Rumour on Twitter that Habanos is closing for good.

It's sad how many pubs and restaurants won't be in Regina in 2021

Can’t wait for more cold and soulless chains to take over all the cheap real estate that opens up! That’s the “efficiencies” of capitalism for ya.

More like the failure of government.

Isn’t that kind of the same thing as what I said?

No. Capitalism doesn't preclude competent government.

Good old Regina. Lived there for 6 months. I guess the go to area was Dewdney, which is not bad given the historic nature of that particular stretch where Habono's was. Could be a nice vibrant area if they would do something with the other side of the street.

O'Hanlons downtown was alright as well. Good foosball table there, so I was there quite a bit. :cheers:

I would disagree. Capitalism requires an incompetent government to maximize returns and will do everything it can to make sure that happens. Case in point the Saskatchewan Party.

Is there a political thread that this shit can get moved to? I don't think Pubs and Restaurants is the right thread for this.

Oh settle down. It started in this thread because I was making a comment on the future of commercial real estate. It’s a little impractical to expect an organic conversation to move quickly into another thread. I can’t believe I have to say this. Besides, everything is politics and you know it.

Lol, right on

January is typically when a lot of pubs and restaurants fold in a non-Covid year. This year, I expect that to be amplified significantly.

My gf and I begrudgingly did our part in supporting local restaurants, at Cure with her parents for Xmas since we couldn't spend it together in their home. It was the evening of Dec 23 and I think there were two other tables sat at the most while we were there. Great experience as usual from them.

My spouse and I got a large order for takeout from Pearl River Kitchen on Hill Ave. For anyone who doesn't know, they are a Chinese restaurant that is takeout-only (or order). Really great stuff, and a good price. I think it's just a husband and wife that do everything, with their son helping up front when it's busy. We ordered enough for Xmas eve and day...they probably thought it was for a big family, haha.

Gud Eats is closing as of Feb 28, 2021, citing COVID and the app-delivery services taking a chunk of revenues now that downtown workers are working at home.

https://www.facebook.com/gudeats.ca/

Didn't even make it a year.

Something else is amiss.

There really isn’t much to it. Uber Eats, Skipthedishes, etc are terrible for both restaurants and their gig workers. The cost they charge restaurants is abhorrent compared to how simple their apps really are. It’s not easy for a new place to go at it without using the apps, especially during these times. If less people used the apps, it would help but sadly I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

They're a niche restaurant that opened downtown during a pandemic?

I don't disagree that the gig services are difficult for restaurants to contend with. But at the same time, they opened knowing all of this before hand so it's a bit odd.

Ya, true. Other places managed to stay open after the initial onslaught.

Some places are more efficient at controlling costs than others.

Restaurants can afford meal delivery services, if they have sufficient margins. If they don't... they can't. It's that simple.

No, it isn’t that simple. We cannot let our communities be reduced to a brutal competition to the bottom where only the strongest survive. That’s how we end up with McDonalds and Boston Pizza becoming the only restaurants that are able to survive in the end. Who the hell wants that?

You might be surprised to learn how many restaurants are against these apps, especially the ones that are forced to used them. What these apps are doing is capturing a market with their massive amount of venture capital allowing them to operate at below cost, destroying most competition, and forcing everyone on to their not-at-all-innovative platform, which they can then charge obscene rents to use. Funny how cheap things seem to the end-user when you don’t have to actually have a responsibility to pay your workers a livable wage with benefits (these apps only exist by their ability to exploit labour - Foodora shut down in Canada when their workers in Toronto voted to unionize, while one of Uber’s explicitly stated risks to their business model is their obligations to treat their “contractors” as workers). The problem is, the chickens will eventually come home to roost, despite everyone who loves these apps thinking there’s no way they will be brought down in this race too.

Going forward, I will choose to support restaurants who are still managing to avoid being sucked into the black hole that the gig economy is creating, which just so happens to be some of the best restaurants out there (the Cure and Caraway Grill come to mind).

Edit: turns out The Cure is using Uber Eats, out of necessity, but you can still bypass the app and order directly from the kitchen. Sometimes doing the right thing means doing things a little less conveniently..

Gudeats is a food court style fast food restaurant in a hole in the wall location on a side street. Even the most popular of restaurants would fail in a similar location, nevermind one that caters to a small population of people.

They may have had a fighting chance in a food court, would probably do really well at the university. To open a niche restaurant in the middle of a pandemic is pretty much impossible.

Ya, it was a difficult time for that particular restaurant to open but everything I said above is valid now and before the pandemic began. This isn’t just from what I have been researching online but from talking to operators of local restaurants as well.

I'm sad and my day is ruined. Their food was fantastic.

I'm gonna make sure to get another one of their Chickn' Sammies before they shut'er down. They are so tasty.

It is too bad there wasn't a way to ensure all businesses could survive during this crisis. It's almost like we need an institution of some sort that could take a portion of funds from those who are making an absolute killing (mostly due to their size and not because of some kind of ingenuity) to help some of these smaller players. And I'm not just talking about Gud Eats which opened during the pandemic, but many places that have had to close even temporarily (thinking of Gilmores in particular, or even the Owl - God I miss trivia nights). The fact the biggest companies are going to come out of this pandemic even bigger is NOT a good thing. If only there was some democratic way of getting ahead of the coming mess...

Let’s not kid ourselves, Leo’s group had more than enough money to keep Gud Eats afloat until the end of the pandemic. I think it is more than reasonable to assume that business would pick up for them once downtown foot traffic increases. However, I’m sure Leo’s group has gotten more than comfortable with the tidy profits from their bars that even a peak Gud Eats wouldn’t be able to keep up with their expectations. Good thing Leo’s loves to market themselves as the patron saint of local businesses, all the while allowing one of their local businesses to die a sad death before it really even had a chance to succeed.

In other news, looks like Cathedral Social Hall is renting out their kitchen to Peaks Pizza. Not sure if this means that Social Hall will no longer offer any of their own in-house food or not. Could be a neat setup similar to a Pile of Bones/Malinche and it’s not like Social Hall was offering good food in the first place

Nah, it's just a brand they created for takeout/delivery. Lots of restaurants have been doing this.

I thought Gud Eats was owned by a guy who also has a restaurant in Saskatoon?

Aah. It’s interesting Leo’s wasn’t mentioned in the article I read about Gud Eats shutting down.

Leo's group (Leopolds) is massively profitable. If they didn't think GUD had a chance in Regina, then they likely pulled the plug directly or indirectly.

Went to Gud Eats last night to pick up some food and they were absolutely swamped. I'm going to miss it so much.

Any updates of new Regina restaurant closures? I know GUD blamed it on covid, lack of people working downtown. Also on delivery app services taking huge cuts out of their margins.

Not sure what is happening with Umi Sushi Express at Cornwall Centre. Have they closed for good? Are they closed for renovations? There is no information on the green-painted boards covering the front. It has never seemed to have any busy moments, so it wouldn't surprise me to see it gone.

Rent is very high at the Cornwall Food Court, so your revenue needs to be high to stay afloat. I would not be surprised if owners there might decide it isn't worth it anymore.

As for being busy, that is tricky, I went there occasionally. Unlike the other restaurants most people just grab something off the shelf and pay, no waiting for your order to be made etc. So any line up is going to be a lot smaller than, an A&W or Thai Express.

Umi Sushi will be re-opening in the Cornwall Centre, as it is currently closed for renovation. Good to know that they haven't closed permanently.

Phew! Great news :).

Normanview Brewsters is closing at the end of the month.

Mexican food
 

Has anyone heard what's going on with Malinche? They recently announced they are closing their little restaurant in Pile of Bones and their facebook page kind of alludes to a new restaurant but they are kind of vague about it, other than to say something may be in the works in the future. I also heard a rumour they are opening their own restaurant. Maybe Malinche is going in the building across from yqr market that got approval to open a restaurant from the city and I think there is construction going on. Would be a good spot and is a nice old, red brick building.

Forgot to mention that a new kitchen called Kith and Kin is opening in Malinche's place in Pile o Bones. Sounds like a more traditional beer hall type of food but that is yet to be announce.

I am trying to find out what is going in across the street from Local and Fresh... lots of wild rumors floating around.

I heard a new Vic’s Tavern will be going in there but I’m not sure how solid that rumor is.

I also heard this. Vic’s will be moving into the bar side and a weed shop will be moving into the restaurant side.

I know what it is, but can’t say. It will compliment what is across the street however. :)

Can you at least tell us if it is an existing operation (like Vics) that is moving or opening a new place, or something completely new and interesting to the city?

Perhaps it is for Meld, who is currently operating the food counter in the yqr market building.

Hey aberrant do you know what is going on with the big warehouse building on Dewdney across the street close to Rebellion. All the windows are boarded up so not sure if the place is undergoing a gut job for some project or it is just boarded up and the owner is hoping to tear down at some point.