Sometime between two and three every morning Gould would go to Fran's, a 24-hour diner a block away from his Toronto apartment, sit in the same booth and order the same meal of scrambled eggs."

External links

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