Boston Pizza Opens Its Doors In Toronto's Beach Area

Grand opening activities highlighted by toy drive supporting The Salvation Army

TORONTO, Dec. 13 /CNW/ - Boston Pizza International Inc. proudly announces the grand opening of its 107^th location in Ontario at 16A-1 Leslie Street in Toronto's Beach Area. Opening its doors on Monday, December 13, the restaurant creates 110 new jobs and will play an active role in the local community.

Boston Pizza Leslie/Lakeshore is owned by Gurpreet Toor, Rupinder Toor and Kulbir Dhadwal. This is the first Boston Pizza franchise for the owners who are excited to bring the Boston Pizza experience to the area.

"Boston Pizza is a great Canadian restaurant franchise with a proven concept that features a diverse menu that guests love," says franchisee Gurpreet Toor. "We look forward to serving great food and providing great service to local residents, while creating a fun and inviting atmosphere that everyone can enjoy."

The new restaurant will carry on the Boston Pizza tradition of giving back to the community right from the opening of its doors. As part of grand opening celebrations, Boston Pizza is inviting local residents to a special event and toy drive on Tuesday, December 14, in support of CTV's Toy Mountain benefiting The Salvation Army.  Residents are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the restaurant between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM to help build a mountain of toys for a special live-to-air- broadcast with CTV News Toronto's Tom Brown.

The new restaurant will feature Boston Pizza's new contemporary interior and exterior design.  With seating for 134 people in the dining room and another 86 guests in the sports bar, Boston Pizza can accommodate a party of any size. The sports bar also features a number of high-definition flat-screen televisions as well as state-of-the-art sound and video equipment making it the perfect place to watch all of the major sporting events.  In addition, the restaurant features a 46-seat patio with a great view of the Toronto skyline as well as the perfect vantage point for watching summer sunsets by the lake.

About Boston Pizza
Boston Pizza International Inc. is Canada's No. 1 casual dining brand with more than 340 restaurants in Canada. Annually, Boston Pizza serves more than 40 million guests. The company has been recognized as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and was named one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures by Waterstone Human Capital for 2007 and 2008. Boston Pizza International Inc. is located in Richmond, B.C. and has regional offices in Mississauga, Ontario and Laval, Quebec. For more information visit www.bostonpizza.com.

For further information:

Perry Schwartz
Director of Communications, Boston Pizza International
905-361-3616
[e-mail]

Beatrice Bastedo
Trillium Corporate Communications
416-322-3916 ext. 231
[e-mail]