Winnipeg | Restaurants

[lilwayne]

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/06/cactus-club-opening-60-locations/

so I'm 99 percent certain

cactus club will either open in true north square or season of tuxedo

either way cactus club will be opening in Manitoba very soon I guarantee it. heck even Saskatchewan has a cactus club and they plan to open 60 more locations nation wide...

[buzzg]

Cactus Club is loosely tied to Earls and Joey... It will definitely be here soon.

[GarryEllice]

Freshii is coming to Winnipeg Square, in one of the retail spaces midway along the mall. Their signage is up.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

Freshii is coming to Winnipeg Square, in one of the retail spaces midway along the mall. Their signage is up.

I'm sure they'll do quite well. I've never eaten there but from having passed by several locations it appears to offer a nice alternative to the usual fried food court stuff.

[LilZebra]

The former Gio's gay bar on Smith St. is going to be an "upscale" bar when it opens. I asked one of construction people today.

The guy pointed to the back addition they put on there. It's going to be a cooler for storing beer I guess.

[tedtim]

noticed the paper was off the windows at the Thom Bargen on Kennedy. Twitter says they hope to open next week.

[Authentic_City]

PEG Beer Co. is threatening to open soon. They don't have any specific info about the opening date on their webpage, but according to their latest Facebook update, they are getting close.

http://pegbeer.com/

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by jimj_wpg

The former Gio's gay bar on Smith St. is going to be an "upscale" bar when it opens. I asked one of construction people today.

The guy pointed to the back addition they put on there. It's going to be a cooler for storing beer I guess.

It's a Mexican restaurant that looks like an earls-style place. Opening May 6.

http://elhefe.com/

That is it, except in Winnipeg (maybe any Canadian locations) will be called La Roca for some reason. http://www.laroca.ca/ [Canadian site not done yet.]

[Urban recluse]

Has anyone been by it lately? Good makeover?

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by Urban recluse

Has anyone been by it lately? Good makeover?

building is black, squared it out, remove the gawdy overhanging roof.

[buzzg]

Update: La Roca is more of an "upscale" The Pint then a Mexican Earls. The photos from most of them looks like they run it like a nightclub.

[h0twired]

Not really a big loss... but I noticed Mrs Vanelli's in the Portage Place food court is now closed.

With them and the sub place now vacant it would be nice to see a couple new restaurants opening up downtown.

It would be nice to get an Opa Souvlaki and a Quiznos or something.

[esquire]

^ I'm surprised the former sub place has remained empty for so long considering how busy that food court is... some of the outlets appear to do really good business.

Is Vanelli's for sure closed or is it just renovating? The Portage Place location appeared a bit outdated compared to some of their newer ones.

[h0twired]

I suspect they are closed as there is no sign indicating that they are renovating and will be open at a later date. However it is possible...

That said. The sub place and Mrs Vanellis were owned by the same people.

[esquire]

^ Pizza is a food court staple that's now glaringly absent from Portage Place... I love a slice of pizza for lunch every now and again, but my favourite spot was demolished to make way for the Centrepoint parkade. (sad trombone)

[CoryB]

^^ Mrs Vanelli's is definitely a chain operation and I think the local operators are franchise owned. If that is the case the location could be staying but the owners changing like what happened with the CityPlace Subway.

Quiznos is a dead issue for Portage Place. between the brands slow death and both Subway and Tim's which could have non-compete clauses it simply won't happen.

Opa Souvlaki, or a similar place, would seem to be possibility but a long shot. The type of food isn't exactly on trend right now so finding someone to be the operator could be difficult.

The big food trend is all about fresh and healthy. Not sure if they would work in a food court setup but Freshii and Cultures would be the brands to watch with other similar operations.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by CoryB

^^ Mrs Vanelli's is definitely a chain operation and I think the local operators are franchise owned. If that is the case the location could be staying but the owners changing like what happened with the CityPlace Subway.

Quiznos is a dead issue for Portage Place. between the brands slow death and both Subway and Tim's which could have non-compete clauses it simply won't happen.

Opa Souvlaki, or a similar place, would seem to be possibility but a long shot. The type of food isn't exactly on trend right now so finding someone to be the operator could be difficult.

The big food trend is all about fresh and healthy. Not sure if they would work in a food court setup but Freshii and Cultures would be the brands to watch with other similar operations.

There's already a Greek place in CityPlace food court. Something or other gyros

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by cheswick

There's already a Greek place in CityPlace food court. Something or other gyros

Yeah. There is also Mediterranean place just off Graham too.

Both are pretty bad compared to Opa.

In Calgary you can't find a mall food court without an Opa location.

[esquire]

^ You must be referring to the oddly named "Taste of Mediterranean"... I dunno, I don't think it's bad even if the inside is extremely spartan. I like the fact that's an actual streetfront location instead of being tucked away in a mall.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by cheswick

There's already a Greek place in CityPlace food court. Something or other gyros

"A Gyro for the Hyro"

^^^

(said with an accent)

is what I always used to say to myself when passing by the one in the Square.