The Haugen’s Port Perry sale has placed the 73-year-old roadside restaurant in the hands of the owner of Toronto-based Circles and Squares Bakery.
David Baxter purchased Haugen’s Chicken and Ribs BBQ this summer and has spent recent months refreshing the dining room, adjusting the menu and adding a bakery counter near the entrance, according to Toronto Life.
Longtime customer takes over Port Perry restaurant
Baxter told the magazine that he has eaten at Haugen’s since childhood and regularly visited with his extended family. He said the goal is to update the business while respecting its history and existing customers.
Haugen’s opened in 1953 and is known for rotisserie chicken, barbecue ribs and its roadside location near Port Perry. The new owner described it as Ontario’s oldest chicken and barbecue restaurant.
The bakery counter now carries Circles and Squares products, including the company’s award-winning butter tarts. Its pecan tart won the traditional category at this year’s Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival, while a root beer float tart placed third in the festival’s creative category.
Breakfast sandwiches launch September 18
A new morning menu began Friday, September 18, with three breakfast sandwiches: peameal bacon; bacon, egg and cheese on a bun; and a bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich on a croissant.
The change moves the restaurant’s opening time to 8 a.m., with lunch service beginning at 11 a.m. Baxter said starting earlier also gives the kitchen more time for baking and could support the return of a broader breakfast menu, which Haugen’s stopped serving about a decade ago.
Weekend brunch is also planned. No launch date for that service was announced in the report.
The acquisition links a longstanding Scugog-area restaurant with a bakery known across the Greater Toronto Area. For Port Perry residents and visitors, the immediate changes are the bakery counter, earlier hours and morning sandwiches, while the restaurant’s established chicken-and-ribs identity remains in place.
