'A remarkable feat': Hy's Steakhouse marks 60 years in Vancouver
One of Vancouver's oldest restaurants is celebrating a milestone anniversary six decades in the making.
Hy's Steakhouse on Hornby Street has been serving its signature steaks, seafood, cheese toast, and cocktails in the city's financial district since the early sixties.
General manager Christopher Langridge tells CTV News that the secret recipe for its success is all in the pudding. Or rather, the service.
"We do the most tableside, more than any of the other steakhouses," he says. "That makes the guest experience way more interactive."
Neil Aisenstat, president and CEO of Hy's, also attributes its longevity to the star-studded list of guests who dined there in the restaurant's early days.
Aisenstat's father opened the restaurant in 1962 — a time when Vancouver's entertainment district was hopping with shows starring the likes of Tina Turner and Diana Ross.
One of Aisenstat's fondest memories is when Muhammad Ali would frequent the restaurant when he was training in North Vancouver.
"Muhammad Ali was here in 1972 … fighting George Chuvalo," Aisenstat says. "Every day he would come in with Angelo Dundee and have lunch at a certain table at the restaurant."
Aisenstat was just 12 years old at the time, but he recalls having a conversation with the prolific boxer.
"I told him I wanted to be an athlete and he looked at me and said, 'Be a thinker, not a stinker,'" he says.
Back in its heyday, prices on the Hy's Steakhouse menu looked a lot different.
"A 16-ounce filet mignon for $6.90," says Langridge.
Over the past 60 years in business, Hy's has dished out approximately 2.2 million steaks, 2.2 million orders of cheese toast and 1.2 million orders of Caesar salad.
Hy's signature dessert of bananas foster has also been enjoyed about 445,000 times throughout the restaurant's history.
"It's actually quite mind-blowing … I think it's quite a remarkable feat," says Aisenstat about the restaurant's success.
"All of the accolades belong to the staff and guests at Hy's for keeping us in business for so long."
With files from CTV's Jason Pires.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.