Starting this week, Smithers residents will have the option of all-day breakfast, donairs or frozen yogurt at a new restaurant opening in town.
Off My Griddle, which opens this week, is located on Main Street (between First Avenue and Broadway) and offers a variety of food options that are currently lacking in town.
The menu includes floats, frozen yogurt, Italian soda, pancakes, bubble tea, smoothies, donairs, wraps, waffles and pancakes, among other things.
“There’s a lot of places to eat in Smithers already. What we needed to do was offer stuff that isn’t here already,” said Warren Kluss, owner of Off My Griddle.
“The idea with our menu is that we’ll hopefully have something for everybody.”
He added that elementary and high school kids are excited about frozen yogurt and bubble tea, while all-day breakfast is appealing to a wide demographic.
Some of their menu items have even been passed down through generations and Kluss is excited about sharing his family recipes with the town that he has lived in his whole life.
“Darra’s Hot Cakes are a recipe that has been passed down through my family,” said Kluss.
“My grandfather made them and his father in-law before him made it . . .The name Darra also comes from what I called my grandfather when I was little.”
Kluss decided to make the transition from teacher to restaurant owner after being in the same career for nearly two decades.
“It’s a change for us. I’ve been in the same career for the past 17 years and we thought it’s time for a change,” he said.
“We had often talked about opening a place in Smithers and we finally went through with it.”
In just four short months, Kluss and his partner Nikki Tarasoff came up with a concept, found a space, renovated and transformed it from a former clothing store into a restaurant.
According to Tarasoff, they didn’t want to offer items that would take business away from other restaurants.
“We hit a variety of markets and we’re not taking away from other restaurants either. We’re not in direct competition with anyone else,” she said.
In total, there will be eight staff on hand, including Kluss.
Off My Griddle will be open from Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.