Williams Fresh Cafe is an upper-class fast food

Fast food

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 restaurant chain in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. There are currently 46 locations, all of which are within Ontario.

The chain was founded as Williams Coffee Pub in Stratford, Ontario

Stratford, Ontario

Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...

 in 1993 by Bill and George Giannakopoulos. The restaurant was named for William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

, as Stratford is home of the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Dean Braund purchased a majority interest in the chain in 2006, and currently owns 80%, with the other 20% held by Kitchener

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

-based Laurentian Capital. The current name and store format was phased in during 2009 and 2010.

The head office for the chain is located at 202 Grand River Avenue in Brantford, Ontario

Brantford, Ontario

Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...

.

The restaurant features a mixture of over-the-counter and table service. Restaurant patrons place orders at the counter, pay immediately, and receive a numbered sign, which identifies them at their table to the server.