Chez Cora is moving out of St. Boniface's Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (CCFM) and will be replaced by a new Stella's restaurant later this year.

The group that runs the cultural centre announced on Wednesday that the Winnipeg restaurant chain will take over the space currently occupied by Chez Cora when its lease expires on Aug. 31.

"The CCFM is pleased to welcome a restaurant open during the evening which will complement the full range of services and activities currently available," the group stated in a news release.

Stella's will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and will have a full-service bar and bilingual staff, company CEO Grant Anderson said in the release.

By contrast, Chez Cora is open for breakfast and lunch only, closing at 3 p.m. daily, according to its website. It has been operating at the cultural centre for the past nine years.

Chez Cora manager Tina Wood had collected thousands of signatures on a petition to have the eatery stay at the cultural centre.

CCFM board president Gérald Clément said officials did carefully review an offer from Cora Franchise Group.

"We recognize that Chez Cora’s has a faithful and satisfied clientele," Clément said in the release.

"For CCFM, it was not a process of determining whether Chez Cora’s should stay or not beyond the terms of our existing lease; rather, it was considering all proposals equally and selecting the one that best fulfills our mandate."

Stella's has seven other locations across Winnipeg, including a restaurant inside the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport and Edna's Cafe on the University of Manitoba campus