Casual Mile End Bistro Elda Shuts Its Doors — and Other Closure News

MILE END — After around 18 months in business, St-Laurent lunch and dinner nook Elda closed its doors over the Canada Day weekend. The restaurant opened at the end of 2016 in the former Café Kilo space, carrying an affiliation with Restaurant Mile Ex and its chef, Gregory Paul, garnering warm reviews for casual fare catering to the burgeoning start-up and video game workers in the area. However, it seems Paul departed at some point (hence the absence of his signature Motherf***er Burger in the restaurant’s later days). In any case, the restaurant broke the news on Facebook, citing “important works outside of our control” as the reason — it seems like a full house lined the seats for the final service on Saturday night.

PLATEAU — In more heartwarming news, staple Portuguese chicken destination Romados has reopened its doors after being slapped with an unusually strict forced closure for moderate health code issues that had reportedly already been addressed before the closure. The chicken-roaster was meant to be closed for 30 days, but was back open in time for the Canada Day weekend after about 20 days with the lights off.

OLD MONTREAL — Well, that was short-lived: jazz cabaret Biddle’s Jr. closed its doors in recent weeks after less than a year in operation. The bar was run by a relative of prominent Quebec jazz bass-player Charles Biddle (who died in 2003) — his son, Charles Biddle Jr., opened the cocktail and live music spot on Notre-Dame West last fall. On Facebook, the bar cited a building sale leading to a “substantial” rent increase as the reason, leaving open the possibility of a new location being found for the bar.

DOWNTOWN/PLATEAU — A cheap eats staple for McGill students, Namaste, has vanished off the map, just weeks after the Indian restaurant moved from its original digs on Milton Street to a larger space just minutes away on Sherbrooke — no reason was given for the shutter.

PLATEAU — Is fancy French restaurant Laloux OK? It closed following a burst pipe in January, purportedly using the opportunity to perform other renovations, but barely a peep has been heard since, with the restaurant now listed as permanently closed on Google, for whatever that’s worth — the last update was a Facebook comment some 11 weeks ago reiterating the plan to reopen.

PLATEAU — Rachel Street burger spot L’Anecdote remains closed a full month after a major fire spread through its building after breaking out in an exhaust duct. A sign in the window promises a return, but there’s no timeline as of yet.

Seen any bankruptcy notices or papered-over windows in your neighbourhood? Tell us about it.

• New Project From Restaurant Mile-Ex Arrives in Mile End, and Other News [EMTL]
• Critic Says Mile End’s Elda Delivers Intelligent, Original Food [EMTL]
• Government Slaps Iconic Portuguese Chicken Spot With Temporary Forced Closure [EMTL]