Iconic Thunderbird restaurant set to take flight once more

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Ten months after closing its doors, an iconic Winnipeg restaurant is set to reopen this spring.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Ten months after closing its doors, an iconic Winnipeg restaurant is set to reopen this spring.

The Thunderbird Restaurant at 1970 McPhillips St. announced its return in a series of social media posts earlier this month, promising the same food and atmosphere it became known for after John Ginakes and his brothers, Jimmy and Perry, opened the doors in 1961.

A group of restaurateurs headed by Mahak Mahajan and former Johnny G’s owner John Giannakis is leasing the restaurant, said Peter Ginakes, John Ginakes’ son and a spokesperson for the family. John Ginakes, now an octogenarian, is also a shareholder in the enterprise.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The Thunderbird Restaurant at 1970 McPhillips St. closed last June for unspecified reasons. A series of social media posts earlier this month announced the restaurant would be reopening.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

The Thunderbird Restaurant at 1970 McPhillips St. closed last June for unspecified reasons. A series of social media posts earlier this month announced the restaurant would be reopening.

One of the social media posts announcing the reopening garnered more than 240 comments, with many people expressing their appreciation for the restaurant and excitement at the thought of eating there again.

The feedback has been heartening, Peter Ginakes said on Friday.

“We served a lot of people over the (years),” he said. “There’s a lot of people that have memories of the place and I think that’s why it resonates that we’re bringing it back. People don’t like losing these things.”

“There’s a lot of people that have memories of the place and I think that’s why it resonates that we’re bringing it back. People don’t like losing these things.”

John operated the diner with his wife, Gloria, for decades. He was known for his signature Thunderburger, Greek salads and breakfast spreads.

Meanwhile, the restaurant’s towering, yellow-and-red, T-shaped signage became a local landmark.

John retired in 2013, and leased the space to tenants to keep the restaurant going. (The family kept possession of the building, which is now managed by Niata Enterprises, owned by Peter Ginakes.)

The tenants closed the restaurant last June for unspecified reasons. Ginakes said his family didn’t want to see the business end.

“We think that there (is) another chapter to be written about the Thunderbird.”

The family was approached by a number of people who were interested in taking over the restaurant, many of whom had one condition.

“A lot of them wouldn’t do it unless my dad was involved, unless he was there getting them back up and running and introducing them to the people that he knew and getting them on track with the same food that we used to put out,” Ginakes said. “So my dad, at 87, said yes.”

“It was a place where everybody was welcome. It didn’t matter if you’re wealthy, famous or an ordinary person.”

The new tenants are renovating the restaurant. John is assisting with the menu and teaching staff how to prepare the food.

“It’s going to be very similar to what we had it as,” Ginakes said. “It’s got a storied history, you know? … It was a place where everybody was welcome. It didn’t matter if you’re wealthy, famous or an ordinary person.”

The Thunderbird’s architecture, simple food and the memories people created there have made it a beloved diner, said Shaun Jeffrey, executive director and CEO of the Manitoba Restaurant & Foodservices Association.

“It’s absolutely amazing to see an icon like that reopen,” he said.

It’s positive news at a time when Canada’s restaurant industry is facing mounting financial pressure, Jeffrey added. “When local hospitality icons like the Giankes family reinitiate a restaurant like this, it does bring some great morale to the industry as a whole.”

The Thunderbird will reopen in three to four weeks, Ginakes said.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca

Aaron Epp

Aaron Epp
Reporter

Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron.

Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Trustee campaign material that condemns rainbow flags is being met with outrage of all kinds, written complaints and, in one case, a cease-and-desist order.

“Parental rights,” including questions about classroom diversity, equity and inclusion policies, are resurfacing heading into school board elections across Manitoba.

“People are trying to advance their politics and their issues while simultaneously calling teachers ideologues and brainwashers,” said Shannon Moore, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who studies sexual health education. “And I find that rich.”

Moore said parents have a right to choose independent school or homeschool, but they do not have a right to dictate curriculum that is currently developed using research and mainstream morals.

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

‘She was looking to destroy me’: convicted harasser faces new charges

Dean Pritchard 6 minute read Preview

‘She was looking to destroy me’: convicted harasser faces new charges

Dean Pritchard 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT

When Agnieszka Ciochon-Newton moved into the 55-plus apartment building on Stradbrook Avenue last year, she came across as “timid, soft-spoken and sensitive,” said building manager Tanya Owen.

Little did Owen know the meek-looking 58-year-old woman would soon turn her life and the lives of many of her tenants upside down and threaten her career and family.

“She was looking to destroy me for a simple tenant disagreement,” Owen said Thursday.

Court records show Ciochon-Newton was arrested earlier this month and charged with seven counts of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats and one count each of fraud, breaking and entering, attempting to obstruct justice, intimidation of a justice official, mischief and defamatory libel.

Read
Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT

Canada-U.S. trade relationship is broken, but the damage can — and will — be repaired

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Canada-U.S. trade relationship is broken, but the damage can — and will — be repaired

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Yesterday at 1:35 PM CDT

Canada needs to get serious about diversifying its trade beyond the United States. But at the same time, Canadians should expect relations with the U.S. to normalize after Donald Trump is no longer in the White House.

For generations, Canada-U.S. trade was considered almost a fact of geography. The two countries share the world’s longest undefended border, deeply integrated supply chains and a century of commercial relationships.

Canadian manufacturers depend on American customers. American manufacturers depend on Canadian suppliers. Energy, agriculture, automotive production and countless other industries operate across the border as though it barely exists.

That isn’t going to change dramatically, even in the midst of a bitter trade war unleashed by the U.S. president.

Read
Yesterday at 1:35 PM CDT

A quick look at where provinces and territories stand on time changes

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

A quick look at where provinces and territories stand on time changes

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 6:28 AM CDT

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's government said Thursday the province will be sticking with daylight time year-round, making it the latest jurisdiction to move away from twice-annual time changes. Here's a look at where things stand across Canada:

British Columbia said in March that it was moving to permanent Pacific daylight time. The change also means that parts of northeastern B.C., which have been on mountain standard time year round, are now in alignment with the rest of the province.

Alberta also switched to permanent daylight time this year in what it calls Alberta time. The change means it now has the same time as Saskatchewan year round.

Saskatchewan has been on permanent central standard time since 1966.

Read
Updated: 6:28 AM CDT

Northern First Nation calls for voluntary ban of moose hunting as numbers dwindle

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Preview

Northern First Nation calls for voluntary ban of moose hunting as numbers dwindle

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Updated: 4:19 PM CDT

A northern Manitoba First Nation is calling for a voluntary closure of moose hunting in its traditional territory to protect the declining population and respond to what it sees is a lack of provincial intervention.

On Friday, Misipawistik Cree Nation issued a plea urging hunters to abstain from harvesting moose in provincial Game Hunting Area 10 — a 10,000-square-kilometre region of boreal forest north of Grand Rapids. The request applies to this year’s moose-hunting seasons, which open Monday.

According to the province’s 2025 aerial big-game survey, an estimated 281 moose reside in the area, roughly 60 of which are bull moose. That’s down from an estimated 346 moose in 2013, which the survey describes as a “relatively stable population” over the past decade.

This year, 124 licences and 62 bull moose tags were made available in the region during Manitoba’s annual hunting draw.

Read
Updated: 4:19 PM CDT

Province rips Bell over second 911 outage

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

Province rips Bell over second 911 outage

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:08 PM CDT

A 911 outage that lasted about 90 minutes in Manitoba and other provinces early Thursday morning was caused by a problem with Bell’s next-generation network amid concerns about recurring disruptions.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:08 PM CDT