Description of Historic Place

Constructed in 1946-1947, Café Royal is a vernacular two-storey commercial building with a brick front façade. It is located on J.-D.-Gauthier Boulevard in Shippagan.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Café Royal lies in its historical significance relating to the commercial growth of the Town of Shippagan. After the Second World War, a Chatham merchant by the name of Mike Leggets bought a parcel of land on September 18, 1946, near Hôtel Marquis, which later became Hôtel Robichaud. The building put up by Mike Leggets would house a restaurant and a bakery, with 10 rooms on the second floor. It was divided into two sections and was called the Mic-Mac Restaurant and Bakery, the same name as his business in Chatham. The Mic-Mac Restaurant could accommodate about 50 people in its booth-type seating. In 1949, the new owner, Willie Manzerolle, changed the name of the business to Café Royal and Boulangerie Royale. The bakery’s products were delivered by horse-drawn carriage to stores in the Shippagan, Lamèque and Miscou Islands, Inkerman, Tracadie, Caraquet, Saint-Isidore and Paquetville areas. In 1960, the bakery ceased operations, and the space it had occupied became a reception hall.

The restaurant was well situated, near schools, fish plants, stores, offices, the Collège Jésus-Marie, the skating rink, the ball field, and the garage. Its long life can be attributed to its geographic location.

Source: Shippagan Town Hall, site file “248, boul. J.-D.-Gauthier”

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Café Royal include:
- strategic commercial location;
- rectangular two-storey massing;
- moderately pitched gable roof;
- arrangement of the window and door openings on the front façade;
- group of three windows on the upper floor of the front façade.