Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s ready for not-so-soft opening this month

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This article was published 03/03/2018 (2952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With their staff of more than 100 people lined up and construction reaching its home stretch, Brandon’s split Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet restaurant is on schedule to open in a couple of weeks.

Staff will begin their immersive training next week in advance of their flexible grand opening date, which general manager Sal Aprile clarified would be far from a soft opening.

“We are going to go hard,” he said, adding that next week’s training will ensure that staff are ready to hit the ground running right off the hop.

“What Brandon has taught me is that everyone is excited to try something new, and they want to know how everything is, so we anticipate a busy, busy open,” he said.

“Both are family-friendly, so I think that’s great for Brandon.”

Announced in 2016, ground broke on the Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet combination restaurant last autumn.

Situated at the northeast corner of the Shoppers Mall parking lot, the restaurant is within a standalone building constructed on what used to be parking lot.

Its owners are the same Ontario-based investors behind the Montana’s Restaurant at the Corral Centre, but are different from those behind the upcoming Fionn MacCool’s/East Side Mario’s combination restaurant also expected to open in a standalone building at Shoppers Mall.

Aprile relocated to Brandon from Ontario approximately six years ago to work as a manager at Montana’s, and recently jumped at the chance to head the new Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet effort.

“We’re hoping to take that great experience that people have at Montana’s and bring that experience to a different restaurant,” he said.

Swiss Chalet fills out the southern half of the building, offering what Aprile described as a “home cooking” and “comfort food.”

Their staples include rotisserie chicken, fresh hand-cut fries and ribs with chalet sauce.

The Harvey’s component fills out the north half of the building, and is more of a quick service effort.

Similar to the Subway Restaurant approach, customers are able to customize their burgers and wraps.

A full Harvey’s menu and partial Swiss Chalet menu will be available at a shared drive-thru, and their menus will both be available for delivery, either through Skip The Dishes or their internal delivery system.

Aprile said that he’s encouraged by the staff members they’ve been able to line up, with approximately 300 people showing up to fill out applications for slightly more than 100 job openings.

“We have a lot of different people who are excited to be part of the opening,” he said, adding that given the Brandon marketplace he expects good things out of the new combination restaurant.

Local restaurants have earned a good reputation in recent years for doing well, with the local Wendy’s restaurant serving as a shining example of this by routinely ranking as one of the busiest in the nation.

Aprile said that their motto is “every guest leaves happy” and that their goal is to become the No. 1 Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s west of Ontario.

Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet are franchises that operate under a Canadian company, Cara Operations Ltd., which also operates Montana’s alongside other restaurant chains, including the upcoming Fionn MacCool’s and East Side Mario’s.

With construction still underway, the Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet opening date remains in flux, although Aprile said that their “mid-March” opening date remains realistic.

Updates will be posted to the restaurant’s Twitter page, @chaletHarv204.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB