Fast !
Fresh !
Delicious !
It all started back in the 1950’s when the Dunn family moved west from Winnipeg.
Grandpa Bob Dunn ran a poultry plant in Edmonton that was supplying the Chicken on the Way restaurant located at 95th Street and 111 Avenue in that city. When it came up for sale in 1957, Bob bought the then 10-year old restaurant.
Initially, the bulk of the business was delivery by taxi. By 1959, Bob had 10 trucks equipped with deep fryers and radios. After they received an order, they drove to the location, put it in the fryer and in six minutes it would be ready. At that time, the only chicken sold was by the half, with side orders of French fries and fritters.
Meanwhile, Bob and his brother-in-law, Don Wright, also purchased Mountain View Poultry Farm in Okotoks and in August, 1958 the Dunn’s brought Chicken on the Way to Calgary. The original store occupied the former Jenkin’s Grocery Store right on Kensington Road, next to the old Telstar Drug Store.
In 1965, Chicken on the Way Edmonton was sold. That same year the building for Chicken on the Way Calgary was moved back on its lot to where it stands today at 14th Street and Kensington Road. The building was remodelled to include a café which ran from 1965 to 1985 when manager Frieda retired. (Customers still talk about Frieda’s legendary cinnamon rolls.)
Bob’s son Doug bought the business in 1968. Today, the original Kensington store is owned and operated by Doug’s son Russ, with the help of his sister Lynne. And the family tradition continues with Russ’s son Aaron who also works at the restaurant.
Russ started Chicken on the Way Franchise Corp. in 2011 and in March of that year, the first franchise opened in Calgary’s Forest Lawn neighbourhood. Over the years, Chicken on the way has become a household name and we are thankful for our thousands of loyal customers.
In 1967 the Calgary Tower was being built and Doug remembers a huge order to feed the crew during the 24-hour continuous pour of cement. Legend has it that as the men sat on the scaffolding several hundred feet in the air, they dropped the chicken bones into the forms as the cement was poured in. Some say the chicken bones are still visible from certain points in the tower.