After 20 years the popular St. John’s-themed restaurant is abandoning its home at the top of the escalator and up the hall from the theatres in favour of a new home in the mall’s soon-to-be redesigned parking lot.
Robert Moore, president of Harbour Walk Hospitality Group that Fog City is part of, says they’ve been debating a move for years and a need for refreshed décor, and the mall’s recently announced plans for a major infrastructure redesign inside and out was enough to entice them to move.
“The mall has had some major pluses over the years, the cinemas and the peak periods during Christmas and that with the mall traffic, but as far as a destination restaurant on its own, it’s kind of hidden in the mall. It’s not an easy drive-by and walk-in,” says Moore.
“We think we can still cater to that movie-going and mall-going traffic and pick up on the busy Kenmount artery there.”
The new location will be on the left-hand side of the parking lot entrance, which will soon be redeveloped to align with Polina Road.
Moore says it won’t be much bigger than the current location in terms of capacity, but they’re doing somewhat of a rebrand to give it a more modern feel and décor, while maintaining elements that customers appreciate.
“It’ll feature a pretty unique character to St. John’s, which is obviously what we’re all about,” he says.
“There will be a mezzanine, which works very well for us in downtown at the Fish Exchange, but there’s also going to be a fairly large and unique patio. You’ll be dining on a lot, but you won’t know you’re in the lot.”
Moore says the move isn’t precipitated by how the $54.5-million redevelopment by the mall owner’s, Crombie Reit, will impact them when renovations hit their section of the mall. The current location had run its course and was in need of a refresher, he said.
“Once we made the decision that we wanted to go out with free stand, I didn’t really pay much attention to what else is happening in the mall other than the fact that we’re excited the mall is doing what they’re doing.
“It’s going to be a major draw for many years.”
Construction is expected to start next spring in anticipation of being open for business by Christmas 2018.
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