Silver Inn Restaurant sign returned after it was stolen in Calgary

The iconic sign in front of Calgary’s Silver Inn Restaurant was stolen and returned just days after it closed its doors for good.

The restaurant held its final day of service on Sunday, but it was a bittersweet farewell, as its owners noticed the Silver Inn sign was missing Thanksgiving Monday.

The Silver Inn Restaurant sign in Calgary. (Silver Inn Restaurant on Facebook)

The place where the Silver Inn Restaurant sign was taken from. (Silver Inn Restaurant on Facebook)

Silver Inn was a cherished establishment in the city for decades.

The family who runs the Peking-style Chinese food restaurant announced its closure last month, after 47 years.

Kwong Cheung, the owner of Silver Inn Restaurant, says the sign holds significant sentimental value, and has been with the family since the restaurant opened almost half a century ago.

“[It’s] the only surviving piece of things that we have that dated back to that day,” Cheung said.

“We were prepared to deal with the emotions of saying goodbye to a lot of friends that we met over the years, customers who had supported us, generations of kids growing up with the restaurant,” Cheung said. “But I never thought I would get upset over a stupid sign until this happened, but it kind of hit you and it was totally unexpected.”

Cheung says the sign was returned late Tuesday night.

“Big thanks to CST. Hamel and CST. Dahlseide of district 3 Calgary Police Service,” Cheung wrote in a Facebook post. “Huge shout out to all of you for spreading the word.

“A perfect bookend to a true thanksgiving and a hell of a retirement story!! I doubt any retirement story can top this. From the bottom of my heart, THANKS!”

Silver Inn Restaurant has been operating in Calgary since 1975, moving to Centre Street NE in July 1978. The restaurant is widely credited with inventing ginger beef, a popular menu item at Canadian Chinese restaurants.

“People would munch on these and drink more beer,” Cheung said. “And that was the whole intent behind it, and we didn’t know how successful it is, but I guess it took off from there.”

The decision to close was a difficult one. Cheung, who is now 67 years old, says it became a seven-day-a-week job. It was time for him to walk away, and no family member decided to take over, so he decided to close up shop.

Since the restaurant announced it would be closing, its phone started ringing off the hook, so much so that it had to stop taking reservations.

Cheung says the most special thing for him is the loyalty he was shown from customers.

“We have three, four generations of customers there for us through thick and thin, and we really appreciate that,” Cheung said. “I can’t talk about it… It chokes me up. It’s the kids that grow up, yeah.”