¡Qué Padre! Mexican Restaurant Opens In Fredericton
FREDERICTON— ¡Qué Padre!, Fredericton’s newest Mexican restaurant and tequila bar, opened its doors to customers on July 5. The restaurant was scheduled to open on May 24 but a delay in kitchen equipment and construction materials pushed the opening back.
Christian Martin, co-founder and brand leader of ¡Qué Padre!, opened the restaurant’s first location in Edmundston. The idea to expand with a Fredericton franchise came from an interested potential franchisee who owns the Bishop’s Gate plaza, off Hanwell Road and Bishop Drive, where ¡Qué Padre! is now located. Martin said the franchisee was looking for a sit-down restaurant to add to the building.
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“We made an agreement with him and here we are,” said Martin. “Fredericton to us is more centralized in New Brunswick as well, compared to Edmundston.”
¡Qué Padre! finished construction last Sunday, although work on the patio started July 7 so outdoor seating won’t be available for another couple of weeks.
Despite not having outdoor seating or their liquor license when they opened on July 5, Martin said within the first two days, the restaurant served around 250 customers.
The Mexican restaurant and tequila bar has since secured its liquor license, which allows it to start serving its mainly tequila-based cocktails.
“Everything that [is] available at NB Liquor, in terms of tequila, we have all of them so basically we want to have as much variety [of tequila] as we can get.”
Martin said ¡Qué Padre! didn’t have any issues hiring. They received a lot of resumes for server positions. Although, due to the delay in kitchen appliances, they did lose a couple of candidates for kitchen staff. Martin said with their hours of operation, they have enough people to run the restaurant.
Martin said the Fredericton ¡Qué Padre! has an “amazing team” and believes the location is going to be a success.
“We really do believe that hospitality is the key. … You can have the best food and best drinks in the world but if you don’t have a great team behind that, that makes a big difference.”
While the Mexican restaurant and tequila bar now has two locations, Martin said the future goal of ¡Qué Padre! is to expand to multiple locations across Atlantic Canada.
Jessica Saulnier is an intern with Huddle in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].