Stacked opened in Tillsonburg

Brothers Baalan, left, and Jay Kandan are the owners of the new Stacked restaurant in the Tillsonburg Town Centre. The restaurant is open Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and an hour longer on weekends. Besides its signature pancakes and breakfasts, Stacked also has a lunch menu. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

The latest addition to Tillsonburg’s restaurant scene is already a success.

Stacked opened in the Tillsonburg Town Centre on Feb. 15. Known for its pancakes and breakfast menu, it is open for lunch and also sells burgers. The restaurant’s hours are 7 a.m.to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday, and until 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The new location is busy from opening to closing, and there have been line-ups on weekends at times.

“People love it,” said owner Jay Kandan. “They said they never have had this type of food in Tillsonburg.”

Kandan came to the business in a roundabout way. He was working at Sunset Grill and the Hilton Garden Hotel in the GTA when he brought his wife Ostien Singarasa to Canada from Sri Lanka in 2017. She suggested he should buy a Sunset Grill franchise. Investigating this, he found it was too expensive. Then, he was working for Sunset Grill in Orangeville to train staff and saw one of the first Stacked franchises there.

This led to Kandan contacting Manish Mehra, director of franchises, for Stacked. The two hit it off and Kandan was going to buy a franchise in the GTA. The day after he signed the agreement, Covid hit. That restaurant opening didn’t happen but Mehra encouraged Kandan to stick with it and even loaned him money to get started. A deal was struck and Kandan opened the Woodstock franchise on Sept. 15, 2021.

Kandan’s brother Baalan worked as an engineer for CIBC and was supportive of his brother entering the restaurant business. When the second restaurant was opened in London in June 2023, he convinced Baalan to join in a more hands-on manner. The two have since opened Stacked locations in Sarnia and Winnipeg.

This year is a big one with two more locations coming in London, one more in Winnipeg, and new locations in Ingersoll and Brampton.

Prior to the restaurant opening, training took place for two weeks for its 18 employees. Kandan is there five days a week, and his brother on weekends, at present. Their intention is to leave the store management and staff to run it eventually.

The Kandan brothers have a strong sense of community and assist through donations, sponsoring teams, and provide donations to front-line personnel such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics.

As for the food and service, an unsolicited kudos from regular Heather Watterton spoke volumes.

“I love this place,” she said. “They’re all so nice. It’s my second home.”