Boston Pizza Coming to Charleswood Mall

Boston Pizza has evolved over the years to become more of a sports destination mixed with a casual dining experience. HD flatscreens have changed bars all over the world. No longer is it one sport on a projection screen or a few picture tube TVs mounted in corners or over bars. Now it is screens numbering 20 or 30 and on multiple sports all at same time! Boston Pizza is one of the restaurant groups that has taken that technology and broadcast innovation and run with it. Likewise, many of their locations now have patios attached to their dining rooms.

Over the many years Charleswood was a bit of a food desert. To be sure there were a few places to get breakfast or coffee or dine out but there was great swaths of the area devoid of anything. Along Roblin Boulevard near Assiniboine Park, the recent arrival of the Capitol Grill and Boulevard has excited residents in the area and beyond. However, further down Roblin it is a lot harder to find places at all.

The Charleswood Centre mall was originally called the Forest Park Mall but re-branded when they lost a key anchor. They transformed to a strip mall/box format and set aside the standard interior mall configuration. There were a few survivors from from those days such as Safeway and McDonald's. Another survivor is Sorrento's Pizza.

One can only imagine how Sorrento's feels that it is about to get a competitor in the parking lot. In the spot that the garden center and in winter Christmas trees are sold will be a new Boston Pizza. Fencing is already up and some work begun.

Now competition is a good thing but two pizza restaurants one in front of the other in the same shopping mall is a lot. Assuming a few months construction, we should see Boston Pizza open up in early fall.

As a side note: Menchies frozen yogurt restaurant closed a few months ago and has been replaced MYNT Dental clinic. Once against this puts the mall in more or less fully leased standing.