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Ponying Up
By Jim Peters
Iconic Winnipeg restaurant turns 25
U
rban myth or not, many Winnipeggers can often be heard bragging about the city’s “more restaurants-per-capita than anywhere else” status—although a quick web search reveals many cities making the same claim. What people in the biz will tell you with certainty is that anyone running a successful restaurant for 25 consecutive years is entitled to some bragging rights.
tage. In the early days of the restaurant, we offered a special promotion that drew a big turnout from the Manitoba Street Rod Association. One thing led to another and we asked the club if they wanted to join us for the upcoming Western Days celebration—and they agreed.” Clearly a win-win-win for rodders, rubbernecks and restaurateurs—the event was such a success that the club asked the family if they could do a May long
weekend event at the Pony every year, going forward. Ginakes says, “It wasn’t too long afterwards that we heard from the Manitoba Pontiac Association, the Corvette Club of Manitoba and the Fabulous 50’s Car Club—and so Sunday cruise nights were born in the early 1990s. It was such a natural fit with our business model.” The second Pony Corral was the Nairn location, which swung open its gates in July 1994. Next up was the Wilton/Grant
Winnipeg’s Pony Corral is one of those rare establishments—celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2013. Owner Peter Ginakes says, “Our official 25th was in September but we’ve been celebrating all year long in a multitude of ways—with special advertising, new menu items and entertainment. The anniversary celebrations culminate this New Year’s Eve with a Great Gatsby-themed tribute to the Roaring 20s.” Currently, the “Pony” actually means four restaurants. In the order of their openings, the four are located on Nairn, Wilton, St. Mary and a new Pembina Highway location at the previous Cork & Dock Pier 7. Although no longer on the site, the Pony’s first restaurant was at 2870 Pembina in Ft. Richmond—where Peter’s late father Jimmy Ginakes took over the vacated Burger King building. It closed in the spring of 2006 after almost 20 years of continuous operation. Some boomers may remember the Pony Corral name dating back further still—to its very first location on Pembina near what is now the Bishop Grandin overpass. The Ginakes family bought the Pony Corral name from the original owners but never occupied the building. But even people who’ve never set foot in any of the restaurants are at least subconsciously aware that the Pony Corral is somehow associated with cars and hot rods. Ginakes explains, “Our relationship with cars and Manitoba car clubs started when we opened the first Pony in Ft. Richmond. The building was at the south end of an enormous shopping mall parking lot—which turned out to be a huge advan-
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