Fort Garry mourns loss of iconic restaurant

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This article was published 08/10/2021 (1438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kristen Reimer met her first love at the Pancake House on Pembina Highway.

“It’s kind of funny, but it’s true,” the Fort Garry resident said. “We never did end up getting married — we were only 21 and it didn’t work out — but I did meet my first love there.”

Reimer worked as a waitress and front-of-house supervisor at the Pancake House’s flagship location at 1049 Pembina Hwy. 40 years ago.

“It was kind of a neighbourhood thing,” she told The Sou’wester. “My brother’s friends worked there, and I formed a good bond with two other girls. I think people make friendships there.”

Reimer was one of many Fort Garry residents saddened to hear of the restaurant’s closure, which was announced earlier in September.

The iconic restaurant has been running in its location since 1958. The owner, Wally Guberman, found success with the breakfast joint and eventually opened three other locations in Winnipeg, including at The Forks Market, on McGillivray Boulevard and at the Clarion Hotel (Polo Park).

The Pancake House’s colourful sign, which is approximately 60 feet high and features a chef flipping a giant apple pancake, has been a landmark feature on Pembina Highway for over 60 years.

“The whole area is changing,” Reimer said. “I grew up in the neighbourhood and I’m back in this neighbourhood. The McGillivray location is just not the same.”

Reimer looks back on her time at the Pancake House with fond memories. She can still recall the brown and gold polyester uniforms waitresses wore with pantyhose, her regular customers and the stuffed animals that used to be sold at the cash register.

“There were pounds upon pounds of potatoes for the potato pancakes, which used to be sold with chicken liver,” she said. “The giant apple pancake was the big thing back then. I can’t even count how many times I slipped on butter.”

On one occasion, Reimer slipped and dropped an apple pancake fresh out of the oven. She still has scars on her hands from the hot dough and cinnamon.

“I was at the hospital and everyone was sniffing because they could smell cinnamon, and then someone asked, ‘Giant apple pancake?’”

Liz Redston also worked at the Pancake House in 1978 as a hostess. She grew up in Wildwood Park and lived in Fort Garry for 55 years.

“I always thought of the Pembina Pancake House as ‘home base,’” Redston said. “As a kid growing up, any family that came to visit from out-of-town involved a Pancake House breakfast.

“Significant milestones — like the breakfast with family right after my dad died — was at Pancake House.”

Redston said the original location had a “local vibe” amongst staff. She worked with a lot of other kids from the neighbourhood, as well as friends and people she knew from school.

“There were three staff members that were recent immigrants from China. One of the ladies still had a husband and family back home in China, so she was working hard to bring them over,” Redston said. “As a 17-year-old in 1978 in Fort Garry, those weren’t life stories you necessarily encountered a lot, so that was an eye-opener.”

Aside from the Pancake House, three other iconic Pembina Highway establishments — the Pembina Hotel, the Cambridge Hotel and the Fort Garry Legion — are also set to be demolished.

“There’s lots of good restaurants and nice places to go, but they just won’t come with that same degree of memory,” Redston said.

“The Pancake House is a connection to my past.”