Original Joe's Closes St. Vital Location

Original Joes's built their first restaurant in River Heights at the corner of Grant and Kenaston in 2010. It was the old location of Grapes which had lasted for decades until it fell out of fashion. They built their next one beside St. Vital Centre two years later. And a third one opened out on west Portage at Unicity in 2020.

The restaurant group started in 1998 and is presently part of the Recipe Unlimited colossus that might employ the most employees in the business in Winnipeg. They also own The Keg, Montana's, New York Fries and many more. In recent years, this company has closed all their Kelsey's in Winnipeg.

In the last week they shuttered the Original Joe's at St. Vital. Details of why were not revealed but as a best guess, it might be because it was harder to get to than one might think. There was no direct route back and forth between the mall and the restaurant.

Over the years, it has become more and more apparent that getting into St. Vital Centre when rush hours or holidays are around is not as easy feat. It gets harder each year as more traffic head both south and east to growing suburbs beyond but also use the mall as their central shopping area.

It is highly likely another restaurant group will take a chance on this locations if given a chance. When Recipe Unlimited closed Kelsey's in Winnipeg, many were taken over by restaurants like Smitty's. The fact that a patio is already in place has to be a selling point.

It is a tough time running a restaurant at the best of times. Many have struggled terribly with staffing even as minimum wages have gone up. Immigration is increasing but the rate of people retiring and leaving the job market seems to rising even fast. The increase in inflation and interest rates could also mean mean people are more likely to cut dining out. It is a difficult market to assess. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if something new comes to this location.