John and Diane Butt have settled in to Osoyoos after taking over operation of the Greenside Grill at the Osoyoos Golf Club. The couple has signed a two-year contract. They brought along chef Conor Higgins to run the kitchen. (Keith Lacey photo)
The culinary landscape in the Town of Osoyoos is undergoing some significant changes.
A couple of new restaurants have opened and a couple more have new management and everyone involved is excited to bring their culinary talents and good food to local residents and the tens of thousands of tourists who will soon be pouring into our community.
A new restaurant has opened at a new gas station and convenience store, a new Mexican restaurant has opened in the same location where Suzy Q’s restaurant used to be located, a couple from Vancouver has taken over the contract to provide food and beverage services at Osoyoos Golf Club and a new Tex-Mex restaurant and pub has opened at The Ridge Hotel.
Charles Gagnon and Margeurite Laplante are the proud owners of Beach Bum Lunch Box, the new restaurant that has opened at the Nk’Mip Corner gas station and convenience store on the corner of Highway 3 and 45 Street.
Two years ago, Gagnon and Laplante, a married couple who moved to the South Okanagan seven years ago from Montreal, launched their Beach Bum Lunch Box food truck at Gyro Park in Osoyoos.
After bidding for and failing to land the contract to run the concession stand for the Town of Osoyoos at Gyro Beach last year, Gagnon and Laplante moved their food truck to Main Street in Oliver.
However, they are back in business in Osoyoos after Chris Bower, the business development manager for the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), approached them several months ago and asked if they would be interested in leasing a spot at the new gas station and convenience store the OIB was planning to build in Osoyoos.
Gagnon said he and his wife are thrilled to be back in Osoyoos with a permanent location.
“This is a great opportunity for our business,” he said. “We’re thrilled with the support of the Osoyoos Indian Band and with this location and we think we will do very well.”
“We never wanted to leave Osoyoos last year, so we’re very happy to be back.”
Their new and expanded menu features everything they offered in their food truck, including Montreal smoked meat, fries and pizza, but also a “heart attack menu” featuring five flavours of poutine, fried pickles and curd cheese as well as paninis, sandwiches, fries and more.
Their restaurant will also feature a daily special and full breakfast menu.
Gagnon and Laplante still own their food truck and will be bringing it to numerous events across the South Okanagan, including the races at Desert Park and Canada Day celebrations in Osoyoos.
Beach Bum Lunch Box is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
Jany Lopez is the proud new owner of La Botana, which she purchased from the longtime owners of Suzy Q’s Restaurant on Highway 97, a few hundred metres from the turnoff to enter downtown Osoyoos.
Lopez, who is from Mexico and moved to Canada 12 years ago, said she has always wanted to own her own restaurant and moved quickly when she discovered Suzy Q’s was for sale.
Lopez also owns Tienda Mexicana in Oliver, a grocery retail outlet offering Mexican food to the dozens of migrant farm workers who work in the Osoyoos and Oliver area.
“Owning my own restaurant has been in the back of my mind for several years, but I was waiting for the right opportunity,” she said. “I opened March 1 and the response has been fantastic the first two weeks.”
La Botana offers “authentic Mexican food, including taco, enchiladas, popusas and puzole,” she said. “I’m thrilled with the response so far. I was expecting my clients would be 90 per cent from the Mexicans working in the region, but most of my clientele are Canadians looking for some good Mexican food.”
La Botana sits 30 inside and she hopes to open an outdoor patio in the next month or so.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sundays for now, but will open seven days a week in time for the May long weekend.
John and Diane Butt are a Vancouver couple who have signed a two-year contract to operate the Greenside Grill and bar services at the Osoyoos Golf Club.
The happy couple found out about the opportunity online and quickly jumped at it.
“We have been looking to own our own restaurant for a few years now and read about this opportunity on Craigslist,” said Diane smiling. “We came down in December and took a good look around and really like what we saw, talked about it and finally put in an offer and were thrilled to be selected.
“We have family in this area and have been to Osoyoos many times and just love the place, so this is a wonderful opportunity and we’re really excited.”
The menu will feature traditional fare like steaks and burgers, but also “seasonal and local fare” featuring fruit and vegetables grown in the South Okanagan, she said.
Head chef Conor Higgins has worked with them in various restaurants in Vancouver and all three of them are looking forward to making the Greenside Grill a “must eat experience” for locals and visitors alike, said Butt.
J.J. Lynch is the new general manager of Loco Charlies Fiesta Pub and Grub, which is located in the former Ridge Brew House and Family Restaurant located on the corner of Highway 3 and Highway 97.
Lynch is working for new owners Cameron Burback and Jose Castro, who owned and operated a successful restaurant in High River, Alberta that was destroyed by flood waters that devastated that community last summer.
“They looked all over to open up a new restaurant and decided Osoyoos and this location would provide the perfect opportunity,” said Lynch.
Loco Charlies will feature a “Tex Mex theme with great Mexican food with a southwest flare … there will be a full Mexican menu as well as great steaks, burgers and wings.”
There is seating for 200 and the licensed outdoor patio will feature a waterfall and stream running through the courtyard, he said.
More than 70 of the 200 seats will be set aside for family dining, he added.
Two diamond pool tables, the only ones in Osoyoos, have been purchased, as have numerous dart boards.
Karaoke will be held every Wednesday night.
A Mexican lunch special will be offered dailiy.
A “soft opening” will be advertised before the end of March with the official grand opening set to coincide with Cinco de Mayo celebrations on May 5, said Lynch.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
T.J. Lynch is the new general manager of Loco Charlie’s Fiesta Pub and Grub, which is located in the former Ridge Brew House and Family Restaurant located on the corner of Highway 3 and Highway 97. (Keith Lacey photo)
Jany Lopez is the new owner of La Botana, the new Mexican restaurant that opened on Hwy. 97 in Osoyoos a few weeks ago in the old home of Suzy Q’s Restaurant. Lopez has hired Magdelena Souta, seen stirring a cooking pot, as her cook. (Keith Lacey photo)
Charles Gagnon and Margeurite Laplante are the proud owners of Beach Bum Lunch Box, the new restaurant that has opened at the Nk’Mip Corner gas station and convenience store on the corner of Highway 3 and 45 Street. (Keith Lacey photo)
