It started out simply enough a boy and a girl in a small town in Germany in the sixties. He discovered her at a dance. She was a tiny waif of a thing and he fell in love with her at first sight. According to the girl he wasn’t so bad looking either and he had a kind of charm that was hard to resist once it found its target. Her family had money and his did not and of course this did not go over to well; so they did the only thing they could do to ensure they could be together - they had a child.  Barb was eighteen when she had Thomas and Ernie was nineteen years old. Barb looked after Thomas while Ernie completed his two year mandatory army duty. His school training had already been preparing him for a career as a chef so it was after basic training he ended up in the mess tent. 

He once told an interesting story about having to sneak Thomas into the barracks while Barb was in the hospital and how his buddies in the barracks helped him take care of this son.  After his stint in the army they came across an opportunity they could not turn down. Canada was recruiting German citizens to fill their growing demand for skilled workers Ernie landed himself a job as a chef in the Hofbrauhaus, a popular German restaurant in Edmonton.  They literally came to Canada with just the clothes on their back. They came to Canada just after Christmas and it was thirty below zero.  Thomas’ only possession when he came to Canada was a case of  matchbox cars which he still remembers today.  After a few years in Edmonton,  and after the birth of their second son, Michael, Ernie found a position as Soux chef at the Cannery and then head chef at Charlie Brown’s, both prominent Vancouver restaurants. In Vancouver, they had their third son, Marcel. Ernie really liked Vancouver but Barb had already fallen in love with Edmonton and she pushed them to return to Edmonton in the 1975 and three months later they opened Barb and Ernie’s around Christmas time.

Ernie had come across a truck stop that the owner was willing to sell to him over time with no money down.  Ernie saw the opportunity of a life time to be his own boss and make a good life for his family in Canada.  The truck stop was half coffee shop and half pool hall.  Barb apparently almost cried when she saw it. To put it mildly the place was in dire need of some TLC. Ernie jokes that before they took it over the customers used to come in the morning and help themselves to coffee. Ernie was going to change all that. During all of this they also had their last child, Nicole. Barb talks how she literally grew up in the kitchen beside Barb as she cooked. Ernie has had loyal customers that have been there since the beginning. They have watched Barb and Ernie transform Barb and Ernie’s from the run down truck stop to one of Edmonton’s foremost family eating establishments in Edmonton.

 It was seven years after they first opened before they had their first vacation. They almost faced bankruptcy in the eighties when their downtown restaurant the Hofbrauhaus, folded .  However, through hard work, determination and help from a very special friend, they fought their way back, and their restaurant has thrived ever since.  What makes Barb and Ernie’s the unique place it is? Is it home style atmosphere filled with kitsch ornaments from Barb and Ernie’s extensive travels? Is it the colourful restaurant history on the front the menu? Is it Ernie’s boisterous personality that fills the dining room with laughter? Is it the energy that emanates from the upbeat German music? Where else can you go and be served by a whole army of kids? Where else can ladies go and get a greeting like “Hello Sexy? Whatever you take away from your experience at Barb and Ernie’s we hope you enjoy the atmosphere, good food and company and come back again and again.