Peter Sergakis Screws Over Iconic Montreal Bar, Again

People in Montreal love cheap beer. As long as this holds, Peter Sergakis will continue to get stinking rich. The serial bar owner and irascible real estate developer, who repeatedly lands himself in the news for the wrong reasons, is tightening his stranglehold downtown. For the second time, Sergakis has foiled the owners of the original Cock n' Bull bar, a legendary dive on Sainte-Catherine Ouest. When Sergakis bought the bar's building in 2009, he assumed control of the business and the name. The McCann family, which had run the bar since the 1990s, opened a new bar, The Bull, down the street—only to find themselves in the same situation six years later.

"Times are tough and money isn’t coming in like it used to, so we did fall behind on our rent," a tearful Christina Frechette [granddaughter of Ellen McCann] told the Montreal Gazette as she confronted the loss of the family business for the second time. Sergakis has claimed he is owed $20,000 in unpaid rent. The McCanns, however, say the figure is much lower.

A spokesperson for Sergakis told Eater this week that the businessman's plans downtown include a big new restaurant project. Sergakis is also opening a new "Restaurant Brasserie Urbaine" at 3483 Notre-Dame Ouest in Saint-Henri. His company, Placements Sergakis Inc., owns the building.

For more on the original Cock n' Bull saga, see this video below.