Shannon's Donairs Getting Closer to Opening for Business?

Tonight Shannon's Donairs has some noticeable changes from when I walked past this morning. The city of Surry's inspection and renovation tags are no longer in the window. The appliances have been pushed back from the centre of the room to their designated places. The cooler closest to the door has pop in it. There is a menu board posted on the wall. Prices seem to start at $5 and up depending on the type of donair.

Does this mean that Shannon's Donairs might actually be opening soon as the sign out front has proclaimed for many weeks?

When they open this will be the second donair restaurant in Cloverdale, not counting one of the pizza places that serves them.

On the other hand King Tut's Donairs opened in Cloverdale earlier in July. They have a sign with their hours posted. They have unusual hours. They open at 11:30am I think every day but close at 2:30pm several days a week and at 10:30pm the rest of the week. I'm not sure if this means the operators have other things to do after 2:30 on those days or if they've figured out business is slow on those afternoons/evenings and it makes more economical sense to close. The unfortunate thing is I've walked past some evenings when the sign says they shoould be open till 10:30pm and the restaurant is closed. Reminds me of their predecessors Rico Burrito and Clover Creek BBQ never being open. Again the reason could be as simple that business slowed down and their was no point staying open if there were no customers. 10:30 is kind of a late hour for Cloverdale eateries.

The Donairs are coming!

I don't know if everyone knows Cloverdale has a tattoo place at 17583 - 57th Avenue. Just around the corner from 176th Street and the former Surrey Leader building. The store actually moved one store down. We were walking the dogs one night and the owner was out on the sidewalk and we chatted with him a bit. Apparently his original location flooded and the next door store was empty and the same person owns all three stores so he suggested he move in next door which he did.

Over a year ago a saw a handprinted sign on the former tattoo shop saying a donair restaurant was opening soon. It was on the window for a month then removed. I guessed the potential donair proprietors had a change of heart. About a year later I saw some renovations going on inside the store and then nothing. Then about 3 or 4 months ago I saw more activity going on and then a custom made sign appeared outside saying Shannon Donair and a sign in the window promising it would open soon. You can see inside the store now and it looks like its set up with a kitchen, counter, soft drink fridge, etc. Doesn't look like there's been any change in the past month so I'm not sure how soon it is opening!

Today I walked the dogs down 176th Street and in the former site of Rico Burrito and then Clover Creek BBQ a new restaurant is opening. King Tut's Donairs! They have a custom made sign and a hand printed sign which spells donair incorrectly - doniar. There's a phone number on the sign and we'll all be relieved to know its a different number than the one shared by Rico Burrito and Clover Creek BBQ Pit so maybe this one actually has the chance to be open during the hours it states it will be open. King Tut also says its opening soon.

This took me by surprise. Cloverdale has gone all these years without a donair restaurant - excluding fair food when the rodeo is in town - and now there are two donair joints about to open. I'm a vegetarian and unfortunately both their signs claim they sell Mediterranean chicken, lamb, and beef so it does not appear I will be a patron unless I spot a vegetarian option.

How has our town managed for so long without a donair restaurant?

Good luck to both new establishements. I hope they are opening soon!

Rico Burrito aka Clover Creek BBQ Kaput

I forgot to write about this earlier this month but I walked my dogs past the location of the former Rico Burrito which then became Clover Creek BBQ and it appears to have finally closed for good judging by the for lease sign that's up in the window. Both businesses had the same strange philosophy of being closed rather than open during normal business hours.

They were located on 176th Street closer to Highway 10, next to where the Salvation Army used to be.

I also noticed that the rub and tug next door to Rico Burrito/Clover Creek BBQ is closed and has a for lease sign on it too.

There are a lot of buildings in downtown Cloverdale that are sitting empty with for lease signs in the windows.

Clover Creek BBQ Pit rarely open?

I've walked past the Clover Creek BBQ Pit several times during the past couple of weeks during the afternoon when its supposed to be open. Its always closed. Much like its predecessor Rico Burrito.

In December I walked past a few times and there was stuff stored inside: a bench, boxes, construction type material. That stuff is no longer sitting inside the restaurant.

It's interesting in sort of a weird way. Its like the restaurant won't shut its doors for good but its rarely open. What kind of business sense is this? Something I'll never understand that's for sure.

Clover Creek BBQ Pit

I walked past the site of the old Rico Burrito restaurant - the restaurant that was closed more than it was open - to see if the new Clover Creek BBQ had opened yet. This is the restaurant on 176th Street, next door to where the Salvation Army used to be, across the street from Dann's. I guess thats about 56A Ave.

According to the sign in the window they're closed on Sundays but open the rest of the week from 11am to 7pm. Even though I walk past it during the times it says it should be open, so far I haven't actually seen the "open" light lit up, the lights on in the restaurant, or any sign of customers or staff.

There is a menu up on the window. It has about 4 or 5 starters and about 5 or 6 main dishes. The main dishes run from $10 to $16. I'm a vegetarian so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the entrees but I noticed things like steak, pulled pork sandwich, and BBQ ribs. Oddly enough in the starters there is one dessert item mentioned, I think it said dessert quesadilla. That sounds Mexican to me.

I can't prove it because I can never find anyone in the restaurant to ask but I can't help wondering if its the same proprietors as Rico Burrito. Very similar in that its always closed even though the hours state it should be open and only a handful of items on the menu. Not to mention that Clover Creek BBQ has the same phone number that Rico Burrito had.

Things that make you go hmmmm......

Anyone ever eat at Rico Burrito?

A Mexican restaurant opened in Cloverdale a couple of years ago next to where the Salvation Army used to be, across the street from Dann's, called Rico Burrito. We like Mexican food so we went in shortly after it opened. Its a small restaurant with a few tables and offers take out service as well. The owner had recently sold a Mexican restaurant in Langley and was starting his new venture in Cloverdale. The food was good but there were only about ten items on the menu. Due to the lack of choices I doubted it would appeal to the Cloverdale crowd. After a couple of months I never saw it open again, though the sign remained and the menu was on the window. I doubt the restaurant owner owns the building its housed in, so it must be running up a huge expenditure on lease payments for a restaurant that's closed all the time.

Earlier this year I saw a sign on the window stating Rico Burrito was reopening soon. As of this summer it stayed closed, though the menu remained on the window.

I walked by it this morning to check it out and the name has changed. It is now called Clover Creek BBQ. I didn't see a menu up on the window but the interior of the restaurant still looks the same. I'm not sure a BBQ restaurant is a good choice for a vegetarian so I doubt I'll go in there but I'm interested to see what is being served.

And Clover Creek for a name? I wonder if the propietors know that there is a Cloverdale Creek running through Cloverdale.