The Town and Country Restaurant began as a classy eatery that was popular among Woodstock residents.
The business later changed owners and renamed to the Iron Grill. The last change in ownership occurred in September of 2007 when Toronto businessman Umakanth Nadarajah purchased the business for approximately $1 million dollars.
Flooding at the Iron Grill during the summer of 2009 led to the restaurant being closed for three weeks while contractors repaired the damage.
On the evening of August 12, 2009 at approximately 10 PM an explosion occurred at the Iron Grill. The Oxford Community Police Service, Woodstock Fire Services and the Oxford Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene. A group of Iron Grill employees also gathered near a police barricade on Dundas Street to watch the fire.
Emergency crews located two men (20-year-old Mohammad Sarfraz and 19-year-old Osama Akhtar) outside the restaurant suffering from severe and life threatening burns. One was taken by ambulance to Hamilton Hospital Burn Unit and the other to the London Hospital Burn unit. One witness reported that smoke was still coming off of the two men, one of whom was rolling around and screaming. Sarfraz later died of his injuries. The Ontario Fire Marshall ruled the fire was suspicious in nature and that arson was the cause of the explosion. The restaurant had been up for sale since mid-July for 1.4 million dollars.
