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Castlegar’s Hi-Lite Restaurant to change hands

After 45 years, the Mahs are retiring but new owner Chris Ortega has big plans
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Amy and Jim Mah have sold the Hi-Lite Restaurant after 45 years of ownership. (Submitted photo)

The Hi-Lite Restaurant has been a landmark in Castlegar for many generations, but after 45 years of serving Chinese food to local residents, owners Jim and Amy Mah are ready to retire.

The Mahs will be moving to Vancouver to be near their son and daughter, but they will miss the area and the patrons they have come to know.

When most people think of the Hi-Lite, they think of the bright green interior, orange swiveling stools and table-side jukeboxes. The restaurant is one of the oldest in town and its closing marks the end of a chapter in Castlegar history.

But the new owner says not to worry — the jukeboxes are staying.

“The place is so neat and funky — it’s so neat having those old jukeboxes,” said new owner Chris Ortega. He plans on keeping the old records currently in the jukeboxes and adding new records to the playlist. “It will be fun to let people have a little blast from the past.”

The Hi-Lite isn’t the first downtown Castlegar property that Ortega has purchased. In July 2016 he bought the downtown building that houses Mother Natures and Swish. He also recently purchased the Twin Rivers Motel.

Ortega is a proud local who wants to see his city grow. He grew up in Nelson, but has lived in Pass Creek the last 17 years.

Par Esegbona is Ortega’s partner in the venture and their company is called Chrispar Investments Inc.

The motel will getting a facelift and Ortega plans to develop the lawn area in the front along Columbia Avenue including adding a sculpture in remembrance of the motel’s previous owner, Alex Hudson, who passed away before the close of the sale.

“He was a really great guy — we were really touched by his loss,” said Ortega.

Ortega has some unique plans for the Hi-Lite.

“We want to encourage community building, that is part of why we purchased the Hi-Lite,” he explained. “It is such a great place — sitting waiting, waiting and no one was doing anything with it. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m just going to do it.’”

“We are planning on serving the community’s needs,” said Ortega.

The restaurant will not be open nightly, but will rather bring in guest chefs from near and far for set menu ticketed events.

“I know a lot of cooks … they never have enough money to start up their own restaurants,” noted Ortega. “What this will do is give them an opportunity to run their own thing.”

How often the events will take place will be based on popularity.

The second part of the plan is to have the venue available for event rentals and commercial kitchen rentals and to include an element of community service — but Ortega is keeping his mind open to shaping the restaurant into whatever form local residents are hungry for.

The new owners don’t take possession until August, so locals still have a while to wait before they get to try out the new restaurant.



Betsy Kline

About the Author: Betsy Kline

After spending several years as a freelance writer for the Castlegar News, Betsy joined the editorial staff as a reporter in March of 2015. In 2020, she moved into the editor's position.
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