Local Profile: Roxy’s Diner

Roxy’s Diner has been serving up fresh, homemade food to residents and businesses in and outside of Oak Bluff for 12 years. With their ever-evolving menu and décor, keeping things fresh seems to be the driving philosophy behind the restaurant.

Roxy’s came to fruition when owner and head chef Jennifer Last discovered the property had come for sale in 2006.

“We had a little restaurant called the Prairie Gourmet. We were renting it in Sanford for five years and this place (current location) came up for sale. I decided it’s better to own than rent, but at the time the building we were interested in was just a little ice cream shop with burgers, etc.”

Last knew she had to go for it, but she wasn’t planning on selling the same ice cream and burgers the previous tenant had been.

“Back in our previous restaurant, we did a lot of homemade food–making everything from scratch,” she said. “I wanted a lounge and homemade soups and desserts.”

Last had a lot of work ahead of her with the new location. She needed more space to create the business she longed for.

“We bought a pre-existing building from Fannystelle, MB. We then had to dig in a basement and move the building in two sections. If somebody told me I needed to do it again I don’t know if I could do it.”

“It was almost the same amount of work as building new, but less expensive than building from scratch. We had to cut the building in half and move it on two trucks. It was intense.”

The building isn’t the only unique element of Roxy’s Diner. Their menu is chalk full of fresh food created by Last.

“Our specials are our strong point. We do really unique and fun specials on a daily basis. For example, today we are doing a grilled pesto panini sandwich with chicken and Caesar. Yesterday we did a pasta carbonara and everybody loved that. Our burgers are infinitely famous. We’ve also added pizzas to our menu. We bought a really high-end pizza oven and hand-stretch our dough every day. All the ingredients are fresh.”

“Our soup is a huge hit and we go through 20-30L every day. Today I made a cream of asparagus with ham soup, did a Mexican tortilla soup. I do really unique soups, at least 1 or 2 every day. I just get inspired and make things I think people want to eat!”

The community has really taken to Roxy’s over the last 12 years. With plenty of regulars, they’re never an empty house.

“We have some regulars who come in 2 or 3 times per day. There is a big community of businesses as well in the industrial park. The businesses down McGilivary road too. They know all the servers by name. They love us. They come every day because they know they’ll have good food.”

The building just underwent some renovations with a newly revamped lounge featuring granite tops and slate walls at the bar. They also replaced their carpets with new flooring to handle some of the new clientele.

“There’s a big traffic circle going in near us and we have construction crews coming to eat with their muddy boots. We just figured we needed to replace the carpets anyways so what better time than that?”

When asked for a final comment on her restaurant, Last said, “It’s fun and our staff love it. They love working here.”

Roxy’s Diner is located at 40 Highway 3 in Oak Bluff, Manitoba. If you’re heading towards Oak Bluff West on McGilivary, you can see it when you’re stopped at the lights at the perimeter.