OUR STORY
We are honored to have been serving the Alberni Valley residents as well the many tourists from the Island and around the world for 55 years while developing our Little Bavaria experience into one that keeps guests coming back time and time again
oWNERS PAST AND PRESENT
eddie schoenborn
1966-1983
It was always a dream for Eddie and his wife Gina to own a Restaurant, in 1966 they made that dream a reality with starting our beloved Little Bavaria which they ran for 17 years. A lot of the pictures and cuckoo clocks on the walls are from Eddie’s time with the restaurant.
Kathy Krznaric
1993-2022
Kathy came to Canada with her husband Joe hoping to build a life they only dreamed of. Safe to say they more than succeeded, Kathy successfully built Little Bavaria into the Local Landmark it is today all while raising two amazing children and now 7 beautiful grandchildren. Together with Chef’s Ana and Shelly as well her 20+ year servers Barb, Terri, Eleanor and Nicole they all delivered the Little Bavaria magic night after night. Kathy continually developed her skills as a hostess with visiting the table of guests and making them feel at home. Kathy has a very motherly way to herself and has always been one to give back when needed.
manda porter
1983-1993
With Chef Ana behind the grill Manda continued the great reputation that Eddie and Gina created in the dining room, continuing to build the long standing clientele we still see today. After selling Little Bavaria to Kathy, Manda went on to start up a couple other business ventures in other towns showing her true restaurateur spirit.
BRANDON FORD
2022-PRESENT
A born and raised Port Alberni entrepreneur, Brandon has been a part of the local retail environment for 22 years. Starting with sales for Sears at the age of 15 then moving on to Beaver Creek Home Center at 17 where he worked his way up to management at the age of 21. At 25 he won the National Award for Top Young Retailer Of The Year in the Building Supply Industry and then at 29 won Top 20 Under 40 Business Award for Vancouver Island. With some of his spare time he operates a development company which he owns with one of his best friends. It is not just about business for Brandon, he also volunteers for multiple positions with National Retail and Leadership Committees, sits as a director on a National Children’s Charity Board as well he is a Captain with the Beaver Creek Fire Department.
THE MEAT AND POTATOES THAT SETS US APART
We focus on home made items that have been developed over Chef Ana’s 39 years in our kitchen with the assistance of Chef Shelly and her 22 years in our kitchen. Together they make all of our sauces, soups, Red Cabbage, Spätzle and the majority of our desserts from scratch in house. The Little Bavaria experience is one that is built on the fantastic attention to detail and consistency that comes from our top notch kitchen team and coupled with the exceptional service delivered by our team of servers who go above and beyond every night to ensure our guests leave feeling like the valued guests they deserve to be. We source many of our products from right here in Port Alberni, whether it is our specially made Bratwursts from Pete’s Mountain Meats, our delicious Steaks sourced through Double R Meats, our ice cream made in town by Coombs Country Candy, the endless supply of items from Circle Dairy, many trips to our local grocery stores or our expansion into utilizing our local craft breweries we believe in keeping as much of our dollars spent in the Alberni Valley as possible. We would not be the Restaurant we are with out the support of our town so we try to do the same through our purchases or our contributions to charitable events and sponsorships.
