So anyone go anywhere good lately, with iHop opening on monday (surely this one will be better than the one in grand forks service wise) I'm kind of wondering if anyone has been anywhere decent recently

 

a month ago I went with my friends to canadian brewhouse.....man that was a good burger but a word to the wise, do not get an appetizer if you also plan on getting the John Candy Burger it's the second most expensive thing there...but man those garlic fingers were excellent, but there were more than I thought so I asked "anyone want to share my fingers?" which they gladly did

 

I can assure you that the John Candy Burger is nothing like whatever John Candy like item that Rumors Comedy Club has....it was just two patties compared to the Rita Challenge

 

I'm not sure if anyone has made a restaurant thread yet so I'm just leaving this here

Edited September 12, 20196 yr by iHeart

33 minutes ago, iHeart said:

well I can confirm that there was a signage spotting for Freddy's on my end. I won't go on day one I want things to settle before I go (though granted I went to firehouse the day it opened it wasn't nuts)

 

Their menu is ready (aww they're not going to sell their fry sauce in a bottle here) I've been studying the menu for months and I've already figured out what I will order

https://www.freddys.com/location/winnipeg-mb/menu

Arent there enough burger joints already ,sheesh.

1 minute ago, Piggy 1 said:

Arent there enough burger joints already ,sheesh.

not ones with Frozen Custard on the Menu

Just now, iHeart said:

not ones with Frozen Custard on the Menu

Kids eat frozen custard .......sorry.

fine then CONCRETES

6 hours ago, Piggy 1 said:

Arent there enough burger joints already ,sheesh.

What are you talking about?  In that immediate area the only fast food burger places they have are:   McDonalds,  Burger King, Nuburger, Fatburger,  Burger Factory,  Wayback Burger, Georges,  A&W, Sals,  Five Guys, and I'm probably missing a few more...  

My kids enjoyed the frozen custard at Culvers in the States,  though they could barely tell the difference between eating that and getting soft ice cream anywhere else.   I don't think it's enough of a differentiator that will make it stand out.   

The location also isn't the greatest,  the few times that I've gone to Firehouse subs,  the Boutans and Mucho Burrito which are next door have been completely dead.  

 

We checked out Watt Bistro Pho  (the newish location on Plessis and Regent)  the other day and tried the vermicelli pork + spring rolls and also the Pho.   Both were large in size and fresh and had a lot of flavour.   We will be going back since Phuong Nam (our regular spot) is a bit of a drive and this is much closer.     I believe they also do bubble tea.     

I'd recommend for those in the area.  

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

We checked out Watt Bistro Pho  (the newish location on Plessis and Regent)  the other day and tried the vermicelli pork + spring rolls and also the Pho.   Both were large in size and fresh and had a lot of flavour.   We will be going back since Phuong Nam (our regular spot) is a bit of a drive and this is much closer.     I believe they also do bubble tea.     

I'd recommend for those in the area.  

I love Pho,will have to check it out.

Hi guys. I've been sitting on a restaurant theme for a while and figured I'd Guage the reaction here first.

As some of you may know, I own a few concession trailers, mostly based on carnival foods.

I've been floating the idea of opening up a carnival foods style joint. Carnival themed, with some games, of course all the carnival favorites. A new weekly item from the ridiculous American midways.

Of course would still carry the burgers, fries, etc but the angle is on the carnival stuff. 

Cheese curds, hand Dipped corndogs, blooming onion, Funnel cake, oreos, donuts, etc etc

Does this tickle anyone's fancy or nah. Keep it to an annual novelty 

9 hours ago, CodyT said:

Hi guys. I've been sitting on a restaurant theme for a while and figured I'd Guage the reaction here first.

As some of you may know, I own a few concession trailers, mostly based on carnival foods.

I've been floating the idea of opening up a carnival foods style joint. Carnival themed, with some games, of course all the carnival favorites. A new weekly item from the ridiculous American midways.

Of course would still carry the burgers, fries, etc but the angle is on the carnival stuff. 

Cheese curds, hand Dipped corndogs, blooming onion, Funnel cake, oreos, donuts, etc etc

Does this tickle anyone's fancy or nah. Keep it to an annual novelty 

I know this has been done in the US (my friends stumbled upon https://juicysfamousfairfood.com/ when they were in Florida) and it gets pretty good reviews.  This place didn't have games though so your idea might be a step up in providing that carnival feel.

Personally, I couldn't see it being a regular thing for me but I don't have kids so I'm probably not the target market for that kind of place.  Would definitely try it a couple times though.

12 hours ago, CodyT said:

Hi guys. I've been sitting on a restaurant theme for a while and figured I'd Guage the reaction here first.

As some of you may know, I own a few concession trailers, mostly based on carnival foods.

I've been floating the idea of opening up a carnival foods style joint. Carnival themed, with some games, of course all the carnival favorites. A new weekly item from the ridiculous American midways.

Of course would still carry the burgers, fries, etc but the angle is on the carnival stuff. 

Cheese curds, hand Dipped corndogs, blooming onion, Funnel cake, oreos, donuts, etc etc

Does this tickle anyone's fancy or nah. Keep it to an annual novelty 

With the carnival idea ,  I think maybe Dreamland Diner might be the only one who is close to doing it?  I know around the McPhillips area they have a funky corndog place which I have not tried yet.    

I'd stick with food trucks over a restaurant,   I've known a few people who have opened up restaurants and it's high risk/stress, money pit, and a lot of work to keep afloat. The costs really add up quickly and the post Christmas slump kills a lot of places.    At least with the food trucks you can drive in to where the customers are and during the winter months I'm assuming you would be in the States running the circuit.  

In an over saturated market like Winnipeg it makes things much more difficult.  If I were to do a restaurant in Winnipeg I'd 100% buy into an existing franchise, it's far more safe.     

51 minutes ago, Brandon said:

With the carnival idea ,  I think maybe Dreamland Diner might be the only one who is close to doing it?  I know around the McPhillips area they have a funky corndog place which I have not tried yet.    

I'd stick with food trucks over a restaurant,   I've known a few people who have opened up restaurants and it's high risk/stress, money pit, and a lot of work to keep afloat. The costs really add up quickly and the post Christmas slump kills a lot of places.    At least with the food trucks you can drive in to where the customers are and during the winter months I'm assuming you would be in the States running the circuit.  

In an over saturated market like Winnipeg it makes things much more difficult.  If I were to do a restaurant in Winnipeg I'd 100% buy into an existing franchise, it's far more safe.     

Yeah. Pretty much seconded my thought process. I'll take a long ponder at it and If the right situation came around, maybe.

I just want to work in the winters. I'm restless and want to start another venture 

2 hours ago, Brandon said:

With the carnival idea ,  I think maybe Dreamland Diner might be the only one who is close to doing it?  I know around the McPhillips area they have a funky corndog place which I have not tried yet.    

I'd stick with food trucks over a restaurant,   I've known a few people who have opened up restaurants and it's high risk/stress, money pit, and a lot of work to keep afloat. The costs really add up quickly and the post Christmas slump kills a lot of places.    At least with the food trucks you can drive in to where the customers are and during the winter months I'm assuming you would be in the States running the circuit.  

In an over saturated market like Winnipeg it makes things much more difficult.  If I were to do a restaurant in Winnipeg I'd 100% buy into an existing franchise, it's far more safe.     

you mean ChungChuns? 

19 minutes ago, iHeart said:

you mean ChungChuns? 

I think so,  I've never been but my co workers have all enjoyed it and recommended it.  

 

1 hour ago, CodyT said:

Yeah. Pretty much seconded my thought process. I'll take a long ponder at it and If the right situation came around, maybe.

I just want to work in the winters. I'm restless and want to start another venture 

Do you have a food truck?  I had met a guy back in the day who would do all the festivals/carnivals in Manitoba during the Summer and then would drive around the State fairs and whatever in the warmer States during Winter and he would make a killing.  It was a fry truck with I think hot dogs and he lived in a mansion and had lots of big toys.     

1 minute ago, Brandon said:

I think so,  I've never been but my co workers have all enjoyed it and recommended it.  

 

Do you have a food truck?  I had met a guy back in the day who would do all the festivals/carnivals in Manitoba during the Summer and then would drive around the State fairs and whatever in the warmer States during Winter and he would make a killing.  It was a fry truck with I think hot dogs and he lived in a mansion and had lots of big toys.     

Well so do I, the business attached to it Asia City has some good stuff too I had their shake fries yesterday, and regarding the Rice Dogs I recommend Whole Mozzarella

as for the other stuff I'd add Gamsung (potato) around them because it will feel like an order of a Hot Dog with fries...even though fries are on the menu there 

26 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I think so,  I've never been but my co workers have all enjoyed it and recommended it.  

 

Do you have a food truck?  I had met a guy back in the day who would do all the festivals/carnivals in Manitoba during the Summer and then would drive around the State fairs and whatever in the warmer States during Winter and he would make a killing.  It was a fry truck with I think hot dogs and he lived in a mansion and had lots of big toys.     

Hi yeah, I own 3 of them. One is bloomin onion/poutine

Mini donuts/lemonade

Deep fried: cheese curds, corndogs, cheese cake, oreos, chocolate bars, basically anything you can deep fry

 

I've considered a lot going to the states. My spouse is a nurse. I travel all of western Canada from june-end of September. If I left her for an additional 3 months she'd skin me lol 

On 2025-05-22 at 1:12 PM, CodyT said:

Yeah. Pretty much seconded my thought process. I'll take a long ponder at it and If the right situation came around, maybe.

I just want to work in the winters. I'm restless and want to start another venture 

As someone who has owned restaurants and mobile concessions, I cannot recommend enough that you avoid the dine in restaurant model enough. Restaurants are the one business I would never recommend anyone to get into. You can do everything right and still fail. There is so little margin for error because margins are so low. I had a restaurant that was doing around a million a year in business and it was profitable, but it was far from a gold mine. After all was said and done, with my wife and I working full time we figured it out that we were making about 9 bucks an hour for our time. 

Happy Freddy's Opening day everyone!

Goodbye Thunderbird restaurant

TB had great cheeseburgers. Not everyone gets the right ratio of cheese to meat...they did.

11 hours ago, Mark H. said:

TB had great cheeseburgers. Not everyone gets the right ratio of cheese to meat...they did.

I hate seeing these institutions go down but I am part of the problem, passed by a 1000x and smiled at the place and the memories but never stopped.

https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/mcdonalds-brings-back-unexpected-breakfast-item-after-6-years

More and more mom and pops are going to be going under, just can't compete anymore especially with the way costs are going up and up, an already razor thin margin is sliced to the point where it's just not worth it anymore. 

36 minutes ago, bustamente said:

More and more mom and pops are going to be going under, just can't compete anymore especially with the way costs are going up and up, an already razor thin margin is sliced to the point where it's just not worth it anymore. 

I disagree,  places like McDonalds are so expensive now that the Mom and Pa if done right can offer much superior offerings at a similar price. 

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

I disagree,  places like McDonalds are so expensive now that the Mom and Pa if done right can offer much superior offerings at a similar price. 

Some are going under cuz they never got younger people coming in. These places our moms and dads went to, we don’t.