I meant to post this just after I got it from my brother visiting Montreal, but I have been out of town quite a bit lately. Anyways, he provided me with his review of Emile Bertand's compared to the Griffintown Cafe, compared to Bingo's (which is on Verdun Ave corner of Obsorne, I think). Here it is...
"Anyway, on Wednesday I came downtown on the bike (through "the Griff") and had a chance to check out Emile B’s hot dog/spruce beer shop (both the original location at 1308 Notre Dame, which is now a fairly nice/semi-trendy boulangerie/coffee shop, and the new location, just a little further west and south on Aqueduc—which is a short, one-block street which runs north-south, perpendicular to Notre Dame. Further down Notre Dame, just a half-block past Aqueduc, there is an interesting coffee shop/snack bar called the Griffintown
Caf챕.) Anyway, the new Emile B. location is pretty much as Guy described.
There was a cop car parked out front when I drove by and a couple of Mtl. cops inside, no doubt scarfing down some steamers, fries, and biere d’epinette—which probably means that the food is fairly decent (or some aspect of the place is, although I couldn’t quite figure out what that would be). Anyway, what struck me that I didn’t like too much was the pricing (maybe the cops got complimentary
meals): five bucks for the two steamer, fries, and spruce beer (apparently all you can drink, according to Guy) trio, compared to about $3.50 (now) at Bingo’s (Pepsi instead of spruce beer), which seemed a little high to me, even given the funky setting in "the Griff". (The one steamer, fries, and spruce beer trio at Emile’s is $3.85 which is still higher than Bingo’s, although I’m not sure if the $3.85 even includes GST/PST—Bingo’s includes the GST/PST in the $3.50, approximately—never sure exactly how much it is at Bingo’s now, because around Christmas they seemed to raise it every month—I believe it was $3.45 at the beginning of January, 2006 and had just gone up to $3.25 from $3.00 in November, 2005). Anyway, I did check it out, but I didn’t go in or have anything to eat there—I think part of the charm for Les is just sentimental or nostalgic. I mean there are a lot of those types of places around (most of which charge a lot less for the "steamer" special); I guess the only competitive advantage Emile B’s has is the spruce beer (although apparently that is not that good, according to Guy, even though they have a "bottomless cup" policy, which Bingo’s doesn’t)."
BrownBlvd
1 comment:
Hi BrownBlvd2,....that was a great depiction ,.almost like travelling along,..perhaps memory fades things or as BobDylan says ,,,"Things have Changed" ,..in any case it's neat to hear of the trip,..I like the bike ride idea,.as I understand the many improvements in cycle-paths (not to be confused with a previous topis ,that being physco-paths,,,,,,,,hahaha) ,......the 'bottomless cup is a good idea,.but if the quality is not there antmore then it certainly wouldn't be worth it,...the cops eating for free ,sounds about right,...(somethings never change) but it is smart fora store owner to encourage good PR with the gendarmes,.......(it's smart no matter where you live these days),..........I beleive your brother is probably somewhat right in my memory,possiblt over riding, todays product,....I would still give it a try on my next run into Montreal,......but I suspect that to be at least 2 summers off,..as this one is pretty much booked ,.and the next one sees us going to my sons wedding in Edmonton,...(which probably means we pay............hahahahahah) if not the wedding the inevitable 'downpayment' loan(which means you never see the dough again).........hahahaha Thanks Again for the trip through the Griff.......and the assessment's..........Have fun & Remember Verdun
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