St. Boniface burger stand sold

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This article was published 04/10/2023 (727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mrs. Mikes, an accolade-earning St. Boniface burger joint — and what some call a Winnipeg staple — has sold.

On Wednesday, the shutters were drawn over the small red and white shack, as has been its setup for nearly a year. No new signs bedecked the storefront.

Its owner has sold and is retiring after more than 50 years on the job. He was mum about the site’s new landlord: a “big company” has invested, and he isn’t involved in their plans.

“I did my share,” said Steve Mikos, 77. “I did it for 54 years. I’m proud of what I did — I’m happy, no regrets, and that’s it. Life goes on.”

Longtime customers were sent into shock last March when Mikos’ family announced Mrs. Mikes would remain closed “for now,” including during the summer, its prime selling days.

Last week, Mikos announced his retirement on social media.

“I have decided to finally hang my apron,” Mikos wrote.

His Facebook post elicited hundreds of comments from well-wishers calling Mrs. Mikes “so much more than a burger stand” and offering thanks for the company’s service.

Some customers returned to the shack, year after year, for the multiple decades Mikos had been flipping burgers.

Over its lifetime, Mrs. Mikes accumulated awards and recognitions, including a shout-out in Reader’s Digest as one of Canada’s greatest burger restaurants and winning a Best Burger in Town contest the Free Press held some 30 years ago.

“It was enjoyable working,” Mikos reflected.

However, he’d fill 11 hour shifts daily. Pre-pandemic, he worked 16-hour days, seven days a week during the nine months a year Mrs. Mikes was open, he said.

“I never had summer holidays,” Mikos stated. “This was my life — my business was first, my family was second, and myself, third.”

Last summer was the first he’d taken to relax and enjoy his backyard, he added.

Summer also brought business negotiations and, ultimately, a deal. The new owner took possession of 286 Tache Ave. on Oct. 1.

Mikos said he doesn’t know what the investor will do with the site.

Mikos hung up his apron, but it’s not out of reach — he’ll be cooking when needed at Dairy Delight, his family’s restaurant on St. Anne’s Road.

“A lot of the regulars now, we’re going to go (to Dairy Delight),” said Daniel Marcoux.

He’s been a Mrs. Mikes fan since 1983. He and friends would troop to the eatery during school lunch breaks, hungry for chili fries.

“It was just a friendly atmosphere. They would always remember us,” Marcoux said.

And he would begin to recognize others in line — he wasn’t the only one satisfying his burger cravings at Mrs. Mikes while the decades passed.

“I did my share. I did it for 54 years. I’m proud of what I did — I’m happy, no regrets, and that’s it. Life goes on.”– Steve Mikos

Marcoux said he’d try Mrs. Mikes if it were under new ownership.

“It’s very consistent,” Susan Skakum said of the restaurant.

She’d been a patron for more than 50 years. Now she goes to Dairy Delight — the burgers are the same, she remarked.

“I’m very happy for (Mikos),” Skakum, 65, said. “We all work very hard through our life… he’s got to have a little bit of a break as well.”

Mrs. Mikes was her family’s Friday night cuisine of choice when she was a youth. It was her brothers’ lunch order on her wedding day.

“You’d see the same three (employees) there all the time,” Skakum noted.

Mikos and his sister-in-law (and co-owner) Cathy have most recently run the business. Nick, Mikos’ brother, bought the company in 1969 and led operations; he died roughly 11 years ago.

Mrs. Mikes was a staple in Winnipeg, said Shaun Jeffrey, the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s CEO.

“When you start losing staples within the industry, it’s kind of hard to continue to build that industry up,” he said. “It’s damaging.”

However, a new investor taking on Mrs. Mikes is a good sign, he added.

“Something we’ve been really struggling with in the last two years has been investment in our province,” Jeffrey said. “It’s very exciting to hear someone is going to assume… (Mrs. Mikes) location and try to make a go of it.”

Eateries’ operational costs have skyrocketed in all areas, causing many restaurateurs to halt growth, he stated.

Dairy Delight shares part of its menu, like its hamburgers, with Mrs. Mikes. The popular King burger — loaded with chili sauce and shredded lettuce — is not at the St. Anne’s Road location.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com