After months of renovations, Elliot Lake’s first Swiss Chalet restaurant is set to open Jan. 13 at its Hillside Drive location, according to owner Kayla Breen-Sloane.
The plan to convert the former Jackleggers Bar and Grill was first announced at a press conference in late 2018 by Breen-Sloan who owned Jackleggers along with her father and business advisor Shayne Breen. At the time it was expected to open by mid-2019.
However, Breen-Sloane told Elliot Lake Today, delays in renovations delayed the opening which will take place next Monday.
“The delays were due to construction, getting the right contractors… with the renovations there was quite a bit to do,” she said in an interview inside the restaurant where final renovations and deliveries are taking place. “There is a Swiss Chalet team that represents us that helped find the right contractors.”
The Swiss Chalet will have seating for 88 customers and take out. Breen-Sloane explained that delivery will be made available at a later date.
She said the restaurant will open on Jan. 13 with operating hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“We might adjust later on. It just depends on sales,” she added.
The menu will feature chicken and ribs, the mainstay of the popular nationwide chain.
As a limited time offer (LTO) there will be a soup and chicken special, and fish and chip special of battered haddock. It’s a limited time offer the chain of restaurants puts up at different times of the year. Roast beef has also been an LTO offer, but is not currently featured.
In the original plan, Breen-Sloane had expected to hire 30 staff. The restaurant will have a staff of 49 coming from Elliot Lake and area. Staff training is moving ahead with food preparation taking place this week and other staff training for various jobs in the restaurant.
Breen-Sloane said she is still getting resumes and could see more hiring in the future. The local Employment Options office has been receiving resumes with job interviews taking place there.
Her management team consists of Catherine Leclair, a former Jackleggers employee who is charged with “front of the house” duties, and Michelle Westby who will manage the kitchen and is a former employee of the defunct Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Elliot Lake.
The management team members have already undergone extensive training by Swiss Chalet at its facilities in Vaughan.
Breen-Sloane said the franchise is meant to provide a family restaurant based on the popular, nationwide Swiss Chalet menu and dining experience.
Swiss Chalet, owned by Recipe Unlimited Corporation, was involved in the planning when Breen-Sloane and her father first considered establishing a franchise here. Executives from the parent company looked the Jackleggers location over and found it would fit in with the company’s conversion plan for its restaurants. They found the interior of the building would fit in with the roadhouse style recipe is fashioning its new restaurants after.
The new restaurant has garnered considerable traffic on social media.
“I’m excited about it. It’s going to be a nice change for the community,” Breen-Sloane said.