Court Allows L’Gros Luxe To Stay Open For Now

The all-vegetarian location of popular cheap eats mini-chain L’Gros Luxe has been granted a reprieve, after it looked set to be temporarily shut down by Quebec’s restaurant regulation agency.

In late November it was reported that L’Gros Luxe 100% Végé on Saint-André Street in the Plateau was to be suspended from opening for 30 days after complaints from a handful of neighbours that the restaurant was too loud, and had customers on its premises after its required closing time of 11 p.m.

Métro reports that Quebec’s administrative tribunal, a last-ditch court to appeal decisions from government agencies or departments, decided to freeze the Gros Luxe suspension on Tuesday, pointing to the fact that the restaurant had taken steps to reduce noise and disruption.

The 30-day punishment that the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux handed to L’Gros Luxe seemed unusually long and harsh compared to other forced shut-downs of bars and restaurants in the province, which have in recent years been shorter, even in cases where establishments were overcrowded or faced ongoing issues with noise and violence.

L’Gros Luxe owner Alex Bastide tells Eater that this doesn’t mean the restaurant is out of the woods — rather, it’s just a hold on the suspension until an appeal against the Régie decision happens sometime in 2017. That also means L’Gros Luxe’s St-André location will remain open for its regular hours now, and for the coming months.

• Le propriétaire du L’Gros Luxe gagne sa cause [Métro]
• L’Gros Luxe Faces 30 Days of Forced Closure [EMTL]