Check out the renovated Langside Grocery Neighbourhood hot spot joins other West Broadway businesses under new management By: Malak Abas Posted: 6:37 PM CST Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

While the taxidermy animals that once adorned Langside Grocery have left with its old owners, regulars will find not much has changed when the West Broadway staple reopens Friday, new management says.

“People loved the old Langside Grocery, and we’re just trying to keep that going for the neighbourhood,” co-owner Liz Wreford said Monday.

Wreford and Peter Sampson purchased 164 Langside St. in August after its previous owners, who operated the well-loved bar and restaurant for eight years, put the business up for sale.

The pair are the founders of Public City Architecture and were looking for a place to host their business. The architecture firm will occupy the upper two floors of the building, but they decided to continue running the restaurant and bar on the main floor after feedback from neighbours.

“It’s really nice to go from being patrons of the restaurant to being owners of it and being able to connect with the neighbours. They’re familiar with us, we’re familiar with them. It kind of feels like a homecoming for us,” Sampson said.

They describe the new menu as “cocktail-heavy,” with grocery-themed drink names to pay homage to the building’s origin as a grocery store built in 1912.

With the exception of one bartender, it will have entirely new staff, including manager Kane McKenzie, formerly of brunch spot Juneberry.

Ensuring Langside Grocery remains a hub for the neighbourhood to gather in is a “huge responsibility,” both Sampson and Wreford said.

“This was a real opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth is, and say, ‘No, we are going to invest in the street.”

“I think a lot of people might say, ‘What on earth are two architects taking over a cocktail lounge for? But this was a real opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth is, and say, ‘No, we are going to invest in the street,’” Sampson said.

“We are going to demonstrate, not just for ourselves, but for the people who follow our work and support the work of architects, that the public realm needs risk, it needs good investment, it needs healthy street corners, it needs pedestrian focus, amenities, every chance we can get.”

West Broadway Biz executive director Eric Napier Strong said he was nervous when the building went up for sale and the community was unsure about its future.

“Seeing it reopen now in the same sort of format, just new and improved — or old and improved slightly — is really the best possible outcome for something like this,” he said.

“Really the best possible outcome.”

It’s the latest in a string of West Broadway staples that have recently come under new ownership after decades serving the area.

Chef Grant Danyluk has been running Sherbrook Street’s Bistro Dansk since mid-November.

There were big shoes to fill after he purchased the Danish eatery, known for its schnitzel, from Paul and Pamela Vocadlo, who announced they would be retiring after running the restaurant since 1989.

So far, so good, he said.

“It’s busy and people are happy, and I’m starting to put some of my own dishes on the menu,” he said.

Like Wreford and Sampson, he said he felt a responsibility to keep the classic recipes and design choices that defined Bistro Dansk.

“It’d be a shame to see it change into another faceless franchise when it’s a spot that has character and history,” he said.

While the former Sherbrook Inn’s reputation might have been a little less savoury, new owner Neil Soorsma said he’s been committed to a full rebrand of the bar and vendor, including new signs renaming the business the East Gate Inn going up last month.

“The old signs were pretty beat up, I was going spend the money, might as well get something to get some notice, and I think the signs look pretty cool,” Soorsma said during an interview Monday at the bar.

Soorsma took over the business, which includes 33 hotel rooms, in May. Before that, it was owned by Bill Bailly and his family since the 1980s.

Over the years, the vendor gained a reputation for being unsafe, but Soorsma said investments in security have improved that.

“We don’t allow people to hang around at night or anything, intimidate people. We keep a close eye on that and watch for that,” he said.

“It’s a rough area.”

Plans announced last year to build a six-storey apartment building on the parking lot behind the hotel are still ongoing, Soorsma said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca