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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS \t <\/p>\n
Amit and Bharti Kapoor, operator\/franchisees of the first drive-thru-only McDonald’s restaurant in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Grimace \u2014 the large, purple mascot used in McDonald\u2019s advertising \u2014 took photos with attendees and musician Jessie Christian serenaded the crowd with Fall Out Boy and Hanson covers as restaurant staff served a buffet of burgers and fries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels lovely,\u201d Kapoor said of opening the restaurant. \u201cIt feels beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald\u2019s Canada has long wanted to open a location next to the Real Canadian Superstore at 550 Kenaston Blvd., but the property couldn\u2019t accommodate a traditional, 4,000-square-foot restaurant, he said.<\/p>\n
After opening two drive-thru-only McDonald\u2019s restaurants in the United States \u2014 one in Texas and another in California \u2014 the company decided to bring the concept north of the border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole idea is quick service and good customer service,\u201d Kapoor said.<\/p>\n
The new site is one storey and 2,000 sq. ft. It will employ around 50 people and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole idea is quick service and good customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald\u2019s Canada built the drive-thru-only location in response to consumer demand, according to Simon Gregory, the company\u2019s B.C.-based director of field operations, who attended Wednesday\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for opportunities to fill where our customers need us to be,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was a great location for us to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg city council reviewed a proposal for the restaurant in November. The proposal required council to change a caveat attached to the property that prohibits businesses other than the existing grocery store, gas bar and garden centre. Council also needed to exempt the restaurant from the rule that businesses only operate at the site from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
Chambers said he championed the new restaurant from the beginning, in part because his first-ever job was at a McDonald\u2019s location on Nairn Avenue. It was the late 1970s and he was 15 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was making $2.70 an hour, and I mean, it set the groundwork for me to understand how to work, how to show up on time, how to be part of a team,\u201d he said. \u201cOpportunities like that, opportunities for our youth going forward, can lead to greater success in the job market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS \t <\/p>\n The Kapoor’s franchise will open Friday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n For Kapoor, offering employment opportunities and training staff members to take on greater roles and responsibilities are some of the best parts about being a McDonald\u2019s franchisee.<\/p>\n Born in India, the 53-year-old was living in Kuwait when he immigrated to Canada in 2001. After running a few coffee shops in Toronto, he moved to Winnipeg in November 2015 with his wife and three children to purchase and operate his first McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n Nearly 11 years later, Kapoor\u2019s company, Kapson Family Restaurants Ltd., owns 14 McDonald\u2019s franchises across the city that employ around 900 people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives (me) such pride,\u201d he said, acknowledging his employees\u2019 hard work. \u201cNone of this would be possible if I didn\u2019t have the support from the team.\u201d<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s was founded in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1940 as a restaurant operated by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. The chain\u2019s first restaurant outside the U.S. opened in 1967 in Richmond, B.C.<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s Canada now operates more than 1,500 restaurants and employs around 100,000 Canadians coast-to-coast-to-coast, Gregory said. That includes 63 locations in Manitoba that are staffed by around 3,000 people.<\/p>\n At the end of last year, the McDonald\u2019s system included more than 45,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. The company reported in 2025, global sales grew seven per cent year-over-year, exceeding US$139 billion.<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s Canada plans to open its second drive-thru-only restaurant in the coming months in Regina.<\/p>\n aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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