- Staff at Signs Restaurant in Toronto, Canada, are fluent in sign language
- Dining establishment the brainchild of Anjan Manikumar
- American Sign Language fully integrated into the dining experience
- The city has a deaf population of 50,000 people and 10,000 restaurants
A world's first restaurant has opened in Canada.
Signs Restaurant in Toronto is staffed almost entirely by deaf waiters and waitresses, and all of the employees know sign language.
The unique eatery asks customers to order their food and drink using sign language, which is fully integrated into the dining experience.
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The walls in Signs Restaurant, Toronto are covered in photographs illustrating the alphabet
Signs Restaurant in Toronto is staffed almost entirely by deaf waiters and waitresses
The menu caters to almost any diet, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten- and dairy-free options as well as meat, poultry and fish.
Customers get the chance to learn basic sign language through graphics incorporated in the menu and cheat sheets placed on tables.
The Canadian restaurant was founded by Anjan Manikumar, who is hoping to revolutionise the restaurant industry with his establishment that supports the deaf community.
Prior to Signs, Mr Manikumar worked at another restaurant in Canada, where he noticed deaf customers were frequently let down and staff struggled to communicate with them.
Instead of interacting with sign language, diners had to resort to pointing and nodding when ordering their meal
A waiter at the world's first deaf restaurant
After learning American Sign Language (ASL), Mr Manikumar mastered the basics of interacting before he decided to embark on the venture that would allow the hard-of-hearing to work and dine using sign language.
Signs has a total of 50 staff, including 37 deaf employees, and manager Rachel Shemuel has been busy organising a team that can cater to the deaf community.
Ms Shemuel 38, of Toronto, said: 'We wanted to create a dining experience to change the misconception that deaf people are disabled, when in fact, they just speak another language.
'For many of our members of staff, this is their very first job, so it's a new experience for them too.
'Since the restaurant opened we've been extremely busy, but the public are really enjoy coming in and dining, the atmosphere is great
Changing misconceptions: The restaurant asks customers to order food using American Sign Language (ALS)
The carefully curated menu has an impressive list of dishes catering to those with food intolerances
Ms Shemuel, who does not suffer from any hearing impediments herself, has learned to sign along with the rest of the team.
'Customers are greeted at the door by a host who will explain how the restaurant works,' she said.
'Each table has a cheat book with pictures to help the customers learn how to sign to the staff.
'The cheat book includes numbers and the alphabet, which is really helpful when ordering food.'
Signs offers customers a chance to learn basic sign language through graphics incorporated in the menu, cheat sheets placed on tables and wall mounted photographs illustrating signs for common words needed in a restaurant like the names of alcoholic drinks.
The restaurant was founded by Anjan Manikumar who wants to revolutionise the Canadian restaurant industry
Signs offers customers a chance to learn basic sign language through graphics incorporated in the menu
The 150-seat restaurant, which offers a Canadian-styled menu fused with international flavours, has received hundreds of job applications from not only Canada but from as far as India.
'The biggest challenge that we have faced so far was definitely the training of our staff,' Ms Shemuel continued.
'Most of our employees were learning skills from scratch, as well as learning how to sign and work together as a team.
'Many of our staff members have been turned away again and again from jobs, despite being fully qualified simply because they're deaf.
Toronto contains a deaf population of 50,000 with Signs restaurant being the only one to encourage sign language interaction in 10,000 restaurants across the city.
Both Anjan and Rachel hope that the success of Signs will pave the way for many more restaurants across the world
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2829917/World-s-deaf-restaurant-Signs-Restaurant-opens-Toronto-Canada.html
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