Longtime city eateries Mitzi’s, Santorini set to shutter

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This article was published 30/06/2023 (829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s nearing the end of an era for two long-standing Winnipeg diners.

Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant, a staple eatery at the corner of St. Mary Avenue and Garry Street, posted a “for sale” listing Thursday, weeks after celebrating its 45th anniversary.

Meantime, a mother and son duo operating Santorini Restaurant served their last dishes. The 24-year-old Greek spot closed Friday.

“I told (my husband), ‘10 years – 10 years only,’” said Shirley Eng, steps away from 45th anniversary balloons in Mitzi’s. “I can’t believe myself.”

Plenty has happened in those 4 1/2 decades.

Eng went from no restaurant experience to spending upwards of 15-hour days at Mitzi’s, preparing homemade chicken fingers in the kitchen and ringing up customers at the till.

She didn’t spend a penny on advertising, she said. Yet, downtown office crews would regularly find their way to Mitzi’s; repeat customers returned as decades passed, hungering for honey dill sauce.

“Customers (are) always teasing me, ‘You’re married to the restaurant,’” Eng said. “Almost 24-7, I will be here.”

But she’s ready to part ways. She dreams of shipping chicken fingers to stores instead of spending 12-hour days at Mitzi’s, cooking them up for takeout.

“Everyone is worried,” Eng said of the looming restaurant sale.

She’d placed flowers from a customer, given Friday, behind her counter.

“Honey dill, I will make it. I’ll put it in stores to sell.”

Maybe she can have more time for life outside work in the wholesale sector, she added. Honey dill, Caesar dressing, sweet-and sour-sauce, teriyaki — she plans to put all items on store shelves.

However, before Eng begins that venture, she must sell the site she and her husband planted roots in 45 years ago. She was in her 20s; she and her husband began by serving westernized Chinese cuisine before introducing chicken fingers a decade in.

The couple built the business; he died 22 years ago.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic contributed to Eng’s decision. She hasn’t reopened the dining room — she can’t find the staff.

It is busy, but fewer workers downtown have resulted in nearby eatery closures.

“There used to be quite a lot of restaurants,” Eng said. “We still have some left, but most of them are franchises. Private owned, there’s not that many.”

Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant is listed for $1.1 million.

“It’s sad, but I get it,” said Rick Yates, walking out of Mitzi’s with takeout containers of chicken fingers and honey dill.

He’s been ordering the same meal for at least a decade. He used to be downtown daily for work. Recently, his employer vacated Lombard Avenue for remote work; he’s now in Winnipeg’s core maybe once every two weeks.

“There’s a lot of guys I talk to that just don’t come downtown anymore,” Yates added.

Mark Segal, another chicken finger purchaser Friday, lamented the sale of Mitzi’s.

“It’s a fantastic place to come, great staff, great place to be,” Segal said. “There’s too many places we’re losing.”

Eng will continue operating Mitzi’s until the 4,200-square-foot space sells.

Over at 1839 Portage Ave., Theodora Karasoulis is retiring.

She wouldn’t give her age — “I don’t want customers to know how old I am” — but she’s been around to watch families grow and change.

“They’ve been babies, and they come in now with the girlfriends and the boyfriends,” Theodora said. “I love them.”

It’s been her and her son, Athanasios, grilling burgers and tossing salads since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Dimitrios, Theodora’s husband and restaurant co-founder, still stops by to help in his retirement.

“Just me working the restaurant by myself, it (would be) a little bit hard,” Athanasios said.

Theodora has been considering retirement for a few years. The pandemic hasn’t been a factor in the closure, Athanasios said.

He’s been helping out at the 36-seat joint since his high school years. The family began Santorini Restaurant in 1999, after Theodora and Athanasios moved from Greece.

They immigrated to Canada for a “better life,” Theodora said.

The restaurant’s beginnings were slow, but a 2002 review in the Winnipeg Free Press led to “crazy busy” traffic, Athanasios added. “As long as (people) came, they came back and back because they liked the food.”

Helen Patrick was one to return weekly. She’d see the same crowd during Sunday morning breakfasts, pre-pandemic.

“It was like having breakfast with a big family,” Patrick said. “I’d jump up and get the coffee pot and go around everybody, or somebody else would.”

Theodora would ask Patrick about her grandsons; Patrick would bring Theodora baskets at Christmastime.

She planned to bring Theodora some Greek wine before the restaurant closed.

“I’m very happy for Theodora because she deserves a rest,” Patrick said. “But I’m sad that it’s another mom-and-pop store gone… The mom-and-pop restaurants are a dying breed.”

Theodora is changing roles to full-time grandmother. She and Athanasios have received cards and flowers over the past week.

Athanasios is hopping to another venture: Original George’s Burger & Subs.

He’s been friends with the founding family for more than a decade. He’ll help operate the local chain’s newest location in the Tuxedo neighbourhood, set to open next September.

“I’m very excited,” Athanasios said, adding he isn’t sure whether any Santorini Restaurant items will transfer to the Original George’s location.

The Karasoulises wouldn’t comment on what’s happening next with their Portage Avenue space. Athanasios will continue selling ATH Tzatiki, Santorini Restaurant’s tzatziki recipe, in Winnipeg stores.

“Our industry here in Manitoba has been built on the back of independent restaurant owners, just like Santorini and Mitzi’s,” said Shaun Jeffrey, chief executive officer of the Manitoba Restaurant & Foodservices Association.

“Every time we lose one of those restaurants, it’s just an absolute deflation of our industry’s morale.”

He continues to hear about pandemic fatigue and inflation-related stress from restaurateurs, Jeffrey said. Meantime, he’s projecting pandemic recovery to take the local industry another five to 10 years.

“We’re going to continue to see restaurants… move on and look for new ownership, or close up altogether,” Jeffrey said. “We can’t continue to see this trend… We need to have the government come to the table and be open to investing in our industry.”

He didn’t give specifics on what type of investment is needed, but Jeffrey said there are various options.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com