Bonanza and Me

This refers to the restaurant chain that used to have branches in Nanaimo and Victoria.

Being a buffet lover, I used to enjoy going to Bonanza restaurants.  In Nanaimo I used to go to the one by Rutherford Mall (now Nanaimo North Centre). You ordered a burger and had access to an inexpensive all you could eat salad bar.  Unfortunately it became a Bogey’s Buffet after less than a year (and wouldn’t honour Bonanza coupons). It was a little pricier and not as tasty as I recall, but still decent.  It didn’t last long as I recall, though it did last until the end of my time at Malaspina College (now Vancouver Island University).

The next year I started going to the one at Saanich (Greater Victoria).  Again, it was my cursed that less than a year after moving to town, it closed down.  But it was nice while it lasted.

One challenge I think I faced at both, though the Victoria one in particular, was that I could never remember the name of their plain burger (ironically, not that it’s been gone from Victoria for nearly two decades I can easily recall that it was called Homestyle Burger).  This wouldn’t have been so bad if the counter people could make the connection between my wanting a plain burger and the regular Homestyle Burger having the minimum on them.  One Saanich worker really didn’t get the concept of “plain” and said, “We have the Homestyle Burger, the Homestyle Burger with Mushrooms…”  Still, even of the staff didn’t understand that a plain burger was whatever burger didn’t have that much on them, the burger was nicely grilled, the salad bar was great, and I still miss the place.  Apparently it’s still in business in some eastern places like Niagara Falls, New York so maybe next time I’ll down that way I’ll once again enjoy a plain, Homestyle Burger and salad bar.