Long since gone Voyageur in Brandon ManitobaThe Voyageur Restaurant chain was started in the late sixties by Imperial Oil (Esso). They were all attached to an Esso service station, and were famous for offering cheap good food all along the newly completed Trans-Canada Highway. This was back in the day when oil was dispensable and cheap and the Canadian dollar was stronger than the American.
Every oil company was in the market to give the Canadian travelers a cheap, home style meal. Esso had Voyageur , Texaco, had their Chicken Villas, and Shell had their 1867 restaurants.
The Voyageur Essos were a common sight across Canada, with their trademark red pointy hat. They offered home style, affordable meals. Salads, soups, pasta, sandwiches, hamburgers, steaks, chicken and Canadian beer. All at affordable pricing,
But most Voyageur Restaurants are now vacant, demolished or converted into something else. The one I fondly remember in Ignace Ontario has been converted into a subway. Who would trade a warm meal for a cold sandwich?
Former Voyageur in Ignace OntarioI've traced down the last Voyageur on Google maps in Schreiber Ontario. I'm pretty sure it's privately owned, since the Voyageur name is long defunct. They have a convenience store, motel and gift shop. I'm glad to see someone revitalize the name Voyageur for the new generation of travelers! The red hat still lives!
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Very nice, it reminds me of all those dirty road trips I took with touring bands, and how many Huskies and Esso's we ate at!
ReplyDeleteLove the new project, glad it caught wind :)
i have an old painting that was on display in the old Voyageur rest stops on the 400 seris highway. It is called the canoe routes of the voyageurs. It is a painting of upper and lower Canada with the NWT. have you ever seen one or heard of it?
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ReplyDeleteThankyou for blogging about the Voyageur experience. Its wonderful to know that others fondly remember this chain also. As an adolescent traveling with my mum and brother during our vacations we stopped here on our way to Gananoque, Lake Superior, Alberta etc., etc. I would ALWAYS order the same thing because I loved it so much...salisbury steak with fries and gravy and apple pie a la mode for desert! Also, I recently found a TIC TAC TOE game at a second hand store here in Bradford, ON that the Voyageur restaurants used to have at each table to entertain their customers. My husband fondly remembered these and trips with his family as a kid, so we gave it to him for Fathers Day to remind him of his deceased father. I took a picture of the game but don't know how to post it here. Thanx for the memories!!
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ReplyDeleteI am glad someone else remembers these fondly. My parents were big roadtrippers, and I always associated Voyageur name and the signature pointy hat with travel and new adventures. If Esso had played their cards right, these would have been a gold mine.
ReplyDeleteGet a hot roast beef sandwich and some power players
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember and/or have a photo of the cardboard canoe the kids meal came in?
ReplyDeleteI was just looking for this too!
DeleteMy grandma was a cook at the Swift current Voyageur restaurant back in early 70's and always have chips and gravy
ReplyDeleteLots of road trip memories eating at Voyageur. We had a Pontiac Safari station wagon with sweet woodgrain and a 400 motor.
ReplyDeleteOn our cross country trips when I was a kid in the 70's I have memories of eating at and driving past them on the highway
ReplyDeleteHad a sudden urge to Google this today, I’m glad I found this page. Yes, this is a big part of my childhood in the 70s in the west. It was always either the beef dip or the “French pancakes“ (ie. crepes) for me!
ReplyDeleteI remember as a kid always getting the fish and chips. It came in a cardboard boat rather than on a plate.
ReplyDeleteThe Chili Burger was my all-time favourite in seventies and early eighties.
ReplyDeleteI always remember the Voyageur restaurant in Valleyview, Alberta. Stopped there many times during my youth in the Alberta north. My, I suddenly feel like a hamburger deluxe!
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Terrace Bay, 14 KM from Schreiber. My parents and I would go to the Voyageur often. There was one in Nipigon too that we'd stop at.
ReplyDeleteUsed to love the longboat canoes the kids meals came in.
Indeed the one in Schreiber is privately owned. We always called it "The Voy" so when it reopened they used that name