Good Will says goodbye to A Little Pizza Heaven

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This article was published 16/01/2017 (3420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Good Will Social Club (625 Portage Ave.) will soon be home to Winnipeg’s newest lunch spot.

The music and entertainment venue has worked with A Little Pizza Heaven for the past two years, and while the owners say the businesses had a good relationship, it’s time to take things to a new level.

“It’s not that pizza is bad, we wanted to have more of a food draw and not necessarily have a show and then you grab a pizza within the same environment,” Good Will co-owner Anthony Kowalczyk said.

He and several other Good Will owners have partnered up on the new restaurant, a counter-service “fast casual” eatery named Have a Nice Day. Max Frank of Table Manners, The Young Chefs and formerly Peg Beer Co. is in charge of the menu.

“The idea was street food,” Frank said. “I did some research on street food around the world so we have some Middle Eastern, Mexican, American, Vietnamese, so really eclectic to match the venue. Just tasty food.”

“It’s good quality food, everything is made from scratch,” Kowalczyk added. “The term we’ve been using is fancy garbage food… what we said is imagine going to 7-11 and finding a good hot dog. Something that’s there, just bring it over to the fancier version.”

The pair say that the kitchen used by Little Pizza Heaven won’t be undergoing many major changes to accommodate the new menu and that the layout of the restaurant next to the Good Will’s stage area will also remain as it is.

“There’s a prep station back there and a pizza oven so they’re making do with what they need and we don’t really have to add much to that,” Kowalczyk said. “All the things Max has put together don’t really require much and that’s kind of the common thread among the Good Will and now Have a Nice Day. We make do with what we have. We’ve never dumped tons of money into what we’ve done and it’s always been about being agile with what we can do.”

He said the eating area will be what Good Will patrons are used to, but with more action at the counter and a fresh coat of paint.

“It’s just getting a facelift,” Kowalczyk said. “It’ll look fresher, cleaner.”

Have a Nice Day is set to open at the beginning of February with hours from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Frank said they may look into breakfast in the future but their target is the lunch and dinner crowd, and of course those coming in to see a show or performance.

Where does the name come from?

“It’s just the Good Will and Have a Nice Day, it goes together well,” Kowalczyk said. “It’s like Donnie Darko and ‘cellar door.’”