Winnipeg Restaurants

[CoryB]

^^ And despite having a union before the pandemic Ledohowski had some of the largest dining rooms in the city, with near capacity customers and with high per person charges was likely making some great revenue. But yes, "unions don't work in food service". Got it.

[drew]

Originally Posted by CoryB

^^ And despite having a union before the pandemic Ledohowski had some of the largest dining rooms in the city, with near capacity customers and with high per person charges was likely making some great revenue. But yes, "unions don't work in food service". Got it.

I think this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison.

A large banquet/buffet type operation operating inside of a hotel, staffed by people employed by the same hotel does not really replicate the situation of a stand alone independent restaurant.

[Intrepid-Poster]

It has been some time since I have heard about a restaurant permanently closing due to Covid. Are govt programs working? Are creditors allowing places to stay afloat? Or are places going under but it just isn’t news anymore?

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Intrepid-Poster

It has been some time since I have heard about a restaurant permanently closing due to Covid. Are govt programs working? Are creditors allowing places to stay afloat? Or are places going under but it just isn’t news anymore?

I can't recall what day this week but the Free Press had an article on how the industry was doing. I have also seen the little fish and chip place I order from weekly going on to Facebook asking customers to order more often to help them stay open.

[CoryB]

While looking over the list of places in fried chicken week (happening right now) it seemed like there were a lot of places I had never heard of before and it some reasonable high profile addresses. I didn't dig too deep into it but seems to suggest places might have changed over in 2020 with new places stepping in and getting ready for the rebound they likely thought would come sooner than it has.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by CoryB

While looking over the list of places in fried chicken week (happening right now) it seemed like there were a lot of places I had never heard of before and it some reasonable high profile addresses. I didn't dig too deep into it but seems to suggest places might have changed over in 2020 with new places stepping in and getting ready for the rebound they likely thought would come sooner than it has.

What has the ghost kitchen situation been like in recent months? I never order delivery so I'm not familiar with what's out there, but considering the number of landlords probably looking to fill restaurant spaces on a temporary basis until the industry recovers, and with Skip and such doing boffo business, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a lot of ghost kitchens are setting up shop.

[Jeff]

new perogy place called Loaded Pierogi taking over the stella's place on osborne.. so there's some people with hope for the future in the local restaurant industry.

[buzzg]

There's quite a few single-purpose and within-concept ghost kitchens. My regulars/recents/known ones to name a few:

- Kosmo's Space Cowboy Food Cantina (in a church basement)
- Sandwiches Are Beautiful (Juneberry)
- Supreme Macaroni Co. (Mitchell Block)
- Tokyo Burgers (A Little Pizza Heaven)
- Mercy Me! and Fuel Fresh Foods (Wow! Concepts operating out of Masonic Temple at Confusion)

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Jeff

new perogy place called Loaded Pierogi taking over the stella's place on osborne.. so there's some people with hope for the future in the local restaurant industry.

Loaded Pierogi is a chain originally out of Toronto I think. There's already a Winnipeg location at North Gate.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

What has the ghost kitchen situation been like in recent months? I never order delivery so I'm not familiar with what's out there, but considering the number of landlords probably looking to fill restaurant spaces on a temporary basis until the industry recovers, and with Skip and such doing boffo business, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a lot of ghost kitchens are setting up shop.

I used to talk with a owner/operator of a place that was perfect for that sort of operation. They weren't running it as a ghost kitchen but the potential there was off the charts, mostly due to it effectively being almost all kitchen space so not paying needlessly for a front of house. Being a sole operator though they didn't want to tweak their hours to make it happen.

Originally Posted by buzzg

There's quite a few single-purpose and within-concept ghost kitchens. My regulars/recents/known ones to name a few:[cut]

Magic Bird is likely the best known of the local ghost kitchens. I cannot recall where it runs from but it seems to be a name lots of people have heard of.

Also "Porno Pizza" was likely Winnipeg's first ghost kitchen. Not sure where it was run from but it was definitely not a front of house presence. The porno piece was basically them putting an "adult" picture on (or was it in?) the box? They made the local news some years back when they launched, and not because they were a ghost kitchen.

[esquire]

Ha, I remember Porno Pizza. It didn't last that long. Funny to think that they probably had to send someone out to load up on adult magazines on the regular in order to have material to clip out and affix to the box

buzzg mentioned Kosmo's... I looked them up (what a zany website they have) and they're actually located in the German-Canadian Home on Charles Street. Having Kosmo's in there as a tenant is probably a decent way for an organization like that which has a commercial kitchen to make a few bucks fairly easily. With services like Skip becoming popular, I wonder if we might see more non-profits with commercial kitchens like legions, churches, cultural organizations and such taking on ghost kitchens? I could also see this taking off in lower-rent districts like the North End where there are lots of old restaurant spaces that you can probably lease for a song and operate a delivery service out of. I'd be surprised if it weren't already happening...

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Magic Bird is likely the best known of the local ghost kitchens. I cannot recall where it runs from but it seems to be a name lots of people have heard of.

Magic Bird isn’t a ghost kitchen. It’s been the restaurant inside the Handsome Daughter for a while before the pandemic even happened. They have dine-in in the bar and on the patio. Bright pink sign on Sherbrook.

[tedtim]

Isn't FreeBird a ghost kitchen running out of the Merchant Kitchen?

[GreyGarden]

I ordered from Kosmos about a month ago and it was so good. I highly recommend it.

[CoryB]

Barely worth mentioning due to the racist owners but Monstrosity Burger is a ghost kitchen operation of Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Barely worth mentioning due to the racist owners but Monstrosity Burger is a ghost kitchen operation of Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant.

Racist owners?

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Racist owners?

fasten your seatbelt if you go down and research that worm hole LOL

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Barely worth mentioning due to the racist owners but Monstrosity Burger is a ghost kitchen operation of Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant.

Gross. This should be made public.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by buzzg

Gross. This should be made public.

How is it not public? There are literally main stream news stories about it.

[CoryB]

^^ That Monstrosity Burger is a ghost kitchen operation of Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant isn't as well known as the stories on Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant.

When Monstrosity Burger came up at our house recently I said to my wife I can't remember the details of why but just know that we are never going to Tuxdeo Village Family Restaurant.