Bonanza memories: Former staff member looks back on beloved restaurant
People in Saskatoon are fondly remembering Bonanza Steakhouse as investigators continue to sift through the building's wreckage.
A massive fire broke out in the restaurant on Tuesday night. Dozens of firefighters battled the flames for hours.
The restaurant had become a mainstay in Saskatoon, and many young people in the city worked their first jobs there, slinging all-you-can-eat shrimp and country-fried steak.
Tessa Winslow started working at the restaurant when she was in Grade 10, and told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning that she made life-long friends there.
"Anytime that I've seen [owner Gary Baba], he was always concerned with keeping up, knowing how my family was, how my school was going," she said. "He always remembered everything about you."
Winslow, like many former workers at Bonanza, was shocked to hear that the restaurant had burned down.
"My heart just immediately went out to him," she said. "I know how much they truly cared about the building and all their staff and their customers and I just kind of felt heartbroken on their behalf."
She said the restaurant did a good job of making the job special for its employees.
"They made a big deal of the holidays," she said. "They liked to shut down the restaurant so we could do a gift opening when no one else was in the building."
Winslow now works for an airline, and said her first job gave her valuable work experience.
"They did a really good job of teaching you how to work with a customer," she said. "It gave me a foot in the door so I could go on to serve at other places."
It's still not known how the fire started; however, investigators believe it began in the kitchen.
The fire department has not released a cost estimate on damages.
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