Iconic Thunderbird Restaurant set to reopen its doors

A Winnipeg institution is set to fire up its grill once again.

A Winnipeg restaurant fan favourite that had operated since 1961 is reopening almost a year after closing its doors.

The Thunderbird Restaurant is looking to return to its former glory at 1970 McPhillips St., as there are plans to reopen it in the coming weeks.

“We’ve given it a thorough renovation inside. We’ve refreshed most of the surfaces. We’ve gone and replaced a lot of equipment and they’re slowly getting it back together,” said Peter Ginakes.

Peter’s dad, John, started the Thunderbird in 1961 with his brothers and later ran the restaurant with his wife. John transferred the restaurant to new tenants in 2013, and they continued operation until June last year, when it closed.

Now under new ownership, John, who is 87, is back to provide guidance and help start a new legacy for the Thunderbird.

“Tell you the truth, my dad’s complained about retirement ever since he did it. So he was happy to get on board,” Peter said.

Winnipeggers will see a similar menu to what the restaurant used to feature, with Peter saying the focus is on what they have done traditionally.

Peter said the family is excited to have the doors open again soon and is looking forward to welcoming Winnipeggers back.

“I keep on getting random phone calls from people congratulating us. We had somebody from Mexico that phoned us the other day, and they said if my dad’s back in business, he’s flying in to see my father.

“The people in Winnipeg, they like their institutions, right? They like their places, they like their homegrown places. And hopefully, we’ll meet everybody’s expectations.”

Peter said the ownership group is committed to bringing the best to Winnipeggers, and he hopes the Thunderbird will have success for another 60 years and beyond.

“We’re excited. We hope everybody’s excited.”

There isn’t an exact date yet for when the restaurant will reopen, but plans are in place to have a series of soft opens before fully reopening to the public in the next three to four weeks.