Blondie’s Burgers owner bids farewell after more than 30 years

We have good news and bad news.

The good news is that cows no longer have to shake in their boots, mess up, hooves, fearing Sandy Doyle will turn them into a two, three, or (burp) nine pound burger.

The bad news: Doyle, the enigmatic 68-year-old owner of Blondie’s Burgers, may be best known for his XXXL-sized dishes (Quarter Milkshakes! Four-Sausage Hot Dogs! Chili Cheese Fries for six!), will permanently close its restaurant, such an iconic spot as you will find in our fair trade borough, later this week.

Doyle, who opened Blondies at 1969 Main St. in September 1990, originally listed Jan. 20 as her last day behind the grill when she announced her decision on Facebook on New Year’s Day. She has since moved that date back to this weekend, simply because things have gotten so hectic there since news broke that she can’t bear to keep customers waiting until four o’clock anymore. for their order.

“I kid you not, it stresses me out endlessly,” Doyle says, sitting in her 36-seat restaurant, where the decor, which includes a famous handwritten do’s and don’ts list (“If your order is wrong , it’s your fault”; “If you have any issues with the prices, the staff, or the way this place is run, McDonald’s is down the street”), is as much a part of the experience as what is on the plate.

“At first I thought I would stop on Friday. Except a group from Saskatchewan just called to say they can’t get here until Saturday, and can I please stay open one day more. How could I say no to people willing to drive 500 miles for a fucking burger?” she said throwing her head back laughing.

Doyle, born and raised in Carman, moved from Kenora to Winnipeg in the mid-1980s after her marriage ended. She first got a job selling insurance. However, her hours were all over the map and, imagining herself to be a good cook, she decided to open a restaurant instead.

“How could I say no to people willing to travel 800 kilometers for a fucking burger?” -Sandy Doyle

Blondie’s, a label the redhead came up with as she stood in line to register her business (if she’d had a dollar for every time she’s called Blondie, she’d have retired 15 years ago, says she with a wink), opened as a breakfast and lunch nook. To say his first day on the job was memorable is an understatement.

“It was absolutely awful,” she said, pausing to transfer calls from a phone that had been ringing for 10 minutes. “Seven guys showed up seconds after nine (am) and they were already drunk. I was all alone, the girl I hired never showed up, and for the next hour they just shouted things like, “Where’s our eating food? and, ‘Show us your…, Blondie.’ I remember kneeling in the back, crying and wondering what I got myself into.”

Things got better, of course, especially after Doyle, bored one afternoon, started experimenting with the size of a burger she could produce, while still being able to flip it. She started with two pounds of ground meat pie, increased to four, and continued until, when all was said, done, and grilled, she had managed to whip up a nine-pound burger.

“Although, to be honest, it probably won’t even affect me until I return the keys at the end of the month.” -Sandy Doyle

Doyle has kept Blondie’s open during the various provincially mandated lockdowns, relying largely on delivery services to get his food to the masses. The problem was that she was working for pennies, she discovered, after factoring in the applied fees and ever-increasing food costs.

She guesses it was around September when her brother Greg, who looks after her books, told her bluntly that she was likely to burn through her retirement savings if she chose to continue under current conditions. That, coupled with the fact that she couldn’t sit and trade barbs with her clientele as she was used to due to health regulations, convinced the grandmother of three that it was time to park his apron for good.

Doyle, always a fashionista (on the day we sit down with her, she’s wearing a black and white three-quarter length dress, complete with black high-heeled ankle boots and matching jewelry), has yet to decide what to wear. she will come out of the closet for her farewell.

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