Brandon and Tammy Richardson took ownership of Déjà Vu Café in 2009 and have turned the restaurant into one of Moose Jaw’s must-visit eateries, including appearances on Food Network Canada and CityTV that brought national attention.
Almost 14 years later, the era has come to an end with the purchase of the Café by partners John Adams and David Braun.
Déjà Vu Café is famous for its more than 100 flavours of dry and wet sauces for its chicken wings and tenders, and nearly the same amount of milkshake flavours. The tenders are heavy and fresh, and the milkshakes are old-school thick and generous.
Brandon Richardson built Déjà Vu’s reputation by insisting on keeping things consistent and familiar — pun intended. He refuses to compromise on the weight and quality of his ingredients and has avoided major menu changes. He believes in doing one thing well — one of his guiding principles is, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
Adams and Braun, whose official first day as owners was April 5, were eager to assure loyal customers near and far that they will honour the café’s established legacy.
“We want a very smooth transition,” Adams told MooseJawToday.com shortly after Déjà Vu opened on day one. “It’s very important to us that everything stays exactly as it is. We’re not here to change things — we don’t want to make any mistakes along the way.
“(Brandon) has a formula that works, for Moose Jaw and for Canada. Like, we’ve got friends across Canada that know and speak about this place, and we want to make sure that it’s well taken care of and that we do the name justice.”
Richardson listed the restaurant for sale about three months ago. Adams and Braun saw the listing shortly after that and decided to take a walkthrough.
They knew right away they liked it and wanted to make the investment.
Braun is from the Moose Jaw and Mortlach areas, born and raised, while Adams is from Montreal. They met when Adams’s family moved to Caronport in 2000 — they met at high school, became friends, entered the information technology (IT) field together, and established successful careers. Over the last few years, they’ve partnered in several prosperous businesses.
Richardson will stick around as a consultant for the next two months and has promised to be available for several years beyond that. Of course, he’s also looking forward to some well-deserved extra time with his grandchildren and on the golf course.
“The transition started on Monday, I started showing them how to make sauces. That’s gonna take a while, but they seemed like they had fun,” Richardson said. “I’m going to help them out for a couple months here to transition into owning a restaurant, you know, and it's a busy restaurant.
“All the staff is here to help them and I’m hoping everything will work out great. I think it will, they seem like two very nice guys.”
Déjà Vu Café is at 23 High Street East. Their hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/dejavucafemj, and check out their website at www.dejavucafe.ca.
“We’re thrilled to be here, and honoured. People are down to earth and just phenomenal,” Adams said. “I couldn’t imagine raising my kids in Montreal, or Toronto, or Vancouver. Those are all places we’ve been, but this is where we want to be.”
