St. Louis Bar & Grill, which bills itself as Canada’s favourite game-day destination known for its ‘Devilishly Good’ food and friendly atmosphere is in growth mode as it prepares to open its 74th location in Canada in Grande Prairie, Alberta on Monday February 28.
It will be the restaurant’s third Alberta location, with the other two in the Edmonton area, and it’s part of the brand’s expansion plans in Western Canada.
“There’ve been a lot of fans asking when we’ll have more of a presence in Western Canada so we’re thrilled to make that happen in a bigger way over the next three years,” said Royal Nasager, VP Marketing, St. Louis Bar & Grill.
“St. Louis was born in Toronto but made in Canada. We have our roots here in Ontario. What makes us incredibly unique compared to anyone else in North America is our proprietary products. That’s our wings. They’re the best wings in Canada. Beyond the amazing food that you cannot get anywhere else, it’s our atmosphere and our Devilishly Good atmosphere and that’s all about authenticity, the welcoming environment and really making people feel at home. You know what, there’s lots of people that make those claims but we make good on them.”
Nasager said the brand’s name doesn’t come from the city in the United States but Louis was the name of a man who was involved in perfecting one of the proprietary recipes for the wings over 30 years ago.
According to Restaurants Canada, Alberta’s foodservice industry is expected to surpass the $10 billion mark for the first time in 2023. Currently, St. Louis operates two locally-owned and run locations in Edmonton at St. Albert and another in Sherwood Park. The chain plans to have at least 10 restaurants operating across Alberta and the West by early 2023.
David Polny, Senior Vice President of International Development for the brand, said this year the company will be opening its first location in Winnipeg, as well as Calgary, and Port Coquitlam. A third location will also open in Edmonton this year.
The brand, with headquarters in Toronto, first opened in 1992 and today serves 2.2 million pounds of wings each year.
“We really consider ourselves as a national, a Canadian brand. But starting in Alberta as part of that Western expansion was really born out of strong, strong demand either from folks who had come from this way and we have a strong presence on the East Coast and went out to Alberta or folks who had visited and tried the product. There’s nothing else like St. Louis out there and when people interact with the brand whether it’s franchisee investors or our guests there’s nothing else that compares to it. So there was a very high level of interest prior,” added Nasager.
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