Two-in-one eatery caters to students’ needs for affordable food, fun

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A new two-in-one eatery near Western University is serving coffee and protein bowls during the day and affordable cocktails and appetizers at night.

Twins Cafè and Lounge at 1135 Richmond St. opens at 9 a.m. for breakfast with a variety of baked goods, fruit cups and cold and hot beverages from expresso to karak, a Middle East tea made from a blend of spices. 

Twins’ lunch menu switches to protein bowls that range from $11 to $13 with chicken, shrimp or falafel, available until 7 p.m. 

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But Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m. the lights dim, the coffee machine gives space to a bar, and a DJ takes over.

“The university students are loving it, as we are like the closest cafe (to Western University), and closest lounge to students within walking distance, which is obviously nice, but we’d like to bring the rest of London,” owner Ehsan Hirji said.

Hirji and co-owner Sinaan Samnani are cousins, and wanted the business’s name, Twins, to reflect both of them and the space’s versatility.

“We kind of just wanted something that was short and also catchy,” Hirji said.

Hirji and Samnani, both 22 and Western alumni, had the idea for the restaurant as graduation neared, and agreed to “make it work.” 

“We were talking about the next steps as we were in our last year of university,” Hirji said. “Like the typical stress after, you know, realizing, ‘Oh, you’re almost done (university); What are we going to get into now?’ It’s the real world. We always kind of wanted to do something for ourselves.”

They leased the location of a former cannabis shop and opened Twins in mid-December.

“We were always really business-minded,” said Samnani, who graduated in business intelligence. He said he worked a “fair share” of summer jobs from construction to hospitality through university. 

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It took some time and convincing to find someone to invest in their business. “I think one beneficial thing for us was our age, and at such a young age, you don’t take no for an answer,” Hirji said.

The challenges have been “managing money and people,” Samnani said. 

Twins is mostly staffed by students, following its motto “built for students by students.”

“We really understand them (students) the best,” said Hirji, a psychology graduate. “So, we really wanted to cater to them in every way possible.”

Some ways to attract students, who usually are on a tight budget, include deals throughout the week, with selected appetizers going for $6 on Fridays and $5 tequila shots on Thursdays.

On Sundays, the place opens a shisha lounge from 8 p.m. to midnight for its Middle Eastern clientele, Hirji said, “We also want to cater to our own (Muslim) heritage,” he said.

At 10 p.m. the kitchen closes, the tables are put away and a party starts with a DJ. The “classy” space has a capacity for about 200 people, including booths for bottle service that can be booked on the restaurant’s Instagram messages. 

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“It’s time with your friends in a more lively atmosphere to dance around and have fun and we’re kind of bringing the same vibe and ambiance from Toronto to London,” Hirji said.

The “end goal” is to replicate the idea in other university towns, the cousins say.

“If this (place) was missing in London, then it’s definitely missing in other places,” Hirji said. “So, we want to see how it does with students and then hopefully venture off to other universities as well.”

bbaleeiro@postmedia.com

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