Uncle Ed’s Restaurant
We make filling Ukrainian comfort food, our space is not pretentious but homey, and people love coming in to be served by some of our staff that has been here for 20 years.
Voted as the Gold Winner in the Ukrainian Restaurant category for the fifth year in a row, Uncle Ed’s Ukrainian Restaurant is a beloved staple that can trace its humble roots back 60 years to a small general store in Mundare.
“My great-grandfather, Woytko Stawniczy started making Ukrainian ham-garlic Sausage once a week and, as demand grew, we moved away from the store and began to make the sausage and other meat products fulltime,” describes Kyler Zeleny. “In the 1980s we set up a pick-up location in Edmonton so people didn’t have to make the trip out to Mundare to get our products, and from there it grew into a full restaurant and deli space in the heart of Beverly.”
Though their world-renowned
Mundare Sausage is often in the spotlight, the restaurant and deli carry over 80 food items to choose from. Favourites within the restaurant include meatballs, pork chops and BBQ ribs, while the sausages, pepperoni, pimento loaf and jerkies are hugely popular on the deli side.
“Our success comes from our mission statement to serve good food at a good price. Simply put, we know who we are and what we do and we only plan to continue to do that – and do it well,” says Zeleny.
“We make filling Ukrainian comfort food, our space is not pretentious but homey, and people love coming in to be served by some of our staff that has been here for 20 years.”
With a loyal set of customers – as well as new ones who may be introduced to their products via their fundraising programs or from the Edward E. Charitable Foundation that was set up to support the Mundare community with special-needs purchases and school scholarships – Uncle Ed’s has evolved into a treasured city eatery.
“‘Authentic’ is often a buzzword in the food industry, but I like to think we’re as authentic as it gets. This company was started by my grandparents and great-grandparents making sausage and pinching perogies, and today it is still owned and operated by the family,” says Zeleny.
“If you were to visit the Mundare location, you’d see three generations of family members all working at the same time, and I think very few businesses can make that claim.”