Stick a Fork in Doca — The Griffintown Restaurant is Done

In human years, two is a small number — in Montreal restaurant scene years, however, it seems to be an eternity, as yet another restaurant fails to get a second candle on its anniversary cake.

Swanky Wellington Street Portuguese restaurant Doca, which opened in a flurry of violet-coloured furniture back in summer 2015, is now bankrupt. Despite the money flowing into the Griffintown restaurant scene courtesy of the ever-growing numbers of condo-dwellers on the nearby canal, filling 135 seats (Doca’s capacity) on a nightly basis is still a tall order.

Doca had no shortage of expertise behind it — principals Victor Batista and Victor Dias had experience at big names like Ferreira Café, and the third, Raj Patel, called himself a “seasoned entrepreneur”. The restaurant had a comparatively loud public relations machine, too — although it wasn’t enough to lure in any of the city’s big four critics for a single review.

An Eater tweeter caught a glimpse of the restaurant’s bankruptcy papers — even though just a week ago when the writing was likely on the wall, the restaurant was still pushing its private import wine list via social media. Props for trying until the very end, Doca.