After nearly 25 years, popular family restaurant Moose Winooski’s on Bayfield Street in Barrie’s north end has served its last meal.
“We had an incredible run and a really successful restaurant. Part of the byproduct of that is there’s tons of traffic that goes through the building, so it was due for a pretty significant renovation,” Tom Wideman, president and co-owner of Charcoal Group, as well as the Barrie restaurant.
Wideman told BarrieToday that staying open would have required a significant capital expenditure as well as another 20-year commitment on the lease.
After assessing the market situation, along with a variety of other factors, he said the company made the difficult decision not to renew the lease on the Bayfield Street location.
“I think we have a lot of disappointed people, and that’s what makes it very difficult for me personally, and somewhat emotional,” Wideman said. “We’ve been really humbled and appreciate all of the positive response we’ve gotten in terms of memories.
"We like to hope we’ve made a positive impact in the community.”
Wideman, who grew up travelling through Barrie on his way to the family cottage, said the company was drawn to the location, because Bayfield Street was extremely busy with a limited number of restaurants in the area. They were able to secure a site on the street and felt it would be a great location for the family restaurant.
“We had 25 great years… pre-COVID,” he said. “I know it’s emotional for a lot of people. It’s very emotional for me as well, but … it’s a little bit the passage of time that can impact these things.”
The Barrie restaurant was about 7,200 square feet and at full capacity could host upwards of 300 customers inside the restaurant and on the patio, Wideman added.
“In a perfect world, if we were out looking for a new site we’d probably build it quite a bit smaller than that. That’s been the general trend in our industry is we’re building these units a bit smaller now," he said.
The Charcoal Group of restaurants originated in Kitchener and includes nine different brands — including Beertown Public House, which opened a location on Fairview Road in Barrie last year.
Wideman says he believes the Barrie Moose Winooski’s locations was the third of the group’s restaurants to open more than two decades ago.
