The sale of Groupe St-Hubert Inc. to Cara Operations Ltd. (CAO.TO 9.57%) creates a new Canadian chicken champ, but has some worried the iconic Quebec restaurant could lose some of its unique cultural strengths. Shortly after the announcement of the sale, Parti Quebecois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau tweeted his disappointment, calling it “a sad day for Quebec.”

On the surface, St-Hubert is very similar to Cara’s Swiss Chalet restaurants. Both specialize in rotisserie chicken with a signature dipping sauce. But there are some important regional differences. The first is price. A quarter-chicken dinner at Swiss Chalet costs $9.48, while the same meal at St-Hubert will run you just $8.00. A half rack of ribs costs $12.25 at St-Hubert, while a similar meal at Swiss Chalet costs nearly $18.00.

St-Hubert’s menu includes several popular Quebec items such as sugar pie, hot chicken sandwiches with peas, and poutine. Swiss Chalet offers the fries, cheese curd and gravy dish as a side, while St-Hubert offers six different meal-sized varieties of the dish including one that is topped by smoked meat – another staple of Quebec cuisine.

The Swiss Chalet menu is much more international, by comparison, with offerings including Asian spring rolls, pierogis, as well as a variety of both rice and pasta dishes.

As part of the $587-million takeover, Cara will also get St-Hubert’s booming grocery business. Swiss Chalet sells limited quantities of its dipping sauce in grocery stores, while St-Hubert sells dozens of frozen food items including tourtiere, chicken pies, wings, sauces and salads. Only about 34 per cent of the company’s sales come from internal St-Hubert restaurants, with nearly 66 per cent of sales coming from external customers, including national grocery chains such as Sobeys, Loblaws and Metro.