Langside Grocery to reopen under new ownership

Cocktail orders and neighbourly catch-ups will pause at a West Broadway staple this Friday. However, following renovations, Langside Grocery will resume under new ownership.

The popular bar should reopen later this year, according to Peter Sampson.

He’s listed as one of two directors under the new Langside Grocery Company Inc., which has taken ownership of 164 Langside St.

“Minor upgrades and repairs” will require a temporary closure of the restaurant and bar. He didn’t provide specifics or a timeline for the renovation.

He and fellow director Elizabeth Wreford co-founded Public City Architecture, which designed the Buhler Centre and led engagement on Market Lands, an upcoming residency in the Exchange District.

Public City Architecture plans to move into the 164 Langside St.’s upper two floors this fall, Sampson relayed.

A one-storey grocery shop was initially built on-site in 1912. Two storeys of rental suites were added in 1927, per Manitoba Historical Society archives. Over the past eight years, the building has boomed as the restaurant and cocktail bar.

“Langside Grocery had a really good reputation,” said Dee Barsy.

She’d know: she frequents the space, running into fellow West Broadway neighbours, missing her pickled deviled eggs (which are no longer offered).

She’s crossed paths with Trixie, a wily neighbourhood cat so well-known at Langside Grocery there’s a sign at the door instructing patrons to keep her out.

“Sometimes I would stop by because I knew I’d bump into a regular,” Barsy said. “I hope that whoever the new ownership is can maintain that openness, friendliness and carry on with the quality menu.”

Langside Grocery has assumed “that role of being a hub for the community” without advertising or being located in a highly trafficked area, noted Eric Napier Strong, executive director of the West Broadway BIZ.

It’s nestled amid houses, though not far from the bustle of Broadway. Still, it draws people from across the city and outside Manitoba.

“It depends on that vibe and word of mouth,” Napier Strong said. “I don’t really know of anywhere… that has that historic feeling where you can actually feel as though you’re stepping back to the 1920s.”

Dark wood, antique glass and marble tables were used to keep the site period-specific, ownership said upon winning a Heritage Winnipeg award in 2018.

Napier Strong was concerned when he saw Langside Grocery listed for sale earlier this year. The business hit the market with a public price of $875,000.

He called the bar’s continuation “good news.”

Its eight staff recently learned new owners would take possession Aug. 18, said Madeleine Barnett, Langside Grocery’s manager.

“They’re going to have to do a lot of redecorating,” she noted, adding current ownership will take decorations like a giant cash register and taxidermized animals with them.

She’s worked at Langside Grocery for the past two years. It seems staff have the option of keeping their jobs, but it’s unclear how long renovations will take, she relayed.

“It sounds like (the current owners have) done a really good job of picking somebody (who) wants to continue Langside Grocery as a business,” Barnett said.

The Armstrong family, which has owned Langside Grocery for the past eight years, couldn’t be reached by print deadline. The family members have full-time jobs outside of operating the restaurant; they chose to move on, Barnett shared.

“It’s definitely a big change,” she said. “I’m really glad that it’s still going to be Langside Grocery again after it’s all finished.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com