Boustan

Boustan is a Lebanese-Canadian fast food restaurant in Montreal, Quebec. It was established in 1986.[1]

Boustan
Restaurant Boustan's original location at Crescent Street at De Maisonneuve Boulevard
Location within Montreal
Restaurant information
Established1986
Owner(s)George Hatzimargaritis
Food typeLebanese
Street address2020A Crescent Street, 19 Sainte Catherine Street East, 8000 Henri Bourassa Boulevard East, 1601 Daniel Johnson Boulevard, 3980 Saint Jean Boulevard
CityMontreal
StateQuebec
Postal/ZIP CodeH3G 2B8
CountryCanada
Coordinates45.498205°N 73.577825°W / 45.498205; -73.577825
Websiteboustan.ca

Boustan is the Arabic word for orchard.[2]

History

Imad Smaidi became the full-time owner of the restaurant, after being a silent partner.[2] Smaidi immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in 1972,[2] studied engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal and worked for Philips before having to quit to run Boustan full-time.[2]

The restaurant moved several times before settling in its current location, 2020A Crescent Street in downtown Montreal.[2]

Boustan has been frequented by, among others, former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau and the now current Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.[2] and some of the rosters from the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Alouettes.[1]

Smaidi was such a fixture he was popularly called "Mr. Boustan" instead of his real name. Tired from working 18-hour days, Smaidi put the restaurant up for sale in early 2011.[1][2][3] He eventually sold the restaurant to George and Peter Hatzimargaritis and Mario Daigneault on March 25, 2012 for an undisclosed sum.[1] The Hatzimargaritis, whom Smaidi trained for 6 months, vow to preserve the same recipes that repeat customers cherish.[1]

Boustan chain

In 2014 Boustan opened a second location at 19 Ste Catherine East which serves the same menu as the original location.[4]

In 2015 Boustan opened further locations in Anjou/Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles (RDP) at 8000 Henri-Bourassa East and in Dollard-des-Ormeaux at 3980 boul St Jean which also serves the same menu as the original location.[4]

In 2016 Boustan opened its fifth location in Laval, Quebec at 1601 Daniel Johnson corner St Martin.[5]

In 2017 Boustan opened locations in Verdun, NDG, Rosemont, Côte-des-Neiges, Kirkland, St-Henri, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, St Leonard and Blainville. In 2019 they opened a location in Vaudreuil-Dorion. It has become a fast growing franchise expecting more new locations.

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gollark: I edited the file to remove the merge conflict annotations and just put in the right version instead.
gollark: Does anything *use* this?
gollark: Maybe we could even experiment with nongrays.
gollark: Also, perhaps it would be better to make the alternating table rows higher-contrast?

References
  1. Brownstein, Bill (2012-03-25). "Popular Lebanese eatery changes hands". The Gazette. Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. Faure, Elizabeth (2011-05-03). "Bye bye Boustans?". Montreal Mirror. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. Szuper, Victor (2011-02-01). ""Mr. Boustan" looking to sell". McGill Tribune. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  4. Hazan, Jeremy (2015-08-12). "Montreal's West Island To Open A Boustan Restaurant On St-Jean Blvd". MTL Blog. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  5. Cipolla, Miranda (2016-02-08). "Montreal Is Opening An All-New Boustan Restaurant In Laval". MTL Blog. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
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