The chain may now be owned by a Toronto-based conglomerate, but hot damn, some Quebecers still love their St-Hubert chicken and gravy — so much so that a special deal at one location for the chain paralyzed part of Victoriaville earlier this week.
The story is as the headline suggests: a St-Hubert on Route 116 in Victoriaville (northeast of Montreal) celebrated its 40th birthday. It put on a choix du chef special, with a quarter chicken meal priced at $4. Then, 3,000 people showed up — 6.6 percent of the entire population of the city.
The Journal de Montréal reports that police were called to provide back-up around 4:15 p.m. (not even dinner time), and as the sun set, the line of cars stretched around 900 metres down a major street. It would have taken cars approximately one hour to navigate what would normally be a two-minute drive.
The St-Hubert owner was forced to call in reinforcements (extra chicken, that is) from other St-Hubert locations, even though the nearest location is nearly 40 kilometres away, in the village of St-Léonard-d’Aston.
And yes, Victoriaville has other dining options (although only one St-Hubert) — a McDonald’s, a Belle Province, and an IGA were all located alongside part of that line-up of cars.
- Des «quarts cuisse et poitrine» forcent les autorités à intervenir à Victoriaville [Journal de Montréal]
