Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse Casual has been serving Estevan for over three years now, and throughout this entire time, its community involvement has been unprecedented.
Restaurant manager John Murray, who had various experiences in the restaurant industry and has worked in four provinces and in England, said that Estevan has been great to him since the very beginning of his time here.
“Everything has been really positive. We are a busy restaurant and our guests have accepted us,” said Murray in the interview with the Mercury.
He came to Estevan to open the long-desired restaurant. Murray, who prefers to work for the big brands due to the structure and balance, said that he really enjoys Mr. Mikes because of its casual steakhouse atmosphere, where everyone is welcome, but any occasion becomes special when you are here. And that, along with the great cuisine, is what keeps the restaurant as full as it’s allowed to be most of the time.
And Mr. Mikes menu deserves a separate story. Their ribeye and sirloin steaks make real foodies come back over and over again. But the restaurant has much more than unbelievably tasty steaks.
“For the sautéside, people really love our seafest fettuccine, which is a fantastic dish. It’s very popular. For the appies, our bruschetta, spinach dip, lobster dunk, stuff you can’t get in other restaurants,” said Murray.
Estevan has become home for Murray and his family. He’s been involved with the community through the Kinsmen Club as well as the Chamber of Commerce.
“I love Estevan. I fell in love when I moved here,” said Murray. “A lot of great people, a lot of great businesses.”
This love is translated though even greater community engagement and support, in which Estevan’s Mr. Mike’s is among the top restaurants in the network. Murray explained that there are two layers to this. The brand encourages a lot of community involvement, but the local branch goes above and beyond that almost doubling the suggested by the brand initiatives.
“We believe in Estevan. We believe in supporting the groups, the organizations and the charities. We are the first restaurant in our brand that started the GratiTuesday program,” said Murray. “It was a passion of mine. The ownership group and myself decided, let’s do this. We launched it as a trial basis for three or four Tuesdays in a row. I showed the numbers to our head office and they said, ‘Keep going.’”
GratiTuesdays were put on pause for the summer and due to the pandemic and will be coming back in September. Murray said that the fundraiser became so popular that it fills up a year in advance.
“We are full now until the end of 2021. We have a couple of dates left at the end of next year … We’ve given over $120,000 in three years back to the community through that program.”
The restaurant has been raising money for sports teams, charity organizations, mission trips and other local projects and initiatives. And it’s only one out of their many programs.
“We do what we can to support (the community) because they support us,” said Murray.
Mr. Mikes is also known for their trivia nights, live music and other community projects, most of which are also coming back in September. Since the beginning of the pandemic trivia nights has been going on Facebook and have attracted thousands of people from across the country. Murray said that they’ve been so popular that he plans to keep going with the virtual game nights once a month.
While the pandemic months weren’t easy on the restaurant, it’s now getting back to normal. Their hours are still different (Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunches only, no lunches on weekends, and 4-8 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 4-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday) and they can only operate at 50 per cent capacity to maintain the safe distance between guests, but they were able to call all of their employees back. And Murray said that his team, most of which has been there since day one, are the ones to thank for the success of the restaurant.
September will also see the local restaurant hosting a community barbecue fundraiser for Special Olympics, which they do every year. (The date is to be set yet.) But this time the barbecue will be dedicated to MR. MIKES 60th anniversary. To make the celebration even more special the restaurant is also running a promotion that will go up until Sept. 6. When you buy a $60 gift card you receive a punch card for six delicious Mikeburgers, which is a $100 value.
“Right now, Estevan is leading in (promo) sales in the 45-store market,” said Murray.
For the updates on the hours and announcements of activities and promotions people can check Estevan’s Mr. Mike’s Facebook page.
