Foodies rejoice – uptown Flin Flon now has a new place to eat.
The new Rock ‘N Diner and Bakery has opened in the former home of Rock City Diner and the Donut King on Second Avenue and Church Street.
The building, which has been mostly unused since Rock City Diner closed earlier this year, has seen sweeping changes. The old menu boards above the seating area are gone, as are the old coolers and bench seats. New stools - at least, reupholstered ones - sit bolted into the floor. On the floor lies a black-and-white checkerboard pattern, meant to remind visitors of a ‘50s diner. The walls are painted white, with no less than eight coats of white paint to seal in years of cooking grease stains and cigarette smoke.
“We painted the whole building, the inside, the kitchen, everything,” said Jamie Szocs, one of the restaurant’s new operators before the diner’s official opening Oct. 7.
“We’ve brought in new equipment, some new fryers, a new stove, new coolers, booths, tables – we’ll be bringing those in today.”
“It’s a 360-degree change,” said the restaurant’s manager, Yvette Beaudin.
“I keep telling people, you’re not going to recognize it,” added Szocs.
“What we’re trying to do is provide that ‘50s or ‘60s feel. I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised when they walk in.”
The plans for the business are big. Szocs, business partner Chandra Morgan and Beaudin each already have ideas for their new diner, including hosting buffets on Flin Flon Bomber game nights, providing some convenience items for Main Street area residents, delivering food, having a fresh sandwich counter and pursuing a liquor licence for the building.
Perhaps the most important plan for the new crew is to hear what customers have to say.
“If I’m not in the back cooking, we’re going to be walking around, talking to everybody. We want to hear people’s advice. We want to know, because we have lots of ideas, but other people have great ideas too. Maybe there’s something that we’re missing on the menu that we didn’t see,” said Szocs.
The two main operators, Szocs and Morgan, also own the Flin Flon Hotel building and are the brains behind the ongoing effort to refurbish the site and turn it into an entertainment venue, including a bowling alley, restaurant and lounge. While renovation work on the site continues, it has slowed down while the pair renovate their newest project.
“We’ve sort of come to a standstill for the moment while we get this place going. Once we’re done with that, we have some staff we’ve hired here that are going to move over to the other place,” said Morgan.
Szocs and Morgan own two prominent Main Street area buildings and are hoping to bring them back to their former glory. The city’s main drag looks a lot different than it did when the Flin Flon Hotel and the Donut King were at their peak. Several notable hangouts, like Freedman’s Fall-in, are gone - some, like the Hong Kong, have even been demolished. With the clock ticking on Hudbay’s pending closure of operations at 777 mine and likely closures of both the zinc plant and mill facilities, Morgan sees the project as a vote of confidence for uptown business.
“I think it’s important to give people living uptown a little boost. I’m hoping we’re a reason for people to come back to Main Street, then maybe go, ‘Oh, I need something, I’ll stop at the dollar store,’” said Szocs.
