BIA Faces of Business: The Garlic King
The Interview
1. Business Name:
GARLIC KING
2. Your Name:
Adel Azzi
4. How long have you been in business?
25 years
3. What made you choose your current location? What do you love most about Orléans?
The current location 2586 St. Joseph boulevard was chosen to be central and close to our extended family members. What we love most about Orléans is the small city feel within Ottawa. People love and respect each other and truly care about their community and neighbours. The concept for the Garlic King is simple. Every day in business is our first day and we truly believe. Anyone can make money not everyone can make friends
What problem does your business solve?
We enable everyone to be able to dine out on fresh healthy food at a cost that will fit into any budget
5. How many employees do you have?
We currently employ 7 employees and are always looking for more motivated individuals to help prepare orders in the restaurant
6. What is the favorite part of your business?
When you see all the happy faces coming to the Garlic King for a meal . We now have 3 generations of customers enjoying our passion for great food.
7.What services or products do you offer/manufacture?
The products that we make are not limited to one kind of item , we serve all natural no additives, fresh never frozen ingredients. Garlic spread, chicken shawarma, spicy chicken, beef shawarma, falafels (regular, spicy and even a Gluten free one), fresh kabobs that are never pre cooked. The list goes on…
8. What is unique about your business?
The uniqueness of the Garlic King is the operation of the restaurant . It come back to anyone can make money; not everyone can make friends
Why is your business important to you? What are you most proud of?
What we are most proud of is that after 25 years of being part of a great community. We still approach each day as if it was our first day in business. What turns out to be a motivating factor is that all through these strange times; we where able to hold on to all our employees in order to keep salaries flowing to our extended family staff . We were able to partner with other companies in the community to feed thousands of frontline workers (from police to health care aids to waste collectors). We were able to help the local food bank with 100 certificates for our family platters. Our success is we truly believe in our community and city. We try to help out whenever possible, we want to keep providing our family members with healthy food options that fit into today’s budget.
What inspires you?
Our inspiration is to provide healthy food to everyone at the best price possible. Each day we put smiles on the faces of family members , if only for a moment not to worry about the next meal.
What is the most interesting thing about you personally ?that no one would know, that you don’t mind sharing?
The most interesting thing is that with the Garlic King what you see is what you get. We have no hidden secrets, we are an upfront and honest restaurant
Is there anything else you would like us to know?
After more than 25 years of service we still feel that each day is like our first, You can’t move forward by looking at your past.
