'Deaf Restaurant' Signs Will Open This Month

A new restaurant staffed mostly by deaf servers will open this month at Yonge and Wellesley. Customers at Signs Restaurant will order food and drink "using sign language with assistance from a 'cheat book' that illustrates how to sign menu items" when the place opens on July 16, serving contemporary Canadian and international dishes and wine.

The idea for Signs came to owner Anjan Manikumar after he interacted with a regular guest at a restaurant he managed previously. The diner was deaf and "with no tools or education for staff to communicate with him, ordering food was a game of point, nod and serve." Manikumar sought to change that and started to learn ASL.

Says The Star:

From that moment of prime customer service came the idea for Signs Restaurant, where the deaf can work and dine using their language, but also a place for the hearing to learn about the deaf community. For Manikumar's deaf staff — who make up more than half of his new hires and nearly all dining room servers — Signs is a rare opportunity.