Here's a million dollar idea: hire a staff that can't hear a word said. Anjan Manikumar opened a restaurant that employs deaf waiters, and this has never been done in Canada. The idea originated when Manikumar noticed a deaf customer ordering an item by pointing at the menu. Manikumar told CBC News, "I felt he wasn’t getting the service he deserved." 

From The National: 

Signs offers customers a chance to learn basic sign language through helpful 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.

"We expect our customers to order using sign language - our menus are designed in such a way that our customers can do that," says Manikumar. "This will allow our customers to experience the fun of learning something new."

What better way to include diversity in the workplace while providing a unique dining experience?



I'll never forget my first encounter with a deaf customer. I was working at a movie theater and two Hispanic kids come up to me and start signing at me, but I had no idea what they were saying. I finally figured out what they needed, and I learned something during that transaction. Society doesn't do enough to accommodate our deaf community.

Hopefully, restaurants like Signs and people like Manikumar will change that.