The Founder of Venerable Steakhouse Gibbys Has Died

Gilbert “Gibby” Rosenberg, the founder of mainstay Montreal and Saint-Sauveur steakhouse Gibbys, has died aged 86.

The Gazette reports that Rosenberg died from a heart attack last Thursday (March 1) in his home in Westmount. Hundreds turned out for his funeral on Sunday.

Rosenberg opened Gibbys north of Montreal in Saint-Sauveur in 1970 with two partners, followed in 1972 by the Old Montreal Gibbys in a former stable in Place d’Youville.

His wife, Soryl Shulman Rosenberg, told the Gazette that while it wasn’t “his style” to name a restaurant after himself, the partners in the restaurant thought Rosenberg’s nickname would be an ideal name.

Memorials for Rosenberg describe a charitable, caring man, who would cater and serve Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at the Old Brewery Mission in Old Montreal, or who would welcome neighbours going through tough times into his home. Fittingly, the family has requested that donations in honour of Rosenberg be directed to homeless women’s shelter Chez Doris, and Mazon Canada, a Jewish organization that aims to alleviate hunger and poverty.

• Hundreds mourn steakhouse owner Gilbert “Gibby” Rosenberg [Montreal Gazette]
• Gilbert M. (Gibby) Rosenberg [Paperman & Sons]