NDG Seafood Spot Lucille’s Plots St-Henri Location (And Other Expansions)

ST-HENRI — Monkland Avenue seafood restaurant Lucille’s is planning some kind of expansion to the Notre-Dame West strip, with an Eater tipster spotting banners bearing the restaurant’s pin-up girl logo in the hood. They’re pasted up at 4855 Notre-Dame West — part of a general push further west into the neighbourhood (see also: Loïc and Elena, in recent years). There’s no word on whether it’ll be a duplicate of the NDG restaurant, Lucille’s Oyster Dive, or Westmount’s Brasserie Lucille’s, or something totally new, but in any case, it’s not set to open until 2019.

PLACE-DES-ARTS — Speaking of NDG, neighbourhood coffee staple Melk is plotting another expansion. It’s going to be opening on St-Urbain Street adjacent to the Palais de Congrès. This will be location number three, after Monkland (open since 2013), and another downtown café on Stanley Street (open since 2015).

September Surf Café/Facebook

PT-ST-CHARLES/GRIFFINTOWN — Little Burgundy caffeine favourite September Surf is riding a wave of success, with a double expansion in the works. First up, the surf aficionados will open a coffee counter in trendy Griffintown clothing store Burton on Notre-Dame W at Versailles. That’s in the works for November — then in early 2019, a full-scale new café from the same crew will open in the Nordelec building across the Lachine Canal in Pointe-St-Charles. These are the first expansions for September Surf since arriving in 2016 (not counting the addition of a snack bar to its Little Burgundy premises).

Escondite/Supplied

LAVAL — Creative downtown taqueria Escondite opened its doors in Laval this week. It has room for 85 in a space adjacent to Carrefour Laval (plus a terrasse for 50 in warmer months), and will offer a similar mix of classic tacos and new creations as the downtown original and the newer version near the Bell Centre.

LITTLE ITALY — Seems like Latin Quarter brewpub Saint-Houblon is working on a new bar for the north side. The microbrewery, which opened on St-Denis in 2014, appears to be taking over the former Table du Pêcheur location on St-Laurent, at the prime corner of St-Zotique. The brewery also has a Côte-des-Neiges outlet where it sells its ambers, sours, and more.

OLD MONTREAL — Villeray gluten-free bakery Le Marquis is planning its first expansion — it’ll be opening on St-Paul Street sometime in October.

PLATEAU — Montréal-Est kebab go-to TGV Istanbul is trying its hand at a more central location — it opened up on St-Denis Street just near Mont-Royal in recent weeks.

ALL OVER — Hey Baconator fans: burger chain Wendy’s is looking to expand its presence in Quebec. The company is on the hunt for franchisees right now, according to Resto Biz — at present, it counts just 12 locations within the province, and is looking to add new ones in pretty much every major city.

• This is Your First Look at Brasserie Lucilles in Westmount [EMTL]
• Opening Alert: Monkland Village Café MELK Pulls Espresso Shots Downtown [EMTL]
• September, Little Burgundy’s Café Homage to Surf Culture, Is Now Open [EMTL]
• Every Table Has a Beer Tap at New Latin Quarter Pub Saint-Houblon [EMTL]
• Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada seeking franchise business partners throughout Quebec [RestoBiz]