[St. John's] Restaurant Thread

[Arrakis]

Hey was down Stavanger Drive way the other day and noticed the last remaining KFC has closed it doors in St. John's. I was surprised. I thought the newest KFC near Majors Path operated independently from all the others and would remain opened. Prime restaurant space for someone. Hope it doesnt become another Mary Browns.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by Arrakis

Hey was down Stavanger Drive way the other day and noticed the last remaining KFC has closed it doors in St. John's. I was surprised. I thought the newest KFC near Majors Path operated independently from all the others and would remain opened. Prime restaurant space for someone. Hope it doesnt become another Mary Browns.

When I was out there a couple of weeks ago I noticed a "KFC Coming Soon" sign in their old space at the Avalon Mall foodcourt. Then when I got home I noticed that Oppy's Diner was shut down on Main St. and KFC reopened in their old space (KFC-Oppy's-KFC again) the next day. Also, the old KFC building in Deer Lake is stripped down with for sale signs up, so Oppy's halted their reno there and a new KFC building is going up next door to it.

So I guess KFC is coming back and the short sighted/ill advised business woman who walked away from the Colonel is probably kicking herself over such a stupid decision.

[Ayreonaut]

KFC > Mary Brown's anyway. Hopefully we'll always have a couple around town.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut

KFC > Mary Brown's anyway. Hopefully we'll always have a couple around town.

This. It was definitely a poor decision to shut down ALL the KFC's, glad to see they're on their way back.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

When I was out there a couple of weeks ago I noticed a "KFC Coming Soon" sign in their old space at the Avalon Mall foodcourt. Then when I got home I noticed that Oppy's Diner was shut down on Main St. and KFC reopened in their old space (KFC-Oppy's-KFC again) the next day. Also, the old KFC building in Deer Lake is stripped down with for sale signs up, so Oppy's halted their reno there and a new KFC building is going up next door to it.

So I guess KFC is coming back and the short sighted/ill advised business woman who walked away from the Colonel is probably kicking herself over such a stupid decision.

That Oppy's Diner franchise had to be one of the biggest restaurant blunders this province has seen. As terrible as it is for me to say this, and which confirms the overall poor diet of NLers, KFC is basically a license to print money! Boy, what was she thinking???? I'd say the new KFCs will be opening up here pretty soon and people will be flocking to them. A lot of people jonesing for a double-down right now.

[PoscStudent]

Just saw this. So confirmation.

“@haroldsnow: Congratulations to Rob Moore and the gang for securing the new PF Chang's in St. John's, opening in 2014! #stjohns #pfchangs #yummy”

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by statbass

That Oppy's Diner franchise had to be one of the biggest restaurant blunders this province has seen. As terrible as it is for me to say this, and which confirms the overall poor diet of NLers, KFC is basically a license to print money! Boy, what was she thinking???? I'd say the new KFCs will be opening up here pretty soon and people will be flocking to them. A lot of people jonesing for a double-down right now.

I kid you not, after I seen that the one here was open I went down for supper but the place was lined up back to both doors and the drive-through was lined up to the street. So I settled for chinese next door...

And you're right, NL has some serious diet issues to deal with.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Just saw this. So confirmation.

Finally official, after a lengthy amount of time of wondering about rumors.

Also found this article talking about the Canadian expansion. From the tone of the article, it would seem that Halifax and St. John's are numbers 3 and 4 on the list of priority, after Toronto and Montreal (which is opening in a few days actually)

East meets North

SCOTTSDALE, AZ—Asian-American chain P.F. Chang’s is moving into Canada, from Manitoba eastwards.

The chain signed a long-term licensing agreement with Interaction Asian Restaurants, a newly created entity for sole purpose of operating P.F. Chang’s in Canada, said Interaction Restaurants Group president Michael Aronovici to ORN last week. The deal allows for the development and operation of P.F. Chang’s across Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Aronovici said that the expansion strategy does not include moving west at this time.

The first location is scheduled to open in Spring 2012 in the Greater Toronto Area, with a second unit to follow in the summer of 2012. Aronovici said he can “easily envision locations in Halifax and St. John’s, and perhaps Moncton and St. John on second wave.”

....

http://can-restaurantnews.com/content/publish/national/P_F_Chang_s_in_Canada.shtml

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I kid you not, after I seen that the one here was open I went down for supper but the place was lined up back to both doors and the drive-through was lined up to the street. So I settled for chinese next door...

And you're right, NL has some serious diet issues to deal with.

Nfld. needs more immigration for many reasons. Low immigration is partly why the diet is not so good, there are not enough reasonably priced choices. The authentic Asian diet is generally healthier, and tastier too.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by Architype

Nfld. needs more immigration for many reasons. Low immigration is partly why the diet is not so good, there are not enough reasonably priced choices. The authentic Asian diet is generally healthier, and tastier too.

Historically we've had a very salty diet, the product of needing to preserve foods for long periods of time. It wasn't such an issue in St. John's since it was on major shipping routes, but many outports particularly along the north coast were much more isolated. Over time, even with modern supermarkets the historical/traditional diet tendencies stuck around. Everyone will admit we eat copious amounts of salted meat, which is too bad because a high seafood diet is one of the healthiest choices out there, just not when it's salted to death.

On the topic of Asian, if anyone ends up out this way over the summer, I recommend trying Estelita's Cuisine. It's a Filipino restaurant on Main St. that opened last summer.

[Architype]

It's kind of amazing that they have a Filipino restaurant, those are rare even where I live in BC, although I am surrounded by a large number of other Asian restaurants (Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc.) where I can get a quality meal for less than $10, and that usually includes taxes and tip.

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Just saw this. So confirmation.

Awesome! Finally some confirmation. And I can't think of a better location for this quality restaurant than right next to The Keg overlooking the harbour! Can't wait to check this one out

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Townie709

Awesome! Finally some confirmation. And I can't think of a better location for this quality restaurant than right next to The Keg overlooking the harbour! Can't wait to check this one out

Steel has already been erected for the building, Signal posted a pic of this in another thread (not sure which one). I'm glad to hear of this confirmation, hopefully this is a big step for more a greater cuisine selection in the city; although, downtown SJ already has some really great restaurants!

[SignalHillHiker]

April 13, 2013

PF Chang's and Legros & Motti:

[Ayreonaut]

Funny that PF Chang's isn't going West as well, considering they're based in a Western state.

[SignalHillHiker]

I bet the tenacity of the locals trying to bring to the franchise to their community has a bigger impact than most people assume.

[jeddy1989]

wow It s so impressive when you look at their Canadian locations .. that there is one in Toronto, will be two in the Montreal area and one in St. John's .. I'm extremely happy that we are starting to be on companies' radars like that

Edit* Maybe Danny will get them to buck the trend and bring IKEA to Glencrest (one can dream)

[SignalHillHiker]

I don't doubt for a minute that if that was a goal of his, he'd achieve it.

[cam477]

I think St. John’s has one of the best restaurant selections per capita of anywhere in the country. I can’t think of another city that I’ve been to with a population even close to ours (or even a couple times larger) that has as many great restaurants as us. However, two areas I feel we’re lacking is high-end Chinese and Italian. So I think both restaurants are going to do really well.

But I’ve heard locals complain in the past that we don’t have other chains like Outback, Red Lobster, Applbees, Moxies, Jack Astors, Kelsey’s etc and I don’t really get it. We already have so many great restaurants in this city that I find it hard to believe people feel like we’re lacking much of anything. I’ve always felt a lot of us Newfoundlanders are fixated with having what they have on the mainland. Just because they have it on the mainland doesn’t make it better. I can name 15 or 20 restaurants in the city that blow all of the chains out of the water. But to each their own and I’m sure all those chains will eventually make it to our city.

[SignalHillHiker]

I think it's just a lack of confidence. I couldn't really care less what chains other cities have that we don't. I just want us to have everything. But I'm not counting or comparing with anyone else - I don't give a s**t.

But some people seem to think St. John's is somehow lesser and NEEDS to catch up or something. I disagree. Just as the mainland used to make fun of our downtown with its dense, narrow streets instead of wide, elevated highways and all that 🞵🞵🞵🞵. Now they're scrambling to create neighbourhoods that feel closer to ours.

It all comes around. If you can happy with what you have, everything else is a bonus.