St-Hubert

St-Hubert BBQ Ltd.is a chain of Canadiancasual diningrestaurants best known for itsrotisseriechicken.  St-Hubert is most popular inQuebecand in otherFrench-Canadianareas such asEastern OntarioandNew Brunswick. The chain enjoys the second-highest customer loyalty of any restaurant in Canada (afterTim Hortons), according to industry analysis.
In March 2016, St-Hubert agreed to be purchased by Toronto-area based Cara Operations (now known asRecipe Unlimited), the owner of the rivalSwiss Chaletrotisserie chicken chain, for $537 million.Cara increased its restaurant presence in Quebec as the St-Hubert chicken deal closed in September 2016.
The first restaurant opened in September 1951 onSaint Hubert StreetinMontreal, just south of Beaubien street. This branch still operates today, but has been converted to a St-Hubert Expresstake-outrestaurant.  The founding family of Hélène and René Léger copied similar barbecue restaurants in the city.
St-Hubert began selling its gravy in supermarkets across Quebec in 1965. The company also sells its barbecue sauce in the ready-to-serve format, desserts, seasonings, and frozen chicken in supermarkets.
The original St-Hubert Chickenmascotwas created and designed by formerDisneyanimatorJack Dunham.Dunham also produced St-Hubert's firsttelevision commercials.However, the current St-Hubert mascot, which has been in use since the early 1970s, was not created by Dunham.
St-Hubert also opened a restaurant inFort Lauderdale, Floridain 1979, serving Canadians who spent their vacations in southern Florida.The restaurant was known for its ability to serve its customers in French, as most of its clients wereFrench Canadians, which motivated the employers of their own accord to seek French-speaking employees. The location closed down sometime in the 1990s.
In 1983, St-Hubert attempted another type of expansion, this time inItalian cuisine. St-Hubert inaugurated the Pastelli restaurant and announced that it wanted to open 30 to 40 other franchises across Quebec during the following five years. The results were conclusive and other franchises were opened, but St-Hubert decided to end the experiment in the late 1980s.
A longtime purveyor ofPepsiproducts, St-Hubert switched toCoca-Colaproducts in the early 2000s.
In 2005, St-Hubert voluntarily became the first restaurant chain in Quebec to ban smoking inside its restaurants.  This was one year before the province of Quebec made it mandatory.
St-Hubert's president was quoted in aPostmedia Newsarticle in October 2011 as saying that the company was considering adding halal and kosher products.It has since recanted in the aftermath of Quebec'sreasonable accommodationdebate.
On March 31, 2016, Ontario-based Cara Operations, owner of theSwiss Chaletchain of rotisserie chicken restaurants, announced that it would acquire St-Hubert in the summer of 2016 for CAD$537 million.Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec(CDPQ), an investment management firm, had presented an offer to acquire a minority share in St-Hubert, but was subsequently declined.Léger sought buyers within Quebec, but did not encounter any companies he was comfortable selling to.The sale was completed on September 2, 2016.
In 2017, Montreal actorJay Baruchelmentioned St-Hubert as his favorite restaurant to visit when visiting the city during an interview onJimmy Kimmel Live!. St-Hubert spokesperson Josée Vaillancourt later reached out to Baruchel after the actor claimed that he was willing to also appear in a commercial for the restaurant.
St-Hubert's service area has little overlap with the similarSwiss Chaletchain, which exited the Quebec market in the early 2000s, although there was no agreement between the chains. Following the closure or rebranding (as independent restaurants) of St-Hubert's remainingToronto arealocations over the following few years, the chains now only overlap in the Ottawa area, and inMonctonand Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Restaurants in theSaint John, New Brunswick, area closed in 2013.Locations were in Halifax Nova Scotia & St. John's, Newfoundland also existed, but were closed around the late 1980s, early 1990s. However, in a 2007 interview withLa Presse, St-Hubert CEO Jean-Pierre Léger suggested that the company was considering re-entering other eastern Canadian markets.
In January 2011, St-Hubert announced that its expansion plans included the opening of three Toronto area locations of the St-Hubert Express concept.  It was also considering entering markets outside Canada. At around the same time, the company briefly re-entered theKingstonmarketplace with a St-Hubert Express, which closed about a year after opening.
The St-Hubert locations operate as full-service restaurants, resto-bars, and 'St-Hubert Express' locations (closer in style tofast foodrestaurants, also with take-out, drive-thru and delivery).The bright yellow cars delivering food have carried the slogan "Putt-Putt Ding-Ding".