When he returned to Guelph in 2014 he partnered with a friend in a manufacturing company but he was looking for an opportunity to open a restaurant. “I found a job in a manufacturing company called Linamar and I worked there for five months then I quit and went back to India.” “I came back over again in 2013, this time to Guelph,” he said. He decided to check out the entrepreneurial opportunities in Ontario. I kept going back to India because I couldn’t find work here.” “I am from a manufacturing family,” said Singh. He had hoped to establish business connections and start his own business. “I stayed there for five months then I went back to India.”

He came to Canada for the first time in 2012. “I got my BA and my masters of science in information technology in India then I went to Melbourne Australia where I studied hotel management and learned to be a chef,” he said.

Singh was born in Ludhiana, India the youngest of two brothers. Singh, his wife and two young sons are among the new families settling in the area and making Guelph their home. “People have a lot of good memories of this place and we want the local people who have been coming here for a long time to feel welcome to come back as well.” “The neighbourhood is getting really busy and there are a lot of new young families moving here from Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton and we want to make sure that they are happy,” said Singh. They have refurbished the billiard tables and expanded the dining area in response to changing demographics and to make it a family-friendly place for new customers as well as regulars who have been visiting the bar for decades.

That alone gives you a good vibe because people are looking forward to us opening and moving forward.” “We are getting a lot of positive feedback and we are getting a lot of calls from people asking when we’re opening. “Over the past six months while the renovations have been going on, we have had a lot of locals coming by and saying good job, we love it,” said Singh. The fate of the popular pool hall was uncertain after it abruptly closed a year ago and regulars were forced to find a new place to grab a beer and play a few games of pool. “We are hoping to do a good job and to see people coming – local working people and their families to come here to eat and make this a regular place to go,” said Gurdeep Singh owner and manager of Kings Sports Bar & Grill. The former Q Ball pool hall in the plaza at the corner of Woodlawn and Victoria Roads is reopening Friday under new management and with a new look and name.

Royal billiards pool hall