Good news, suburban smoked meat fans. Abie's will return. The West Island's ode to the Jewish deli, courtesy Abie Haim and his late father, John Haim, who worked at Schwartz’s for 34 years, will reopen in April in a new space in the Blue Haven strip mall on boulevard Saint-Jean. The news, first reported on Chowhound in February, was confirmed by Haim in the Gazette yesterday. The reborn restaurant will have a new name: West Island Deli.
"It won’t be called Abie’s," Haim told the Gazette. "We are rebranding. Yes, our main product, our raison d’être will be smoked meat. But [we'll be] expanding our menu, openings [sic] evenings and putting in a breakfast menu."
Purists take note: Haim affirms that the "$70,000 stainless-steel smoker that he operated in Abie’s and that could tenderize 120 beef briskets at a time is being refurbished."