For nearly half a century, Zena Smail has been one of the familiar faces people expected to see at the Venice House restaurant on Central Avenue.
Before an interview at the restaurant on Tuesday, Smail was clear and direct about when she had time to speak. Once inside, as photographs were being taken, customers walked through the door. Smail noticed them right away, stepped away, and went directly to help.
It was a small moment, but it said a lot about a woman who has spent 48 years in the same Prince Albert restaurant.
“I just hope I gave them the best service, and I made their night, or made them happy,” Smail said.
Smail, a server at Venice House, will work her final shift on May 29 then retire. The decision comes just months before the restaurant marks its 50th anniversary in December. Smail said she plans to return for a couple of weeks during the anniversary celebration, but the end of her regular work at the restaurant is emotional.
“I’m going to miss it,” she said. “I’m going to miss the people, the customers. I’m going to miss the staff, and I’m going to miss the owners.”
Smail cannot remember the exact date she started. She remembers it was about 48 years ago. She also does not remember her first full day on the job, but she does remember the interview.
It was with Tony, the owner, and his brother George. The interview happened in what is now the coat room.
The Venice House she joined looked different from the restaurant customers know now. Smail remembers round tables, barrels near the front, a smaller bar, and booths tucked into the corners. There were large round tables in the middle that could seat eight people.
“It was different, but it was really nice,” she said.
The dining room still carries the feeling of an older family restaurant, with nautical touches, warm wood, and the kind of lived-in atmosphere that fits a place filled with decades of meals, conversations, and familiar faces.
Smail said Prince Albert’s restaurant scene was also different when she started. There were not as many dining restaurants in the city. She remembers Venice House as one of the first places of its kind that she knew of in Prince Albert.
The restaurant has stayed in the same location, but it has grown around her. When she first started, there was no upstairs and no back dining area. The kitchen and prep area were smaller.
One thing that has not changed much is the waitress station.
“It’s always been small,” she said.
In the early years, delivery was also a much larger part of the business. Smail remembers seven delivery drivers working for Venice House.
“Nobody else delivered in town,” she said.
The delivery drivers had their own small cars with Venice House signs on them. The restaurant als stayed open late.
“We used to stay open till 2:30 at night,” she said.
Through all the renovations and changes, Smail said some things remained steady. The portions stayed generous. THe food stayed good. The service stayed important.
“The food and the service is good,” she said. “I’m not just saying by me. I mean by the other staff. They give excellent service here.”
Serving people was what kept the work meaningful.
Smail said she enjoyed seeing customers enjoy their meals, speaking with them, learning where they were from, and getting to know what they liked.
“I just want to make them happy and make sure that they’re getting service,” she said.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Zena Smail stands inside Venice House on Central Avenue, where she says the restaurant became home during her 48 years as a server.
Over 48 years, customers became more than customers. Some became friends. Some brought their children. Some of those children grew up and later brought children of their own.
“I’ve seen little ones come in. Now they’ve got kids of their own,” Smail said.
One memory that stayed with her involved the family of a customer she served for years. Smail said the woman, the mother of her friend Ryan Palmer, used to come in regularly. After she passed away, her family returned to the restaurant. Smail served them and said staff brought up a plate and setting for her.
“It made it so special for them, because they were having such a hard time,” she said. “It really touched them.”
Smail also met her husband, Jack, at Venice House. He was a chef at the restaurant, and the two started dating after meeting there.
They were married last June, and the restaurant family was part of that day too. Smail said Tony and Maria, longtime members of the Venice House family, walked her down the aisle at her wedding on June 21, 2025. Their granddaughter was also part of the wedding as a flower girl.
“It was the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to,” Smail said.
When asked what Tony, Maria, and others at the restaurant mean to her, Smail did not need many words.
“They mean family,” she said. “They’re part of my family. They’re part of me.”
That work, family, came up often during the interview. Smail said Venice House felt home because of how she was treated by the owners, staff, and customers.
“They’ve always been good to me,” she said. “They’ve always treated me good. They do anything they can for you.”
She said most customers were good to her and appreciated her work. That made the restaurant feel like more than a job.
“It’s been my home for 48 years,” she said. “This is really going to affect me. I’ve already started crying a while ago. It’s going to be hard.”
Smail did leave for a period while having children, but she returned to the restaurant and stayed.
“I just stayed working,” she said. “They were so good to me.”
The work was not always easy. Late nights could be difficult when she had children. After decades of serving, the physical side of the job also became harder.
“Just the wear and tear on your body, sometimes it just gets hard after a while,” she said. “That’s why I’m retiring, because I’m tired. I’m getting tired.”
Smail said she worked five days a week. Even so, when asked about the best part of the job, her answer returned to people.
“Just basically meeting people and getting to know people,” she said. “The best part is being part of the Venice House family.”
After May 29, Smail said she will miss the family feeling most, along with the customers who became part of her daily life.
“All the customers that are friends, and all the ones I get to see every day, I’m just going to miss it,” she said.
Retirement will bring a different pace. Smail said she is looking forward to travelling with her husband and doing things they have not had time to do before.
They plan to go to British Columbia in June, including the Okanagan and Kelowna, before returning for their grandson’s graduation at the end of the month.
“Then we’re just going to wing it, do whatever,” she said.
Smail paused and became emotional when asked what she wanted to say to the customers and staff who had been part of her life for nearly five decades.
“Thank you for all the years of wonderful memories,” She said pausing as she became emotional. “For being part of my family.”
In the end, Venice House did more than give Smail a job. It gave her customers who became friends, owners and staff who became family, and, near the end of a 48-year career, the man who became her husband. As she prepares to leave the dining room she has known for nearly half a century, Smail said she hopes people remember that she tried to make their night a little better.
“I just hope I gave them the best service,” she said. “And I made them happy.”
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
