A Winnipeg restaurateur is celebrating Cinco de Mayo by throwing back to a popular Mexican eatery that closed its doors years ago.
Chi-Chi’s was a chain restaurant — now defunct in Canada and the U.S. — that served Mexican dishes at two locations in Winnipeg, including a busy spot next to the since-demolished Winnipeg Arena and Winnipeg Stadium, where the Scotiabank Theatre now stands.
Alexander Svenne, a former employee at that Polo Park-area Chi-Chi’s, is now the owner of St. James restaurant Little Goat Food and Drink.
Svenne told 680 CJOB he’s bringing back some of the classic Chi-Chi’s dishes — the ones he remembers from his time working there — on Tuesday to recognize the Mexican holiday.
The response so far, he said, has been overwhelming, with a non-stop barrage of emails from Chi-Chi’s lovers looking for some nostalgic flavours.
“(Chi-Chi’s) was my first job and it was the busiest restaurant I’ve ever worked in since then,” said Svenne.
“We had both the football stadium and the arena (next door) and whenever there was a show or a game, the place would fill up in about 15 minutes.”
The throwback menu, he said, consists of set dishes with a choice of entrees.
“I just took things right from the old Chi-Chi’s menu. I still have the recipes all up in my head somewhere.
“It’s got all the elements — it’s spicy and salty and greasy and cheesy… all the elements you want coming together on one plate.”
Svenne’s blast from the past adheres to social-distancing rules, of course, with Cinco de Mayo meals available for delivery and pickup — ordered well in advance.
The event happens a day after Manitoba officially relaxed some of its regulations around the coronavirus pandemic as part of a phased approach to reopening the province’s economy.
According to the province’s updated restrictions announced last week, restaurants will be able to open up patio areas, adhering to physical-distancing rules, while dine-in facilities will have to wait until at least June for the second phase of the plan.
Premier Brian Pallister said the work Manitobans have done in diligently following social-distancing and self-isolation rules have led to the ability to slowly and safely reopen the province for business.
“Your efforts to help flatten the curve have brought us all to the point where we can gradually start to get back to business in Manitoba,” he said, “and start to reopen our communities as well.”