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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Restaurateur "Surly" Bob Ross and partner Lyle Denny have left the city's restaurant industry, shutting down Surly Bob's Sports Bar.

Surly Bob's Sports Bar on Franklin Avenue has closed its doors. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Staff at the popular Franklin Avenue restaurant tried to keep the business operating after Ross left because he was suffering from exhaustion last year but were forced to close the establishment's doors last Friday.

"I had to make the decision to close it, so I did," said Denny, who bought the restaurant with Ross in 2003 and played a silent role in the sports bar until Ross left several months ago. "I just couldn't continue," Denny said.

"It was an unfortunate situation that we had to close it but again, it was closed for personal reasons. I would like to thank all the patrons over the years, from the management and staff -- we had a lot of good patrons over the years."

Ross, who tended bar at a number of Yellowknife restaurants before opening Surly Bob's, his first commercial venture, said "it was fun while it lasted." He said he enjoyed the customers and meeting patrons from all walks of life.

Celebrities who dropped by the sports bar over the nearly 10 years Ross ran the restaurant included NHL players and Ice Pilots star Mikey McBryan.

Given the restaurant's storied history, Ross said he was "disappointed" that the restaurant was not kept open after he left last year after several years of 60- to 70-hour work weeks.

"You work for 60, 70 hours a week, and all of a sudden it shuts down. I'm disappointed more than anything else," Ross said.

The history of the establishment's downtown location, in the same building as Sutherland's Drugs, stretches back to 1969, when The Hoist Room pub and grill was opened by property owner Doug Finlayson. It featured a stone fireplace faced with representative rocks from different mining projects in the territory in the basement, historian Ryan Silke told Yellowknifer.

Later, in the '80s, it became known as Millie's Hoist Room, then became The Bistro on Franklin in the 1990s. In 2000, the restaurant became Jose Loco's and offered Mexican cuisine.

Ross and Denny partnered to buy Jose Loco's in January, 2003 and had the Mexican restaurant converted into a sports bar.

Ross said it is likely the historical restaurant location will be revived, if a new commercial tenant emerges, because of all the equipment left behind, including a walk-in cooler, fridge and a full kitchen.

The owner of the building, Wallace Finlayson, was not available to comment on future plans for the Surly Bob's space.

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