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Closed, defunct, old restaurants you knew and loved


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#81 Guest__*

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Posted 04 November 2006 - 12:35 PM

The Medieval Inn.

The Barbary Banjo. I remember going o the Barbary Banjo for the roast beef buffet on a Sunday.

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#82 Holden West

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 06:16 PM

The sign on the restaurant above the Garden of Eden on Douglas reads;

Amigo's Restaurant & Cafe\Mr. Salsa Restaurant & Cafe\Blue Nile Cafe

With a winning name like that I predict it will be in business for many decades to come.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#83 G-Man

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 08:09 PM

Yeah I laugh at that almost every morning on my way to work. They also have ads running on Channel 17. " MEEEESSTEER SAAALSAAAA!"

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#84 mikedw

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 09:58 PM

Both in-town Burger King locations were cursed by being in strip malls where parking & entry/exit options were severely limiting. The other was at Gateway Village where the sushi place is now. I'm thinking with the amount of business the drive-thru portion did, the drive easability in and out was important.

I'm sticking with my story about the restaurant in the Mayfair lot, I'm sure it was there. It was definately high-end.


They had another curse. The owner of the locations lived next door to a friend of mine. He opened the Burger Kings. Then a month later, he looked at his bank account. He had raked in well over $60,000 in just a month of sales. Great! So he bought himself a Porsche to celebrate. Then, he realized: oh yeah, that money needs to go into staff wages, supplies and rent...

After that, those locations seemed to be poorly staffed. I'd have to guess they were also financially rickety. By contrast, the one in Langford seems to be doing fine.

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#85 t-mitch4

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Posted 14 November 2006 - 04:29 PM

Just thought of another one...

The Brite Spot.
Corner of Quadra and Union
The specialty was the Blue Ribbon Basket.

My Buddy worked there as a car hop. One afternoon we pulled him through the open window and drove away! His boss called the Saanich Police and told them his worker had been kidnapped!

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#86 Walter Moar

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Posted 18 November 2006 - 02:30 PM

Benny's Bagels on Wharf. Has anyone mentioned that? I used to love sitting outside in the sun and having the float planes come right overhead.

#87 Holden West

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 06:07 PM

A-Channel reports that the Princess Mary restaurant will close News Years' day and the stern will be relocated to Powell River and the rest will be demolished.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#88 Mike K.

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 06:17 PM

'bout time. That place had tacky written all over it. I still don't know why people continued to dine at an oddly-shaped building shaped like a boat nd strewn across a parking lot. Not only that, but the food was drab IMO.

A new restaurant by the same owner will occupy space at Dockside Green, I'm lead to believe.

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#89 G-Man

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 06:39 PM

It is not shaped like a boat it actually used to be a boat.

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#90 Mike K.

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 07:02 PM

Part of it, yes, but not the whole complex. The whole structure looks like a boat rammed through Value Village.

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#91 G-Man

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 07:36 PM

That is a perfect analogy :)

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#92 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 07:37 PM

Part of it, yes, but not the whole complex. The whole structure looks like a boat rammed through Value Village.

:P
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#93 Holden West

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Posted 21 November 2006 - 11:57 AM

This used to be the coffee shop part of the Princess Mary I mentioned previously.


CREDIT: Darren Stone, Times Colonist
Princess Mary owner Bill Lang admires the stained glass ceiling in the heritage restaurant.

Princess retires again
Second life is coming to an end for former CP steamship

Carla Wilson
Times Colonist

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

One era ended and another began when the passenger steamer Princess Mary retired from calling at B.C. coastal communities and was converted into a restaurant.

Now, that second era is coming to an end -- an era that saw countless seafood-loving Victorians choose the former Canadian Pacific ship for special occasions.

After more than 50 years, the Princess Mary on-land job concludes with a New Year's celebration. The building and its 3.5 hectares on Harbour Road were sold to the developers of Dockside Green project.

"I am excited about a new era in my life," said owner Bill Lang. Lang and wife Sandy will be at the New Year's party. "I don't drink but I might have a drink that night."

The change is bittersweet, he said. "While I am delighted the area is being re-developed into the most environmentally friendly new community in Canada, I have a lot of fond memories of people and events which we have hosted over the decades."

To thank Victoria for its patronage, Lang is providing the venue, staff and food free for fundraising events for several community organizations, including the Salvation Army, the Garth Homer Society, and Queen Alexandra Centre.

Garlands, wreaths and Christmas trees are decorating the Princess Mary for 100-plus Christmas parties. About 20 seats are still available for the New Year's party.

Lang, born in Powell River, has supported many organizations, including the Victoria Rotary Club, the Victoria Film Council, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Victoria Association, and the Victoria Christmas Bureau. This month the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame made him a honorary life member.

Princess Mary staff have jobs at another restaurant Lang operates, the Fin and Gill Bar and Grill at West Bay Marine Village. Helen Zdrilic, at the Princess Mary for 18 years, said she's sad to say goodbye to the ship.

Lang first worked at the Princess Mary in 1978, when he became operations manager for several years. He left to manage golf courses and rejoined the ship 16 years ago after an agreement to purchase the restaurant was worked out on a paper napkin with Don Elworthy, son of founder Harold Elworthy. "He was so gracious," said Lang.

The Princess Mary closed as a restaurant about eight years ago to devote itself to catering on and off the premises. "Fortunately we made the right decision," Lang said.

Princess Mary artifacts will likely head to a B.C. museum, he said. They include the brass stateroom keys, and the first log book from 1911, with locations carefully written in pencil.

Discussions have been underway with two museums about preserving the original restaurant that was the ship's stern but no agreement has been reached yet, he said.

The Princess Mary was built in Paisley, Scotland, in 1910 and arrived here via the Straits of Magellan.

When its career on the coast ended in 1951, Harold Elworthy, of Island Tug and Barge on Harbour Road, converted part of it into a coffee shop for his employees.

But then "word got around about the fine clam chowder a fellow could get at the Princess Mary and, like Topsy, it just grew," said the Daily Colonist in 1979. Additions to the original coffee shop extended the building to 29,000 square feet, with seating for 792.

Lang is saving stories from people about their memories and connection with the ship and restaurant; he hopes to write a book about the Princess Mary. Memories include a copy of the old menu where a cup of chowder was 25 cents and New York steak was $3.65.

Through the years, there have been many celebrity sightings at the Princess Mary.

Well-known visitors included the Queen Mother, Bob Hope, Olivia de Havilland, Sean Connery, Gordie Howe and Premier Gordon Campbell.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#94 Holden West

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Posted 21 November 2006 - 08:44 PM

I'm a little confused. Was the Mary site always assumed to be part of the Dockside lands or is this a surprise move?

Anyway, I think this is a great move because the Value Village (ha!) architecture added nothing to the area. With an upgraded architectural package I'm sure many communities would welcome it.

BTW, Bob Hope accounts for 85% of Victoria's historical celebrity sightings.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#95 G-Man

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Posted 21 November 2006 - 08:58 PM

Yeah it was doomed from the moment Dockside Green was approved.

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#96 Holden West

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Posted 08 December 2006 - 12:52 PM

The T/C reports that Uncle Willy's Buffet in the Saanich Plaza, everyone's favourite senior's feeding trough is closed.

They also say that the Pup n Cup cafe closed after a falling out between the owners. One said that on a good day he'd taken in $150 and nothing on a bad day--and that there were a lot of bad days--well short of the $500 to $600 needed to break even.

I wonder how bad business would have been without all that massive free publicity they got from the media?

The owner's next venture will be selling extra-long clothes for weiner dogs. Really.

Good luck with that!

:tup:
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#97 G-Man

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Posted 08 December 2006 - 12:58 PM

What a sad day.

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#98 Mike

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Posted 08 December 2006 - 02:08 PM

missed:

The greasy spoon that was near Scott's on Yates. It became "The Diner," an "authentic" greasy spoon, and folded.

Foody Goody for the name alone.

#99 Mike K.

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Posted 08 December 2006 - 04:58 PM

The T/C reports that Uncle Willy's Buffet in the Saanich Plaza, everyone's favourite senior's feeding trough is closed.



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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#100 Jada

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Posted 08 December 2006 - 05:07 PM

missed:

The greasy spoon that was near Scott's on Yates. It became "The Diner," an "authentic" greasy spoon, and folded.

Foody Goody for the name alone.


I think it was called the Day and Night.

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