Salisbury House (restaurant)

Salisbury House of Canada Ltd.
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryFood service
Founded1931 in downtown Winnipeg
FounderRalph Erwin
Headquarters1 Bannister Rd.,
Winnipeg, Manitoba
,
Canada
Number of locations
12 year round, 2 seasonal [1]
Area served
Manitoba
Key people
Brad Kramble
Number of employees
500+
Websitewww.salisburyhouse.ca

Salisbury House is a restaurant chain based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Known locally as "Sals", the chain is considered a Winnipeg institution. The first Salisbury House restaurant was founded in downtown Winnipeg in 1931 by Ralph Erwin (September 2, 1902 – June 5, 1983),[2] who named the venture after the salisbury steak. Erwin disliked the term 'hamburger' so named his burger a "nip" to market his hamburgers as a small 'nip' or bite of Salisbury steak.

The restaurant has twelve locations in Winnipeg and employs over 500 people. In 1979 Erwin sold his majority interest in the chain to a group of investors. In 2001, it was bought from its then Montreal owners by a group of local investors.[3]

In the mid-2000s a location on the newly opened Esplanade Riel pedestrian bridge opened. However, this location became seasonal in 2008 after the chain said that the Esplanade Riel location was unsustainable due to a low volume of patronage.[4] The bridge location closed in January 2013.[5]

In December 2017, majority owners Earl and Cheryl Barish and their partners sold the chain to a partnership group that includes the Metis Economic Development Fund (MEDF), David Filmon, Brad Kramble and several senior managers of Salisbury House.[6] It was announced on July 30, 2019, that Earl and Cheryl Barish had become partners again in the chain less than two years after selling in 2017.[7]

  1. ^ "Locations". Salisbury House of Canada. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  2. ^ http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/erwin_rm.shtml Ralph Martin Erwin, Manitoba Historical Society, retrieved 2014 April 29
  3. ^ Kirbyson, Geoff; Paul, Alexandra (February 24, 2001). "Burton Buys Sals". Winnipeg Free Press. pp. A1–A2.
  4. ^ "Salisbury House on downtown bridge closes due to cold". CBC News Manitoba. December 30, 2008.
  5. ^ "Salisbury House closes on Esplanade Riel". CBC News Manitoba. January 15, 2013.
  6. ^ "Winnipeg's Salisbury House restaurants changing ownership". CBC News Manitoba. December 14, 2017.
  7. ^ Cash, Martin (August 30, 2019). "He's got a little red roof over his head, again". Winnipeg Free Press.