Heard On The Street

Chris and Joann Thompson, Owners of

The Thompson House Restaurant &

Pub — located at 5370 Wyandotte Street East in the Riverside area — are opening a new restaurant in downtown Kingsville. Located at 76 Main Street East (the former home of Annabelle’s Tea Room and Restaurant), Thompson Manor will offer upscale fare such as steak and seafood. “Thompson Manor in Kingsville will have a totally different menu than Thompson House in Windsor,” Joann indicates. “Thompson Manor will be fine dining with a menu of fresh seafood and dry-aged beef along with many other creations.” For the latest information on the grand opening of the Kingsville establishment, check: ThompsonHouse.ca or: Facebook.com/thompsonhousepub.

Winner, winner, chicken (wing) dinner! The previous home to Little Foot Foods, 1404 Tecumseh Road East in Windsor, may soon become a Ring-AWing franchise location. Operating since 1996, Ring-A-Wing has four London, ON locations and one in Brantford. The chicken wing restaurant boasts a secret recipe for breading, meaty wings and a wide range of sauces from mild to wild. Reports confirm the new owners of the building are from London, and while there was a small Ring-A-Wing sign up in mid-August, there was no official confirmation by the time of writing by company officials. Keep up to date and see if Windsor joins their list of locations in the near future on: RingAWing.com. In the meantime you can always purchase Little Foot Foods pierogies from their new location at 2010 Fasan Drive in Oldcastle (view a full menu at: LittleFootFoods.ca).

After 39 years operating out of 451 Tecumseh Road West, the local franchise of OilGard Anti-Rust made a move in the summer over to 1155 Crawford Avenue. “My landlord informed me in March of this year that they were not interested in renewing my lease,” comments Kyle Flewelling, Owner of OilGard Anti-Rust Windsor. “The rug was literally pulled out from under us and we had about four months to scramble to find something suitable.” The good news is they found a shop that is three times the size of the old one. “The new shop features six bays, but I have only set up for three functioning spray bays, with three hoists,” explains Flewelling. “It also features a 10,000 pound ‘two post,’ my original 12,000 pound ‘four post drive on’ and an extended length 14,000 pound ‘four post drive on.’ My bay doors are now new, well insulated, and my ceilings inside the shop are close to 20 feet tall, so there is no limit to the vehicles I can treat.” Of course Flewelling still has the same passion and care in protecting cars, trucks, trailers and Heavy Duty vehicles from rust, using the patented OilGard product. For more information or to book an appointment, go to: OilGardWindsor.as.me/schedule.php.

In early August, Brotto Development Corporation won their appeal versus The Town of Kingsville from the Ontario Land Tribunal and is now permitted to construct a three storey 22 unit apartment building at 183 Main Street East in Kingsville. A compromise was agreed to about the historical designation for an existing Heritage Home nearby, which will be retained and preserved on its own lot in front of the new apartment building. “After three years, we are happy to have a conclusion,” states Christian LeFave, President of Brotto Development Corporation. “It is disappointing that even after we cooperated on the designation of the Heritage Home, the town continued to fight us on this development. Resources and taxpayer dollars, which could have been better utilized, were spent fighting against what most acknowledged was an appeal that we were bound to win.” Whereas LeFave is not quite sure what they will do with the Heritage Home, they have been approached by a number of people who have expressed interest in it. The new residential project will be built by Brotto Development Corporation and

Suburban Construction & Management

Ltd. “This unique development will offer its future residents the ability to live in the heart of downtown Kingsville,” he adds. “Walk to some of the best restaurants in Essex County or bike to one of many wineries. Any amenity you would need from grocery to medical can be found just steps away.” Learn more on: Brotto.ca.

La Belle Fromage, a speciality food shop in Belle River, has a new owner as of August. Previous owners Rachelle Crevatin and Paula Hall retired early after seven years running the shop to spend time with their families and travel. So, who is the “big cheese” there now (pardon the pun!)? Many of you may recognize Gia Maltese-Ataman from Libro in Belle River or her home business, ManGia Cakes & More. She also has an extensive background in the food industry, growing up in her parent’s restaurant, Rosa’s in Amherstburg. “It was always a dream that I had along with my late husband Neil to own a storefront,” says Ataman. “With the old owners retiring I saw it as a great opportunity to help build a solid future for my daughter and I.” To see daily specials and photos of products available for purchase, refer to: Facebook.com/labellefromage.

After some renovations, Swaad moved to a larger location at 1204 Tecumseh Road East (the old Thanasis’s Olympus Greek Restaurant) in Windsor at the end of August. There has also been a business name change to Indian Swaad and a banquet hall added. The previous location, 2883 Howard Avenue, closed August 18. “We basically started in 2019 and opened another restaurant in Leamington in 2021 that we had to close due to labour issues,” says Arvind Jain,Owner. “We were looking to buy our own building for a long time, and we ended up finding this place for sale on Tecumseh Road and the deal went through and now we’re here!” Jain also tells Biz X the staff and management remain the same as the previous locations. Stay connected to the restaurant by seeing their posts on Facebook.com/indianswaad.ca or visit their website: IndianSwaad.ca.

183 Main Street East, a multi residential unit in the heart of downtown Kingsville, has now been fully approved. Rendering courtesy of Brotto Development Corporation.