The food was pretty decent for the price – nothing stellar, but if you’re short in the pocket and live in the area, check it out. It was a standard breakfast, comparable to the Campsie. The shredded hashbrowns were cooked well, but definitely came from a frozen bag. The three strips of bacon were perfectly average (if not a bit grilly), and the City Bread rye toast was the same: average.

There was Tabasco to spice things up, which was an average condiment to have, but the coffee cups were really small, far below average. That was okay though, the coffee was average as well. It actually held a flavour, but was really weak. The orange slice was the tastiest thing on the plate.

The Thunderbird is owned by the Ginakes family, who have been restaurant magnates in Winnipeg for about 60 years. Here’s a quick biography of John Ginakes, the man behind the Thunderbird and the Pony Corral, to name a few. The family gave an interesting salutation at the end of the menu. “We’re happy, gratified & complimented.” Well, thanks?

June 12 2010

Thunderbird Restaurant

1970 McPhillips Street

Breakfast Special - $3.15 before coffee & tax. Coffee $1.50.

Brek served all day, special price ends at 11:00am

The Thunderbird restaurant looks unfortunately like an abandoned gas station. It was actually a drive-in at one point, but now the front is all cracked sidewalk with grass coming up. Thankfully, the interior was much more appealing. The décor danced the line between cottage and hippy chic. There was lots of kitsch around, like the Jets banner on the wall, the juke box and the surrounding an all-wood interior.

photo by Bryan Scott

The plate of food looked a lot like the one we got at George’s Burgers & Subs but was much cheaper, and not as good. It’s good enough for you to check out though, and the kitsch is a good sight. It’s hard to beat that price.

Note – the hours on the door say that they’re open “8am-12pm” but they actually mean midnight, 12:00am.