Restaurateur closes south Osborne Hermanos location

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This article was published 15/03/2019 (2115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

South American steakhouse Hermanos has closed its south Osborne Street location. The 4,000-square-foot, 100-seat restaurant closed March 4, owner Noel Bernier said Friday.

“It was a bit of an experiment for us to open the second location,” he said. “Our downtown restaurant in the East Exchange District is very loved and popular. When this space opened up in 2017, we decided to see if the Hermanos brand could work at a second location.

“Overwhelmingly, what we’ve heard from our customers over the last year and a half is that they felt the experience at the Bannatyne restaurant was very unique and things just didn’t quite feel the same at the second location.”

Bernier opened the 723 Osborne St. location in July 2017.

The original location, which remains in operation, is located on the main floor of the historic Ashdown Warehouse in the Exchange District. It opened in September 2009 and has built a strong reputation and a loyal customer base in the years since.

In addition to being the owner of Hermanos, Bernier is co-founder of Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria, Carnaval Brazilian BBQ, Prairie 360, the Sherbrook Street Delicatessen and the Good Will Social Club. He also owns the Salisbury House chain.

“Our performance at the Osborne location was mediocre in the sense of sales. So as a group, with my partners, my chefs, my managers, we sat down and decided the best thing would be to give the customers exactly what they want,” Bernier said.

“We had hundreds of comments from customers who said, ‘I like it, but it’s just not Bannatyne.’”

Bernier also ruled out the possibility of a future expansion of the Hermanos brand, saying he’s focused on continuing to make the Exchange District location one of the “premier dining experiences in the country.”

“We’re focused on keeping the Bannatyne location one of the city’s most unique dining experiences, with our live music, our salsa dancing, our downtown location. There’s something really special about that restaurant and that space,” he said.

“This was a good experiment for us to help us further understand our brand and it’s become clear that expansion is not for this brand.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe