| Salisbury House of Canada Ltd. | |
| Type: | Privately held company |
| Foundation: | 1931 in downtown Winnipeg |
| Location City: | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Location Country: | Canada |
| Location: | 1 Bannister Rd. |
| Locations: | 12 year round, 2 seasonal [1] |
| Key People: | Brad Kramble |
| Area Served: | Manitoba |
| Industry: | Food service |
| Num Employees: | 500+ |
| Founder: | Ralph Erwin |
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]