Williams Fresh Cafe is an upper-class fast food restaurant chain in Ontario, Canada. There are currently 37 locations, all of which are within Ontario.
The chain was founded as Williams Coffee Pub in Stratford, Ontario in 1993 by Bill Giannakopoulos and George Giannakopoulos. The restaurant was named for William Shakespeare, as Stratford is home of the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
Dean Braund purchased a majority interest in the chain in 2006, and currently owns 80%, with the other 20% held by Kitchener-based Laurentian Capital. The current name and store format was phased in during 2009 and 2010.
The head office for the chain is located at 202 Grand River Avenue in Brantford, Ontario.
The restaurant features a mixture of over-the-counter and table service. Restaurant patrons place orders at the counter, pay immediately, and receive a numbered sign, which identifies them at their table to the server.
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—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
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—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)