A hidden gem in Kelowna will serve its last meal this weekend.
Wade Sievers and Melanie Falconer took to social media on Wednesday to announce that The Fixx Cafe & Pasta Bar would be permanently shutting its doors on Saturday, Nov. 2.
While the married couple has been at the helm for the past six years, Fixx Cafe has been a staple in the Mission, near Gyro Beach, for around a quarter century.
“The whole market is not where it used to be,” Sievers told KelownaNow. “To renew our lease was going to be another 22.5% (rent increase). Food cost is just out of control.”
Overall, Sievers explained, costs have soared in relation to what they can charge.
But it’s not just the everyday expenses weighing them down, as another controversial topic has hurt Fixx Cafe and led to the decision to close.
According to Sievers, British Columbia’s new short-term rental regulations have hurt tourism and “destroyed the summer push to be able to make money and make it through the winter.”
While that challenge came from the provincial level, the popular restaurant has also dealt with frustrating elements of bureaucracy at the City level.
Efforts to get their patio size increased beyond its current 14-guest capacity were quashed at city hall.
"In the summer, people want to sit outside, nobody wants to sit inside,” Sievers said. “It was fine during COVID, when they needed us to, but after that they really cracked down on us."
Sievers said the myriad of factors that forced this difficult decision will also prevent them from pursuing other endeavours within the industry any time soon, “unless things change considerably.”
In the closure announcement on Instagram, Sievers and Falconer expressed their deep gratitude to all of their “dear patrons and beloved guests” who have dined at their restaurant since they took over six years ago.
Those loyal customers responded with dozens of comments letting them know exactly what Fixx Cafe meant to them.
That included replies from both Kelowna Centre MLA-elect Kristina Loewen and her husband Andrew, with Andrew saying the restaurant “will always have a special place in our story.”
“This makes me so sad,” wrote Meghann Wendell. “My husband proposed to me at The Fixx. It has been the foundation of some of our most amazing core memories.”
