RIVERS
BANNER January 8, 2016
ersary v i n Celebrating our 107th An
Gazette-Reporter Serving the Rivers, Rapid City and Oak River areas for 106 years
Volume 108, Issue 25
89¢ + tax
New year, new managers E
By Sheila Runions Banner Staff ffective Jan. 1, Queen’s Hotel Bar & Restaurant in Rapid City became the responsibility of new people. Jim and Lianne Christie have owned and operated the business for the last 15 years and while looking to sell, they agreed to lease. One of the new partners, Patricia Cesar, provides the following information for readers. “My husband Jean Bramley and I have taken over the management, embarking in the biggest adventure in our lives so far! We are on a one-year leaseto-own contract, but hopefully, if we can be successful, we are ready to purchase it earlier.” The couple has lived in Rapid City for nearly five years; Patricia is from Brazil while Jean is from Ste. Amelie, Que. She worked part-time with Manitoba Justice and he, in the oilfields. She says they made the career switches because they know “how special this place is for everyone in this area, and it has very quickly became just as important to us as well. Queen’s has been the place that we have met so many wonderful people from town and where we always had to bring our friends and family to for a drink.” Jim is working with them this month to transition the management change, which is just one of several new things to come. Effective Jan. 11 a new menu will be served in the restaurant, still named Queen’s Kitchen, and hours will change slightly. Breakfast will be served for three hours (8:30-11:30 a.m.) and a “revamped menu” will offer “new options for late night snacks as well as healthier meals.” Queen’s Kitchen open at 8:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday and closes at 2 p.m. (Sunday-Wednesday) or 8 p.m. (ThursdaySaturday). They are hoping to have the required permit by Jan. 17 so they can begin serving a Sunday brunch buffet.
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L/R: Patricia Cesar and Jean Bramley are excited about their new business venture in Rapid City’s Queen’s Hotel, which includes a bar and restaurant.
“We’re only going to serve the brunch buffet on Sunday, no menu orders, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and if we have a lot of people, we want to be able to serve/ seat on the bar side in a familyfriendly environment.” New bar hours will be opening every day at 11 a.m. and closing at 8 p.m. on Sunday, midnight Monday-Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For readers who may not know, Queen’s is also licenced to sell beer from the bar so home consumers will be able to purchase that product during those hours. They have also implemented a wing special, which is half price, Thursday evenings, 4:308 p.m. A snowmobiler discount of 10 per cent off meal orders will apply Jan. 15-March 15, if customers arrive on their power sled. There are happy hour specials on Tuesday and they are
considering free pool on Wednesday evenings; on Jan. 23, they are throwing a birthday party for their predecessor, Jim. In addition to these changes, they are keeping Monday night’s poker, Friday night’s meat draw and a reservation-only senior supper, held the last Monday of the month, though they plan to open the front for the general public while the seniors have their supper in the banquet room in the back. Jean and Patricia will be complemented with six staff, all of whom worked for Jim and Lianne, though two people decided to try something new when the Christie’s were no longer their bosses. Jean and Patricia recognize the positive attitude of their townsfolk, “We have been blessed with the support of the entire community, and hope we can help make this
place even better than it already is. There are many memories and stories inside these walls, and we want to ensure that the Queen’s may continue as a place for town gatherings and happy memories for the next 100 years. Our promise is to keep the traditions of the Queen’s and the small-town friendly service. We promise to always have a cup of fresh coffee waiting for you, and delicious homemade meals. We promise to keep our beer always cold, and the pistachios always warm. And most of all, we hope to help Rapid City as much as Rapid City has helped us!” Rapid City’s first Queen’s was opened in 1881while this current structure at 450 Second Avenue was opened in 1902, because owner T. Evoy considered his original building to be aging. Queen’s Hotel Bar & Restaurant, named after Queen
Victoria, has five rooms, all located on the second floor. Rapid City’s two history books, published in 1978 and 2002, estimate 20 owners in the 135 years. The history also mentions the bankruptcy period, forced because of lost revenue with the passing of prohibition. In 1921 30 concerned citizens raised $6,000 to buy, repair and operate Queen’s rather than have it close; it was owned by local government in 1918-23, the bankruptcy years. The beer parlour reopened in 1928 after citizens voted 130-53 in favour of the same, though it was only a men’s room, and remained as such until 1962 when women were allowed in the beverage room. More information about this historic building and the new managers/menu, can be found at www.queens-hotel.ca or phone 204-826-2135.