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Bishop Street Italian coffee-and-more spot Parma Café has spread its wings, throwing open the doors on a new downtown location.
And that’s only part one of its expansion plans — another location in Little Italy (right alongside the Jean-Talon Market) is in the works for the near future.
Parma Café first opened on Bishop Street a little over two years ago from a team headed by Eric Petraglia (see also: nightclub Somwhr), serving a rounded menu of mostly casual, classic Italian eats.
The new location, on de la Gauchetière near Beaver Hall, will take the same approach: the café’s owners tell Eater that they want to maintain the same vibe and atmosphere as the original.
On the food side, expect the same as at the original location: pizza, done in Roman al taglio style, features options like a margherita or sausage and rapini, and North American-Italian paninis like a cheesy steak sandwich with peppers and onion, or a sausage-eggplant option make for lunch-friendly fare. There’s a few side options like arancini and meatballs; for breakfast, there’s a frittata and cheese, tomato, egg, and capicollo sandwich. Parma also does Italian-style espresso with sweets like cannoli, amaretti cookies, and gelato on hand too.
Come spring, the new location should also add a terrasse and take-out coffee window too.
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The new space for Parma is rather pretty too: with soft greens and browns, some tiling, a classic speckled floor, and a mix of banquettes and bar seating, it’s classy yet exudes casual lunch vibes at the same time — fittingly, it’ll be mostly a daytime operation. (The Bishop location, further away from office territory, opens later into the evenings.)
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The Jean-Talon location is likely to open sometime around March — it will take the same approach as the downtown cafés, with the added bonus of a terrasse facing the market itself. Its principals also tell Eater that further expansions are a definite possibility.
STATUS — Parma Café is open at 505 de la Gauchetière W from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays.
- Parma Café [Official]