East-end staple Rankin’s Bar & Grill has served its last pint

Hamilton landmark served patrons for 45 years, surviving as a three-generation family business that, over 87 years, evolved from a china shop to a snack bar to a classic neighbourhood restaurant.

The TV classic Cheers has been in the news recently following the death of George Wendt, who played wisecracking Norm, a regular occupying a corner seat at the Boston bar.

Of course, Cheers was the place where everybody knows your name and Hamilton has had its very own version for the last 45 years in the east end Delta neighbourhood.

Rankin’s Bar and Grill celebrated its last weekend of service at the end of May. A new owner, a veteran of the local restaurant scene, takes over as of June 2 and will open under a new name at 1342 Main St. E., right next to the now-closed Delta high school.

End of an era is an overused cliché, but in this case, it truly fits.

“It’s been an emotional time for sure,” says Louise Rankin, who is the third generation to own a business with her family name in this very spot.

“So many customers have come in with stories about this place, about my dad, what Rankin’s has meant to them. Some people even remember coming in when my grandfather was here.”

Rankin’s predated Cheers by two years, opening as a bar in 1980 when Gary Rankin transformed his dad Jack Rankin’s snack bar and variety store into what became a place to have breakfast, a working lunch, and beer after work, and into the wee hours. Hockey, soccer and baseball teams celebrated wins and commiserated losses there. St. Patrick Day parties were legendary, and Hamilton Tiger-Cat games were true occasions.

In fact, Gary, who died of cancer in 2012, and was known as a true champion of all things Hamilton, delivered an impassioned Oskee Wee Wee cheer before each home game. He was also known for fostering an atmosphere in his restaurant where regulars were treated like family and newcomers were greeted like future friends.

Speaking of family, Gary’s daughters Amanda Rankin and Louise Rankin grew up working in the restaurant and his stepdaughter Nicki Waddell Jacobs was a server for years, too. His wife, Gail Waddell, handled food inventory, ordering, decorating and even made some desserts. Grandchildren got their first jobs there.

Many staff have worked decades in the east-end staple. One, Connie Botermans, started as a cook with Gary’s father and has been working the day shift at Rankin’s ever since. That’s 47 years.

Botermans is one of several who intends to carry on under the new owner, who has offered employment to all of Rankins staff.  

“Connie could do breakfast alone with one arm tied behind her back and blindfolded. She’s a huge asset to this place. All my staff are because they have such strong relationships with our customers. Through all of this, I’ve been most worried about my staff,” says Louise.

The new owner came in four times to anonymously scope out the place in action, telling Louise that the feeling that he was making the right decision in buying the restaurant gave him goosebumps.

“I’m excited for the new owner and that this building will get a new lease on life. Rankins is loved and our family has been part of Hamilton for so long but I think it’s time for a change.”

For 16 years, Amanda Rankin managed the restaurant alongside her dad before she headed back to school to become a teacher in 2008. After her father’s death, Louise took over. She made some changes here and there but mostly stuck to the tried and true recipe for success her father created.

But while the restaurant business is never easy, the last five years have been a challenge that no one could have prepared for and that have changed the industry forever. The ravages of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions over more than two years, followed by rapid inflation, and the effects of changed customer habits have taken a toll.

“People are comfortable staying in now and the younger generation aren’t faithful to one place. They want change all the time.”

To cope, Louise had to cut opening hours in half – from 108 before the pandemic to 54 after. A smaller menu was in place until 2023.

“The reason we survived was because of our longevity and owning the building, but a lot of the time I was petrified of going bankrupt and closing the business.”

She’s weathered the storm – and is proud of that – but now is the time to sell, she says.

She has young grandchildren, a cottage on Lake Huron and a husband who’s retired from Stelco. She’ll spend time on hiking trails and generally not thinking about the restaurant business.

“I look forward to going out to dinner with Dave and not analyzing the menu or the service or the décor. I don’t know that I’ll ever get there though,” she laughs.

While Rankin’s has served breakfast, burgers and chicken wings (Gary maintained his was the first dine-in restaurant in the city to serve wings) for 45 years, the name has been a fixture almost twice as long.

Jack Rankin opened a china store in 1938. He became famous for acting out the cliché about a bull in a china shop on a bet in 1949. The story is the bull (borrowed from a Greensville farm) was pretty sedate even as photographers smashed plates to coax the animal into causing some damage.

Rankin earned the nickname “Madman” when he jumped on the bull’s back. The stunt made headlines around the world and is commemorated on the restaurant’s exterior sign (Famous for our bull!) and with many pictures inside Rankin’s today.

(The 50^th anniversary of the bull was marked at the restaurant in 1999, though this time the bull stayed in a pen out in the parking lot.)

When the business shifted to Rankin’s China and Variety, Jack began making Western sandwiches and floats to sell to hungry high school students. When Gary took over and shifted to eat-in dining and pulling pints of draft, the restaurant began to attract everyone from families to sports teams to steelworkers.

A local sign-maker whose work was all over Rankin’s – its sign, menus, caricatures on the walls – even worked out of the restaurant. He took incoming calls from a payphone just outside the kitchen.

Over the years, there have been many Rankin’s golf tournaments and ski trips, and for a number of years, the restaurant hosted Amazing Races that saw teams travel the city completing inventive challenges.

Rankin’s has been a place of lifelong friendships, where couples have met and married, and where many tears have been shed. For years, bartender Laurie Sedore, has presided over a thick envelope filled with the obits of regulars. A few have even requested to have some of their ashes stashed in jars behind the bar.

The final days of Rankin’s saw generations of regulars come through the doors to say goodbye, share stories and shed some tears.

“It was like a wake, but for a place,” says Amanda.

“It’s been there my whole life and I wonder if I thought it would always be there.”

Of course, much of that is about her father and the many years they worked side by side. It was her first job at 12 years old and was a fixture in her life ever since.

“I’m so grateful for that time with my dad. And to have this place for so long that was so tied to my grandfather and my dad.”

She says the restaurant was different things to different people. There were breakfast regulars, lunch regulars, dinner regulars, and bar regulars. The staff were so long-serving that they felt more like siblings than co-workers.

The family atmosphere and the fact that Rankin’s offered full benefits to full-time staff – a rarity in the restaurant business – meant cooks and servers stayed around.

“The staff have always been the heart of the restaurant. They remembered people’s names and how they took their breakfast or what they wanted to drink,” says Amanda.

Tammy Popiez first visited during high school as a friend of Louise’s and before she had finished her breakfast, Gary had offered her a job. She spent more than 20 years working there, first as a dishwasher, then prep cook and cook. When she turned old enough to serve alcohol, she asked to become a server.

Good thing because that’s how she met her husband Dave who would come in after work at Dofasco. There was an “undeniable warmth” at Rankin’s, says Popiez.

“It wasn’t uncommon to see servers sitting with customers, sharing stories, or even holding a baby so parents could enjoy their meal in peace.”

Gary was a protective boss who valued his staff and showed that in ways big and small, says Popiez. He was supportive when she went back to school to become an educational assistant, leaving while Amanda was managing the restaurant day to day.

“Amanda had a remarkable ability to connect with people. Customers gravitated toward her, ensuring they stopped in when she was working, drawn to her warmth and infectious smile. She had a gift for storytelling, captivating everyone who had the pleasure of hearing her tales. Rankins was special, not just because of the place, but because of the people like Amanda and Gary, who made it feel like home.”

Louise is mostly stoic about the sale, but tears flow when she talks about Gary.

“He was my best friend but then again, he was everyone’s best friend. He made everyone feel special. He was my favourite person,” she says.

“I hear my dad cheering me on or telling me to take things slow. I feel like he’s always been here with me.”