The first restaurant opened in September 1951 on Saint Hubert Street in Montreal, just south of Beaubien street. This branch still operates today, but has been converted to a St-Hubert Express take-out restaurant. The founding family of Hélène and René Léger copied similar barbecue restaurants in the city. The original St-Hubert Chicken mascot was created and designed by DisneyanimatorJack Dunham. Dunham also produced St-Hubert's first television 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 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the 1970s, 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 were French Canadians, which motivated the employers of their own accord to seek French-speaking employees. The location closed down sometime in the 1990s. A longtime purveyor of Pepsi products, St-Hubert switched to Coca-Cola products 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 a Postmedia News article in October 2011 as saying that the company was considering adding halal and kosher products. It has since recanted in the aftermath of Quebec's reasonable accommodation debate. On March 31, 2016, Ontario-based Cara Operations, owner of the Swiss Chalet chain of rotisserie chicken restaurants, announced that it would acquire St-Hubert in the summer of 2016 for CAD$537 million. La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec 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.
Operations
St-Hubert's service area has little overlap with the similar Swiss Chalet chain, which exited the Quebec market in the early 2000s, although there was no agreement between the chains. Following the closure or rebranding of St-Hubert's remaining Toronto area locations over the following few years, the chains now only overlap in the Ottawa area, and in Moncton and Fredericton, New Brunswick. Restaurants in the Saint John, New Brunswick, area closed in 2013. A location in St. John's, Newfoundland also existed, but was closed around the late 1980s, early 1990s. However, in a 2007 interview with La 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 the Kingston marketplace 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. The bright yellow cars delivering food have carried the slogan "Putt-Putt Ding-Ding". 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.
