Restaurants on the edge
Some Montreal restaurants are closing, some are adapting to a world of takeout and pickup only.
Long ago I started a list of vegetarian restaurants for montreal.com, and while I wasn’t a vegetarian for long, I’ve kept up the list over time. Just now I updated it, cutting it down solely to establishments offering delivery or pickup options.
Blork 14:26 on 2020-05-18 Permalink
What saddens me most about all this (at least in terms of culture/economy) is that so many small, locally-owned restaurants will end up closing permanently, and they will sit empty for a year and then as things start to go back to “normal” all those empty places will get snapped up by the chains.
This process is was already underway, but slowly. Covid-19 is basically going to cram 20 years’ worth of franchisation into two years. Get ready to see Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza, and goddamn Thai Express on every corner of your favorite neighbourhood (as in, ten times more than now). Downtown and Old Montreal will be nothing but Madisons and Ruby Tuesday and goddamn Vinnie Gambinis.
Spi 14:50 on 2020-05-18 Permalink
@Blork That’s a bit too doom and gloom, the reality is that chains and franchises have a very established and inflexible model and have very specific requirements for their restaurants, there’s a reason why certain locals are just a series of chains while adjacent or nearby ones stay empty.
While downtown lends itself to supporting a high concentration of the same franchised restaurants (because of the concentration of office workers) but there’s a limit of how many chains a neighbourhood can sustain. Also, many franchise models offer a certain amount of geographical exclusivity so the franchises don’t compete against each other.
There are ridiculous examples of two Starbucks being across the street from each other but those are generally owned by the same person (corporate or the same franchisor) and are usually in response to the excess demand that their single location couldn’t handle.
I wouldn’t be worried about franchises being shoved down our throats if anything Montreal has a very healthy generation of young restaurant entrepreneurs.
JaneyB 15:29 on 2020-05-18 Permalink
Maybe if the City decides to penalize empty storefronts with some kind of tax, we’ll see the small restos staying or new ones returning quickly. I’m pretty sure my borough has a bylaw against large chains.
I’d like to see some restos become hourly rental kitchens for different culinary entrepreneurs who want to get into take-out but not deal with a lease just yet. I think there’s some pent-up demand for such an option.
Ian 16:15 on 2020-05-18 Permalink
The city has proved fairly powerless in this and many other regards, apparently all they can do to save our ne8ghbourhoods is put up temporary street barriers. They have already expressed an unwillingness to penalize empty storefronts.
qatzelok 17:08 on 2020-05-18 Permalink
New restaurants will eventually open up or re-open. People aren’t going to start loving junkfood more than they did three months ago, especially after a health crisis.