After 15 years and thousands of pancakes, the Smitty’s Restaurant in the Holiday Inn 67 Street is marking its final days. However, hotel guests and others will still be able to sit down to a meal in the restaurant’s former premises.
Amin Suleman, the Holiday Inn’s general manager, said the restaurant will cease to be a Smitty’s on Dec. 25. But it will continue to be operated by the hotel.
“There will be no disruption in service,” said Suleman, adding that an exception might be work related to the changeover.
The business will continue to operate as a family restaurant, he said, with its menu similar to the current one.
“It’ll even be the same staff.”
Rob Sroka, whose family owns and operates the Red Deer Smitty’s and eight others in Edmonton and St. Albert, said they also had the Gasoline Alley Smitty’s but sold it in April. Red Deer has been a good market, he said, but with their Holiday Inn lease expiring his family felt it was a good time to focus on their other restaurants.
“It didn’t make sense to have one location an hour and a half away when we have (eight) locations in Edmonton.”
Sroka said the Holiday Inn Smitty’s employs about 30. It dates back to 1996, he said, with his family buying it and the Gasoline Alley location in 2004.