Winnipeg Restaurants - Page 131

esquire · #**2601** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 4:23 AM**

I see another joint is rising from the ashes of the former Lo Pub on Kennedy St. north of Portage Place... it's The Knndy.

https://twitter.com/TheKnndypub

buzzg · #**2602** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 6:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cllew

Stella's web site still says Pembina opening Jan 2016.

There's no chance, nothing has been touched on the inside it's a completely gutted space and no one has worked there in +/- a month.

buzzg · #**2603** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 6:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

I see another joint is rising from the ashes of the former Lo Pub on Kennedy St. north of Portage Place... it's The Knndy.

https://twitter.com/TheKnndypub

Yeah the hotel is under new owners again and they wanna make it a cool place again. They were fixing up the space for a while and want it to be a good small music venue again. The rental rates for the space are very cheap to encourage lots of smaller acts to go there.

esquire · #**2604** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 12:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

Yeah the hotel is under new owners again and they wanna make it a cool place again. They were fixing up the space for a while and want it to be a good small music venue again. The rental rates for the space are very cheap to encourage lots of smaller acts to go there.

The Indian restaurant that the previous owners replaced Lo Pub with never really took off... Lo Pub really had a solid following, although I wonder if that crowd has moved on to other new places? It might be tough to draw them back at this point.

cutchemist42 · #**2605** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 3:43 PM**

Count me as another one who had no clue that new Mary Browns existed.

CoryB · #**2606** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

The Indian restaurant that the previous owners replaced Lo Pub with never really took off... Lo Pub really had a solid following, although I wonder if that crowd has moved on to other new places? It might be tough to draw them back at this point.

From what I heard the Lo Pub pulled heavily from the U of W student base at the time. As a lot of those people have since graduated I would say they have mostly moved on and the new venue will need to find its own crowd. That said, they could work on the same marketing plan that made the original popular with the U of W crowd back in the day and likely connect with the current students.

The Indian restaurant on the site always seemed to be the house kitchen first and a public restaurant second. I think if you go far enough back it was actually completely in-house for the international students they hoped would be living there on a board and meal plan. It did definitely try to pivot and become a public restaurant but it is a tough market being less visible downtown, more into the "don't go" zone and compete with four high established properties offering similar food.

buzzg · #**2607** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 5:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

The Indian restaurant that the previous owners replaced Lo Pub with never really took off... Lo Pub really had a solid following, although I wonder if that crowd has moved on to other new places? It might be tough to draw them back at this point.

It has a great team behind it, and a big opening week planned. Lots of the people involved with Good Will and Union Sound Hall are involved in the events planning here. It's gonna do well.

esquire · #**2608** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 6:01 PM**

^ No one knew that Indian restaurant existed. Super low visibility and a name that was completely not memorable ("Waves"...wtf).

As for Knndy, if the Good Will and USH's people are involved, then it'll do well.

Authentic_City · #**2609** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 6:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

It has a great team behind it, and a big opening week planned. Lots of the people involved with Good Will and Union Sound Hall are involved in the events planning here. It's gonna do well.

That's good to hear that GW and USH people are involved. I was thinking those venues would be direct competitors. Hopefully it works out.

buzzg · #**2610** Posted **Nov 26, 2015, 8:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

As for Knndy, if the Good Will and USH's people are involved, then it'll do well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

That's good to hear that GW and USH people are involved. I was thinking those venues would be direct competitors. Hopefully it works out.

Yeah not involved in ownership or anything but people involved in that group doing the events.

cllew · #**2611** Posted **Nov 27, 2015, 12:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

There's no chance, nothing has been touched on the inside it's a completely gutted space and no one has worked there in +/- a month.

You don't watch Restaurant Makeover or Bar Rescue on TV where a failing bar / restaurant is taken down to the studs and rebuilt in a new format in about 1 week?

Riverman · #**2612** Posted **Nov 27, 2015, 1:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cllew

You don't watch Restaurant Makeover or Bar Rescue on TV where a failing bar / restaurant is taken down to the studs and rebuilt in a new format in about 1 week?

That's funny, RM was basically the kiss of death to any joint that was on that show. I used to try to get to the places as soon as I saw the show but most closed almost immediately. The one exception I can think of is Phil's BBQ.

Cyro · #**2613** Posted **Nov 28, 2015, 7:52 PM**

I used to like that show, watched it quite frequently, never had any idea the reno'd establishments had such a high failure rate..

rrskylar · #**2614** Posted **Nov 28, 2015, 7:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyro

I used to like that show, watched it quite frequently, never had any idea the reno'd establishments had such a high failure rate..

Pretty easy to do a restaurant makeover, a lot harder to do a makeover of the people running them.

Cyro · #**2615** Posted **Nov 28, 2015, 8:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Pretty easy to do a restaurant makeover, a lot harder to do a makeover of the people running them.

Yeah, some of the management at those bars/restaurants were quite, how do I say it politely..dysfunctional in their ability to operate the establishments to begin with.

RLS_rls · #**2616** Posted **Dec 2, 2015, 6:12 AM**

Man not to beat a dead horse here but Popeye's is the bees knees. They're all over Toronto. Excellent fried chicken.

I went to Georges Burgers & Subs on St. Mary's a couple weekends back. I was hungover...so when I say it was delicious there might be some bias there. But it was delicious. A cramped, awkward restaurant but the exterior has that fun, Highway Greek style like Maxime's next door. I'm guessing George's is a local institution, that was my first time going there. I'll be going again.

Also went to Steve Gutenberg's Gashouse on Portage. Or Gutenberger Gasthaus? What a gem, full of cultured stone and brick and brown glass. Total time capsule. Needs a new front entrance though. Big menu, I had some kind of awesome schnitzel. Got in there around 4:30pm and it was empty, but we were told by 7 it'd be packed. Told it was a really busy place. I'll go back to that one too.

wags_in_the_peg · #**2617** Posted **Dec 2, 2015, 2:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RLS_rls

Also went to Steve Gutenberg's Gashouse on Portage. Or Gutenberger Gasthaus? What a gem, full of cultured stone and brick and brown glass. Total time capsule. Needs a new front entrance though. Big menu, I had some kind of awesome schnitzel. Got in there around 4:30pm and it was empty, but we were told by 7 it'd be packed. Told it was a really busy place. I'll go back to that one too.

Gashouse Guttenberg has excellent German food. Thursday and Friday lunch buffet is around $17'ish but amazing, Sunday it goes up to $20'ish as they add roast beef.

no use for username · #**2618** Posted **Dec 2, 2015, 7:51 PM**

Sage Creek has started building a restaurant in the Retail Village just off lagimodiere.

In the blog on their website it states "Construction is wrapping up soon on the south side of Sage Creek Blvd. The restaurant is close to being done on the outside. Once a tenant is confirmed, they will finish up the interior. We will announce what restaurant will be going in there as soon as we can!"

In the forum the administrator wrote this last week "A family friendly restaurant with a lounge is in the works for the restaurant site next to the Liquor Mart - it would be this small chain's first restaurant in Winnipeg... "

Any ideas as to which chain this could be?

CoryB · #**2619** Posted **Dec 2, 2015, 10:27 PM**

Could be Mr Mikes. They have already opened in Dauphin, expressed interest in Winnipeg, don't have a location open here and somewhat match the vague description given.

cllew · #**2620** Posted **Dec 2, 2015, 11:00 PM**

If they had not said a "small chain" I would have said Boston Pizza as the Master Franchise owner for Winnipeg and surrounding areas said that they would like to open a store in Sage Creek.

Looking at the Mr Mikes franchise page they say they have sold a franchise for Winnipeg so Cory B may be on the mark.