Hermanos steakhouse to shutter, relocate in Exchange

Winnipeggers have three weeks to get a Baby Cabrera at Hermanos before the longtime South American steakhouse closes its doors — for now.

On Monday, co-owner Noel Bernier announced Hermanos would be closing its anchor location at 179 Bannatyne Ave. on May 30 (after 17 years in the historic Ashdown Warehouse building in the Exchange District) and moving elsewhere.

“Our family is really growing into this business and taking charge of the brand and determining our own outcomes, so we’re doing it in a way that our customers will be most happy,” Bernier said.

The restaurateur said the closure and relocation is part of the family’s restructuring of the business and brand. Bernier’s son, Riley, is opening a new Hermanos location in Brandon (in the city’s historic central fire station) this year and Bernier wants to dedicate plenty of time to helping his son ensure that business is a success.

“I have other other projects I want to do, but we’re a restaurant family now,” he joked.

While Bernier is mum on details of the new Winnipeg location, which he aims to open in the fall, it will be in the East Exchange and be run by Bernier’s spouse Michelle. Offering a taste of what diners can expect of the new spot, Bernier said it will better serve the city’s theatre crowd.

Bernier opened Hermanos in the Ashdown Warehouse in 2009. In 2018, he briefly operated a second location at 725 Osborne St., but that eatery folded a year later.

Bernier has been at the helm of multiple restaurants and business ventures in Winnipeg, including Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria, Carnaval Brazilian BBQ and the now-shuttered Barley Brothers and Sherbrook Street Delicatessen.

Bernier credits Hermanos’ continued success despite changes in the Exchange and a two-year closure during the COVID-19 pandemic to the restaurant’s brand as a cultural export of South American cuisine. The eatery serves dishes such as paella (Spanish rice dish), milanesa (breaded cutlets) and chivitos (beefsteak sandwiches).

With the new location, the restaurateur hopes to make the eatery more accessible to the masses. The new location will have the same staff and chefs, Bernier added.

“Come and see us. We miss you, and we want to say goodbye to our people. Whenever we come back in the neighbourhood, it’s going to be in a different place, with a different look but the same people,” he said.

Hermanos’s last day of service is May 29. Bernier encouraged patrons to use up remaining gift cards and have one last meal in the dining room before saying goodbye to the current location.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca