Despite rising food costs driven by tariffs and increasing labor costs putting a strain on restaurants’ bottom line, 91% of Canadian operators still plan to grow their business in the coming year. For beloved Toronto institution Bellwoods Brewery, that ambition isn’t just a stat – it’s a lived reality. The Ossington Avenue brewpub has continuously found ways to diversify and strengthen its restaurant revenue streams, even as outside pressures mount.
Here, we’re sharing insights from TouchBistro’s Canadian State of Restaurants Report and an industry panel at the Restaurants Canada Show, where Laska Ryan, Director of Hospitality, Bellwoods sat down with TouchBistro to discuss how Bellwoods has found ways to grow its business to help other operators do the same.
From Scrappy Startup to Neighborhood Powerhouse
Bellwoods co-founders Mike and Luke worked at larger breweries before deciding to strike out on their own. Their goal was simple: the freedom to be creative and make beer they actually loved to drink. The original space reflected that scrappy spirit – the kitchen sat beneath a stairwell and the barbecue lived on the patio.
That spirit clearly resonated. The brewpub itself expanded into the adjacent building, growing from a 40-seat restaurant and 40-seat patio to 120 seats practically overnight. But that was just the beginning. Today, Bellwoods has grown into a multi-faceted business spanning a full restaurant, retail, wholesale, and an ever-expanding product line. So how did they get here? Read on to find out.
4 Ways Operators Can Grow Their Restaurant’s Revenue Streams
Let’s explore the four ways operators can grow their restaurant’s revenue streams by following Bellwood’s lead and how these strategies align with the latest trends happening across the Canadian restaurant industry.
1. Build an Experience Through Private Events
According to TouchBistro’s Canadian State of Restaurants Report, 39% of operators plan to add private events this year and Bellwoods is proof of why. Demand for events at the brewery grew organically: guests were already choosing the space to celebrate birthdays, engagements, and first dates before the team ever formally positioned it as an event venue.
Bellwoods leaned into that momentum by officially building out its private events offering, including weddings and corporate outings. The result was twofold: a stronger sense of community in the neighbourhood and a smarter use of off-peak times like weekday afternoons and Tuesday-through-Thursday evenings.
“Guests come for a wedding or a corporate event, and soon realize that Bellwoods offers more than just beer and become regulars for our dine-in experience,” says Ryan.
Thinking about going this route? Check out this guide to making your venue a brewery event space.
2. Add Programming to Drive Mid-Week Traffic
Seventy-nine per cent of Canadian operators saw an increase in restaurant visits this past year, primarily driven by return to office mandates. Operators can seize this opportunity by adding programming and exploring restaurant event ideas to capitalize on growing diner traffic. Follow Bellwood’s lead – its team is never short of creative bar event ideas, from hosting drag brunches, trivia, “Treat Yourself Tuesdays”, and guided tastings.
Bellwoods also has an infamous happy hour menu that runs Monday through Friday between 5-7 p.m. to capitalize on the uptick of return to office workers. What makes it even more appealing is that all items priced are at only $7, making it a fun, affordable, and easy reason to come in.
Programming can help operators, just as it did for Bellwoods, to drive frequency and revenue consistently across the entire week – including mid-week dinner traffic and Sunday afternoons – and not just during peak times.
3. Grow Beyond Your Four Walls
Beyond exploring restaurant event ideas, diversifying your restaurant’s revenue streams often means looking beyond your physical space. For Bellwoods, that meant entering the LCBO, selling products online, and building out a wholesale team – giving their beloved beer geographic reach it couldn’t have through the taproom alone.
Beyond selling through wholesalers and online, Bellwoods also took its products directly to where its audience already was. From beer festivals across North America to community pop-ups, farmer markets, and city events, the team focused on getting its products into new hands and in doing so, brought new fans back full circle to the restaurant community on Ossington.
4. Expand Your Offerings
A strong restaurant expansion strategy doesn’t always mean a bigger footprint, sometimes it means a broader menu. For Bellwoods, the unexpected win was non-alcoholic drinks. What started as a response to a trend turned out to open an entirely new demographic, extending far beyond Dry January.
The team has also continued building on their most iconic products. Their Jelly King line, already a fan favorite, is expanding in a big way: Jelly King slushies will be served at the Rogers Centre this summer during Blue Jays season.
The Foundation Behind the Growth: Team and Technology
Growing your restaurant’s revenue streams is only sustainable when it’s backed by the right infrastructure. For Bellwoods, that means two things: a strong team and a tech stack that works as hard as they do.
Invest in Your Team
With 94% of Canadian operators spending more on labor than the year before, staffing pressure is real. Bellwoods has weathered it by prioritizing its people – offering flexibility, growth opportunities, and a positive work environment that’s kept turnover low and tenure high.
As Bellwoods grew, so did its team. The business’ expansion gave team members new opportunities to move between both the retail and restaurant portions of the business – a smart move, considering 33% of operators cite lack of professional growth and training as the top reason employees leave.
Staff at Bellwoods are also cross-trained in running the restaurant, as well as packaging and online fulfillment for the retail component – giving the business the flexibility to pull from different areas as needed.
Bellwoods shows that a strong foundation is essential to expanding successfully. “Giving people tools and the autonomy to do their jobs has allowed us as a business to scale without losing quality,” shares Ryan. That’s why Bellwoods invested heavily in crafting a team just as good as its beer, so they can manage the complexity of growing without affecting the overall guest experience.
Leverage Your Technology
Aside from investing in your staff, leveraging your technology – including your POS system – can help support your team by surfacing insights and data to make informed decisions and operate more efficiently.
Make Informed Decisions
As Bellwoods continued to grow, having accurate data on hand became even more important. The team uses TouchBistro POS to analyze and track performance and traffic per section in near real-time and the insights led to some tangible changes. “We pulled the data to compare the 12 top table versus three four top tables and found that the 4 top tables generated significantly higher revenue and better turnover. As a result, we removed the 12 top table and replaced it with smaller, more flexible tables, which has increased overall sales in that section,” Ryan explains.
Weekly reporting also can answer the age-old question of how to increase sales in a restaurant – showing the team what’s selling and what isn’t, and enabling real-time menu and strategy adjustments, especially for happy hour and specials. Ryan further explains, “This helps us to guide decisions on what to promote, adjust, and remove.”
Operate More Efficiently
Running a restaurant with multiple revenue streams successfully requires a tech stack that reduces daily friction. With TouchBistro, the Bellwoods team is well-equipped to tackle day-to-day operations with ease. Ryan shares, “The biggest improvement we’ve seen [after implementing TouchBistro POS] has been order accuracy and speed between the front and back of house.”
For a restaurant that caters to all guests – whether stopping in for a casual drink or a multi-course dinner – precise coursing and flexibility are essential. As Ryan puts it, “TouchBistro allows for precise timing for multiple courses without mistakes. Our restaurant requires flexibility and TouchBistro adapts to all scenarios.”
As Bellwoods grew beyond regular restaurant service, its tech stack supported that growth too. “TouchBistro has helped us maintain structure and organization during events. It supports tabs, pre-orders, and service flow. The system allows us to run events with similar consistency as regular service.”
The Takeaway
Without a doubt, stepping outside of day-to-day operations and analyzing your current restaurant expansion strategy can open many doors – as long as it’s done with intention. Bellwoods is proof that every new restaurant revenue stream, when approached thoughtfully, can strengthen the whole business without diluting what makes it special.
As Ryan puts it, “Every new initiative should have a reason behind it and fit your brand. Don’t grow just for the sake of growing.”
For a full picture of what Canadian operators are doing and to learn more about the latest restaurant industry trends in Canada, explore TouchBistro’s Canadian State of Restaurants Report.
If you’re in Toronto, visit Bellwoods at its Ossington brewpub or Hafis Rd. taproom, or find its beers online and at the LCBO.
Megan is the Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, where she uses her passion for food to write about the restaurant industry. She’s a big “foodie” at heart, and you can always find her enjoying a delicious meal at a restaurant with friends and family, or cooking one up at home. She also loves relaxing with a good book and making progress at the gym.
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