Licensed to Grill reached their six-year milestone on Saturday, 16 January; their story dates back to 2015, when they started off on top of Torrington Square right in front of the Clock Tower, located in the middle of Kandy Town. 
They were initially recognised as a mobile outlet, after which they made a name for themselves as the cafe to be housed in Kandy.
Licensed to Grill went from a small 10 x 10 tent, consisting of merely a grill and a table, to being one of the most happening spots in Kandy. Ramli Raban, one of the three founders, explained that back in 2015, there wasn’t much opportunity for nightlife in Kandy, being a very cultural area off Colombo. “Kandy is a very traditional city,” he stated, adding: “By 7 p.m., everyone would make their way home and all shops would be closed, and if anyone wanted to grab a bite to eat, you’d have to opt for either a small shop by the side of a road, where your only options would be a fried rice or kottu, or hit up an extravagantly expensive five-star hotel.”
Seeing that there was no middle ground when it came to restaurants in Kandy, Raban started this initiative with the involvement of his two friends Navoda Wijesekera and Dinesh Pathirana, who all together had the brilliant idea of opening up a food outlet which could provide the citizens of Kandy a high-quality place to dine at night, where the prices wouldn’t break one’s wallet. Raban added that Wijesekera and himself were just after hotel school at that point, filled with ambitious dreams that they hoped to fulfil; they put together a very simple menu consisting of four basic grilled wraps, and started off small. They successfully functioned on top of Torrington for three years, until the Kandy City Council decided to renovate the land, causing them to relocate.
Raban informed us that the City Council had specified a time period in which renovations would take place, but they did not adhere to it, so moving back to Torrington was looking impossible. From there, they relocated to a more permanent place, above HSBC in Kandy. In that time, they also expanded to Colombo briefly in 2019, which did not pan out the way they wanted to, because after the Easter Sunday attacks, they could not keep up with the losses.
After two years of functioning on top of HSBC, they shifted to Primrose Garden, in Aniwatta, where they still stand tall.
“Given the current situation of the world, the tourism industry has taken a massive hit. Right now, we are projecting that within another two years, we will be able to expand to Colombo.”
In honour of their anniversary, they had a special offer ongoing where any customer would receive 15% off on their order from 31 December to 16 January. Raban commented: “We didn’t want to do anything extravagant for our anniversary, because there are many rules and regulations that we need to adhere to due to the current pandemic.” Over the years, they have acquired a very loyal customer base in Kandy that can’t get enough of their food, so they settled on launching a new menu. Raban revealed that their most loved and fastest moving item is their range of burgers. They are so in demand that it has come to be known as Licensed to Grill’s signature dish. To this range, in lieu of their anniversary, they took the already present burger and cranked it up notch, to perfect all its elements. They also added a new range: The Crimsons, which consists of three brand new burgers.
Raban recommends their Double Decker burger that is served with a hefty portion of meat, oozing with cheese, and topped off with a fried egg and the works.
Head over to Licensed to Grill to indulge in a range of mouthwatering dishes, all grilled to perfection!
Address: No.37/a, George E de Silva Mawatha, Kandy
Contact: 077 741 0666
Facebook: @00.licensed.TO.grill.00
