A Long History of Quality

In 1969 two men from Newfoundland, Pat Tarrant and Cyril Fleming, opened the first Mary Brown’s restaurant in the Avalon Mall in St. John’s, Newfoundland. During that first year, they opened two more restaurants in Newfoundland, under the original name, Golden Skillet. The name was later changed to Mary Brown’s in honour of the wife of the U.S. creator of the original fried chicken recipe.

From 1969 to 1978, Mary Brown’s reputation for taste and quality grew with fifteen more franchises being sold to independent operators throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as one in Halifax. In 1972, the first restaurant was opened in Ontario in the Arena Plaza located near the corner of Dixie Road and Dundas Street in Mississauga. The first office for Canada was located above this first store. Since then, the company has grown to over 70 restaurants located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta. In the near future, Mary Brown’s intends to open additional outlets in Ontario and Alberta.

The head office of Mary Brown’s Inc., franchisor of Mary Brown’s, is located in Markham, Ontario with branch offices in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Calgary, Alberta.

Dedicated to serving high quality and innovative food items, the menu at our restaurants includes several chicken selections such as traditional chicken pieces, 100% skinless white meat chicken sandwiches and pure white meat chicken fingers. Over the past few years chicken fajitas and wraps have been offered as seasonal items. Although our restaurants serve fries, one of our famous products is “taters”. Served on their own or with a variety of sauce options, our famous taters are an item that outsells fries across the country. Our restaurants also offer salads and we feature a coleslaw recipe that is unique to Mary Brown’s.

Mary Brown’s success is based on providing a consistently superior product at affordable prices. In addition, the company and franchisees have always been committed to supporting numerous local groups and organizations in the communities where they have restaurants. See the “In Our Community” section for more details.

Mary Brown’s is a 100% Canadian owned company and employs approximately 800 people across Canada in its various restaurants.